Glee--the other high schoolmusical--made its return to TV last week. And Tuesday night, it debuts itsanticipated Glee: Power Of Madonnaepisode.
Yahoo! Music recently interviewed Adam Anders, the show'smusic producer, to get background on the episode. Anders, who has previouslyworked on High School Musical andproduced for the Backstreet Boys and Miley Cyrus, said he initially hadconcerns about the viability of the sitcom.
He also revealed that his cover of Amy Winehouse's "Rehab"won him the job.
YAHOO MUSIC: So,there's been a lot of talk about the big Madonna episode.
ADAM ANDERS: Ryan Murphy, the show creator, is a huge Madonnafan. I think he believes he was Madonna.
Were you surprisedthat Madonna wanted to work with you guys?
If it had been earlier in the season I would have. Butconsidering the success of the show, and the buzz, its building and everything,I think everybody is wanting to jump on board now.
You always releasethe songs for purchase; will you also release a Madonna/Glee album?
We are actually releasing a Madonna/Glee album. (There will be seven songs.) We do a mash up.
Since you use so manysongs, does everyone get to pick their favorite Madonna song?
They all get a piece of Madonna. We cover it all. Everydecade of Madonna is covered. You're going to be very happy. It's from herlatest stuff through her oldest.
When the opportunityto become Music Supervisor for the show came up, were you concerned whether ornot the show would be a hit?
Honestly, my first thought was this will never work.Primetime musical on network TV? I read the script of the pilot. It was reallygood. Super funny. It was kinda a little twisted. Different. It was not what Iexpected. So that gave me some hope. But still there's a reason there's not alot of musicals on primetime television. It's [almost] impossible to pull off amusical every week and make it good.
What was your approachto making it work?
My sales pitch was that [people] have to want to listen toit. [Ryan Murphy and I] had a meeting a few months before the pilot was shot.And he didn't hire me at first, I believe, because I did High School Musical, which is just one of the things I had done.But he didn't want this to feel, sound, or look like High School Musical. So he was a little afraid. But then a couplemonths later, he tried a couple things out and said, 'You need to do 'Rehab',the Amy Winehouse song. Can you have it to me by Monday?' It was a Friday. 'IfI love it, the show is yours.' I did it. He liked it, and the rest is history.
You were concernedabout viewers wanting to hear the songs outside of watching the show, and Iguess that has worked?
"Don't Stop Believing" was #1. I was a huge fan of "Don'tStop Believing," a big Journey fan. And my fear was, just don't screw it upbecause I love the song and the songs we're doing. I just want to be respectfulto the original but give it a new twist which isn't easy. A lot of the timewe've hit on something that works. I can't say that I knew what we're doingwas going to blow up like this. I didn't, but it's really gratifying thatpeople are responding the way they are to the music.
Have you received anyfeedback from the artists covered on the show?
I've heard stories. I know that Steve Perry was brought intoFOX to see what we've done with "Don't Stop Believing." And I think they wereall really nervous and biting their fingernails 'cause I don't think they hadcleared the song yet. He watched it and was very quiet and was kinda sittingthere. When it was over, he was like, 'Who produced it?' They said, 'AdamAnders.' He said, 'I want to meet him.' Also, Jill Scott called Amber Riley [whosang 'Hate On Me'], I think.
This is great for thecast. This is cool, when do actors also get to enjoy success on the charts?
I'm sure they are excited. I'm sure a lot of them didn'tknow they had this talent. Take Cory Monteith who neversung in his life and the first thing he sings is #1. I think it just opened awhole new world to him. I know he's super excited about that and the tour.
Some of the cast havesung before though?
There are others like Lea Michele who havesung a ton on Broadway but now she's getting to sing all these styles she hadnot done before. At first maybe she was nervous but she really embraced thatrole as an all around singer who can kill a pop song of pop rock song as wellas do the Broadway thing. They are multitalented and not just actors. They aresingers, dancers, they are doing everything.