♪ love. love will keep us together. ♪ solid solid as a rock ♪ >> one of the hottest producers in the music business all reveal their secrets to creating a number-one song. >> you want it to pop, that's for sure. >> ahead on sunday morning, what makes a hit a hit as taught by the masters. >> cowan: grammy winners huey lewis and the news have found themselves off stage more than on one lately. this morning, for the record, they'll tell our john blackstone why. >> with fans still eager the hear their hits, huey lewis and the news played about 70 shows a year until their touring came to a sudden end. >> just before a gig in dallas, texas, on january 27, 2018. >> so you were about to go on stage >> i went on stage, and it was horrible. it was just unbelievable. i couldn't hear anything. i sang out of tune. i had the worst night of my life. >> huey lewis on live after rock 'n' roll later on "sunday morning." >> cowan: the beat goes on with one of the artists nominated tonight, a well-known music producer who sat down with us. >> d.j. cal - kli had brought together some of the biggest names in music. >> i nooment just a d.j., an artist or a producer. >> tonight he'll be center sage. >> he goes out there and says, you need the hear. this pay attention to what i'm doing, because what i'm doing is special. >> d.j. khalid. >> d.j. khalid. the king of collaborations ahead on "sunday morning." >> cowan: music is giving a group of boys raised in pofer they chance to dream. with seth doane we'll hear their sox, and just as touching, their story. ♪ ♪ >> they don't need some fancy stage for their talent to shine through. can you describe their sound? >> it's like mngor w,nie madagar for a breathtaking performance. >> cowan: john dickson introduces us to the tries -- and we'll get together with the children'so,trma troub. and we remember allee willis and more. first here are the headlines for january 26, 2020. a third case of coronavirus has been confirmed in the united pao wuhan, china, where the pneumonia-like virus originated. nearly 2,000 cases are reported in china now with 56 deaths. in ankara, turkey, the death toll from friday's earthquake has now raise on the 35. the 6.8 magnitude quake toppled dozens of buildings. 45 survivors from been pulled from the rubble is far. nearly 700 aftershocks have slowed the rescue effort along with subfreezing weather. attorneys for president trump launched their palm beach impeat defense at the capital. they argued the president committed to impeachable acts and accused house democrats of ignoring evidence favorable to the white house. that trial resumes tomorrow. after the session, candidates returned back the iowa to rejoin the campaign for the democratic presidential nomination. senator elizabeth warren got some good news. the "des moines register" announced it's endorsing her. but a new poll puts bernie sanders in the lead in iowa followed by boot judge and more. the lower portion of country can expect temperatures in the 70s for the week ahead, cold but sun and clouds in the east, scattered showers for the south, cool over the plains, but warm and sunny out west. ♪ i've always wanted to met you ♪ >> cowan: ahead... ♪ ever since i heard your voice ♪ >> cowan: could you write a hit song? america isn't just sick of donald trump, america's getting sicker. there are one million more uninsured americans every year under trump. and he's repeatedly tried to repeal obamacare. mike bloomberg will make sure everyone without health coverage can get it, and everyone who likes theirs, keep it. while capping fees to lower costs. as mayor, he helped expand coverage to seven hundred thousand more people. and championed women's reproductive health. as president, he'll give access to everyone. i'm mike bloomberg and i approve this message. >> cowan: is there a secret sauce the making music, something tha propels songs to the top of the chart?t just what makes a hit is a question that intrigued our david pogue. ♪ pop, pop, pop music >> and the grammy goes to... >> when you win a grammy, the judges tell you that your song or your album was the best of the year, but they don't tell you why. ♪ pop music >> "shallow," lady gaga. >> they don't tell you what they liked about it. but surely there is a science to writing a hit song. i went on a quest to find out. >> what makes it a hit? there are various notes that go with various chords, and if the sentiment is right, it gives you that in the groin, in the heart, you get those chills. can you understand that? >> yeah. ♪ i loving i love, i love my calendar girl ♪ if anyone understand, it's singer and songwriter neil sedaka. he wrote a huge string of hits starting in the '50s. ♪ happy birthday sweet 16 ♪ ♪ love love will keep us together ♪ >> "love will keep us together" hit number one in 1975. ♪ breaking up is hard to do "breaking up is hard to do" hit number one in 1962. ♪ don't take you love and then again at a slower tempo in 1976 ♪ away froem my heart ♪ in misery when you're writing, do you ever think about music theory stuff, like, oh,his should be a scale? >> i write advocatory, usually not more than a couple of notes, so that it's singable. you can write songs that everyone knows, but you can't write songs that everyone sings. ♪ it's all in me >> a key ingredient of a hit is the hook. >> the hook is the main, you know, thought of the song, you know, like "ain't no mountain high enough." that's the hook. so you want that to be memorable. ♪ baby there ain't no mountain high enough ♪ >> valley simpson and her late husband made up the duo ashford and simpson. they wrote hits for many people, including themselves. is there something you do that signals, this is the hook? like do you make it louder? >> you want it to pop. that's for sure. so you might, you know, go up so it sticks out in a way that it grabs you attention. >> that's exactly what she did in her hit "solid." ♪ solid solid as a rock ♪ ♪ that's what this love is >> we live in such a fragmented world, right? hits make you feel like the world is maybe a slightly smaller and more connected place. >> john seabrook is the author of "the song machine," which describes how hit songs are written today. are there elements that can be counted on the make a hit song? >> it clearly has something to do with reputation, because the brin loves patterns that it can recognize. ♪ i stay out to late >> a perfect example is the taylor swift song "shake it off," and not just in the catchy chorus. ♪ shake it off shake it off ♪ >> but this is the real genius of a pop song, is to make something that's simple enough to be kind of repetitive but doesn't get boring after it's been repeated 200 or 300 times. and that's very, very hard. ♪ help i need somebody ♪ help not just anybody ♪ >> no matter the era, the ingredients for a hit song have all the been melody, rhythm, harmony, and lyrics. but today the way songs are written is almost unrecognizable. it's not even called songwriting anymore. it's called production. >> it used to be writing a song back in the 1906s where you sit at a piano and pull out a pad and you write a song. well, production is that now. you pull out a laptop, you have a keyboard, and you produce a track. >> when you say "track"? >> so track is just another word for then strumal portion of a song. >> oak felder is one of the most sought-after songwriters -- i mean producers -- in pop music today. he's created hits for britdny spears, rihanna, ariana grande, alicia key, kelly clarkson, jennifer lopez, and demi lovato. >> i've always said that muse sick like a conduit of emotion between the creator and the listener. it's the way you can make a person cry listening to a ballad, or it's the way you can make a person shake their booty in the club. you get what i'm saying? >> yeah. i frequently shake booty in the club. >> that's amazing. ♪ baby >> felder got a lot of booty shaking in clubs with his monster hit "sorry, not sorry" sung by demi lovato. it hit number one in 201768 ♪ baby you're sorry oak felder has created hits for plenty of stars, but could he create one with me. >> i want to promote an exercise. i have an idea that's been running in hi head since we walked in the door. i've always wanted to meet you. can we do something like that?çó >> of course. we could do like a straightforward urban track with some pop chords. ♪ i've always wanted to meet you ever since i heard your voice ♪ since the day we first met on the street ♪ you made me feel i had no choice ♪ >> that's crazy. i love it. >> dude, you're a genius. >> it>> w just refleg fri in, i tried to remember everything i had learned about making a song ♪ñr a-b-c >> a memorable hook with just the right amount of reputation. ♪ sweet caroline >> a singable voice range ♪ i'm in love with the shape of you ♪ >> relatable lyrics. ♪ love will keep us together >> but according to john seabrook, there's one more ingredient. ♪ it might seem crazy what i'm about to say ♪ >> it's not just all machines and cold production. at the heart of it, there is still magic in the air.ñi >> valerie simpson says the same thing. >> my inspiration is to say it in a way that you haven't heard it and hope that it means something in your life. i hope that it touches something deep down. for the whole family. new vicks vapopatch. breathe easy. when you drink or eat something that's acidic everyone is at risk for enamel loss. it sucks the minerals out of the tooth's surface. pronamel is formulated to help deliver minerals to the tooth's surface to help reharden and strengthen your enamel. my body is truly powerful. i have the power to lower my blood sugar and a1c. because i can still make my own insulin. and trulicity activates my body to release it like it's supposed to. trulicity is for people with type 2 diabetes. it's not insulin. i take it once a week. it starts acting in my body from the first dose. trulicity isn't for people with type 1 diabetes or diabetic 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year was -- >> alvin! >> okay. ♪ christmas, christmas >> the chipp among song. the all time biggest song, late classical conductor sir george schulte with 31, followed by quincy jones, who has 28 grammy statuettes. it's a safe guess that given the current turmoil in the music academy, there are likely to be changes to respond to, among other things the debate over the grammy selection process. but everyone can agree on this, the official weight of a grammy statuette is six pounds. coming up... child's play. ♪ ♪ wherever we want to go, we just have to start. autosave your way there with chase. chase. make more of what's yours. dana-farber cancer institute discovered the pd-l1 pathway. pd-l1. they changed how the world fights cancer. blocking the pd-l1 protein, lets the immune system attack, attack, attack cancer. pd-l1 transformed, revolutionized, immunotherapy. pd-l1 saved my life. saved my life. saved my life. what we do here at dana-faber, changes lives everywhere. everywhere. everywhere. everywhere. everywhere. a lot will happen in your life. wrinkles just won't. neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair's derm-proven retinol works so fast, it takes only one week to reveal younger looking skin. neutrogena® >> if you've got kids, the music of raffi may be pretty familiar. he's provided the soundtrack for generation, but child's play it is not, as he tells our serena altschul. ♪ i've been working on the railroad all the live long days ♪ >> he may not look like a rock star, but for a certain shorter fan base, raffi is just that. ♪ can't you hear the whistle blowing ♪ rise up so early in the morn in the morn ♪ >> i'm the lucky guy whose songs delight children. ♪ i have to shake, shake my sillies out ♪ shake, shake, shake my sillies out ♪ and wiggle my worries away >> children's music for more than 40 years, has been nominated for three grammys, sold more than 15 million records, and has generations of fans the prove it. >> i mean, this has just been amazing. we raised our kids on raffi. now we're raising our grandkids on raffi. so we just love it. ♪ let me hear you ♪ down by the bay >> that's so good. ♪ shake, shake, shake >> children are having all kinds of fun, but for the adults now, because they're remembering their own childhood. >> yay, raffi. ♪ everybody's got a love bug >> raffi's childhood began in egypt, where he was born raffi cavoukian in 1948. in the hope of a better life, his father decided to move his minority armenian christian family out of the country when raffi was just ten years old. >> he felt that that bright future wasn't possible staying behind in egypt, and he loved his kids. he came to canada for us to live in a free country. >> he took to his adopted country immediately. >> the ice hockey. oh, my god. i didn't play it because i was a pudgy little armenian kid, but i loved the national hockey league games on television. >> but it was the music he discovered on the radio that truly changed his life. >> it was not only motown, but it was pete seeger and peter, paul, and mary and gordon lightfoot, joni mitchell, oh, my god. >> a teenager in the '60s, he was caught up in the burgeoning toronto folk scene, soon picking up a guitar himself. >> i wanted to become somebody like a james taylor. >> but he struggled to make ends meet playing music. then, by chance, he was invited to play for children at a local nursery school. >> i was on the floor, and i was singing a song that my then-wife had taught me. so apparently i did well. >> yes. they said yes, more. >> i was asked to return and sing again for them. and the $10 i got helped in those days. >> his first album, "singable songs for the very young" was released in 1976, a smash hit which led to 20 more albums of toddler classics. ♪ you know the more we get together, together, together ♪ the more we get together the happier we'll be ♪ >> from "the more we get together," to "bananaphone." ♪ ring, ring, ring, ring, ring bananaphone ♪ >> and especially his most famous song, "baby beluga" ♪ baby beluga in the deep blue sea ♪ you swim so wild and you swim so free ♪ >> that's a great line. so wild and you swim so free >> the song was inspired by a whale in captivity in an aquarium, and yet the song set the whale free. >> yes. >> there's something about the water warm is your mama home with you. now, i don't know what little child hears when they hear, that but it must be something, you know, precognitive connecting with them. >> raffi! raffi! >> and he's still connecting with kids today by releasing new music and touring around north america. he spends his down time at his home in the beauty and seclusion of salt spring island, british columbia. >> it's beautiful here. well, i can see how you would have been drawn to this playing. when did you first come here? >> 2008. >> so it's nice to meet you. we've really enjoyed your music. thank you. >> and you can find him every saturday at the farmers' market, manning a table for his non-profit, the foundation for child honoring, which advocates for putting children's needs first when tackling environmental and social problems. >> oh, look at this. look at this. >> hi. >> but as much as children love raffi and vice versa, for someone who loves children so much, you decided not to have children of your own. >> that's true. >> and people are always surprised by this. >> well, back then when my wife and i talked about it, a long time ago, we were always around kids. she was a kindergarten teacher and i was entertaining children, we just felt that we didn't need children of our own, and we decided to honor that feeling. >> you have children, they're just not buy -- by logically your children. >> exactly. >> and you can count my own daughter vivian as one of them. >> right, viv? ♪ every day is a new day spinning round ♪ a new day for me and you ♪ >> thank you, raffi. >> you're welcome, sweetie. ♪ this is it >> cowan: still to come, rocker huey lewis with some news. >> just unbelievable. couldn't hear anything. sang out of tune. i had the worst night of my life. >> cowan: but first, marching to a different drummer. >> let's go, blue! get the care and attention you deserve even faster. that's our promise. now, you can skip the line with walgreens express, get in and out quickly with 24-hour locations, or have your prescriptions delivered whenever you need us, we're always just minutes away. walgreens. and unmatched overall value. together with a dedicated advisor, you'll make a plan that can adjust as your life changes, with access to tax-smart investing strategies that help you keep more of what you earn. and with a new brokerage account, your cash is automatically invested at a great rate that's at least 20 times more than other advisory firms. personalized advice. unmatched value. at fidelity, you can have both. ♪ more than this >> cowan: one of tonight's classical music nominee, the maestro of the los angeles philharmonic, gustavo dudamel. among his talent, he's something of a pied piper to young musicians as john dickerson shows. >> conductor gustavo dudamel is a rock star of the classical music world. ♪ ♪ so how did he end up on a folding chair playing if a public school theater. >> this is like a really big honor. >> violin players francisco guerra and deborah htu -- >> i feel really nervous. >> -- who are high school centers trendton, new jersey, say it was the surprise of their hiervetion -- lives, but for dudamel, it was part of his life's story. when you look at the students playing, what do you see? >> well, i see myself, you know, because it's just exactly the same environment where i grew up, you know. >> a transplant from venezuela who answered to maestro, dudamel now leads the los angeles philharmonic where he was named music director at just 28. he's performed at the super bowl and for pope benedict xvi. now 39, he recently wrapped up a string of performances conducting princeton university students, including this free concert, a long way from his first conducting gig. >> my favorite game at home was to arrange my toys like an orchestra and conduct them. that for me was the most fun part of the day, an i put out a recording. it was an lp. i was rehearsing, seriously, this is not together, this is loud, please play less. let's go back. that made me be what iou , me.ut gatrtis front. >> most of all he credits a venezuelan program that stresses music as a way to enhance lives. and target students when they're young. bob simon featured dudamel and the program on "60 minutes" in 2008. >> el sistema is less a music program than a profound social movement that takes kids off the streets, takes them away from crime and drugs and despair. >> you once said, "the music saved me." >> completely. completesly. >> are you trying to help save others? >> completely. the power of t