Yahoo Finance ‘Writing Bad Girls made me enough money to buy a house’
Singer-songwriter Bruce Sudano, 74, was married to Donna Summer for 32 years until her 2012 death. They co-wrote her iconic disco hit Bad Girls and he has also written songs for Michael Jackson, Dolly Parton and Reba McEntire.
How did your childhood influence your attitude to money?
I grew up in a relatively middle-class family in Brooklyn [New York]. My parents both worked and had three boys and there was always a scramble for money, but I never felt like I wanted for anything. I was always an artist in pursuit of the music.
What was your first paid job?
Cutting lawns in the neighbourhood. But I played my first music gig when I was 12 at a Sweet Sixteen party in Brooklyn. I think we made $20 or $25. I realised from an early age that making money by playing music as opposed to mowing lawns would be a benefit. I started putting bands together from the age of 13.
What was your breakthrough moment?
When I was a teenager, my band, Alive ‘N Kickin’, was the house band at a club in Manhattan. We would play six nights a week. One night, Tommy James of Tommy James and the Shondells came in and we became friends. He and I co-wrote Ball of Fire (1969), which became a hit record in America.
How well-paid is songwriting?
It's pretty lucrative, or it was then. I learned early on that it was important to own my publishing to make sure that when somebody else recorded one of my songs, that I had both ways to earn on the song: as songwriter and as a publisher. One of the first things I did with Donna when we met was to suggest to her that she get her publishing back. These days, many songs have up to 12 writers, so it’s very difficult for songwriters to make a living.
Which song made you the most money?
Bad Girls. A song like that can buy you a house. Like with all careers you have valleys and peaks and you have to factor that into the equation. But things cycle around. For example, in 1980 my then-band, Brooklyn Dreams, wrote a theme for a movie called Hollywood Knights. About 15 years ago another group [Greg Street ft Nappy Roots] sampled the song, then Snoop Dogg did, too, so it got new life again.
Writing and performing with your wife Donna Summer must have been a very profitable period.
It was, but money was never the driving force: the music was. And even more important was our relationship and family [the couple have two daughters, and Summer had a daughter from her first marriage]. There were many tours or performances that we didn't take advantage of because we felt that it would be too much of a strain.
What was your lifestyle like?
We had some great homes. We lived in Hollywood, and then when our kids started being born, we moved to a 56-acre ranch north of Los Angeles in a place called Hidden Valley and had horses and cows and a recording studio in the barn. And I still have our beach house in Manasota Key, Florida.
What’s the worst financial advice you’ve ever been given?
An accountant once told me she felt I was buying too much real estate and said, “Bruce, you can't eat bricks.” But I was right. When Donna and I got married, we started investing in property. Ultimately, real estate goes up. I don’t have an empire but I still have a few properties in California, New York and Nashville.
Did you create your own record company, Purple Heart, to make money?
I set it up in the 1990s because a major record company wouldn't sign me. I wanted to give my songs life, so I realised that I had to sing them and put them out there. It was a transition for me to be the sole guy on the stage singing his own songs. I'm breaking even with the record company.
Do you have a pension?
No, but I have a business. The songs are the business and that allows me to live my life and be free.
What do you drive?
I have two cars and they're both old. One is a 2010 Range Rover and the other one is a 2006 Maserati Sprint. The Maserati is a nice little car to ride in the hills and the Range Rover is pretty functional. I don’t need to have the latest car.
What’s your biggest indulgence?
I have so many guitars – probably close to 30 – that I don't know where to put them. I'm happy when I find a good guitar at $2,500. My favourite is a 1959 Martin 000-17; it's got a beautiful neck and a beautiful tone.
Does money make you happy?
Not having to worry about money is a great luxury. My parents worked day and night and struggled and that was a stress that they lived with. And it's not something that I've had for most of my life, so I'm really lucky.
Bruce Sudano’s latest single, Make The World Go Away, is out now. He will be touring the UK with The Zombies in April: see https://www.brucesudano.com/
