![]() It was an emphatic hit for Cher, who had reinvented herself once again whilst confirming her rightful place in the pantheon of pop legends. 'Believe' is Cher's biggest ever single, and is one of the best-selling singles of all time. Was 'Believe' a hit when it was first released? Known as "the Cher effect", even Kanye West thanked the icon, with Auto-Tune infiltrating the best part of mainstream chart pop hits whether or not you'd even notice. In many ways, it was the music industry's secret shame, wanting to keep any information about its existence confidential to save them the embarrassment.īut 'Believe' pulled the curtain back on this industry-wide secret, as the general public was still under the impression what voices they were listening to were because of sheer talent alone.Īt first, Cher's team fought the case that it was a vocoder used to distort her voice, an instrument that synthesises the voice which has been in circulation since the 1970s.īy then it was too late, the cat was out of the bag, and Auto-Tune has become commonplace amongst musicians, either major pop icons or budding bedroom artists. No longer did marketable pop music talent actually have to possess a natural ability to sing, as their voices could be pitch-corrected in the studio. What impact did 'Believe' have on the music industry?Ĭher - Believe (Live from the American Music Awards)Īuto-Tune was a brand new sparkly toy for music producers and industry insiders after it first came to fruition in 1997. ![]() She even reportedly told the pair "don't let anyone touch this track, or I'm going to rip your throat out," when the label attempted to tone down the extreme Auto-Tune effect. In an inspired mistake, producers Taylor and Rawling introduced Auto-Tune to Cher's voice, but only mustered the courage to show Cher the result after several beers.Ĭher notoriously takes no bullshit, so they were understandably apprehensive, though after hearing the effect was immediately convinced that it would become the song's signature sound. The song's big breakthrough in terms of production was the distinctive vocal effect, which has since become iconic. How did the iconic auto-tune effect come about?Īt the age of 52, Cher became the oldest female to achieve chart-topping hits in both the UK and the US at the same time. Producers Mark Taylor and Brian Rawling then, by a stroke of genius, established the song's signature effect. ![]() Warner Music UK's then-president Rob Dickins encouraged Cher after the recent success of Madonna's dance-pop hit 'Ray Of Light' and took the song from the original writer who had "done no justice to own song," before dishing it out to Metro Productions. It landed in Cher's lap, and she was keen to pursue a new direction after the critical and commercial failure of her 1995 album, It's a Man's World. (Photo by Barry King/WireImage).Īs a demo, the song was passed on to many of the major female pop stars of the time, though each one refused. How did the song make its way to Cher?Ĭher became a living legend and gay icon after the release of 'Believe'. 'Believe' then made its way to small London studio Metro Productions, who transformed the song into a dance floor-filler, though they had to re-produce it without wanting to alienate Cher's core fanbase. We got paid a bottle of whisky between us for the session!" listen to the first two chords to 'I've Been in Love Before' and the first two chords to 'Believe' and you'll hear the similarity. "We tweaked the melody and chords in the famous chorus. That shows how long the song sat around." In 2008, Van Eede recalled: "Kevin MacMichael and I produced the original demo with Mark Scott and Brian Higgins in 1992 I think. ![]() Whilst songs are sometimes written in short bursts of divine inspiration, this was the polar opposite - it took a total of six years to come together.īeginning its journey as a demo amongst four writers working for Cher's record label, Warner Bros, 'Believe' was shopped about before eventually reaching Nick Van Eede and Kevin MacMichael of 80s rock band Cutting Crew.
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