The music writing team of Steve Morales, Cathy Dennis and David Siegel are very talented. They came together to write and produce one of the most important songs in Clay Aiken’s career. “Measure Of A Man” is a song that touched the hearts of many when Clay included it in his first CD in 2003. And, of course, it became the title song for Clay’s first album.
I thought it might be interesting to know something about these three talented people who penned this uplifting song.
Cathy Dennis started her music career as a somewhat successful international pop singer. As a teen-ager, she was signed by Simon Fuller and his 19 Management Company. Perhaps this is the reason she has provided songs for so many Idol stars.
Cathy tired of performing and started her writing career where she has received great success for her pop songs. In 2004, Cathy was included on the Q Magazine list of the top 100 influential people in music. In 2006, she won the Woman of the Year Award for the music industry in the UK.
Her name is credited on many movie scores and popular songs of the day. She co-wrote “I Kissed a Girl” with Katy Perry which was a huge success.
Cathy still works with Simon Fuller and writes for many of the American Idol contestants. She co-wrote the theme that has been re-used for numerous international remakes of the show, including American Idol. This busy lady received writing credits on 16 albums in 2011.
Cathy Dennis received an Honorary Doctorate of Music at University of East Anglia in 2012.
In searching out David Siege, who is named as a writer of Measure of A Man, I was stumped. I went back to the album notes and realized that his name is misspelled on the CD insert under the song. It is correct under the song The Way. It is David Siegel
According to his web-site:David Siegel is a Miami based producer/songwriter/musician whose name has appeared on over 30 million records sold worldwide for artists as diverse and popular as Christina Aguilera, Beyonce, Britney Spears, Celine Dion, Pink, Clay Aiken, Marc Anthony, Ricky Martin, Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em, Thalia and T.I. He was also named in Top 10 singles for Jessica Simpson, Enrique Iglesias and Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em, as well as the #1 single for T.I. “Whatever You Like.”
David is known for performing most of the instruments on his own productions, as well performing as a musician for countless sessions outside of his own work. He possesses extensive experience making radio hits for different genres of pop music in the studio, as well as years of playing live in front of thousands of people in numerous groups/rock bands in countless cities. His diverse range has led him to perform in shows as varied as moshing, screamo-math-metal bands to appearances on television with Miami rapper Trick Daddy and Lil’ Jon.
In May of 2009, David was listed as #3 in the Top Ten Songwriters chart in a special edition of Billboard Magazine. In 2010, David was presented with awards from BMI in recognition of the great national popularity as measured by broadcast performances for the song “Whatever You Like.”
Steve Morales is a superstar producer and songwriter who lives in Florida. A few years ago, Steve built a state-of-the-art recording studio. He partnered with Fabian Marasciullo and the two men have been able to work without leaving their homes in Florida. Their advertisement for the studio states:
their combined discography literally reads like the Who’s Who of industry superstars with acts from Celine Dion, Christina Aguilera, Enrique Iglesias and Britney Spears to Michael Jackson, J.LO and Clay Aiken.
On Apr 18, 2011, Steve posted the following on YouTube:
TAKIN A BREAK AND MAKING SOME SODA AT HOME !!!!
Clay Aiken has certainly had the opportunity to work with some of the best in the industry and these three musicians wrote a beautiful song for Clay and his album.
I will never forget watching the video of Clay’s performance of Measure Of A Man in Wilkes-Barre, PA. It was one of the touching concert performances in 9 years of Clay concerts.
If you haven’t seen this video, it is a must. If you have seen it, well, you know its worth a second look!