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I've listed this article for peer review because…
Well, now that I've finally found a source to verify his date of birth, I'd like to help promote this article to good article status (that may take a while). A few things I'm looking for are:
- Would I need to give any specifics on his songwriting style, since he's primarily a songwriter? I'm finding nothing on his songwriting style.
- Similarly, I'm finding almost nothing on his singing style or musical influences, in or out of Boy Howdy. I will probably need help there.
- I'm not quite sure which songs would be notable enough to mention as being among his more notable compositions. "What Hurts the Most", obviously, since it was a huge hit, and maybe "If You Love Somebody" and "Unbelievable" since they won him awards and were among his first compositions.
- Any other tips that would make for a smoother article would be appreciated.
Thanks, Ten Pound Hammer and his otters • (Broken clamshells•Otter chirps) 02:24, 30 April 2008 (UTC)
Ruhrfisch comments: I am not a music article writer, but will boldly jump in and give some ideas for improvement.
- Is there any critical commentary on his albums or songs, even those sung by other artists? I would think that any critical feedback on the songs he has written would include some material on them that might be adaptable as style.
- I would say any song that was on the charts or received an award would be notable. Another thing to look at would be what others say about him, if someone says "Steele, author of X, Y and Z", then I would include those songs (XYZ)\
Now for comments on the article
- A model article is often useful for a model to follow in terms of structure, style, etc. There are several musician FAs that may be useful models.
- having co-written more than sixty songs - does he only co-write? Does he ever write on his own?
- I would rename "Biography" something like "Early life" as the whole article is a Biography in a way, and this section is really just on his early life.
- Biography section has some gaps in chronology - in 1978 we get by age seventeen, he was performing with local groups, and playing keyboards at various gigs on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles.[5], then skip nine years to te next sentence In 1987, after the death of his father, LeVasseur changed his last name to Steele... What were the names of some of his groups and wWhat did he do before Boy Howdy?
- Article needs a copyedit, for example In 1990, Jeffrey Steele and three other California musicians -- Hugh Wright, along with brothers Cary and Larry Park --
toform[ed] the band Boy Howdy, in which he served as theband'slead vocalist and bass guitarist.[7] - Since Boy Howdy seems to be one of the main things for which he is notable, I would give a bit more about the group. For example, why did it break up (we are just told in passing they broke up two years after his move to Nashville)
- I think the Singles table is only for singles he recorded. This should be made clearer. Also why no table on songs he has (co-)written for others?
Interesting article, hope this helps, Ruhrfisch ><>°° 03:19, 4 May 2008 (UTC) Response:
- Any critical commentary on his songs? -- I've yet to find anything substantial.
- ...his albums? -- Again, nothing that I've found. All Music Guide never reviewed his albums, and apparently, neither did Billboard, Entertainment Weekly, or even country review sites like Country Standard Time or The 9513.
- Does he only co-write? -- I've looked him up on BMI, and about 99% of his material seems to be co-writes.
- Gaps in chronology -- I couldn't find anything regarding the interim there; no names of bands, et cetera. That was also one of maybe two sources to even verify his surname.
- Boy Howdy -- I've had a very hard time finding sources for this band since the name Boy Howdy has, like, 400 meanings. So far, I've found nothing on why they broke up, just that they did (the Country Weekly source, which actually just says that they were on hiatus).
- Singles table -- Yeah, I should clarify that those are his own singles. It wouldn't hurt to give a table of some of his notable compositions, I guess.
Ten Pound Hammer and his otters • (Broken clamshells•Otter chirps) 03:49, 4 May 2008 (UTC)
- OK, if there is not much material out there, that makes things harder. Is there a Steele fan club or a Boy Howdy fan club? They might know of some obscure but reliable sources - you never read the article in the "Springfield Shopper"?! Ruhrfisch ><>°° 01:55, 5 May 2008 (UTC)
- Springfield Shopper? Ten Pound Hammer and his otters • (Broken clamshells•Otter chirps) 02:02, 5 May 2008 (UTC)
- It was meant to be a joke - it is the newspaper in the Simpsons, so I was pretending the fan club knew of an interview from some equally obscure (but reliable) source. Ruhrfisch ><>°° 02:37, 9 May 2008 (UTC)