It Wasn’t Music to His Ears

It’s clear Edgar Bronfman Jr. can write a check, as he’s doing in buying control of entertainment conglomerate MCA for about $5.7 billion. But can he write a song?

Back in 1989, Bronfman’s songwriting skills were the target of a not-so-kind barb in People magazine in a review of an Ashford & Simpson album that included the Bronfman song, “In Your Arms.”

The review, by writer David Hiltbrand, took note of the fact that it was a departure for Ashford and Simpson to record a song written by someone else.

“So whose tune did they choose? Gershwin, perhaps? Ellington? Stevie Wonder?” Hiltbrand wrote. “Nope, the insipid ‘In Your Arms’ was co-written (with Bruce Roberts) by Seagram heir-aspiring songwriter Edgar Bronfman Jr., who, one hopes, can always fall back on the family business.”

More Bronfman. . .

A list of more than a dozen songs registered with royalty organization BMI reveals Bronfman is mostly a writer of tender love ballads.

A few of Bronfman’s songs, mostly those he wrote with Roberts, have been recorded. In addition to “In Your Arms,” Bronfman’s “Whisper in the Dark” was recorded by Dionne Warwick.

Among Bronfman’s love ballads are “Intimacy,” “Our Love Affair is Over,” “Quiet Sound of You and I” and “If I Didn’t Love You.”

Bronfman, whose father preceded him as chief executive of Seagram, wrote another song called “Dad.”

A few might be considered appropriate in describing his longtime quest to become a major Hollywood player, a dream that the MCA deal will finally fulfill.

There’s “Finding You,” written with songwriter John Pearson, as well as “It’s Another Show” and “Dreams Die Hard.”

Equal Billing

Columbia Pictures doesn’t play favorites in describing the high-profile producing team of Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, responsible for the studio’s current film “Bad Boys.”

In its press information for the film, Columbia says of Simpson: “As one of the most highly regarded creative forces in the entertainment industry, producer Don Simpson, along with his partner Jerry Bruckheimer, has established one of the most successful producing teams in recent motion picture history with such smash hits as ‘Flashdance,’ ‘Beverly Hills Cop,’ ‘Top Gun’ and ‘Days of Thunder.’ ”

Columbia says of Bruckheimer: “As one of the most highly regarded creative forces in the entertainment industry, producer Jerry Bruckheimer, along with his partner Don Simpson, has established one of the most successful producing teams in recent motion picture history with such smash hits as ‘Flashdance,’ ‘Beverly Hills Cop,’ ‘Top Gun’ and ‘Days of Thunder.’ ”

Briefly. . .

A retail research firm says only 1.1% of the people it surveyed are too busy watching the O.J. Simpson trial to shop. . . . Enough already: A 96-page “Michael Jordan Returns!” magazine debuts nationwide this month.