Eddie Schwartz

The Working Songwriter

Joe Pug

Performing Arts, Arts, Music, Music Interviews

4.9 • 1.7K Ratings

🗓️ 15 May 2026

⏱️ 58 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Our guest this week on the Working Songwriter hails from Canada and has spent over four decades writing hit songs. Eddie Schwartz got his start as a solo artist, but has found great success writing for and with other artists. His song "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" was recorded by Pat Benatar and became a certified platinum crossover hit. He went on to pen songs for Donna Summer, the Doobie Brothers, the Pointer Sisters, and many others. As a former president of the Songwriters Association of Canada and North American and a president of the International Council of Music Creators, Schwartz has been a tireless advocate for songwriters. He's received multiple BMI, SOCAN, and JUNO Awards. In 2012, he was awarded the Order of Canada, one of the country's highest civilian honors. I got a chance to catch up with Mr. Schwartz a few months ago to hear about his musical journey so far. Interested in sponsoring us? Contact BGS: https://bit.ly/sponsorBGSpods

Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode of The Working Songwriter is brought to you by Yamaha guitars.
0:05.3	2026 marks the 60th anniversary of Yamaha guitars.
0:10.0	That's six decades of innovation, expertise, and instruments that have inspired players like
0:15.4	John Denver, Bob Dylan, Elliot Smith, Billy Corgan, and Keith Urban.
0:20.2	From legendary FG red label guitars to modern innovations like their transacoustic series,
0:26.9	Yamaha continues to set the gold standard for acoustic guitar craftsmanship worldwide.
0:32.3	To celebrate 60 years of guitar excellence, visit Yamaha.com and stop by your local Yamaha dealer today. Hi and welcome to the working songwriter, the show where today's best songwriters
0:59.4	come to talk shop. I'm your host, Joe Pug. Each episode here, we host a distinguished guest,
1:06.0	and we ask them to go deep on their inspiration, on their process, on the general ups and downs of making
1:12.3	a life in music. So, whether you're a grizzled veteran, still ordering 3,000 CDs for a new
1:19.3	release because you refuse to admit that the market has crashed, or else a scrappy upstart,
1:25.8	ordering 3,000 CDs as an ironic flex.
1:29.6	This is your show because ultimately it is what every writer seeks most,
1:34.5	an ironclad excuse to put off actually writing.
1:51.5	Hey, everyone, it's the third Friday of May, 26, and I thank you for being here.
1:56.2	This week's show is brought to you by Banzugal. Built by musicians and for musicians,
2:01.6	Banzeguil is an all-in-one platform to build a beautiful website for your music.
2:06.3	I'm old enough to remember when you had to pay somebody called a web developer to get a website made.
2:14.7	It'd always be some guy named Samson who drove a Nissan Exeterra with a vanity plate that referenced too fast, too furious,
2:19.0	and who is always trying to sell you herbal supplements with the implication that your wife was unsatisfied. And old Sampson would charge you about a thousand bucks for a website
2:23.9	that would be obsolete in six months. But it's the future now, you guys, that's not how it works
2:29.0	anymore. We're allowed to have nice things now. One of those nice things is Bananzugal. For over 20 years, Banzugal has made
	...

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