Biography: Pamela Phillips Oland

Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Selena, Frank Sinatra, the Jacksons, Gladys Knight, Nikka Costa, and Reba McIntyre, are among artists who’ve recorded over 450 Pamela Phillips Oland songs. Anne Murray’s “Duets,” nominated for 2008 Best Album and Best Pop Album Juno Awards, features Anne’s re-recording of Oland & James Dunne’s Grammy-Nominated #1 song “Nobody Loves Me Like You Do,” which has logged more than 1,000,000 airplays.

Claire Dela Fuente’s current #1 record, “Something In Your Eyes,” co-written with Richard Carpenter, is the most requested song in the Philippines. A forthcoming duet with Philippine Idol winner Sarah Geronimo and Back Street Boys’ Howie Dorough is one of 3 songs recorded for Sarah’s forthcoming album. Also current: “Bird’s Eye View” appears on alternative artist Simon Lynge’s debut album. “Mad About You” is on Danish TV star Sascha Dupont’s album, and “Daydream Nightmare” is a single by Eurovision winner DQ.

Oland’s Awards include a Best Song In a Motion Picture Genie Award-nominated title song co-written with LeVar Burton for “Blizzard,” a Best Kids Album Grammy nomination for “Be Bop Your Best”-an album co-written with artist Red Grammer, a CMA Best Country Duet award, an Accolade Award, and a New York Festivals Silver medal for the song score of “Legend of the Three Trees.”

Her extensive movie work includes the end-title to “Puerto Vallarta Squeeze,” the “Digga Digga Dog” opening and end-title song to 102 Dalmatians, and main themes to “Coming To America,” “Gideon,” “Burglar,” and “I’m Gonna Git You Sucka.” Her t.v. work includes “Reaper,” “Bad Girls Guide,” “Little Miss,” “J*A*G,” “The Sopranos, themes to “Thunder In Paradise,” and “Dexter’s Lab,” “Xena: Warrior Princess (3 songs for the cult favorite “Bitter Suite” episode) and all songs (music & lyrics) for the award-winning Kids Ten Commandments.

The career lyricist defies categorization, working in all styles and genres. She’s currently co-writing with Tom Harriman a major musical based on the Oscar-nominated film “Soldier of Orange,” for a projected 2009 opening in the Netherlands; and has finished the novel, “The Downfall of Oliver Hepz,” just optioned by Deep Muddy Productions for a feature film. She also has two television shows optioned and currently being shopped. She co-wrote the book “Read This! Before Falling In Love” with noted psychoanalyst/sex therapist Dr. Nancy Ronne. With Mark Brymer, she recently wrote 20 songs for McGraw-Hill Kids Math Album. Oland and Harriman, her partner in TOPA Music, wrote and produced the CD-art package “Van Gogh by Van Eck” featuring Diederick vanEck for Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum. It became a part of the Van Gogh & His Fellow Expressionists Exhibition.

Author of the popular music industry books, “The Art Of Writing Great Lyrics,” and “The Art of Writing Love Songs,” (Allworth:NY), Oland participates in songwriting and music seminars around the country and abroad, as well as offering lyric evaluations and career consultations. She frequently co-hosts “Samm Brown’s For The Record,” a Sunday music industry interview show live at 2:00 pm PST on KPFK 90.7 FM.