Hotel chaperone Michael and his guitarist friend Ray Needham had lived in Las Vegas for about two years and spent their evenings developing a musical sound using Michael's song writing talents and Ray's sultry guitar work.
Michael and Ray had created a song which was melancholy, sad, and desperately emotive. It had to work as a kind of duet. It needed a female vocal so that the genre and tempo of the song would be similar to Kate Bush and Peter Gabriel's Don't Give Up or Prince Billy's deeply emotive duets with his sidekick,
Having recently dumped his girlfriend and then regretted it, Michael had looked to reignite the relationship and put back some more effort into his love life. What he didn't bargain for was the old girlfriend did not want to know any longer and he was left in a kind of regrettable lovelorn situation and full of lament.
This was good for his song writing but not good for his state of mind. His pal Ray had contacted a few other producers of music in Las Vegas and some more in Tucson, Arizona. Ray emailed the lyrics and a melody he had played on keyboards to his fellow producers. Immediately Ray was contacted by one of the music producers and was told his song (or Michael's penned tune) was an "absolute diamond" and needed a female vocal to sing as duet.
During the next few days Ray and another music producer in Tucson decided to contact needabeat, a website that provides vocal samples and beats for musicians. The website holds music competitions and is an ongoing feature on the site. At needabeat you can create a request for a sultry vocal and specify exactly what you want from the music competition contestants.
The website then provides the musicians with a beat that will fit your musical masterpiece and complete the song that has inspired you. Michael's song and heartfelt lyrics needed a female vocal that was able to sing in a sultry style, Ray and Michael both wanted someone like a Stevie Nicks, Bonnie Tyler or Beth Orton style of vocal.
The next stop was to head for the needabeat website and create the competition. Music competitions at needabeat are free to enter and the marketplace has a new request for a female vocal harmony. There is a prize of $175 to win for the best vocal used, as selected by Michael and Ray.