Even Better:
- Steven Kahn
- Sep 10
- 2 min read
Right Track Recording, NYC — Early 1980s
We’d just finished mixing Chuck Mangione’s new album, and the master tape was ready to be delivered to CBS. With hours to spare, we moved on to the final step: naming the songs.
Chuck’s compositions (without lyrics) usually began as numbered works-in-progress—#243, #244, #245. But now it was time to give them proper titles, the kind that live on record sleeves and in listeners' memories.
Champagne was flowing in the control room. Chuck was there, along with the band, engineer Dave Green, and the rest of the studio crew who’d seen the project through. The energy was relaxed but creative—we were tasked with suggesting names as each track played.
The first track came on—classic Chuck: bright, melodic, irresistibly catchy. I leaned forward and threw out a confident suggestion:
“Feels Even Better!”
Inspired, of course, by Chuck’s massive hit, “Feels So Good.”
There was a pause. Not the good kind.
Then came the polite smiles. Then… silence. It was a swing and a miss.
That track ultimately opened the "Love Notes" album with the far more elegant name: Steppin’ Out.
Lesson learned: even in creative sessions, there is such a thing as a bad idea—especially if it sounds like a sequel.
Still, maybe someday I’ll write my own track and call it Feels Even Better.
The single that was released was an edited version of the album track, and was the first time I made an edit (we cut the tape back then) for a record with such a high level artist. It was gracious of Dave Green to offer me (assistant engineer on the album) the honor to do so. If I did my job right, you won't hear the edit.
Bonus: Labor Day Weekend Telethon--nice performance , with some added laughs.
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