Producer, songwriter and Selena Gomez's boyfriend Benny Blanco appeared on The Howard Stern Show on Tuesday (May 14) to promote his new cookbook, Open Wide, but the conversation also veered into Blanco's recipes for success in pop music.
During his two-hour discussion with Stern, which covered a wide array of topics, Blanco shared the story about how Maroon 5's "Moves Like Jagger" became a monster hit.
The story began when Blanco met Maroon 5's since-deceased manager Jordan Hill, the brother of actor Jonah Hill, at a Sara Bareilles concert. "He said, 'Adam's never written with another person ever.' This was years ago. This was 2009, 2010... 'He wants to try it. And everyone says, you're the guy. Would you be willing to do it?'" Blanco recalled.
At the time, Blanco was working on the song "Stereo Hearts" with Travie McCoy from Gym Class Heroes. He asked Hill if Levine wanted to work on the song, but he initially passed. Blanco didn't give up, and eventually Levine agreed, but then he ran into another obstacle.
"I played it for radio [executives], and they said, 'Maroon 5? Those guys had their time.' And I said, 'No, I really think this is something special. His voice. We grew up on this. I really think we can bring him back.'"
Blanco's instincts proved correct, and that song became a big hit. That prompted him to start writing another song for Levine and Maroon 5 with his friends and collaborators Shellback and Ammar Malik.
Around the same time that they were completing the song, Hill informed Blanco that Levine had landed a new gig as one of the judges on a new TV show called The Voice, which Hill informed him was "going to be the next American Idol."
Maroon 5 was set to perform "Never Gonna Leave This Bed," but Hill decided they should switch it out for "Moves Like Jagger," release the song on iTunes and see what happens.
After the TV appearance, the song took off, prompting Maroon 5's record label to switch the song it was promoting at radio and it became the band's "biggest hit ever," Blanco said.
The songwriter/producer also recalled how the song was written, while Shellback was in Sweden. "We started working on it over the internet," he recalled. Shellback sent Blanco this "teeny, little idea" that included the song's whistling section and some made up lyrics, they eventually transformed into the iconic line "Moves like Jagger."
Blanco thought the song would work for Levine - who is also credited as a songwriter on the track -- and Maroon 5, but he acknowledged that it "was still a little hard to get people on the Maroon 5 train at that point."
"But Adam's so talented and Maroon 5 is so great, I just knew it," Blanco said. "When someone has a f---ing great voice and is a star, there's always time for someone to comeback."
Once again, Blanco's instincts were correct. The song topped Billboard's Hot 100 in July 2011, becoming Maroon 5's first No. 1 and first top 10 hit since 2007.
