Marc Jordan and John Capek Still on a High with Rod Stewart’s No. 1 Hit “Rhythm of My Heart”
Photography Credit: Rick Caballo of Dead Horse Branding
“Congratulations, Marc Jordan and John Capek, on being inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame. I have recorded many of your songs, and “Rhythm of My Heart” is especially near and dear to me. I loved performing it and recently have been dedicating it to Zelensky and the Ukrainian people. So happy for you, Marc and John. Well deserved, mate. Brilliant!” — Rod Stewart
“I’ve been a fan of John’s music for many years. He’s one of the deepest, most talented and soulful writers I know and I find myself listening to his albums for inspiration and pleasure all the time.” – Bonnie Raitt
“John Capek has achieved international acclaim as an award winning composer, songwriter, keyboard player, producer, arranger and scorer for feature films and television.” — Nashville Music Guide
Nashville, Tenn. — Renowned global hitmaker and songwriter John Capek has been inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame. In the Glenn Gould Theater of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in Toronto, Canada, Capek and his esteemed, long-time collaborator, Marc Jordan, were welcomed into the Class of 2023. They entered the company of legendary past inductees Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, Gordon Lightfoot, Randy Bachman, and Burton Cummings, among many others.
As a composer, keyboard player, producer, arranger, and film and television scorer, Capek’s unparalleled songwriting prowess has consistently yielded gold, platinum, and diamond sales for some of the most prominent international artists spanning decades, including Rod Stewart, Diana Ross, Bonnie Raitt, Olivia Newton-John, and Cher, to name only a few.
“Canada occupies a unique blend in the world of popular music, clearly illustrated by the caliber of artists it has fostered,” says Capek. “It has produced extraordinary lyricists and songwriters—unlike any I have encountered in professional co-writes that have taken me around the world.”
“These Canadian writers don’t just write lyrics; they are poets. Like Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen, they transcend lyrics and have created some of the most memorable pop songs in the canon.”
“It has been more than an honor for me to join the illustrious group that comprises the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame.”
With an enduring presence in the music industry spanning several decades, John Capek has established himself as an indispensable figure. His exceptional talent and unwavering commitment to musical excellence have rightfully earned him the prestigious honor of induction into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Capek says, “It has been more than an honor for me to be included in the illustrious group of songwriters who have been inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame. Canada has secured a unique place in the world of popular music, marked by the artists that it has fostered.”
Having received individual honors for their remarkable catalogs, both Marc Jordan and John Capek collectively achieved success co-penning the globally successful hit “Rhythm of My Heart” for Rod Stewart, as well as contributing to Bonnie Raitt’s “Deep Water,” crafting “Love So High” for Cher, and authoring Diana Ross’ “Pieces of Ice.” These accolades serve as a testament to Capek’s contributions to the music industry, reflecting a nearly 50-year journey that establishes them as a dynamic and influential duo within the music landscape.
Legendary songwriters inducted at past ceremonies include Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, Gordon Lightfoot, Paul Anka, RUSH, Bruce Cockburn, Randy Bachman, and Burton Cummings, among many others. Timeless classic songs heard and sung all over the world, such as “Universal Soldier,” “Born To Be Wild,” “My Way,” “American Woman,” “Four Strong Winds,” and “Hallelujah.”
“Anthem songs that stand the test of time—are what we hope to create as songwriters,” says Capek. “To be recognized for that by my peers and for my body of work is an honor.”
Extending their influence beyond the confines of the music industry, the compositions of Marc Jordan and John Capek have left an indelible mark on cinematic landscapes. Notable film soundtracks such as “The Perfect Storm,” featuring George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg, and “Loch Ness,” starring Ted Danson and Ian Hold, and Capek playing keys on The Simpsons and The Chipmunks albums, bear testimony to their impactful contributions. These endeavors have not only garnered critical acclaim but have also secured nominations and awards, underscoring the duo’s remarkable versatility and profound artistic depth.
Capek adds, “Thank you to the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame for this recognition and to all the incredible, individual artists with whom I have had the privilege of working with along the way.”
The Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame is an inaugural Legends Series, supported by the RBC Foundation through RBC Emerging Artists. Not only does it acknowledge the individual achievements of Marc Jordan and John Capek but also pays tribute to the lasting legacy forged through their collaborative endeavors, which have significantly contributed to shaping the global musical landscape. This recognition emphasizes the profound impact of their collective work and solidifies their esteemed place within the rich tapestry of musical achievement.
For more information and to connect with John Capek, please visit Website, Facebook, Instagram, and Spotify.
To schedule an interview or for more information, contact Dead Horse Branding at the following:
Danielle Reiss
Dead Horse Branding
Phone: (949) 421-9787
About John Capek
The sought-after songwriter, producer and session musician John Capek has lived on three continents and in four countries but keeps a special place in his heart for Canada.
An undisputed hit-maker, Capek was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic) in 1946, his parents having endured the horrors of the Holocaust. He was raised in Melbourne, Australia, where his musical journey began with classical piano lessons (his father was a concert pianist), augmented by The Great American Songbook of Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern and Harold Arlen. In his youth he branched out to rock and blues, playing in Australian bands while studying chemical engineering.
Music proved more alluring than engineering. Moving to Canada in 1973, Capek pursued a career as a keyboard player. By 1979 he found himself in Los Angeles, scoring his first songwriting contract with Welk Music. His first hit, in 1983, was Motown diva Diana Ross’s Pieces of Ice, a synth-pop effort written with fellow CSHF inductee Marc Jordan.
The Capek-Jordan songwriting partnership proved eminently successful, yielding many other hits, including three songs on the 1983 Grammy-winning album “Bodies and Souls” by the critically acclaimed vocal jazz group Manhattan Transfer.
Since that time, Capek’s songs have regularly achieved gold, platinum and diamond sales due in large part to his melodic hooks and meticulous arrangements. His detail-oriented approach to songwriting is a particular point of pride. As Capek told the Nashville Music Guide, “Any creative work of lasting quality takes time and attention to detail.”
Other Capek hits include Take Me Home, recorded by the late great vocal stylist Joe Cocker on his 1994 “Have a Little Faith” album (Top 10 in Europe and the U.K.); Cher’s A Love So High and The Same Mistake (both written with Jordan), and Toto’s Love Has the Power.
Capek’s reputation as a writer of hits with depth and heft has drawn numerous international artists to record his work. Arguably the best-known of Capek’s compositions is Rod Stewart’s 1991 mega-hit Rhythm of My Heart, another Jordan co-write. Stewart’s recording topped out at No. 1 in Canada and Ireland, No. 2 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart and No. 5 on the Top 100, and No. 3 in the U.K. Rhythm has become so synonymous with Stewart’s Scottish homeland that the song opened the 2014 Commonwealth Games there. It earned ASCAP and SOCAN Classics awards and a Canadian Music Publishers Association award.
Capek retains a heartfelt connection to Australia, where Frank Howson, John Paul Young, and the late Grammy-winner Olivia Newton-John performed his music. With the latter, Capek wrote Let’s Talk about Tomorrow for her popular album “The Rumour” and “It’s Always Australia for Me” to commemorate Australia’s bicentennial in 1988.
Along the way, Capek and Jordan wrote songs for the 1988 Australian film “Boulevard of Broken Dreams;” yielding an ARIA nomination.
Among other international artists Capek has written for include Scotland’s Helicopter Girl, whose album “How to Steal the World” was nominated for a Mercury Prize. And artists from his native Prague have recorded Capek’s work. As well, his 1991 solo album “Indaba,” recorded in South Africa after Nelson Mandela’s release from prison, featured many of South Africa’s greatest musicians and singers.
Back home in Canada, Capek collaborated with CSHF inductee Dan Hill to write Hill’s 1988 Top 10 hit Carmelia, a SOCAN Classic. He also produced Hill’s great adult-contemporary hits Can’t We Try and Never Thought That I Could Love.
In 1995 Capek left L.A. for Toronto, where he has worked with many other revered Canadians: Randy Bachman, Downchild, The Good Brothers, Gene MacLellan, Murray McLauchlan, Ian Thomas, Ron Hynes, Ken Tobias, Pavlo, Ann Murray, Carole Pope, Eddie Schwartz, Amy Sky, David Tyson, and Chris Ward. Among his biggest Canadian successes is Amanda Marshall’s Promises on her self-titled diamond-selling album.
Capek retains an affinity for the blues, as in his award-winning Sueanna performed by blues musician Bobby Cameron, and his co-writes with legendary U.S. R&B guitarist Cornell Dupree on his Grammy-nominated “Coast to Coast.” American all-time blues sensation Bonnie Raitt has recorded Capek’s compositions Deep Water and Blame It on Me, the latter on her chart-busting, Grammy-nominated album “Just Like That.” Raitt told Nashville Music Guide.com that Capek is “… one of the deepest, most talented and soulful writers I know.”
The multi-national Capek told the Globe and Mail, “If you ask me how I’m feeling, I’d much rather play it than say it.” Put another way, as he told a Nashville interviewer, “Music is my primary language. If you were to ask me how I’m feeling today, I could express my answer much better on a piano than I could in words.”
As he told a songwriters’ panel, “My motivation has always been to create something of beauty.” That’s something for which Capek’s artists and audiences are eternally grateful.
Capek has served as director of the Songwriters Association of Canada and the CSHF. He now lives in the music hot-spot of Nashville.
ABOUT CANADIAN SONGWRITERS HALL OF FAME (CSHF)
2023 marked the 25th anniversary of the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame (CSHF), a national and non-profit organization that is dedicated to honoring and celebrating Canadian songwriters and those who’ve dedicated their lives to the legacy of music. The CSHF also works to educate the public about these achievements, and to foster the next generation of songwriters through year-round initiatives and events. In December of 2011, SOCAN (the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada) acquired the CSHF; however, the Hall of Fame continues to be run as a separate organization and is guided by its own Board of Directors, comprised of both Anglophone and Francophone music creators and publishers, as well as representation from the record industry. The CSHF’s mandate aligns with SOCAN’s objectives as a songwriter and publisher membership-based organization. www.cshf.ca
