Music and Lyrics was released two years before otsoNY.com was launched online by creator Mark Rogers. The film, that was inspired by pop groups Wham! And Duran Duran was one of the first to be posted on the website shortly after its launch in November 2009, and has since been updated several times with additional locations and higher quality screen grabs following the release on Blu-ray.

Film Poster: Music and Lyrics

The romantic comedy follows former music superstar Alex Fletcher played by Hugh Grant, who used to fill concert arenas back in the 1980s, but now he is reduced to playing nostalgia tours and county fairs. He scores a chance at a major comeback when reigning pop diva Cora Corman played by Haley Bennett, who asks him to write a song for her, but he hasn't written anything in years and cannot compose lyrics anyway. Noticing that Sophie played by Drew Barrymore, the plant lady, has a way with words, Alex proposes that he and Sophie make beautiful music together. “The main reason for putting this film on my list was the apartment building on 72nd Street,” explains Mark. “Before my first trip to New York, I did some searching online and found that IMDB.com had already pinpointed this location, which saved me a lot of time!”

Apartment building on 72nd Street and Broadway in New York City

The apartment building in question was that of Hugh Grant’s character Alex's, and was located at 201 West 72nd Street and Broadway, which was six blocks above the Tower Records at Lincoln Center, which was also featured in the film. “I think the actual record store had closed down before the film was even released,” says Mark.

Upon arriving in New York, Mark spent his second day in the area of Broadway and 72nd Street. “I used my location maps to navigate around the city and so not to waste too much time by going back and forth I kept to certain areas.” Mark added, “Unfortunately, the entrance to apartment building had scaffolding outside which always a bit of a disappointment.”

Apartment building on 72nd Street and Broadway in New York City

“Having grown up in the 1980s, this type of film was perfect, and really reminded me of the great days of pop music. I also noticed that the at the top of the closing credits during the PoP pop-up video, one of the trivia history bubbles mentions that ‘Colin created a huge controversy when he declared PoP to be bigger than The Beatles’,” says Mark. “This was a reference which hearkens back to the international controversy caused by John Lennon's declaration that The Beatles were more popular than Jesus Christ.”

Scene from Music and Lyrics starring Drew Barrymore and Hugh Grant

Piano shop used in Music and Lyrics

Other locations in the film included Faust Harrison Pianos at 207 West 58th Street, Madison Square Gardens, and the City Bakery on West 18th Street. “Besides Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore there was one other interesting character in the movie which was pop diva Cora Corman played by Haley Bennett. Her apartment building was at 173 Duane Street in TribeCa. It was a six story loft-style building with canopied brick facade and arched windows,” recalls Mark. “A typical 4,200-square-foot co-op with two bedrooms, and two bathrooms would have cost around $3.85 million in 2009, whereas today it would sell for $7.95 million.”

Click HERE for a full list of film locations from Music and Lyrics

In the next article of this series, Mark talks about the film, ‘The Proposal’ and the onset images of Sandra Bullock as reference to film locations.