Jeff Barry

For the baseball player, seeJeff Barry (baseball).

"J. Barry" redirects here. For other uses, seeBarry (name).

Jeff Barry
Birth name	Joel Adelberg
Born	(1938-04-03)April 3, 1938 Brooklyn,New York, U.S.
Genres	Rock and roll,pop music
Occupation(s)	Songwriter singer record producer
Years active	1958–present
Labels	RCA,United Artists,Bell,A&M

Jeff Barry(bornJoel Adelberg;April 3, 1938) is an American pop music songwriter, singer, and record producer. Among the most successful songs that he has co-written in his career are "Do Wah Diddy Diddy","Da Doo Ron Ron","Then He Kissed Me","Be My Baby","Chapel of Love",and"River Deep - Mountain High"(all written with his then-wifeEllie GreenwichandPhil Spector); "Leader of the Pack"(written with Greenwich andShadow Morton); "Sugar, Sugar"(written withAndy Kim); "Without Us" (written withTom Scott), and "I Honestly Love You"(written withPeter Allen).

Early career

Barry was born inBrooklynto aJewishfamily.His parents divorced when he was seven, and his mother moved him and his sister toPlainfield,New Jersey, where they resided for several years before returning to New York.

Chart success

Further information:List of songs written by Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich

Barry andEllie GreenwichwithThe Dixie Cupson the cover ofCash Box,August 29, 1964

In 1964, Leiber and Stoller brought Barry and Greenwich on board their new label,Red Bird Records,as songwriter-producers. Of Red Bird's first 20 releases, 15 hit the charts; all were written and/or produced by the Barry-Greenwich team, including "Chapel of Love","People Say",and"Iko Iko"byThe Dixie Cups,and "Remember (Walkin' in the Sand)"(co-produced byArtie Ripp)and "Leader of the Pack"byThe Shangri-Las.

In late 1966, Barry was asked to produce tracks forthe Monkees,a music group put together specifically as the stars of an NBC sitcom, also calledThe Monkees.Drafted by the show's musical supervisor,Don Kirshner,Barry brought with him a few tunes penned by Neil Diamond for the group to record. One among them, "I'm a Believer",under Barry's production, would sail up the U.S. charts to No. 1 and become one of the biggest-selling records of all time. The group also had a hit with another single composed by Diamond and produced by Barry,"A Little Bit Me, a Little Bit You".After Kirshner's dismissal from Colgems Records, however, Barry would not produce songs for the Monkees again until 1970'sChanges,which contained many songs co-written by Barry, and their 1971 singleDo It in the Name of Love.

Having been removed from the Monkees project, Kirshner became music supervisor for a new Saturday morning cartoon,The Archie Show,in 1968, and enlisted Barry as producer and main songwriter.During the next three years, Barry composed dozens of songs for the fictionalArchiesgroup, including the show's theme, "Everything's Archie", and the "Dance of the Week" (a staple of the show's first season). Barry had also recently founded his own label,Steed Records,and one of his most successful recording artists wasMontrealnativeAndy Kim,who had hits with remakes of Barry's Ronettes tunes "Be My Baby" and "Baby, I Love You". Barry and Kim collaborated on several tunes for The Archies to record, including their best-known single, "Sugar, Sugar",which hit No. 1, became theRIAARecord of the Yearfor 1969, and earned the group agold record.

In 1970, Barry wrote and produced singles and albums for Archies lead singerRon Dante,Bobby Bloom( "Montego Bay"), andRobin McNamara( "Lay a Little Lovin' on Me"), among others.In addition, Barry penned his first music for motion pictures (Hello Down There(1969) andWhere It's At) and wrote the music for and producedTom Eyen's hitoff-BroadwayrevueThe Dirtiest Show in Town.In 1975 he produced "Ooh, I'm Satisfied" for the briefly successful mid-'70s pop singer and later session vocalist, Polly Cutter.

Production and film work

In 1971 Barry moved from New York to California, where he had a production and administration deal withA&M Recordsfor several years.Between 1972 and 1975, he produced hit singles forNino TempoandApril Stevens(together and separately) and thea cappellavocal groupthe Persuasions.In subsequent years he shifted his focus to television (writing the theme songs forOne Day at a Time,The Jeffersons,andFamily Ties) and movies (the score for 1980'sThe Idolmaker), although he continued his work in the pop music field. "I Honestly Love You",written by Barry withPeter Allen,became a 1974 No. 1 forOlivia Newton-John;and, in 1984,Jeffrey Osborneand Joyce Kennedy hit the Top 40 with another Barry composition, "The Last Time I Made Love", written withBarry MannandCynthia Weil.

During the 1970s and 1980s Barry also scored numerous hit songs on thecountrycharts, among them "Out of Hand" byGary Stewart,"Sayin' Hello, Sayin' I Love You, Sayin' Goodbye" byJim Ed Brownand Helen Cornelius, "Lie to You for Your Love" byThe Bellamy Brothers,a remake of "Chip Chip"(originally a 1962 Gene McDaniels pop smash) by Patsy Sledd, and" Walkin' in the Sun "byGlen Campbell.

In 1990, Barry co-produced the theme song for thetelevision seriesbased onWhere's Waldo?with media executive Richard Goldsmith. Barry and Goldsmith would collaborate throughout the 90s on a number of projects, including children's albums based onThe Babysitter's ClubandClifford the Big Red Dog,songs for the interstitial seriesNounou Time,the Spanish language seriesMi casita,theme songs forThe Slow NorrisandSomeday School,and would executive produce the 1998 filmJack Frost.

In May 1991, Barry and Greenwich were inducted into theSongwriters Hall of Fame.In 2004,Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest rock songs included six Greenwich-Barry compositions, more than by any other non-performing songwriting team.

During the mid-1990s, Barry served as president of theNational Academy of Songwriters,and in December 1998 he was a recipient of their Lifetime Achievement Award. In March 2000, Barry filmed a music special for thePBStelevision network,Chapel of Love: Jeff Barry and Friends.The show featured performances of Barry tunes by several of the artists who made them famous, includingthe Dixie Cups,the Crystals,Ronnie Spector,Andy Kim,Ray Peterson,andRon Danteofthe Archies.

In recent years, Barry has been involved in several projects, among them the stage musical "The Girl Who Would Be King", written by the husband-and-wife team of Prudence Fraser and Robert Sternin, best known for their writing and production work on the CBS seriesThe Nanny.The musical had its official world premiere inVero Beach,Florida.

In 2016, Barry composed songs for the musical theater show "Jambalaya the Musical"along with his production partner,Clarence Jey,a US Billboard and viral record producer. Jeff Barry was involved in part of the music in the Hallmark Channel movie titled "My Christmas Love".

In 2019, Barry and his writing partnerClarence Jeycomposed and wrote songs forLego City Adventures,an animated television series, produced byThe Lego Group,forNickelodeontelevision.

Awards and honors

Barry and Greenwich were among the 2010 recipients of theAhmet ErtegünAward from theRock and Roll Hall of Fame.As he was unable to attend the ceremony, Steven Van Zandt accepted the award on Barry's behalf. Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1991.

External links

• Jeff Barryat theSongwriters Hall of Fame
• Official fan site
• Spectropop
• History of RockArchivedDecember 24, 2006, at theWayback Machine