Songwriters Hall of Fame

While Brazil has enjoyed its share of huge international pop music festivals, the country, without question, is most remembered as the source of Bossa Nova, the smooth, sensuous distillation of the samba, wrought by the composer, Antonio Carlos Jobim with his international mega-hit, "The Girl from Ipanema," written with Vinicius…

Brooklyn-born Otis Blackwell is without question one of the select songwriters whose songs literally helped redefine America's popular music in the early and mid 1950's. Probably best known for the smash hits Elvis Presley made out of a number of his songs, Blackwell's works have been recorded into immortality by…

Perhaps the road to real success in the music business tends to begin in the mailrooms of corporate music behemoths. The legendary record tycoon, David Geffen, now head of his own music empire, began as a mail boy at the William Morris Agency. But the late lyricist, Howard Greenfield, before…

Brooklyn-born Jeff Barry enjoyed his first major hit song with "Tell Laura I Love Her," with a number one recording by Ray Peterson. At the time, Barry, who graduated from Erasmus Hall High School, had just completed his second year at the New York School of Industrial Design. He left…

Ellie Greenwich is one of the most successful songwriters of the modern pop music era. She was one of the major influences on the 60's rock and roll, a music that continues alive and well today. Her songs, which have sold in the tens of millions, have earned her 25…