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Alan Gordon (songwriter)
 
 
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Alan Gordon (April 22, 1944 — November 22, 2008) was an American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 songwriter
Songwriter

File:Beethoven.jpgA songwriter is someone who writes the lyrics, as well the musical composition or melody to songs. One who writes only lyrics is a lyricist, while one who writes only music is a composer....
 best known for song
Song

A song is a musical musical composition which contains vocal parts that are performed, 'sung,' and feature words , commonly accompanied by musical instruments ....
s recorded
Sound recording and reproduction

Sound recording and reproduction is the electrical or mechanics inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects....
 by The Turtles
The Turtles

The Turtles are an United States Pop music and folk rock band led by vocalists Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman, who became notable for numerous Top 40 hits beginning with their cover version of Bob Dylan's "It Ain't Me Babe" , and "Happy Together " ....
, Petula Clark
Petula Clark

Petula Clark, Order of the British Empire , is an English singer, actress, and composer whose career has spanned seven decades.Clark's professional career began as an entertainer on BBC Radio during World War II....
, Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand

Barbra Streisand is an United states singer and film and theatre actress. She has also achieved note as a composer, political activist, film producer and film director....
, and Dr. Demento
Dr. Demento

Dr. Demento is the stage name of Barret Eugene Hansen , a radio disc jockey specializing in novelty songs and pop music parodies. He created the persona in 1970 while working at Los Angeles, California station KPPC ....
. Many of his songs were co-written with Garry Bonner, including The Turtles, "Happy Together
Happy Together (song)

"Happy Together" is a 1967 song from The Turtles' Happy Together . Released in spring of 1967, the song knocked the Beatles' "Penny Lane" out of the #1 slot for three weeks on the Billboard Hot 100....
" and Three Dog Night
Three Dog Night

Three Dog Night is an United States rock band, best known for their music from 1968?1975. They were still making live appearances and recordings in 2008....
's "Celebrate".

as born Alan Lee Gordon on April 22, 1944 in Natick
Natick, Massachusetts

Natick is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, United States. Natick is located near the center of the MetroWest region of Massachusetts, with a population of 32,170 at the 2000 census....
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a U.S. state located in the New England region of the Northeastern United States United States. It borders Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north....
.

He has worked with various popular
Pop music

Pop music is a music genre that features a noticeable rhythmic element, melodies and hook , a mainstream style and a conventional structure.The term "pop music" was first used in 1926 in the sense of "having popular appeal" , but since the 1950s it has been used in the sense of a musical genre, originally characterized as a lighter alternat...
 musician
Musician

A musician is a person who plays or writes music. Musicians can be classified by their roles in creating or performing music:* An instrumentalist plays a musical instrument....
s, including Blue Magoos, Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper

Alice Cooper is an American rock music singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans more than four decades. With a stage show that features guillotines, electric chairs, fake blood, and boa constrictors, Cooper has drawn equally from horror movies, vaudeville, heavy metal music, and garage rock to create a theatrical brand of rock musi...
, The Archies
The Archies

The Archies are a fictional garage band founded by Archie Andrews , Reggie Mantle, and Jughead Jones, a group of adolescent fictional characters of the Archie Comics universe, in the context of the animated TV series, The Archie Show....
, The O'Jays
The O'Jays

The O'Jays are a Cleveland Ohio-based soul/R&B group, originally consisting of Walter Williams , Bill Isles, Bobby Massey, William Powell and Eddie Levert ....
, Lynn Anderson
Lynn Anderson

Lynn Anderson is an United States country music singer and jockey, best known for her Grammy Award-winning country crossover hit single, " Rose Garden."...
, Flo & Eddie
Flo & Eddie

Flo & Eddie Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman are a Comedy rock musical duo. The two were the original founding members of the Top 40 pop music group The Turtles....
, Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa

Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, electric guitarist, record producer, and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock music, jazz, electronic music, orchestral, and musique concr?te works....
, Helen Reddy
Helen Reddy

Helen Reddy is an Australian/American singer-songwriter. She has won a Grammy Award, been a theatrical stage performer appearing on Broadway theatre, an actress in feature films and credited with writing and singing one of the most iconic and culturally significant songs of the 1970s, "I Am Woman"....
, Gary Lewis & the Playboys
Gary Lewis & the Playboys

Gary Lewis and the Playboys were a 1960s Pop music group fronted by Gary Lewis , son of comedian Jerry Lewis....
, Tammy Wynette
Tammy Wynette

Virginia Wynette Pugh, known professionally as Tammy Wynette , was an United States and one of country music's best-known artists and biggest-selling female vocalists....
, The Lovin' Spoonful
The Lovin' Spoonful

The Lovin' Spoonful is an United States pop rock band of the 1960s, named to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. The band's name was inspired by some lines in a song of Mississippi John Hurt called the "Coffee Blues." John Sebastian credits Fritz Richmond for suggesting the name....
, Bobby Darin
Bobby Darin

Bobby Darin was one of the most popular American big band performers and rock and roll teen idols of the late 1950s and early 1960s.Darin performed widely in a range of music genres, including pop, jazz, folk and country....
 and Freddy Fender
Freddy Fender

Freddy Fender , born Baldemar Huerta in San Benito, Texas, Texas, USA, was an United States, Tejano, country music, and rock and roll musician, known for his work as a solo artist and in the groups Los Super Seven and the Texas Tornados....
.

His co-penned "Happy Together", which followed The Beatles
The Beatles

The Beatles were a rock music and pop music band from Liverpool, England that formed in 1960. During their career, the group primarily consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr ....
' "Penny Lane
Penny Lane

"Penny Lane" is a song by The Beatles, written by Paul McCartney, recorded during the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band sessions, and released in February 1967 as one side of a double A-sided single, along with John Lennon's "Strawberry Fields Forever"....
" into the #1 slot for three weeks on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard Single popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on airplay and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday; while the airplay tracking-week runs from Wednesday to Tuesday....
 chart
Record chart

Record chart are a method of ranking music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
, was named one of the Top 50 songs of the 20th Century by BMI
Broadcast Music Incorporated

Broadcast Music, Incorporated is one of three United States performing rights organization, along with ASCAP and SESAC. It collects license fees on behalf of songwriters, composers, and music publishers and distributes them as royalties to those members whose works have been performed....
; having generated over 5 million performances on American radio by 1999, placing it in the same league as the Beatles' "Yesterday
Yesterday (song)

"Yesterday" is a pop music song originally recorded by The Beatles for their 1965 album Help! . According to the Guinness Book of Records, "Yesterday" has the most cover versions of any song ever written....
" and "Mrs. Robinson
Mrs. Robinson

"Mrs. Robinson" is a song written by Paul Simon and first performed by Simon and Garfunkel. When released as a single in 1968, it hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the US, for their second chart-topping hit after "The Sounds of Silence"....
" by Simon and Garfunkel
Simon and Garfunkel

Simon & Garfunkel were an American singer-songwriter duo consisting of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel. They formed the group "Tom and Jerry" in 1957, and had their first taste of success with the minor hit "Hey, Schoolgirl"....
.

Songs from Gordon's catalogue have been featured in film
Film

Film encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the film industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or special effects....
, television
Television

Television is a widely used telecommunication mass-media for transmitting and receiving moving , either monochrome or color, usually accompanied by sound....
, commercials and video games.






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Encyclopedia


Alan Gordon (April 22, 1944 — November 22, 2008) was an American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 songwriter
Songwriter

File:Beethoven.jpgA songwriter is someone who writes the lyrics, as well the musical composition or melody to songs. One who writes only lyrics is a lyricist, while one who writes only music is a composer....
 best known for song
Song

A song is a musical musical composition which contains vocal parts that are performed, 'sung,' and feature words , commonly accompanied by musical instruments ....
s recorded
Sound recording and reproduction

Sound recording and reproduction is the electrical or mechanics inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects....
 by The Turtles
The Turtles

The Turtles are an United States Pop music and folk rock band led by vocalists Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman, who became notable for numerous Top 40 hits beginning with their cover version of Bob Dylan's "It Ain't Me Babe" , and "Happy Together " ....
, Petula Clark
Petula Clark

Petula Clark, Order of the British Empire , is an English singer, actress, and composer whose career has spanned seven decades.Clark's professional career began as an entertainer on BBC Radio during World War II....
, Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand

Barbra Streisand is an United states singer and film and theatre actress. She has also achieved note as a composer, political activist, film producer and film director....
, and Dr. Demento
Dr. Demento

Dr. Demento is the stage name of Barret Eugene Hansen , a radio disc jockey specializing in novelty songs and pop music parodies. He created the persona in 1970 while working at Los Angeles, California station KPPC ....
. Many of his songs were co-written with Garry Bonner, including The Turtles, "Happy Together
Happy Together (song)

"Happy Together" is a 1967 song from The Turtles' Happy Together . Released in spring of 1967, the song knocked the Beatles' "Penny Lane" out of the #1 slot for three weeks on the Billboard Hot 100....
" and Three Dog Night
Three Dog Night

Three Dog Night is an United States rock band, best known for their music from 1968?1975. They were still making live appearances and recordings in 2008....
's "Celebrate".

Career

He was born Alan Lee Gordon on April 22, 1944 in Natick
Natick, Massachusetts

Natick is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, United States. Natick is located near the center of the MetroWest region of Massachusetts, with a population of 32,170 at the 2000 census....
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a U.S. state located in the New England region of the Northeastern United States United States. It borders Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north....
.

He has worked with various popular
Pop music

Pop music is a music genre that features a noticeable rhythmic element, melodies and hook , a mainstream style and a conventional structure.The term "pop music" was first used in 1926 in the sense of "having popular appeal" , but since the 1950s it has been used in the sense of a musical genre, originally characterized as a lighter alternat...
 musician
Musician

A musician is a person who plays or writes music. Musicians can be classified by their roles in creating or performing music:* An instrumentalist plays a musical instrument....
s, including Blue Magoos, Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper

Alice Cooper is an American rock music singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans more than four decades. With a stage show that features guillotines, electric chairs, fake blood, and boa constrictors, Cooper has drawn equally from horror movies, vaudeville, heavy metal music, and garage rock to create a theatrical brand of rock musi...
, The Archies
The Archies

The Archies are a fictional garage band founded by Archie Andrews , Reggie Mantle, and Jughead Jones, a group of adolescent fictional characters of the Archie Comics universe, in the context of the animated TV series, The Archie Show....
, The O'Jays
The O'Jays

The O'Jays are a Cleveland Ohio-based soul/R&B group, originally consisting of Walter Williams , Bill Isles, Bobby Massey, William Powell and Eddie Levert ....
, Lynn Anderson
Lynn Anderson

Lynn Anderson is an United States country music singer and jockey, best known for her Grammy Award-winning country crossover hit single, " Rose Garden."...
, Flo & Eddie
Flo & Eddie

Flo & Eddie Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman are a Comedy rock musical duo. The two were the original founding members of the Top 40 pop music group The Turtles....
, Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa

Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, electric guitarist, record producer, and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock music, jazz, electronic music, orchestral, and musique concr?te works....
, Helen Reddy
Helen Reddy

Helen Reddy is an Australian/American singer-songwriter. She has won a Grammy Award, been a theatrical stage performer appearing on Broadway theatre, an actress in feature films and credited with writing and singing one of the most iconic and culturally significant songs of the 1970s, "I Am Woman"....
, Gary Lewis & the Playboys
Gary Lewis & the Playboys

Gary Lewis and the Playboys were a 1960s Pop music group fronted by Gary Lewis , son of comedian Jerry Lewis....
, Tammy Wynette
Tammy Wynette

Virginia Wynette Pugh, known professionally as Tammy Wynette , was an United States and one of country music's best-known artists and biggest-selling female vocalists....
, The Lovin' Spoonful
The Lovin' Spoonful

The Lovin' Spoonful is an United States pop rock band of the 1960s, named to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. The band's name was inspired by some lines in a song of Mississippi John Hurt called the "Coffee Blues." John Sebastian credits Fritz Richmond for suggesting the name....
, Bobby Darin
Bobby Darin

Bobby Darin was one of the most popular American big band performers and rock and roll teen idols of the late 1950s and early 1960s.Darin performed widely in a range of music genres, including pop, jazz, folk and country....
 and Freddy Fender
Freddy Fender

Freddy Fender , born Baldemar Huerta in San Benito, Texas, Texas, USA, was an United States, Tejano, country music, and rock and roll musician, known for his work as a solo artist and in the groups Los Super Seven and the Texas Tornados....
.

His co-penned "Happy Together", which followed The Beatles
The Beatles

The Beatles were a rock music and pop music band from Liverpool, England that formed in 1960. During their career, the group primarily consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr ....
' "Penny Lane
Penny Lane

"Penny Lane" is a song by The Beatles, written by Paul McCartney, recorded during the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band sessions, and released in February 1967 as one side of a double A-sided single, along with John Lennon's "Strawberry Fields Forever"....
" into the #1 slot for three weeks on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard Single popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on airplay and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday; while the airplay tracking-week runs from Wednesday to Tuesday....
 chart
Record chart

Record chart are a method of ranking music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
, was named one of the Top 50 songs of the 20th Century by BMI
Broadcast Music Incorporated

Broadcast Music, Incorporated is one of three United States performing rights organization, along with ASCAP and SESAC. It collects license fees on behalf of songwriters, composers, and music publishers and distributes them as royalties to those members whose works have been performed....
; having generated over 5 million performances on American radio by 1999, placing it in the same league as the Beatles' "Yesterday
Yesterday (song)

"Yesterday" is a pop music song originally recorded by The Beatles for their 1965 album Help! . According to the Guinness Book of Records, "Yesterday" has the most cover versions of any song ever written....
" and "Mrs. Robinson
Mrs. Robinson

"Mrs. Robinson" is a song written by Paul Simon and first performed by Simon and Garfunkel. When released as a single in 1968, it hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the US, for their second chart-topping hit after "The Sounds of Silence"....
" by Simon and Garfunkel
Simon and Garfunkel

Simon & Garfunkel were an American singer-songwriter duo consisting of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel. They formed the group "Tom and Jerry" in 1957, and had their first taste of success with the minor hit "Hey, Schoolgirl"....
.

Songs from Gordon's catalogue have been featured in film
Film

Film encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the film industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or special effects....
, television
Television

Television is a widely used telecommunication mass-media for transmitting and receiving moving , either monochrome or color, usually accompanied by sound....
, commercials and video games. Some of the films that featured Gordon penned songs include The Naked Gun
The Naked Gun

The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! is a 1988 in film comedy film, the first in a The Naked Gun starring Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Presley, George Kennedy , and O....
, Muriel's Wedding
Muriel's Wedding

Muriel's Wedding is an Australian black comedy/drama written and directed by P. J. Hogan.Hogan, whose screenplay incorporates a number of events in his own life, cast relatively unknown Toni Collette and Rachel Griffiths in the lead roles....
, Shrek
Shrek

Shrek is a 2001 in film computer animation Cinema of the United States comedy film, directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, and starring the voices of Mike Myers , Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, and John Lithgow....
, The Simpsons Movie
The Simpsons Movie

The Simpsons Movie is a 2007 in film Cinema of the United States animated cartoon comedy film based on the animated television series The Simpsons....
, 27 Dresses
27 Dresses

27 Dresses is a 2008 in film romantic comedy film directed by Anne Fletcher and written by Aline Brosh McKenna. The film stars Katherine Heigl as Jane and James Marsden as Kevin....
 and Freaky Friday
Freaky Friday

Freaky Friday is a classic comedic children?s literature written by Mary Rodgers first published in the USA in 1972....
. Television program
Television program

A television program , television programme , or television show is something that people watch on television. It may be a one-off broadcast or, more usually, part of a periodically recurring television series....
s include The Simpsons
The Simpsons

The Simpsons is an Television in the United States animated cartoon Situation comedy created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company....
, That '70s Show
That '70s Show

That '70s Show is an American television program situation comedy that centers on the lives of a group of teenagers living in the fictional town of Point Place, Wisconsin from May 17, 1976 to December 31, 1979....
, ER
ER (TV series)

ER is an Emmy Award-winning Television in the United States medical drama television series created by the late novelist Michael Crichton and airing on NBC....
, Scrubs
Scrubs (TV series)

Scrubs is an Emmy Award and Peabody Award-winning American comedy-drama that premiered on October 2, 2001, on NBC. It was created by Bill Lawrence and is produced by ABC Studios ....
, The Wonder Years
The Wonder Years

The Wonder Years is an United States television Comedy-drama created by Carol Black and Neal Marlens. It ran for six seasons on American Broadcasting Company, from 1988 in television through 1993 in television....
 and American Idol
American Idol

American Idol is an Television in the United States Singing airing on Fox network. It debuted on June 11, 2002, and has since become one of the most popular shows on American television....
.

Gordon died at his home in Scottsdale
Scottsdale, Arizona

Scottsdale is a city in the eastern part of Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, adjacent to Phoenix, Arizona. As of 2007 the population of the city was 240,410....
, Arizona
Arizona

The State of Arizona is a U.S. state located in the Southwestern United States of the United States. The capital and largest city is Phoenix, Arizona....
 after a two year battle with cancer
Cancer

Cancer is a class of diseases in which a group of cell display uncontrolled growth , invasion , and sometimes metastasis . These three malignant properties of cancers differentiate them from benign tumors, which are self-limited, do not invade or metastasize....
. He was 64 years old. He leaves a wife Annette, son Christian, daughter-in-law Giovanna and grandchild Joshua.

Discography


Singles

  • 1967: "Girls in Love" performed by Gary Lewis & the Playboys
    Gary Lewis & the Playboys

    Gary Lewis and the Playboys were a 1960s Pop music group fronted by Gary Lewis , son of comedian Jerry Lewis....
  • 1967: "Jill" performed by Gary Lewis & the Playboys
  • 1967: "Happy Together
    Happy Together (song)

    "Happy Together" is a 1967 song from The Turtles' Happy Together . Released in spring of 1967, the song knocked the Beatles' "Penny Lane" out of the #1 slot for three weeks on the Billboard Hot 100....
    " performed by The Turtles
    The Turtles

    The Turtles are an United States Pop music and folk rock band led by vocalists Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman, who became notable for numerous Top 40 hits beginning with their cover version of Bob Dylan's "It Ain't Me Babe" , and "Happy Together " ....
  • 1967: "She'd Rather Be With Me" performed by The Turtles
  • 1967: "She's My Girl" performed by The Turtles
  • 1967: "You Know What I Mean" performed by The Turtles
  • 1967: "The Cat in the Window (The Bird in the Sky)
    The Cat in the Window (The Bird in the Sky)

    "The Cat in the Window " is a 1967 in music song, with words and music by Gary Bonner and Alan Gordon , recorded by Petula Clark. Difficult to categorize in a specific musical genre, with an arrangement heavy with strings and flutes, it was a major departure from the style of music associated with her long collaboration with songwriters Tony...
    " performed by Petula Clark
    Petula Clark

    Petula Clark, Order of the British Empire , is an English singer, actress, and composer whose career has spanned seven decades.Clark's professional career began as an entertainer on BBC Radio during World War II....
  • 1968: "Small Talk" performed by Lesley Gore
    Lesley Gore

    Lesley Gore is an United States singer-songwriter of the "girl group era". She is perhaps best known for her 1963 pop music hit, "It's My Party ", which she recorded at the age of 16....
  • 1968: "('Til I) Run With You" performed by Lovin' Spoonful
  • 1969: "Celebrate" performed by Three Dog Night
    Three Dog Night

    Three Dog Night is an United States rock band, best known for their music from 1968?1975. They were still making live appearances and recordings in 2008....
  • 1970: "Me About You" performed by The Turtles
  • 1977: "My Heart Belongs to Me
    My Heart Belongs to Me

    "My Heart Belongs to Me" is a popular song from 1977 . It was originally performed by the songwriter, Alan Gordon , but the more famous version of the song was recorded by the United States singer and actress Barbra Streisand....
    " performed by Barbra Streisand
    Barbra Streisand

    Barbra Streisand is an United states singer and film and theatre actress. She has also achieved note as a composer, political activist, film producer and film director....