Ken Hirsch (composer)
Encyclopedia
Kenneth William Hirsch is an American pop songwriter, pianist and record producer
, co-writer of the international 1982 hit "I've Never Been to Me
" with Ron Miller
. He is also co-writer of the hits "If I Could", "No One in the World" and "Two Less Lonely People in the World". He was born in New York City, attended the Juilliard School of Music and got a BA from Queens College with a major in music.
His other co-writers include Hal David
, Howard Greenfield
, Doc Pomus
, Gerry Goffin
, Carole Bayer Sager
, Paul Williams
, Phil Cody, Wayland Holyfield, Allan Rich, Marti Sharron, Bruce Burch and Robin Lerner.
Has had songs recorded by Celine Dion
, Anita Baker
, Ray Charles
, Charlene, Stevie Wonder
, Barbra Streisand
, Air Supply
, Regina Belle
, Dolly Parton
, Millie Jackson
, Mary J. Blige
, Gladys Knight
, Latoya London
, Phyllis Hyman
, Michael Bolton
, Plácido Domingo
, B. B. King
, Johnny Adams
, Genya Ravan
, Dionne Warwick
, Nancy Wilson
, Teddy Pendergrass
, and José Feliciano
.
Hirsch composed the music to the musicals Daddy Goodness (co-written with Ron Miller) starring Tony Award
winners Ted Ross
and Clifton Davis
and also Freda Payne
. It played at the Forrest Theatre
in Philadelphia and the National Theatre
in Washington, D.C. in 1979. He also wrote the music to the musical Clothespins and Dreams (co-written with Ron Miller) starring Tony Award winner Barney Martin and also Eloise Laws
. It played at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium
in 1989. His most recent project is the musical version of "An Officer and a Gentleman" co-written with Robin Lerner.
In 2010, Ken Hirsch won the first prize of the Pop category as well as the Overall Second Prize of the prestigious USA Songwriting Competition with his song "Is It So Bad".
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, co-writer of the international 1982 hit "I've Never Been to Me
I've Never Been to Me
"I've Never Been to Me" is a sleeper hit single performed by American singer Charlene Oliver née D'Angelo.-Chart history:Upon its initial release in 1977, the song reached number 97 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. In 1982, renewed interest in the song led to the single reaching Number 3 in...
" with Ron Miller
Ron Miller (songwriter)
Ronald Norman Miller was an American popular songwriter and record producer, who attained many Top 10 hits with ballads written for Motown artists in the 1960s and 1970s....
. He is also co-writer of the hits "If I Could", "No One in the World" and "Two Less Lonely People in the World". He was born in New York City, attended the Juilliard School of Music and got a BA from Queens College with a major in music.
His other co-writers include Hal David
Hal David
Harold Lane "Hal" David is an American lyricist. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York. David is best known for his collaborations with composer Burt Bacharach.-Career:...
, Howard Greenfield
Howard Greenfield
Howard Greenfield was an American lyricist and songwriter, who for several years in the 1960s worked out of the famous Brill Building...
, Doc Pomus
Doc Pomus
Jerome Solon Felder, better known as Doc Pomus , was a twentieth-century American blues singer and songwriter. He is best known as the lyricist of many rock and roll hits. Pomus was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the category of non-performer in 1992. He was also inducted into...
, Gerry Goffin
Gerry Goffin
Gerry Goffin is an American lyricist. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 with former songwriting partner and first wife, Carole King. he has co-written six Billboard Hot 100 chart-toppers.-Career:Goffin enlisted with the Marine Corps Reserve after graduating from...
, Carole Bayer Sager
Carole Bayer Sager
Carole Bayer Sager is an American lyricist, songwriter, singer, and painter.-Introduction:Born in New York City, Sager graduated from New York University, where she majored in English, dramatic arts and speech...
, Paul Williams
Paul Williams (songwriter)
Paul Hamilton Williams, Jr. is an Academy Award-winning American composer, musician, songwriter, and actor. He is perhaps best known for popular songs performed by a number of acts in the 1970s including Three Dog Night's "An Old Fashioned Love Song", Helen Reddy's "You and Me Against the World",...
, Phil Cody, Wayland Holyfield, Allan Rich, Marti Sharron, Bruce Burch and Robin Lerner.
Has had songs recorded by Celine Dion
Celine Dion
Céline Marie Claudette Dion, , , is a Canadian singer. Born to a large family from Charlemagne, Quebec, Dion emerged as a teen star in the French-speaking world after her manager and future husband René Angélil mortgaged his home to finance her first record...
, Anita Baker
Anita Baker
Anita Baker is an American R&B/soul jazz singer-songwriter. To date, Baker has won eight Grammy Awards, and has four platinum albums and two gold albums to her credit....
, Ray Charles
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
, Charlene, Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
, Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
, Air Supply
Air Supply
Air Supply is an Australian soft rock duo, consisting of Graham Russell as guitarist and singer-songwriter and Russell Hitchcock as lead vocalist. They had a succession of hits worldwide, including eight Top Ten hits in the United States, in the early 1980s...
, Regina Belle
Regina Belle
Regina Belle is a singer-songwriter who first surfaced in the late 1980s. She is notable for her Grammy award winning duet with Peabo Bryson, "A Whole New World".-Biography:Regina Belle was born in Englewood, New Jersey...
, Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton
Dolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. Dolly Parton has appeared in movies like 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk...
, Millie Jackson
Millie Jackson
Mildred "Millie" Jackson is an American R&B/soul singer-songwriter and comedienne. Three of her albums have been certified gold by the RIAA for over 500,000 copies....
, Mary J. Blige
Mary J. Blige
Mary Jane Blige is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and occasional actress. She is a recipient of nine Grammy Awards and four American Music Awards, and has recorded eight multi-platinum albums. She is the only artist with Grammy Award wins in Pop, Rap, Gospel, and R&B. Blige has...
, Gladys Knight
Gladys Knight
Gladys Maria Knight , known as the "Empress of Soul", is an American singer-songwriter, actress, businesswoman, humanitarian, and author...
, Latoya London
LaToya London
LaToya Renee London is an American R&B and soul singer and actress who was the fourth-place finalist on the third season of the reality/talent-search television series American Idol...
, Phyllis Hyman
Phyllis Hyman
Phyllis Linda Hyman was an American soul singer and actress.-Early years:Phyllis Hyman was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and grew up in the St. Clair Village, the South Hills section of Pittsburgh...
, Michael Bolton
Michael Bolton
Michael Bolton is an American singer and songwriter. Bolton originally performed in the hard rock and heavy metal genres from the mid 1970s to the mid 1980s, both on his early solo albums and those recorded as the frontman of the band Blackjack...
, Plácido Domingo
Plácido Domingo
Plácido Domingo KBE , born José Plácido Domingo Embil, is a Spanish tenor and conductor known for his versatile and strong voice, possessing a ringing and dramatic tone throughout its range...
, B. B. King
B. B. King
Riley B. King , known by the stage name B.B. King, is an American blues guitarist and singer-songwriter.Rolling Stone magazine ranked him at No.3 on its list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. According to Edward M...
, Johnny Adams
Johnny Adams
Laten John Adams , known as Johnny Adams, was an American blues, jazz and gospel singer, known as "The Tan Canary" for the multi-octave range of his singing voice, his swooping vocal mannerisms and falsetto...
, Genya Ravan
Genya Ravan
Genya Ravan, aka Goldie Zelkowitz is an American rock singer and producer. She is the former lead singer of The Escorts, Goldie & the Gingerbreads, and Ten Wheel Drive....
, Dionne Warwick
Dionne Warwick
Dionne Warwick is an American singer, actress and TV show host, who became a United Nations Global Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization, and a United States Ambassador of Health....
, Nancy Wilson
Nancy Wilson (singer)
Nancy Wilson is an American singer with more than 70 albums, and three Grammy Awards. She has been labeled a singer of blues, jazz, cabaret and pop; a "consummate actress"; and "the complete entertainer." The title she prefers, however, is song stylist...
, Teddy Pendergrass
Teddy Pendergrass
Theodore DeReese "Teddy" Pendergrass was an American R&B/soul singer and songwriter. Pendergrass first rose to fame as lead singer of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes in the 1970s before a successful solo career at the end of the decade...
, and José Feliciano
José Feliciano
José Feliciano is a Puerto Rican singer, virtuoso guitarist and composer known for many international hits including the 1970 holiday single "Feliz Navidad".-Childhood:...
.
Hirsch composed the music to the musicals Daddy Goodness (co-written with Ron Miller) starring Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
winners Ted Ross
Ted Ross
Ted Ross was an American actor who was probably best known for his role as the Lion in The Wiz, an all-African American reinterpretation of The Wizard of Oz. He won a Tony Award for the original 1975 Broadway production, and went on to recreate the role in the 1978 film version which also starred...
and Clifton Davis
Clifton Davis
Clifton Duncan Davis is an American actor, songwriter and minister. He has appeared on the television shows as A World Apart, That's My Mama and Amen...
and also Freda Payne
Freda Payne
Freda Charcilia Payne Some sources give a birth year of 1945, but this appears to be an error as all sources agree that she is older than her sister Scherrie, born 1944. is an American singer and actress best known for her million selling, 1970 hit single, "Band of Gold". She was also an actress in...
. It played at the Forrest Theatre
Forrest Theatre
The Forrest Theatre is a live theatre venue in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is managed by The Shubert Organization.The Forrest Theatre was built in 1927. It was designed by architect Herbert J. Krapp and has a seating capacity of 1,851. It was named after the 19th century actor Edwin Forrest, who...
in Philadelphia and the National Theatre
National Theatre (Washington, D.C.)
The National Theatre is located in Washington, D.C., and is a venue for a variety of live stage productions with seating for 1,676.Despite its name, it is not a governmentally funded national theatre, but operated by a private, non-profit organization....
in Washington, D.C. in 1979. He also wrote the music to the musical Clothespins and Dreams (co-written with Ron Miller) starring Tony Award winner Barney Martin and also Eloise Laws
Eloise Laws
Eloise Laws is a singer and a member of the prominent Laws family of musicians from Houston, Texas.-Biography:Lavern Eloise Laws was born November 6, 1943 in Houston, Texas as the fourth of eight children of Miola Luverta Donahue and Hubert Laws, Sr...
. It played at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium
Pasadena Conference Center
The Pasadena Conference Center is a convention center in Pasadena, California, near Los Angeles, owned by the City of Pasadena. It consists of three buildings.-Pasadena Civic Auditorium:...
in 1989. His most recent project is the musical version of "An Officer and a Gentleman" co-written with Robin Lerner.
In 2010, Ken Hirsch won the first prize of the Pop category as well as the Overall Second Prize of the prestigious USA Songwriting Competition with his song "Is It So Bad".
Selective list of Ken Hirsch songs
- "If I Could" (Ron Miller, Ken Hirsch, Marti Sharron) – Regina BelleRegina BelleRegina Belle is a singer-songwriter who first surfaced in the late 1980s. She is notable for her Grammy award winning duet with Peabo Bryson, "A Whole New World".-Biography:Regina Belle was born in Englewood, New Jersey...
(1993); Barbra StreisandBarbra StreisandBarbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
#1 US album; Celine DionCeline DionCéline Marie Claudette Dion, , , is a Canadian singer. Born to a large family from Charlemagne, Quebec, Dion emerged as a teen star in the French-speaking world after her manager and future husband René Angélil mortgaged his home to finance her first record...
(2004) "A New Day" and MiracleMiracle (Celine Dion album)Miracle is a concept album credited to Canadian singer Céline Dion and Australian photographer Anne Geddes, released on October 11, 2004. It's Dion's 12th English album and 33rd in total...
Ray Charles, Michael Bolton, Gladys Knight. - "No One in the World" (Ken Hirsch, Marti Sharron) - Anita BakerAnita BakerAnita Baker is an American R&B/soul jazz singer-songwriter. To date, Baker has won eight Grammy Awards, and has four platinum albums and two gold albums to her credit....
(1986) on the Grammy award winning album Rapture - "Two Less Lonely People in the World" - Air SupplyAir SupplyAir Supply is an Australian soft rock duo, consisting of Graham Russell as guitarist and singer-songwriter and Russell Hitchcock as lead vocalist. They had a succession of hits worldwide, including eight Top Ten hits in the United States, in the early 1980s...
(1983) - "I've Never Been to MeI've Never Been to Me"I've Never Been to Me" is a sleeper hit single performed by American singer Charlene Oliver née D'Angelo.-Chart history:Upon its initial release in 1977, the song reached number 97 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. In 1982, renewed interest in the song led to the single reaching Number 3 in...
" (Ron MillerRon Miller (songwriter)Ronald Norman Miller was an American popular songwriter and record producer, who attained many Top 10 hits with ballads written for Motown artists in the 1960s and 1970s....
, Ken Hirsch) – Charlene, 1982, US #3, UK #1, Canada #1, Australia #1. Soundtrack: "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert"; Soundtrack: "Shrek 3"; Soundtrack: "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert - The Musical". - "There Is Always One More Time" (Ken Hirsch, Doc Pomus) - B.B.King; Harry Connick Jr.; Johnny Adams - Soundtrack: BowfingerBowfingerBowfinger is a 1999 comedy cult film directed by Frank Oz. It depicts a down-and-out filmmaker in Hollywood attempting to make a film on a small budget with a star who does not know that he is in the film...
. - "Can't We Try" (Ken Hirsch, Ron Miller) Teddy Pendergrass
- "Soon As I Touched Him" (Ken Hirsch, Norma Helms) Dolly Parton
- "He Wants To Hear The Words" (Ken Hirsch, Kathy Wakefeild) Millie Jackson
- "Everybody Loves Me" (Ken Hirsch, Doc Pomus) Jose Feliciano
- "It All Goes By So Fast" (Ken Hirsch, Jay Levy) Ray Charles & Mary J. Blige
- "You Were There" (Ken Hirsch, Ron Miller) Ray Charles & Gladys Knight
- "How I Love The Rain" (Ken Hirsch, Rosie Casey) Latoya London
- "Before We Say Goodbye" (Ken Hirsch) Soundtrack: 2gether
- "Used To Be" (Ken Hirsch, Ron Miller) Stevie Wonder & Charlene
- "Walk Away" (Ken Hirsch, Marti Sharron) Dionne Warwick; Phyllis Hyman
- "You Loved Away The Pain" (Ken Hirsch, Ron Miller) Gladys Knight; Hanne Boel
- "A Lady With A Song" (Ken Hirsch, Smokey Bates) Nancy Wilson
- "Save Your Nights For Me" (Ken Hirsch, Mark Mueller) Plácido Domingo
- "I Hate Myself" (Doc PomusDoc PomusJerome Solon Felder, better known as Doc Pomus , was a twentieth-century American blues singer and songwriter. He is best known as the lyricist of many rock and roll hits. Pomus was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the category of non-performer in 1992. He was also inducted into...
, Ken Hirsch) - Genya RavanGenya RavanGenya Ravan, aka Goldie Zelkowitz is an American rock singer and producer. She is the former lead singer of The Escorts, Goldie & the Gingerbreads, and Ten Wheel Drive....
(1972); Anita LaneAnita LaneAnita Lane is an Australian singer and songwriter who directly influenced the early 1980s European post-punk landscape.-Birthday Party:Lane was born in Melbourne, Australia in the late 1950s. Lane began singing and writing songs at age 16. She was a classmate with Rowland S. Howard who would...
(2001)