Mike Berniker
Encyclopedia
Michael Berniker was a record producer
who was recognized with nine Grammy Award
s over the course of his career for his work on albums with such performers as Perry Como
, Steve Lawrence
& Eydie Gorme
, Johnny Mathis
and Barbra Streisand
, as well as Broadway theatre
cast recordings, Latin jazz, classical, spoken word and comedy albums in a career that lasted some forty years working for Columbia Records
, CBS Records
and RCA Records
.
Born on June 30, 1935, and raised in Brooklyn
, he attended Columbia University
, studying music and philosophy. While serving at Fort Bliss
in El Paso County, Texas while in the United States Army
for two years, he hosted a local radio show and organized a jazz festival.
While in his late-20s, Berniker produced Barbra Streisand
's first three albums — The Barbra Streisand Album
(that year's Grammy winner for Album of the Year
), The Second Barbra Streisand Album
and The Third Album — all of which were released six months apart in the one-year span from February 1963 to February 1964, and which were described by The New York Times
as "among the most expressively uninhibited" of her career. He produced several Broadway albums, including his work with composer Cy Coleman
on The Will Rogers Follies, which won the Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album
at the 1992 ceremonies
. He won the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album
at the Grammy Awards of 1986
for his work as producer of the original Broadway cast album for Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
.
As an executive with RCA Records
, Berniker signed Daryl Hall and John Oates
and Juice Newton
.
Berniker lived with his wife Heather in Fort Lee, New Jersey
from the mid-1970s until 2002, when they moved to Hillsdale, New York
. He died on July 25, 2008 in Great Barrington, Massachusetts
of complications from kidney disease.
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...
who was recognized with nine Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
s over the course of his career for his work on albums with such performers as Perry Como
Perry Como
Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como was an American singer and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century he recorded exclusively for the RCA Victor label after signing with them in 1943. "Mr...
, Steve Lawrence
Steve Lawrence
Steve Lawrence is an American singer and actor, perhaps best known as a member of a duo with his wife Eydie Gormé, billed as "Steve and Eydie"...
& Eydie Gorme
Eydie Gormé
Eydie Gormé is an American singer, specializing, with her husband, Steve Lawrence, in traditional pop music, in the form of ballads and breezy swing. She has earned numerous awards, including the Grammy and the Emmy...
, Johnny Mathis
Johnny Mathis
John Royce "Johnny" Mathis is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standards, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum status, and 73 making the Billboard charts...
and 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,...
, as well as Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
cast recordings, Latin jazz, classical, spoken word and comedy albums in a career that lasted some forty years working for Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
, CBS Records
CBS Records
CBS Records is a record label founded by CBS Corporation in 2006 to take advantage of music from its entertainment properties owned by CBS Television Studios. The initial label roster consisted of only three artists; rock band Señor Happy and singer/songwriters Will Dailey and P.J...
and RCA Records
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
.
Born on June 30, 1935, and raised in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, he attended Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, studying music and philosophy. While serving at Fort Bliss
Fort Bliss
Fort Bliss is a United States Army post in the U.S. states of New Mexico and Texas. With an area of about , it is the Army's second-largest installation behind the adjacent White Sands Missile Range. It is FORSCOM's largest installation, and has the Army's largest Maneuver Area behind the...
in El Paso County, Texas while in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
for two years, he hosted a local radio show and organized a jazz festival.
While in his late-20s, Berniker produced 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,...
's first three albums — The Barbra Streisand Album
The Barbra Streisand Album
- Side two :- Personnel :* Barbra Streisand — vocals* Mike Berniker — producer* Peter Matz — arrangements* Fred Plaut and Frank Lacio — recording engineers* John Berg — design* Hank Parker — photography* Harold Arlen — liner notes- Chart performance :...
(that year's Grammy winner for Album of the Year
Grammy Award for Album of the Year
The Grammy Award for Album of the Year is the most prestigious award category at the Grammys. It has been awarded since 1959 and though it was originally presented to the artist alone, the award is now presented to the artist, the producer, the engineer and/or mixer and the mastering engineer...
), The Second Barbra Streisand Album
The Second Barbra Streisand Album
The Second Barbra Streisand Album is the title of Barbra Streisand's second solo studio album. The album was released in August 1963, just six months after the release of her debut album, The Barbra Streisand Album, and recorded in just four days in June 1963 .Radio stations received mono and...
and The Third Album — all of which were released six months apart in the one-year span from February 1963 to February 1964, and which were described by The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
as "among the most expressively uninhibited" of her career. He produced several Broadway albums, including his work with composer Cy Coleman
Cy Coleman
Cy Coleman was an American composer, songwriter, and jazz pianist.-Life and career:He was born Seymour Kaufman on June 14, 1929, in New York City to Eastern European Jewish parents, and was raised in the Bronx. His mother, Ida was an apartment landlady and his father was a brickmason...
on The Will Rogers Follies, which won the Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album
Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album
The Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album has been awarded since 1959. The award was given only to the album producer, and to the composer and lyricist who wrote at least 51% of the music which had not been recorded previously....
at the 1992 ceremonies
Grammy Awards of 1992
The 34th Grammy Awards were held on February 26, 1992. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year . Natalie Cole was the big winner winning three awards including Album of the Year.-Award winners:*Record of the Year...
. He won the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album
Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album
The Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album has been awarded since 1959. The award had several minor name changes:*In 1959 the award was known as Best Performance, Documentary or Spoken Word...
at the Grammy Awards of 1986
Grammy Awards of 1986
The 28th Grammy Awards were held on February 25, 1986. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year, 1985.- Award winners :*Record of the Year**Quincy Jones for "We Are the World" performed by USA for Africa...
for his work as producer of the original Broadway cast album for Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom is a 1982 play - one of the ten-play Pittsburgh Cycle by August Wilson, a Pulitzer Prize-winning American playwright - that chronicles the twentieth century African American experience...
.
As an executive with RCA Records
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
, Berniker signed Daryl Hall and John Oates
Hall & Oates
Hall & Oates are an American musical duo composed of Daryl Hall and John Oates. They achieved their greatest fame in the late 1970s and early to mid-1980s. Both sing and play instruments. They specialized in a fusion of rock and roll and rhythm and blues styles, which they dubbed "rock and soul."...
and Juice Newton
Juice Newton
Judith Kay "Juice" Newton is an American Pop music and Country singer, songwriter and guitarist...
.
Berniker lived with his wife Heather in Fort Lee, New Jersey
Fort Lee, New Jersey
Fort Lee is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 35,345. Located atop the Hudson Palisades, the borough is the western terminus of the George Washington Bridge...
from the mid-1970s until 2002, when they moved to Hillsdale, New York
Hillsdale, New York
Hillsdale is a town in Columbia County, New York, United States. The population was 1,744 at the 2000 census.- History :The region was taken from the Town of Claverack in 1782. The Town of Hillsdale was established in 1788....
. He died on July 25, 2008 in Great Barrington, Massachusetts
Great Barrington, Massachusetts
Great Barrington is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 7,104 at the 2010 census. Both a summer resort and home to Ski Butternut, Great Barrington includes the villages of Van...
of complications from kidney disease.