Billboard's Top 10 Songwriting Duo's
Newch91
Posts: 17,560
This topic should provide a good discussion.
http://www.billboard.com/news/it-takes- ... ory?page=1
It Takes Two: 10 Songwriting Duos That Rocked Music History
The deaths of Jerry Leiber and Nick Ashford this week ended the careers of two of the most prolific and influential songwriting duos. With Mike Stoller, Leiber wrote many of rock and roll's earliest hits, including "Hound Dog," "Stand By Me" and "Smokey Joe's Café." As the husband and partner of Valerie Simpson, Ashford co-wrote countless songs for Motown, penning tracks for Marvin Gaye, The Supremes and Smokey Robinson & the Miracles. The duo later earned widespread renown with the 1984 soul ballad "Solid." Billboard.com looks back at 10 other classic songwriting duos that changed the shape of music.
Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein II
Classic songs: "The Sound of Music," "Some Enchanted Evening," "Oklahoma"
No duo was more successful and ubiquitous in the pre-rock and roll era than composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II. The pair was responsible for such enduring musicals as "South Pacific," "Oklahoma!" and "The Sound of Music," garnering nearly 35 Tony Awards and 15 Academy Awards. While still retaining an overall cheerfulness, Rodgers and Hammerstein imbued musical theatre with poignant, thoughtful plots that pushed the medium in unprecedented directions.
Daryl Hall & John Oates
Classic songs: "Rich Girl," "Private Eyes," "I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)"
Despite long-standing critical drubbing dismissing the Philly duo as watered-down soul, no other duo dominated the 1980s so consistently, with five albums from 1980-1988 all going platinum (at least). Daryl Hall and John Oates would eventually land 34 singles on the Hot 100 and be ranked #15 on Billboard's Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists. In the late 80s and 90s, the duo found a second career as sampling material for everyone from Kanye West to De La Soul.
Morrissey & Johnny Marr
Classic songs: "This Charming Man," "Hand in Glove," How Soon Is Now?"
The quintessential UK mope-pop band of the 1980s was always a cult act stateside - "How Soon Is Now?," their highest-charting song, only reached #36 on the U.S. Dance chart - but lead singer Morrissey and guitarist Johnny Marr fused catchy, jangly guitar riffs with Morrissey's reflective, cynical lyrics that would influence a generation of bands. Every decade or so, a new crop of teenagers discovers The Smiths and wonders how Morrissey could reflect back their growing sense of malaise, ennui and despair so perfectly.
Kenny Gamble & Leon Huff
Classic songs: "If You Don't Know Me By Now," "Love Train" "The Love I Lost"
A protégé of Ashford & Simpson, Hall of Fame members Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff helped define soul music in the 1970s, augmenting soul tracks with lush, sweeping strings and more prominent bass lines. The duo's Philadelphia International label, which included The O'Jays, Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes and soul collective MFSB, would rival Motown as the nation's pre-eminent soul label and influence both disco and Quiet Storm.
Elton John & Bernie Taupin
Classic songs: "Rocket Man," "Tiny Dancer," "Your Song"
Elton John gets most of the credit, but it's the singer/songwriter's longstanding collaboration with songwriter Bernie Taupin that yielded the pair more than 20 Top 10 hits, including six Number One songs. Over the course of 30 albums, John and Taupin created a body of work that balanced Beatles-styled pop with moving, elegiac ballads that remain standards today.
Joe Strummer & Mick Jones
Classic songs: "London Calling," "Rock the Casbah," "Lost in the Supermarket"
The Clash weren't the first punk band, but they were the most important. Aligned with, yet worlds away from, Sex Pistols' and Malcolm McLaren's image of mohawks and safety pins, Joe Strummer and Mick Jones augmented the three-chord assault of punk with the duo's love of reggae, dub and rockabilly. With songs like "Tommy Gun," "Spanish Bombs" and "(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais," the pair injected the genre with fierce political lyrics, eschewing nihilism for idealism while avoiding overwrought preachiness.
Jimmy Page & Robert Plant
Classic songs: "Immigrant Song," "Over the Hills and Far Away," "Stairway to Heaven"
At the risk of diminishing bassist John Paul Jones' and drummer John Bonham's incalculable contributions, Led Zeppelin's main songwriting duo of Jimmy Page and Robert Plant established a bluesy, hard rock framework that would make them the 1970s' most popular band. Page and Plant would go on to supplement their early love of blues rock with acoustic folk and nods to fantasy literature and the occult, becoming a FM radio staple and landing every one of their nine original studio albums in Billboard's Top 10.
Mick Jagger & Keith Richards
Classic songs: "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction," "Paint It, Black," "Honky Tonk Women"
The Glimmer Twins. 2/5th of Nanker Phelge. Whatever you want to call them, the partnership of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards has resulted in more than 100 singles and nearly 25 Top 10 songs, many of which have transcended generations and entered rock and roll's canon. Originally the flip side to The Beatles' besuited, squeaky-clean image, The Rolling Stones went gold with their 1965 U.S. debut album and have remained, periodic droughts notwithstanding, the most popular rock and roll band in history.
Carole King & Gerry Goffin
Classic songs: "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow," "The Loco-Motion," "One Fine Day"
The Brill Building sound that defined rock and roll in the late 1950s and early '60s gave rise to such legendary duos as Leiber & Stoller and Burt Bacharach & Hal David. With more than 120 songs written or co-written on the Billboard Hot 100, though, Carole King remains one of the most prolific and successful. With co-writer Gerry Goffin, the duo penned a diverse variety of classics, ranging from the upbeat bounce of The Chiffons' "One Fine Day" to the poignant domestic abuse track "He Hit Me (It Felt Like a Kiss)."
John Lennon & Paul McCartney
Classic songs: "Yesterday," "A Hard Day's Night" "A Day in the Life"
By any measure, no one comes close to matching the success of The Beatles' primary songwriters. The dichotomy between Paul McCartney's optimism and John Lennon's realism always pushed each songwriter to best the other, resulting in an unprecedented collaboration that yielded 180 songs, the most albums sold by any artist and a still-unbroken record of 20 number ones on the Billboard Hot 100. Lennon said he wished he could write a pop song like McCartney; McCartney said he always wanted Lennon's steely, skeptical look at sacred institutions. The combination remains the best there ever was.
http://www.billboard.com/news/it-takes- ... ory?page=1
It Takes Two: 10 Songwriting Duos That Rocked Music History
The deaths of Jerry Leiber and Nick Ashford this week ended the careers of two of the most prolific and influential songwriting duos. With Mike Stoller, Leiber wrote many of rock and roll's earliest hits, including "Hound Dog," "Stand By Me" and "Smokey Joe's Café." As the husband and partner of Valerie Simpson, Ashford co-wrote countless songs for Motown, penning tracks for Marvin Gaye, The Supremes and Smokey Robinson & the Miracles. The duo later earned widespread renown with the 1984 soul ballad "Solid." Billboard.com looks back at 10 other classic songwriting duos that changed the shape of music.
Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein II
Classic songs: "The Sound of Music," "Some Enchanted Evening," "Oklahoma"
No duo was more successful and ubiquitous in the pre-rock and roll era than composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II. The pair was responsible for such enduring musicals as "South Pacific," "Oklahoma!" and "The Sound of Music," garnering nearly 35 Tony Awards and 15 Academy Awards. While still retaining an overall cheerfulness, Rodgers and Hammerstein imbued musical theatre with poignant, thoughtful plots that pushed the medium in unprecedented directions.
Daryl Hall & John Oates
Classic songs: "Rich Girl," "Private Eyes," "I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)"
Despite long-standing critical drubbing dismissing the Philly duo as watered-down soul, no other duo dominated the 1980s so consistently, with five albums from 1980-1988 all going platinum (at least). Daryl Hall and John Oates would eventually land 34 singles on the Hot 100 and be ranked #15 on Billboard's Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists. In the late 80s and 90s, the duo found a second career as sampling material for everyone from Kanye West to De La Soul.
Morrissey & Johnny Marr
Classic songs: "This Charming Man," "Hand in Glove," How Soon Is Now?"
The quintessential UK mope-pop band of the 1980s was always a cult act stateside - "How Soon Is Now?," their highest-charting song, only reached #36 on the U.S. Dance chart - but lead singer Morrissey and guitarist Johnny Marr fused catchy, jangly guitar riffs with Morrissey's reflective, cynical lyrics that would influence a generation of bands. Every decade or so, a new crop of teenagers discovers The Smiths and wonders how Morrissey could reflect back their growing sense of malaise, ennui and despair so perfectly.
Kenny Gamble & Leon Huff
Classic songs: "If You Don't Know Me By Now," "Love Train" "The Love I Lost"
A protégé of Ashford & Simpson, Hall of Fame members Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff helped define soul music in the 1970s, augmenting soul tracks with lush, sweeping strings and more prominent bass lines. The duo's Philadelphia International label, which included The O'Jays, Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes and soul collective MFSB, would rival Motown as the nation's pre-eminent soul label and influence both disco and Quiet Storm.
Elton John & Bernie Taupin
Classic songs: "Rocket Man," "Tiny Dancer," "Your Song"
Elton John gets most of the credit, but it's the singer/songwriter's longstanding collaboration with songwriter Bernie Taupin that yielded the pair more than 20 Top 10 hits, including six Number One songs. Over the course of 30 albums, John and Taupin created a body of work that balanced Beatles-styled pop with moving, elegiac ballads that remain standards today.
Joe Strummer & Mick Jones
Classic songs: "London Calling," "Rock the Casbah," "Lost in the Supermarket"
The Clash weren't the first punk band, but they were the most important. Aligned with, yet worlds away from, Sex Pistols' and Malcolm McLaren's image of mohawks and safety pins, Joe Strummer and Mick Jones augmented the three-chord assault of punk with the duo's love of reggae, dub and rockabilly. With songs like "Tommy Gun," "Spanish Bombs" and "(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais," the pair injected the genre with fierce political lyrics, eschewing nihilism for idealism while avoiding overwrought preachiness.
Jimmy Page & Robert Plant
Classic songs: "Immigrant Song," "Over the Hills and Far Away," "Stairway to Heaven"
At the risk of diminishing bassist John Paul Jones' and drummer John Bonham's incalculable contributions, Led Zeppelin's main songwriting duo of Jimmy Page and Robert Plant established a bluesy, hard rock framework that would make them the 1970s' most popular band. Page and Plant would go on to supplement their early love of blues rock with acoustic folk and nods to fantasy literature and the occult, becoming a FM radio staple and landing every one of their nine original studio albums in Billboard's Top 10.
Mick Jagger & Keith Richards
Classic songs: "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction," "Paint It, Black," "Honky Tonk Women"
The Glimmer Twins. 2/5th of Nanker Phelge. Whatever you want to call them, the partnership of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards has resulted in more than 100 singles and nearly 25 Top 10 songs, many of which have transcended generations and entered rock and roll's canon. Originally the flip side to The Beatles' besuited, squeaky-clean image, The Rolling Stones went gold with their 1965 U.S. debut album and have remained, periodic droughts notwithstanding, the most popular rock and roll band in history.
Carole King & Gerry Goffin
Classic songs: "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow," "The Loco-Motion," "One Fine Day"
The Brill Building sound that defined rock and roll in the late 1950s and early '60s gave rise to such legendary duos as Leiber & Stoller and Burt Bacharach & Hal David. With more than 120 songs written or co-written on the Billboard Hot 100, though, Carole King remains one of the most prolific and successful. With co-writer Gerry Goffin, the duo penned a diverse variety of classics, ranging from the upbeat bounce of The Chiffons' "One Fine Day" to the poignant domestic abuse track "He Hit Me (It Felt Like a Kiss)."
John Lennon & Paul McCartney
Classic songs: "Yesterday," "A Hard Day's Night" "A Day in the Life"
By any measure, no one comes close to matching the success of The Beatles' primary songwriters. The dichotomy between Paul McCartney's optimism and John Lennon's realism always pushed each songwriter to best the other, resulting in an unprecedented collaboration that yielded 180 songs, the most albums sold by any artist and a still-unbroken record of 20 number ones on the Billboard Hot 100. Lennon said he wished he could write a pop song like McCartney; McCartney said he always wanted Lennon's steely, skeptical look at sacred institutions. The combination remains the best there ever was.
Shows: 6.27.08 Hartford, CT/5.15.10 Hartford, CT/6.18.2011 Hartford, CT (EV Solo)/10.19.13 Brooklyn/10.25.13 Hartford
"Becoming a Bruce fan is like hitting puberty as a musical fan. It's inevitable." - dcfaithful
"Becoming a Bruce fan is like hitting puberty as a musical fan. It's inevitable." - dcfaithful
Post edited by Unknown User on
0
Comments
Tres Mts. Gramercy Theatre 3/26/11
*formerly manutd3581
Eddie Vedder- 7/16/11
Brad- 4/21/12 (RSD Performance), 4/27/12, 8/10/12
Flight To Mars- 5/23/12
RNDM- 11/27/12
PEARL JAM- 12/6/13 I have finally seen Pearl Jam live!
"Becoming a Bruce fan is like hitting puberty as a musical fan. It's inevitable." - dcfaithful
Maybe next time.
"Becoming a Bruce fan is like hitting puberty as a musical fan. It's inevitable." - dcfaithful
"Becoming a Bruce fan is like hitting puberty as a musical fan. It's inevitable." - dcfaithful
Berlin - August 15, 2009
Lisbon - July 10, 2010
Berlin - June 26, 2014
Zurich - June 23, 2022
http://www.last.fm/user/Kloddz