So they wrote that?

[bob_32_116]

There are songs where nearly everyone knows who wrote them. Then there are some songwriters who wrote dozens of well-known songs, but for some reason the writer's name is not a household word, not even when the writer is a performer in his/her own right.

I had occasion to ponder on this when I happened to look up information on Albert Hammond. Most people will know the song "It Never Rains in Southern California" - but how many people know that he wrote or co-wrote all the following songs?

Song titles, followed by artist(s) who recorded them, in brackets:

Little Arrows (Leapy Lee)
Make Me an Island (Joe Dolan)
You're Such a Good Looking Woman (Joe Dolan)
Freedom Come, Freedom Go (The Fortunes)
The Air That I Breathe (The Hollies)
When I Need You (Leo Sayer)(co-written with Carole Bayer Sager)
To All the Girls I've Loved Before (Julio Iglesias & Willie Nelson)(co-written with Hal David)
Nothing's Gonna Stop us Now (Starship)
Don't Turn Around (Tina Turner/Aswad/Ace of Base)(co-written with Diane Warren)

He also gets half the royalties for "Creep" by Radiohead, owing to the fact that the bridge in that song plagiarises the melody from the verses of "The Air That I Breathe".

Quite a catalogue. I doubt there is anyone else hailing from Gibraltar who has written so many well-known songs.

[CRAZY-HORSE]

i have two of Albert's studio albums...."the free electric band" is my favourite, plus a compilation.
he is a fantastic writer IMO....

Julio's other big hit "moonlight lady was also written by Hammond

I believe he also wrote songs for Celine Dion and Meatloaf

I ddnt know about the 'creep' connection though...

Hammond's son Albert Jnr, is a member of alt-rock band The Strokes.

[CRAZY-HORSE]

Neil Sedaka and Carol King would probably qualify also but im coming into the modern music era with this one..

the sensational Bruno Mars
not only is he a hugely successful artist in his own right with two of the biggest selling albums of the last five or six years,
plus several of the biggest selling singles of the same peiod but he has also written some big hits for other artists...
and those artists are an eclectic bunch of hit makers in their own right also...
heres a few examples of the songs Bruno has written or co written for other artists, and at times hes also appeared as a
featured artist on some of those songs:

Eminem/Bad Meets Evil....."lighters"
Alicia Keys......................."tears always win"
Adam Lambert................."never close our eyes"
Flo Rida.........................."who dat girl"
The Vamps......................"can we dance"
Cee Lo Green..................."F##k You" / "forget you"
Kanye/Beyoncé................"lift off"
Snoop Dogg...................."young, wild and free"
Sugar Babes..................."get sexy"

look, a cannot recall most of these songs but they hit the top 10 in various charts around the world!

[bob_32_116]

Another guy who was popping up regularly a few years ago is Gregg Alexander.

Gregg who? you ask. He's the guy who formed the short-lived band The New Radicals. Remember "You Get What You Give"? They had that one hit, and released one album. Apparently the reason why they were short-lived was that Alexander was totally bored with the whole band and touring thing and preferred to just write and produce. He even LOOKS bored on the cover of the album. The slouch hat, which he wore in live appearances, was apparently a useful device to hide the fact that his eyes were wandering around and looking into the distance rather than attempting to make contact with his audience.

Santana's Grammy award winning song "The Game of Love" which features Michelle Branch - there is another version featuring Tina Turner - is credited to one "Alex Ander". That's him.

Some others he wrote:

- Several for Ronan Keating, including "Life Is a Rollercoaster"
- Several for Sophie Ellis Bextor, incl. "Murder on the Dance Floor"
- "My Heart Can't Change" (Taylor Dayne)
- "I Can't Deny It" (Rod Stewart)
- "Remember Who's Your Man" (INXS)