Jeff Barry
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Why Jeff Barry Belongs in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Many thanks to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame foundation for including Jeff Barry on its list of 2010 Rock Hall inductees!
 
 
(This page was constructed in late 2007 - well before Jeff's induction into the Rock Hall)
 
 
Reasons why Jeff Barry should be inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - an open letter to the Rock Hall nominations committee

Jeff Barry

Be My Baby

Honored members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation,

Considering all of his major accomplishments in the field of pop music in general, and rock and roll music in particular, it's somewhat surprising that legendary Brill Building songwriter-producer JEFF BARRY has not yet earned a place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  While it's true that there are only a relative handful of inductees every year out of a large field of contenders, Jeff's career spans (at this writing) nearly forty-eight years, far longer than many folks who are already in the Hall.  What truly counts, however, is not quantity but quality, and Jeff Barry has certainly more than risen to this particular standard.  Two singles Jeff produced (and, in one case, wrote) received Record of the Year honors from the Recording Industry Association of America - this alone is impressive enough without also bearing in mind that Jeff's songs have not been absent from the airwaves since his career began.

Since 1960, Jeff Barry's name has been as synonymous with rock and roll as that of Alan Freed.  Jeff's songwriting career, which had begun only a year earlier, was launched into the stratosphere when Ray Peterson recorded "Tell Laura I Love Her," ultimately hitting the U.S. Top Ten. The tune was covered by British singer Ricky Valance that same year and went all the way to the #1 spot in the U.K.  "Tell Laura" is not only a very recognizable song but to this day is singled out by many writers and musicologists as one of the ultimate teen-tragedy songs of all time, as is another Jeff Barry composition:  A few years after "Tell Laura" became a hit, Jeff penned "Leader of the Pack"  for The Shangri-Las, who took it to #1 in the U.S. in 1964.  Prior to this, Jeff helped to define the Girl Group sound with the many tracks he co-wrote with songwriter/producer Phil Spector, who is already in the Rock Hall.  The year 1963 was arguably the most successful one of Mr. Spector's career, and Jeff Barry contributed largely to that success; many of the hit songs Spector produced in 1963 were co-written by Jeff, including "Be My Baby" and "Baby, I Love You" by Hall of Fame inductees The Ronettes.  In addition, the delightful holiday classic "Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home," one of the tracks on Spector's Christmas album, is to this day performed every year by Darlene Love on the David Letterman Show.


In 1964, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, also Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees, founded Red Bird Records, of which Jeff was also part owner.  By most accounts, fifteen of the label's first twenty releases charted, and all of those recordings were written and/or produced by Jeff Barry.  The first single, "Chapel of Love" by The Dixie Cups, reached #1 and knocked The Beatles out of the top spot, reclaiming the U.S. charts in the midst of the British Invasion.  In late 1966, The Monkees' "I'm a Believer," produced by Jeff, shot to #1 in the U.S. and was the biggest-selling record for that year.  In 1968, Jeff began writing and producing for the animated musical group The Archies.  "Sugar, Sugar," which was released in the summer of 1969, also hit #1, earning a gold record, and it too became RIAA Record of the Year.  In between, Jeff founded his own label, Steed Records, writing and producing for hitmakers such as Robin McNamara and Andy Kim.  Jeff continued his work in the pop field even as he relocated from New York to Los Angeles in 1971 and began composing music for television and movies.  "I Honestly Love You," by Olivia Newton-John, became a #1 hit for the singer in 1974.  In 1991, Jeff was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame; in addition, he has received two Lifetime Achievement Awards, one in 1998 from the National Academy of Songwriters, and, more recently, from the LA Weekly Music Awards in 2005.  (A  comprehensive look at Jeff's career can be found on this website as well as in my Spectropop essay, Mr. Music Man: A Glimpse Into the Life and Career of Jeff Barry.)

Sugar, Sugar

Jeff's songs are timeless.  His tunes have endured and become classics; they are as familiar to second and third generations in the present day as they were to the people who enjoyed Jeff's music when it was new.  His records have sold in the millions, and they continue to sell today on CD and other digital formats; in short, consumers have never stopped buying Jeff's music.  A number of tunes written and/or produced by Jeff Barry have shown up in Broadway shows, on television, and in movies.  Just a handful of examples - the musicals Leader of the Pack and The Boy From Oz featured Jeff's songs, as did films such as Dirty Dancing and Now and Then.  Most recently, "Sugar Sugar" is featured in the new Jerry Seinfeld flick, The Bee Movie.  It's important to stress the enduring nature of Jeff's work, and how much different the world would be had Jeff Barry not been around to share his particular brand of magic with us all.
 
Rather than my continuing to ramble on and on about the myriad reasons that Jeff Barry should be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, please allow me to offer fifty reasons, listed below.  Please keep in mind that this list includes only those records which reached the U.S. Top Forty*; it leaves out many others that charted in lower positions, those that were regional hits, and those that were hits in countries other than the United States. Songs in bold type reached #1 on the U.S.; many others earned gold records for the artists who recorded them.  Jeff Barry is a true legend of rock and roll.  Please induct him into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and give him the recognition he has so truly earned.
 
Most sincerely,
Laura Pinto
 

YEAR
TITLE
ARTIST
JEFF'S ROLE
1960
1961
Tell Laura I Love Her
Chip Chip
Ray Peterson
Gene McDaniels
Songwriter
Songwriter
1963
1963
Da Doo Ron Ron
Then He Kissed Me
The Crystals
The Crystals
Songwriter
Songwriter
1963
1963
The Kind of Boy You Can't Forget
Wait 'Til My Bobby Gets Home
The Raindrops
Darlene Love
Songwriter/Producer
Songwriter
1963
1963
Be My Baby
Baby, I Love You
The Ronettes
The Ronettes
Songwriter
Songwriter
1964
1964
1964
Chapel of Love
People Say
You Should Have Seen the Way He Looked At Me
The Dixie Cups
The Dixie Cups
The Dixie Cups
Songwriter
Songwriter
Songwriter
1964
1964
1964
Doo Wah Diddy Diddy
I Wanna Love Him So Bad
Remember (Walkin' in the Sand)
Manfred Mann
The Jelly Beans
The Shangri-Las
Songwriter
Songwriter
Producer
1964
1964
1964
Leader of the Pack
I Have a Boyfriend
Maybe I Know
The Shangri-Las
The Chiffons
Lesley Gore
Songwriter/Producer
Songwriter
Songwriter
1965
1965
1966
Look of Love
Give Us Your Blessings
Hanky Panky
Lesley Gore
The Shangri-Las
Tommy James & The Shondells
Songwriter
Songwriter/Producer
Songwriter
1966
1966
Cherry Cherry
I Got The Feelin' (Oh No No)
Neil Diamond
Neil Diamond
Producer
Producer
1966
1967
I'm a Believer
A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You
The Monkees
The Monkees
Producer
Producer
1967
1967
You Got To Me
Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon
Neil Diamond
Neil Diamond
Producer
Producer
1967
1967
I Thank The Lord For the Night Time
Kentucky Woman
Neil Diamond
Neil Diamond
Producer
Producer
1968
1968
1968
How'd We Ever Get This Way
Shoot 'Em Up, Baby
Bang Shang a-Lang
Andy Kim
Andy Kim
The Archies
Songwriter/Producer
Songwriter/Producer
Songwriter/Producer
1969
1969
Sugar, Sugar
Jingle Jangle
The Archies
The Archies
Songwriter/Producer
Songwriter/Producer
1969
1969
1969
I Can Hear Music
Did You See Her Eyes
Baby, I Love You
The Beach Boys
The Illusion
Andy Kim
Songwriter
Songwriter/Producer
Songwriter/Producer
1969
1970
1970
So Good Together
Be My Baby
Who's Your Baby
Andy Kim
Andy Kim
The Archies
Songwriter/Producer
Songwriter/Producer
Songwriter/Producer
1970
1970
1970
Shilo
Solitary Man
Do It
Neil Diamond
Neil Diamond
Neil Diamond
Producer
Producer
Producer
1970
1970
1970
Sugar, Sugar
River Deep - Mountain High
Lay a Little Lovin' On Me
Wilson Pickett
Supremes/Four Tops
Robin McNamara
Songwriter
Songwriter
Songwriter/Producer
1970
1971
Montego Bay
Heavy Makes You Happy (Sha-Na-Boom-Boom)
Bobby Bloom
The Staple Singers
Songwriter/Producer
Songwriter

1974
1977
1984

I Honestly Love You
Da Doo Ron Ron
Last Time I Made Love

Olivia Newton-John
Shaun Cassidy
Joyce Kennedy & Jeffrey Osborne

Songwriter
Songwriter
Songwriter

*As compiled by Billboard.
Source: The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits by Joel Whitburn

Please visit Laura's Oldies Sites for a list of other sites I run, including those for The Dixie Cups and Ron Dante of The Archies.
 
 

Note:  Jeff Barry: The Man and His Music is a fan site owned and maintained by Laura Pinto.  Laura is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.