In partnership with singer and composer
Neil Sedaka, lyricist
Howard Greenfield authored some of the most irresistible pop songs to emerge from the famed Brill Building. Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, in late 1952 the 16-year-old
Greenfield was introduced to 13-year-old neighbor and piano prodigy
Sedaka, with whom he immediately began writing songs. Their collaboration continued while
Sedaka attended Juilliard and in 1958 they were the first songwriters signed to
Al Nevins and Don Kirshner's newly formed Aldon Music, where they worked in the legendary Brill Building alongside such legendary teams as
Carole King/
Gerry Goffin and
Jeff Barry/
Ellie Greenwich. After first landing their "Passing Time" with
the Cookies,
Sedaka and
Greenfield scored their first major pop hit with
Connie Francis' "Stupid Cupid"; they also sold songs to Atlantic Records producer
Jerry Wexler for sessions with
Clyde McPhatter and
LaVern Baker. In 1959,
Sedaka signed to RCA as a solo artist, becoming one of the biggest pop stars of the pre-British Invasion era. Together, he and
Greenfield generated a series of hits -- among them "Oh! Carol," "Stairway to Heaven," "Calendar Girl," "Little Devil," "Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen," "Next Door to an Angel," and the chart-topping "Breaking up Is Hard to Do" -- which sold a combined 25 million records. Although
Sedaka's solo career cooled after 1963, the duo continued writing hits for other artists, including
the 5th Dimension's "Workin' on a Groovy Thing" and
Tom Jones' "Puppet Man." Apart from
Sedaka,
Greenfield also collaborated with
Carole King ("Crying in the Rain"), Helen Miller ("Foolish Little Girl,"
the Shirelles' final Top Ten hit), and
Jack Keller, his partner on "Breakin' in a Brand New Broken Heart," "Ev'rybody's Somebody's Fool," "My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own," and "When Somebody Loves You" in addition to themes for the television hits Bewitched and The Flying Nun. Although
Sedaka and
Greenfield ended their partnership in 1973, two years later their song "Love Will Keep Us Together" topped the charts for the
Captain & Tennille on its way to earning a Grammy for Record of the Year. He and
Sedaka later resumed their collaboration and continued writing together in the years to follow. ~ Jason Ankeny