The Encyclopedia of Dead Rock Stars (369 page)

See also
Jimmy Griffin (
January 2005); Mike Botts (
December 2005)

Golden Oldies #99

Ellie Greenwich

(Eleanor Louise Greenwich - Brooklyn, New York, 23 October 1940)

(The Raindrops)

Alongside husband and writing-partner Jeff Barry, Eleanor Greenwich was one of the most prolific and successful writers to emerge from New York’s fabled Brill Building during the 1960s. Greenwich had been composing pop songs on the piano since her teens, initially learning to play keys via the accordion: indeed, the young singer and musician was halfway through college studies when she recorded her first self-penned song, ‘Silly Isn’t It?’ (RCA, 1958), under the name ‘Ellie Gaye’. This was just a mere indication of how Greenwich’s pop sensibilities were to influence the ‘girl group’ market.

Before beginning her key partnership with Jeff Barry, Greenwich had worked with Phil Spector and Tony Powers on such hits as Bob B Soxx & The Blue Jeans’s ‘Why Do Lovers Break Each Others’ Hearts?’ (1963, US Top Forty). Her clear potential had by now drawn interest from Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who, having inadvertently heard her playing at the Brill Building, offered her a staff writing position. Barry was also very interested in the appealing Greenwich, and the couple married in 1962, becoming a professional partnership as well, upon signing up with Leiber and Stoller.

The result, of course, was a series of enduring pop classics: it all began with a triumphant 1963 that saw them score major hits with ‘Be My Baby’ (US number two; UK Top Five) and ‘Baby I Love You’ (US; UK Top Forty) for The Ronettes, plus ‘Then He Kissed Me’ (US Top Ten; UK number two) and ‘Da Doo Ron Ron’ (US; UK Top Five) for The Crystals.

‘The greatest pop record ever made.’

The Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson, on ‘Be My Baby’

Spector’s ‘Wall of Sound’ productions also saw their greatest successes with these recordings. And if 1963 was good, 1964 was extraordinary with the axis witnessing no fewer than
seventeen
of their compositions find homes in the Hot 100 …

Among these were some real beauties. Switching to Leiber, Stoller and George Goldner’s Red Bird Records label, the Barry and Greenwich partnership created the number ones ‘Chapel of Love’ for The Dixie Cups (1964) and perhaps their finest moment, The Shangri-Las’ fabulously melodramatic ‘Leader of the Pack’ (1964, with ‘auteur’ George ‘Shadow’ Morton). Other smashes for Barry/Greenwich were to include Manfred Mann’s ‘Doo Wah Diddy’ (1964, UK/ US number one) and ‘Hanky Panky’ by Tommy James & The Shondells (1966, US number one/UK Top Forty). Around this time, Barry and Greenwich also scored several minor hit records of their own as The Raindrops, including the Top Twenty ‘The Kind of Boy You Can’t Forget’ (1963).

Despite a divorce at the end of 1965, the pair continued to produce lasting tunes such as Ike & Tina’s ‘River Deep, Mountain High’ (1966, UK Top Five). They also worked extensively with a new talent called Neil Diamond, a singer effectively ‘discovered’ by Greenwich and on whose songs she frequently sang backing vocals. With hers and Barry’s personal relationship over, however, Greenwich teamed more closely with writer/producer Mike Rashkow. Although their Pineywood company was distinctly lower-profile, the pairing was responsible for a significant amount of Dusty Springfield’s yield.

After such astronomical success in her twenties, it was perhaps to be expected that Ellie Greenwich’s later career could not meet the same level of achievement: she nonetheless continued to write, produce and sing, but with more anonymity than before. As well as composing for artists as diverse as Ellen

Foley, Elkie Brooks and Cyndi Lauper, Greenwich could often be seen at studio sessions offering arrangements and vocal backings to major acts such Blondie and the ELO.
Leader of the Pack,
a musical based on her life, opened on Broadway in the mid-eighties, the musician herself appearing in it on occasion.

Close…

Mary Weiss

(The Shangri-Las)

One of Ellie Greenwich’s early co-workers was among the hundreds who narrowly escaped with their lives after the 9/11 attacks in New York City. Photogenic Mary Weiss had been the focal point of teen-rebels The Shangri-Las, her plaintive cries illuminating smashes like ‘Remember (Walkin’ in the Sand)’ and the aforementioned ‘Leader of the Pack’ as girl-pop took an unexpected turn for the rebellious around 1964.

With her days of pop fame well behind her, Weiss had taken a more sedate secretarial position at an architectural firm, then working her way up the career ladder with a respected furniture company near the World Trade Center that fitted out New York apartment blocks. The turn of the millennium had seen Weiss’s biggest furnishing project yet–which was then destroyed during the atrocities of 9/11. The former Shangri-La, being outside of her offices, escaped almost certain death when the landing gear of one of the hijacked aircraft crashed through the roof. Weiss–who returned to the recording studio seven years later–was later commended for her assistance in the aftermath of the 2001 tragedy.

Closer!

Travis Barker

(Blink-182)

Various acts)

On 19 September 2008, former Blink-182, +44, Transplants and Box Car Racer drummer Travis Barker joined a highly exclusive rock ‘n’ roll club–those who have
survived
an air crash. Travelling with his frequent associate DJ AM (former Crazy Town turntable wizard, Adam Goldstein), Barker was returning to Van Nuys, California, from Columbus, South Carolina, after a gig at which they’d played alongside Perry Farrell. As the private Learjet–containing two additional passengers and two crew members–prepared to take off, witnesses reported seeing sparks emanating from ts underside. The craft proceeded to careen off the runway and plough into an embankment, where it burst into flames. Barker and Goldstein managed to scramble from the Learjet, however the four remaining on board (including Barker’s PA, Chris Baker, and bodyguard, Charles Still) were killed instantly.

Following several weeks of intensive treatment, the percussionist–who, with third and second-degree burns, had initially been on the critical list–made a full recovery. Barker successfully sued the plane’s owners, its maintenance company and Goodyear tires, however settlement details remained confidential.

The former Blink-182 star reunited with fellow-survivor DJ AM to play together that New Year’s Eve. However, it was to prove a false dawn for Adam Goldstein: while Barker sought to improve his lifestyle, the mixmaster died in tragic circumstances less than a year after the near-fatal air crash (
August 2009).

The much-lauded and decorated Ellie Greenwich was admitted to St Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital, suffering from the effects of pneumonia. She died following a heart attack on 26 August 2009.

Friday 28

Adam Goldstein

(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 30 March 1973)

(Crazy Town)

(Various acts)

Revered as DJ AM – Hollywood’s most in-demand DJ/remixer – Adam Goldstein survived a tortured upbringing to find success in his chosen metier. The DJ spoke often and openly about ill-treatment by his troubled father (a closet gay man who eventually died of AIDS), and his struggles with obesity and drug abuse as a teenager. Sadly, despite overcoming his demons to achieve great success, Goldstein’s own life was to be a short one.

At the start of his professional career, Goldstein was far from over the issues that had dogged his younger life. Years at a ‘tough-love’ rehab facility had done little to cure his eating disorder or improve his self-esteem. To make matters worse, Goldstein was plying his trade intoxicated and then blowing earnings on cocaine. However, a moment of enlightenment was to turn things around: at his lowest, the DJ tried to end his life with a gun that didn’t fire, using this ‘sign’ to change his lifestyle and up his game. Within a couple of years, Goldstein was fit, sober and working for some of the biggest stars in Hollywood. Although he was to suffer several relapses, Goldstein was now a name to be reckoned with.