Ritchie Cordell (born Richard Joel Rosenblatt; March 10, 1943 – April 13, 2004) was an American songwriter, singer and record producer. He wrote and produced several hits for
Tommy James and The Shondells
Tommy James and the Shondells are an American pop rock/psychedelic rock band, formed in Niles, Michigan, in 1964. They had two No. 1 singles in the U.S. – " Hanky Panky" (July 1966, their only RIAA Certified Gold record) and "Crimson and Clo ...
, including "
I Think We're Alone Now
"I Think We're Alone Now" is a song written and composed by Ritchie Cordell that was first recorded by Tommy James and the Shondells. It was a major hit for group, reaching number 4 on the US Hot 100 in April 1967. It finished at No. 12 on '' B ...
" (later also recorded by
Lene Lovich
Lene Lovich (; born Lili-Marlene Premilovich; March 30, 1949) is an English-American singer, songwriter and musician. She first gained attention in 1979 with the release of her hit single "Lucky Number", which peaked at number 3 on the UK Singl ...
,
Tiffany and
Girls Aloud
Girls Aloud were an pop girl group that was created through the ITV talent show '' Popstars: The Rivals'' in 2002. The group comprised singers Cheryl, Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh. The group achieved a str ...
) and "
Mony Mony" (later also recorded by
Billy Idol
William Michael Albert Broad (born 30 November 1955), known professionally as Billy Idol, is a British-American singer, songwriter, and musician. He first achieved fame in the 1970s emerging from the London punk rock scene as the lead singer o ...
), and co-produced
Joan Jett
Joan Jett (born Joan Marie Larkin, September 22, 1958) is an American singer, guitarist, record producer, and actress. Jett is best known for her work as the frontwoman of her band Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, and for earlier founding and per ...
's ''
I Love Rock 'n' Roll
"I Love Rock 'n' Roll" is a rock song written by Alan Merrill and Jake Hooker and first recorded by the Arrows, a British rock band, in 1975. A 1981 cover version by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, released as the first single from her album ...
''.
Biography
Rosenblatt was born in
Brooklyn, New York
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, and started singing and playing guitar in his teens. In 1961, he was introduced to
song plugger
A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetition ...
Sid Prosen, who in turn introduced him to young songwriter
Paul Simon, then using the pseudonym Jerry Landis. Rosenblatt began using the name Ritchie Cordell, initially as a performer, and "Landis" wrote the song "Tick Tock" which became Cordell's first single, released on the Rori label in 1962. Cordell then started writing his own material, including his single "Georgiana" which was arranged and produced by Landis.
He worked for a time at
Kama Sutra Records
Kama Sutra Records was started in 1964 by Arthur "Artie" Ripp, Hy Mizrahi and Phil Steinberg as Kama Sutra Productions, a production house. The "Kama Sutra" is an ancient Sanskrit text.Alan Betrock ''Girl groups: the story of a sound'' 1982 p.1 ...
, but had limited success as either a writer or performer before joining
Roulette Records
Roulette Records was an American record company and label founded in 1957 by George Goldner, Joe Kolsky, Morris Levy and Phil Kahl, with creative control given to producers and songwriters Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore. Levy was appointed ...
as a staff songwriter in 1966. At Roulette, he began working with Tommy James and the Shondells, who had just had their first hit, "
Hanky Panky". With Sal Trimachi, Cordell co-wrote their third record, "
It's Only Love
"It's Only Love" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written mostly by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was first released in 1965 on the ''Help!'' album in the United Kingdom and on the ''Rubber Soul'' album in the ...
"; as on many of the group's Roulette recordings, the writing credit was shared with record company boss
Morris Levy
Morris Levy (born Moishe Levy; August 27, 1927 – May 21, 1990) was an American entrepreneur in the fields of jazz clubs, music publishing, and the independent record industry. Levy was cofounder and owner of Roulette Records, founding partner ...
, who garnered royalty monies in the process. As well as writing "I Think We're Alone Now" (which reached No. 4 on the US
''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1967) and co-writing "Mony Mony" (No. 3 in 1968, and No. 1 in the
UK), Cordell also wrote several lesser hits for the group.
[Obituary in ''The Independent'', reprinted at Spectropop.com]
Retrieved 27 February 2013
In the late 1960s he left Roulette to join
Super K Productions, a company set up by producers
Jerry Kasenetz
Jerry Kasenetz is an American bubblegum pop producer who worked with Jeffry Katz, the two working together as the Super K Productions company,Clarke, Donald (ed.) (1998) ''The Penguin Encyclopedia of Popular Music'', Penguin Books, , p. 182 to manu ...
and
Jeffry Katz
Jeffry Katz (born May 20, 1943, Brooklyn, New York) is an American music producer, one of the first exponents of bubblegum pop.
Music career
He is one half of a hitmaking duo with Jerry Kasenetz, the two working together as the Super K Productio ...
. Cordell co-wrote several hits for the company, notably "
Gimme Gimme Good Lovin'
"Gimme Gimme Good Lovin'" is a song written by Joey Levine and Ritchie Cordell and performed by Crazy Elephant. It reached #12 on both the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart in 1969, and was featured on their 1969 album, ''Crazy Elep ...
" (co-written with
Joey Levine
Joey Levine (born May 29, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter and record producer of pop music, who has been active since 1966.
Career
Levine sang lead vocals on several Top 40 singles including "Run Run Run" by The Third Rail (1966), "Y ...
and recorded by
Crazy Elephant
Crazy Elephant was an American bubblegum pop band noted for their 1969 hit single, " Gimme Gimme Good Lovin'". Crazy Elephant was a studio concoction, the Marzano-Calvert Studio Band, created by Jerry Kasenetz and Jeffry Katz of Super K Produ ...
, 1968); and "
Indian Giver
"Indian giver" is a pejorative expression used to describe a person who gives a "gift" and later wants it back or who expects something of equivalent worth in return for the item. It is based on cultural misunderstandings that took place between ...
" (co-written with
Bobby Bloom and
Bo Gentry
Robert Allan Ackoff (May 30, 1942 – June 30, 1983), known professionally as Bo Gentry, was an American pop singer, songwriter and record producer, most noted for his work with Tommy James and the Shondells in the 1960s.
Biography
Gentry wa ...
, and recorded by the
1910 Fruitgum Co., 1969).
[Biography by Steve Kurutz at Allmusic.com]
Retrieved 27 February 2013
In the 1970s he continued to work as a music publisher, songwriter and producer, before finding renewed success in 1981 as the co-producer of Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
Joan Jett (born Joan Marie Larkin, September 22, 1958) is an American singer, guitarist, record producer, and actress. Jett is best known for her work as the frontwoman of her band Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, and for earlier founding and per ...
' version of "I Love Rock 'n' Roll
"I Love Rock 'n' Roll" is a rock song written by Alan Merrill and Jake Hooker and first recorded by the Arrows, a British rock band, in 1975. A 1981 cover version by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, released as the first single from her album ...
", which reached No. 1 in the US and No. 4 in the UK, and its eponymous album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...
. Cordell also co-produced the Ramones' 1983 album ''Subterranean Jungle
''Subterranean Jungle'' is the seventh studio album by the American punk rock band the Ramones, released by Sire Records on February 23, 1983. Overall, the album featured a return to a somewhat more hard punk rock style compared to the band's ...
'', and worked with British post-punk band Bow Wow Wow
Bow Wow Wow are an English new wave band, created by manager Malcolm McLaren in 1980. McLaren recruited members of Adam and the Ants to form the band behind 13-year-old Annabella Lwin on vocals. They released their debut EP '' Your Cassette ...
.[ In 1987, he enjoyed the rare feat of having one of his songs (Tiffany's "I Think We're Alone Now") replaced by another (Billy Idol's "Mony Mony") at the top of the US Hot 100.][
Cordell died of pancreatic cancer in New York in 2004, at the age of 61.][Ritchie Cordell at FindaGrave.com]
Retrieved 27 February 2013
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cordell, Ritchie
1943 births
2004 deaths
Record producers from New York (state)
Songwriters from New York (state)
Musicians from Brooklyn
20th-century American singers
Deaths from pancreatic cancer
Deaths from cancer in New York (state)
20th-century American male singers
American male songwriters