Hit-making songwriter Jeff Barry celebrated his 86th birthday on April 3, 2024. Barry is best-known for his prolific 1960s partnership with his first wife, the late Ellie Greenwich.
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Barry, who was born Joel Adelberg in Brooklyn, New York, co-wrote a jaw-dropping list of pop hits during the 1960s and early ’70s. The majority of his famous tunes were co-written with Greenwich, with whom he was married from 1962 to 1966. After the couple split, Barry continued to collaborate with other songwriters.
[RELATED: The Story Behind Olivia Newton-John’s Favorite Song “I Honestly Love You”]
Here are five of the most successful and most enduring hits that Barry had a hand in writing:
“Da Doo Ron Ron” – The Crystals (1963), Shaun Cassidy (1977)
Barry co-wrote “Da Doo Ron Ron” with Greenwich and producer Phil Spector. The song was first recorded by The Crystals, who were among the acts signed to Spector’s Philles label. The tune became the first major hit Barry collaborated on with Greenwich. It peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100.
More than a decade later, actor and teen pop idol Shaun Cassidy recorded a version of the tune. The song, which appeared on Cassidy’s self-titled 1976 debut album, topped the Hot 100 in August 1977.
“Do Wah Diddy Diddy” – Manfred Mann (1964)
In 1963, Barry and Greenwich wrote a song called “Do-Wah-Diddy” that was recorded by the New York-based pop/R&B vocal group The Exciters. Then, in 1964, British Invasion group Manfred Mann recorded their own version of the tune, slightly retitled “Do Wah Diddy Diddy.” The supremely catchy song wound up spending two weeks at No. 1 on the U.K. singles chart in August ’64. Then, in October of ’64, it spent two weeks on the Hot 100.
“Leader of the Pack” – The Shangri-Las (1964)
Barry and Greenwich co-wrote “Leader of the Pack” with producer Shadow Morton, who managed the New York City girl group The Shangri-las. Morton initially intended to give the song to another female group he managed, The Goodies. Instead, he decided to have The Shangri-las record it as a follow-up to their Top-5 single “Remember (Walking in the Sand).”
“Leader of the Pack” became The Shangri-las’ signature song, and reached the top of the Hot 100 in November 1964. “Leader of the Pack” is the quintessential teenage tragedy song, sung by a young woman who falls for a motorcycle-riding bad boy, who, in turn, dies in a crash at the end of the tune.
“Sugar, Sugar” – The Archies (1969)
Barry co-wrote “Sugar, Sugar” with Andy Kim for The Archies, the Saturday morning cartoon based on the popular comic book. The bubblegum-pop classic was credited to the fictional group The Archies. The track was sung by studio-session vocalist Ron Dante.
“Sugar, Sugar” was a No. 1 hit for four weeks on the Hot 100 and eight weeks on the U.K. singles chart in the fall of ’69. The tune was the top song in the year-end charts for both the U.S. and the U.K.
“I Honestly Love You” – Olivia Newton-John (1974)
Barry co-wrote “I Honestly Love You” with singer/composer Peter Allen. The song became Olivia Newton-John’s first No. 1 hit on the Hot 100. It topped the chart for two weeks in October 1974.
In 1975, Newton-John won Grammys for both Record of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female for “I Honestly Love You.”
In a 2008 interview on The Rachael Ray Show, Newton-John shared that “I Honestly Love You” was her very favorite song from her catalog.
“It’s such a special song, and I have some very profound memories of times that I’ve sung it, very intimate times, with special people in my life,” she said. “And all through my life, it’s meant something different to me, and every time I sing it, it has a different resonance.”
More About Barry’s Career
Barry has co-written many other well-known songs. Among them are “Chapel of Love” by The Dixie Cups, “Be My Baby” and “Baby, I Love You” by The Ronettes, “Then He Kissed Me” by The Crystals, “Hanky Panky” by Tommy James & the Shondells, and “River Deep – Mountain High” by Ike and Tina Turner.
He also wrote the theme songs to the TV shows The Jeffersons, One Day at a Time, and Family Ties.
In 1991, Barry was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame alongside Greenwich. In 2010, he and Greenwich, who died in 2009, were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in conjunction with receiving the Ahmet Ertegun Award.
