Tommy James, Morris Levy, and Ellie Greenwich's Ring

Excellent article in The Guardian about Tommy James and Morris Levy (mobster owner of Roulette Records), and how Levy never paid James for his hit records ranging from "Hanky Panky" to "Crystal Blue Persuasion" (thanks guitarist Glenn Conway for bringing the article to my attention).

I found James receiving no or a negligible payment for "Hanky Panky" especially interesting, because it doesn't jibe with what Ellie Greenwich told me she received as co-writer of that song with her then husband Jeff Barry.  (Ellie and Mike Rashkow produced my group The Other Voices aka The New Outlook -- two singles -- on Atlantic Records in the late 1960s.  Here's the most successful of those two singles, May My Heart Be Cast into Stone -- Stu Nitekman is singing lead and I'm singing falsetto.)

Anyway, Ellie wore a big beautiful ring -- she called it her Hanky Panky ring, because she said when she received her multi-thousand dollar check as co-writer of "Hanky Panky," she went out and bought that ring.  I have no idea what the ring cost and how much she and Jeff received for that song.  But I don't think she was lying, and she gave the impression that the ring cost at least a couple of thousand dollars.  But even if it was cost just a couple of hundred bucks, that means she received much more for that song than Tommy James says he received as its recording artist.

Songwriters those days received royalties from two sources: the record company, which paid the writer a penny per record sold, and the performance rights organization, which paid the writer a sum of money based on how many times the song was played on the radio (in Ellie's case, the organization was BMI).  "Hanky Panky" was a huge #1 record, but did it receive enough airplay for Ellie to buy a big ring from her BMI payments, if Morris Levy paid her just a pittance, or nothing?

Who knows?  Maybe Jeff Barry threw in his BMI royalties.  Ellie died, sadly, in 2009, but Jeff is still alive and kicking.  Which come to think of it, a group by that name had a big hit record with a song called Tighter, Tighter, written by none other than Tommy James, and released on Morris Levy's Roulette Records in 1970.

Ellie Greenwich

What a day ... Ellie Greenwich also died today. She was 68. She wrote rock classics such as "Be My Baby" with Phil Specter and her then-husband Jeff Barry. With Jeff, she discovered Neil Diamond and produced his early great records. Ellie and Jeff performed as the Raindrops, and also wrote hits for groups ranging from the Crystals ("Da Doo Ron Ron") to Manfred Mann ("Do Wah Diddy Diddy"). They even wrote "Hanky Panky" for Tommy James and the Shondells.

Jeff and Ellie split. He went on to produce the first hits for the Monkees. She joined forces with Mike Rashkow (co-writer of "Mary in the Morning"). One Sunday afternoon in the Spring of 1967, Ellie and Mike were walking in Central Park in New York City, and heard some good harmony ....

That was Stu Nitekman, Ira Margolis, and me singing. We were a folk-rock pop group called "The New Outlook". Ellie and Mike changed our name to The Other Voices and got us a contract with Atlantic Records. Two singles ensued - "May My Heart Be Cast Into Stone" and "No Olympian Height". The B-side of both singles was written by Mikie Harris (then Mike's wife) and me - "Hung Up On Love".

Mike and Ellie also put together a studio group, The Definitive Rock Chorale, which recorded one of my songs, "Picture Postcard World". You can hear it below. Listen for Ellie singing in the background.

Ellie went on to have hit Broadway play in 1985 - "Leader of the Pack".

I went on to become a professor and a writer of books instead of music and lyrics. You can hear more of my music over here. I also have a MySpace page for The New Outlook.

I spoke to Ellie maybe once every decade on the phone. She was my first brush with flickering fame. I expect her joyous music to be around for a long time.