Artie Schroeck | |
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![]() Artie Schroeck, 2010 | |
Born | Arthur Bruce Schroeck October 10, 1938 |
Nationality | American |
Occupation(s) | Composer and arranger |
Spouse | Linda November |
Arthur Bruce Schroeck [1] (born October 10, 1938) is an American musician, best known for arranging and composing popular songs and jingles. [2] He has won multiple Clio Awards, such as when he composed the music for the 1981 ABC-TV promo "Now is the time, ABC is the place". [3] He also composed (with Frank Gari) the 1982 promo "Come on along with ABC". [4] [5] He arranged the classic "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" in 1967 for Frankie Valli [6] and has written or arranged music for multiple other artists including Liza Minnelli, Sammy Davis Jr. and Frank Sinatra. [7] [8] In the 1990s, he was a regular performer at Harrah's in Atlantic City with his wife, singer Linda November, and in 1997, he wrote, arranged, and produced a tribute to bandleader Spike Jones. [9] As of 2011, he continues to perform in Las Vegas.
Schroeck was born in Irvington, New Jersey, the youngest of four boys: John, William, Harold, and Arthur. The entire family was very musical, and Schroeck began playing drums and piano at the age of 3, soon joining his brother Harold to perform at local functions in the North Jersey area, with the boys singing and tap dancing. When Schroeck was 8, he was noticed by jazz drummer Gene Krupa when the boys were performing in Atlantic City, and Krupa incorporated the boys' work into his own band, as well as that of jazz trumpeter Louis Prima. [7] Harold eventually left the act at the age of 24 to raise his own family, but Artie continued with his music, and also began arranging songs for the bands that he was working with. [9]
In Las Vegas, Schroeck ran into jazz musician Lionel Hampton while they were both in a piano store and they started an impromptu jam session. Hampton immediately invited Schroeck to join his own band, where Schroeck remained for the next two years, before leaving to become a professional music arranger at a recording studio. He worked with Neil Diamond, the Lovin' Spoonful, Paul Anka, and Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, for whom he arranged "I've Got You Under My Skin" and "Can't Take My Eyes Off You". Schroeck also began writing music at this point in his career, such as 1983's "Here's to the Band" for Frank Sinatra, [7] [10] written with Alfred Nittoli and Sharman Howe. [11]
In the 1980s and '90s, Schroeck could often be found performing in Atlantic City, such as at the Harrah's Atrium Lounge with Linda November. A regular who would come to visit whenever she was in town was Liza Minnelli. [7] [12] [13] Schroeck and November had met in the late 1960s while working together on musical projects, but had both been married to other people at the time. In 1988, they became a couple, and they married in 1996. In 1997, the couple directed a production saluting band leader Spike Jones, "The New City Slickers Present a Tribute to Spike Jones", which Schroeck wrote, arranged, and produced. His brother Harold was also one of the performers in the show, which featured a nine-piece Spike Jones-style band. The show ran from September 26 – October 5, 1997. [8] [9] [14] [15] [16]
In 2001, Schroeck and his wife moved to Las Vegas. [17] [18]
Schroeck has three children by a previous marriage. The oldest, Shem Schroeck, is also a musician and singer.
Traditional pop is Western pop music that generally pre-dates the advent of rock and roll in the mid-1950s. The most popular and enduring songs from this era of music are known as pop standards or American standards. The works of these songwriters and composers are usually considered part of the canon known as the "Great American Songbook". More generally, the term "standard" can be applied to any popular song that has become very widely known within mainstream culture.
The Four Seasons is an American rock and roll and doo-wop band formed in 1960 in Newark, New Jersey. Since 1970, they have also been known at times as Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. The band evolved out of a previous band called The Four Lovers, with Frankie Valli as the lead singer, Bob Gaudio on keyboards and tenor vocals, Tommy DeVito on lead guitar and baritone vocals, and Nick Massi on bass guitar and bass vocals. On nearly all of their 1960s hits, they were credited as The 4 Seasons.
Lindley Armstrong "Spike" Jones was an American musician and bandleader specializing in spoof arrangements of popular songs and classical music. Ballads receiving the Jones treatment were punctuated with gunshots, whistles, cowbells, hiccups, burps, and outlandish and comedic vocals. Jones and his band recorded under the title Spike Jones and His City Slickers from the early 1940s to the mid-1950s, and toured the United States and Canada as "The Musical Depreciation Revue".
Alan Rubin, also known as Mr. Fabulous, was an American musician. He played trumpet, flugelhorn, and piccolo trumpet.
Francis Wayne Sinatra, professionally known as Frank Sinatra Jr., was an American singer, songwriter, and conductor.
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"Theme from New York, New York", often abbreviated to just "New York, New York", is the theme song from the Martin Scorsese film New York, New York (1977), composed by John Kander, with lyrics by Fred Ebb. It was written for and performed in the film by Liza Minnelli and was nominated for the year's Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song. It remains one of the best-known songs about New York City, and in 2004, it ranked #31 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs survey of top tunes in American cinema.
Charles Calello is an American arranger, composer, conductor, record producer, and singer born in Newark, New Jersey. Calello attended Newark Arts High School and the Manhattan School of Music, in New York City. His track record of successfully collaborating with various artists to produce or arrange Billboard hit songs led to his nickname in the industry as the "Hit Man."
This Is Tom Jones is an ATV variety series starring Tom Jones. The series was exported to the United States by ITC Entertainment and was networked there by ABC.
"Can't Take My Eyes Off You" is a 1967 song written by Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio, and first recorded and released as a single by Gaudio's Four Seasons bandmate Frankie Valli. The song was among his biggest hits, earning a gold record and reaching No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 for a week, making it Valli's biggest solo hit until he hit No. 1 in 1975 with "My Eyes Adored You".
"How Deep Is the Ocean?" is a popular song written by Irving Berlin in 1932. The song was developed from an earlier Berlin song "To My Mammy" which was sung by Al Jolson in his film Mammy (1930). In the earlier song, the lyrics include the questions "How deep is the ocean? / How high is the sky?" and this was the genesis of "How Deep Is the Ocean?".
Peter Christlieb is an American musician, playing tenor saxophone in the styles of jazz bebop, West Coast jazz, hard bop and pop music.
Charles B. Findley is an American trumpet player known for his diverse work as a session musician. He also plays other brass instruments such as flugelhorn and trombone. His technical abilities and versatility are renowned even among other session players, with the celebrated session horn player and arranger Jerry Hey saying "Chuck Findley can play anything".
The Copa Room was an entertainment nightclub showroom at the now-defunct Sands Hotel on The Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was demolished in 1996 when the Sands Hotel was imploded.
Patsy's is a family-owned and operated Italian-American restaurant at 236 West 56th Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City.
"Here's to the Band" is a 1983 popular song written by Sharman Howe, Alfred Nittoli, and Artie Schroeck. It was released as a single by Frank Sinatra.
Linda Ellen November is an American singer who has sung tens of thousands of commercial jingles. She was the voice of the singing cat in the Meow Mix commercials, sang the jingle "Galaxy Glue" in the 1981 film The Incredible Shrinking Woman, the "Coke and a Smile" jingle in the classic Mean Joe Greene Super Bowl commercial, and has won many Clio Awards for her work on television and radio. Her voice can also be heard on many pop songs, as she was a regular backup singer for artists such as Frankie Valli, Burt Bacharach, Engelbert Humperdinck, and Neil Diamond. In the 1970s, she was one of the main singers in the disco group Wing and a Prayer Fife and Drum Corps, which charted with the Top 40 hit "Baby Face" in 1976. In the 1980s and 1990s she was a regular performer in Atlantic City at The Grand and Harrah's, with her husband, composer and arranger Artie Schroeck. As of 2011, she works as a piano accompanist in Las Vegas, Nevada.
"Lovin' Things" is a 1968 song recorded by Scottish group The Marmalade, later covered by The Grass Roots. The song was written by Artie Schroeck and Jet Loring. It was the band's first successful single release, reaching number six on the UK singles chart. Their version was not, however, released in North America.
Billy Stritch is an American composer, arranger, vocalist, and jazz pianist. For many years, he was best known as a "confidant", music director, and piano player for Liza Minnelli.
Robby Robinson is a music director, keyboardist, composer, arranger, and producer living in the Los Angeles area. He is best known as the music director and keyboardist for Frankie Valli since 1978, and in this capacity has conducted orchestras such as the London Symphony Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall, the Houston Symphony, the Pacific Symphony, and the National Symphony Orchestra. Robinson is a Hammond USA "family artist".
Usually, La Liza hangs out at Harrah's after her shows when her friends, musicians and composers Artie Schroeck and Linda November, are working the Atrium Lounge.