Brill Building | |
---|---|
General information | |
Type | Office building |
Location | 1619 Broadway, Manhattan, New York |
Coordinates | 40°45′40″N73°59′04″W / 40.7611°N 73.9845°W |
Opening | 1931 |
Technical details | |
Floor count | 11 |
Floor area | 175,000 sq ft (16,300 m2) |
Design and construction | |
Developer | Victor Bark Jr. |
Main contractor | Abraham E. Lefcourt |
Designated | March 23, 2010 |
Reference no. | 2387 |
The Brill Building is an office building at 1619 Broadway on 49th Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, just north of Times Square and farther uptown from the historic musical Tin Pan Alley neighborhood. It was built in 1931 as the Alan E. Lefcourt Building, after the son of its builder Abraham E. Lefcourt, and designed by Victor Bark Jr. [1] [2] The building is 11 stories high and has approximately 175,000 square feet (16,300 m2) of rentable area.
The Brill Building is famous for housing music industry offices and studios where some of the most popular American songs were written. It is considered to have been the center of the American music industry that dominated the pop charts in the early 1960s. [3] The "Brill" name comes from a haberdasher who operated a store at street level and subsequently bought the building. The Brill Building was purchased by 1619 Broadway Realty LLC in June 2013 and underwent renovation during the 2010s. A CVS Pharmacy opened on the first two floors of the building in 2019. [1] [4]
Before World War II, the Brill Building became a center of activity for the popular music industry, especially music publishing and songwriting. Scores of music publishers had offices in the Brill Building. Once songs had been published, the publishers sent song pluggers to the popular bands and radio stations. These song pluggers would sing and/or play the song for the band leaders to encourage bands to play their music.
During the ASCAP strike of 1941, many of the composers, authors and publishers turned to pseudonyms in order to have their songs played on the air.
Brill Building songs were constantly at the top of Billboard's Hit Parade and played by the leading bands of the day:
Publishers included:
Brill Building composers and lyricists during the big band era included:
The Brill Building's name has been widely adopted as a shorthand term for a broad and influential stream of American popular music (strongly influenced by Latin music, Traditional black gospel, and rhythm and blues) which enjoyed great commercial success in the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s. Many significant American and international publishing companies, music agencies, and record labels were based in New York, and although these ventures were naturally spread across many locations, the Brill Building was regarded as probably the most prestigious address in New York for music business professionals. The term "Brill Building Sound" is somewhat inaccurate, however, since much of the music so categorized actually emanated from other locations — music historian Ken Emerson nominated buildings at 1650 Broadway and 1697 Broadway as other significant bases of activity in this field.[ citation needed ]
By 1962, the Brill Building contained 165 music businesses. [5] In the mid-1960s a musician could cut a demo, find a publisher and printer, promote the record and cut a deal with radio promoters without leaving the building. The creative culture of the independent music companies in the Brill Building and the nearby 1650 Broadway came to define the influential "Brill Building Sound" and the style of popular songwriting and recording created by its writers and producers. [6]
Carole King described the atmosphere at the "Brill Building" publishing houses of the period:
Every day we squeezed into our respective cubby holes with just enough room for a piano, a bench, and maybe a chair for the lyricist if you were lucky. You'd sit there and write and you could hear someone in the next cubby hole composing a song exactly like yours. The pressure in the Brill Building was really terrific—because Donny (Kirshner) would play one songwriter against another. He'd say: "We need a new smash hit"—and we'd all go back and write a song and the next day we'd each audition for Bobby Vee's producer.
— Quoted in The Sociology of Rock by Simon Frith [7]
The Brill Building approach—which can be extended to other publishers not based in the Brill Building—was one way that professionals in the music business took control of things in the time after rock and roll's first wave. In the Brill Building practice, there were no more unpredictable or rebellious singers; in fact, a specific singer in most cases could be easily replaced with another. These songs were written to order by pros who could custom fit the music and lyrics to the targeted teen audience. In a number of important ways, the Brill Building approach was a return to the way business had been done in the years before rock and roll, since it returned power to the publishers and record labels and made the performing artists themselves much less central to the music's production. [8]
Many of the best works in this diverse category were written by a loosely affiliated group of songwriter-producer teams—mostly duos—that enjoyed immense success and who collectively wrote some of the biggest hits of the period. Many in this group were close friends and/or (in the cases of Goffin-King, Mann-Weil and Greenwich-Barry [2] ) married couples, as well as creative and business associates—and both individually and as duos, they often worked together and with other writers in a wide variety of combinations. Some (Carole King, Paul Simon, [1] Burt Bacharach, [2] Neil Sedaka, Neil Diamond, Boyce and Hart) recorded and had hits with their own music.
Other musicians who were headquartered in the Brill Building include:
Among the hundreds of hits written by this group are "Maybe I Know" (Barry-Greenwich), "Yakety Yak" (Leiber-Stoller), "Save the Last Dance for Me" (Pomus-Shuman), "The Look of Love" (Bacharach-David), "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" (Sedaka-Greenfield), "Devil in Disguise" (Giant-Baum-Kaye), "The Loco-Motion" (Goffin-King), "Supernatural Thing" (Haras Fyre-Gwen Guthrie), "We Gotta Get Out of This Place" (Mann-Weil), and "River Deep, Mountain High" (Spector-Greenwich-Barry).
The following is a partial list of studio musicians who contributed to the Brill Building sound:
Many of these writers came to prominence while under contract to Aldon Music, a publishing company founded in 1958 by industry veteran Al Nevins, and aspiring music entrepreneur Don Kirshner. Aldon was not initially located in the Brill Building, but rather, a block away at 1650 Broadway (at 51st Street). A number of Brill Building writers worked at 1650 Broadway, and the building continued to house record labels throughout the decades.
Toni Wine explains:
There were really two huge buildings that were housing publishing companies, songwriters, record labels, and artists. The Brill Building was one. But truthfully, most of your R&B, really rock & roll labels and publishing companies, including the studio, which was in the basement and was called Allegro Studios, was in 1650 Broadway. They were probably a block and a half away from each other. 1650 and the Brill Building. [12]
Hill and Range Songs
Elvis Presley Music
The 1996 film Grace of My Heart is in part a fictionalized account of the life in the Brill Building. Illeana Douglas plays a songwriter loosely based on Carole King. Similarly, Broadway musical Beautiful depicts King's early career, including her songwriting at 1650 Broadway.
In Sweet Smell of Success , J.J. Hunsecker and his sister Susie live on one of the upper floors of the Brill Building. The title of the 2014 New Pornographers power pop album Brill Bruisers is a reference to the 1960s-era Brill Building studio sound. [14] In the HBO series Vinyl, the fictitious record label American Century is headquartered in the Brill Building.
Jack Dempsey's Broadway Restaurant was located in the Brill Building's first floor on Broadway.
It features in several episodes of the Broadway themed NBC musical drama Smash.
Stephin Merritt makes reference to the Brill Building on the Magnetic Fields' "Epitaph For My Heart" from their 1999 release 69 Love Songs .
The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) designated the Brill Building as a landmark in December 2010. [15] [16] [17]
In 2017, Jimmy Buffett's hospitality company considered the building for a Margaritaville restaurant. It had investigated taking 25,000 square feet (2,300 m2) across the ground floor, second floor, and 11-story roof. The deal fell through when CVS Pharmacy leased some of that space instead. [18] [19] The CVS opened in 2019.[ citation needed ] In 2020, the LPC approved a proposal by Bruno Kearney Architects to add LED signs to the Brill Building's facade and modify a ground-floor storefront for TD Bank. [20]
In July 2023, Brookfield Asset Management transferred the deed to the Brill Building to lender Mack Real Estate Group in a transfer valued at $216.1M. [21]
Neil Sedaka is an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Since his music career began in 1957, he has sold millions of records worldwide and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collaborating mostly with lyricists Howard "Howie" Greenfield and Phil Cody.
Donald Kirshner was an American music publisher, music consultant, rock music producer, talent manager, and songwriter. Dubbed "the Man with the Golden Ear" by Time magazine, he was best known for managing songwriting talent as well as successful pop groups, such as the Monkees, Kansas, and the Archies.
Howard Greenfield was an American lyricist and songwriter, who for several years in the 1960s worked out of the famous Brill Building. He is best known for his successful songwriting collaborations, including one with Neil Sedaka from the late 1950s to the mid-1970s, and near-simultaneous songwriting partnerships with Jack Keller and Helen Miller throughout most of the 1960s.
Jack Walter Keller was an American composer, songwriter and record producer. He co-wrote, with Howard Greenfield and others, several pop hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s, including "Just Between You and Me", "Everybody's Somebody's Fool", "My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own", "Venus in Blue Jeans" and "Run to Him". He also wrote the theme songs for TV series including Bewitched and Gidget, and later worked in Los Angeles – where he wrote for, and produced, The Monkees – and in Nashville.
"On Broadway" is a song written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil in collaboration with the team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller.
"Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen" is a pop song released in 1961 by Neil Sedaka. Sedaka wrote the music and performed the song, while the lyrics were written by Howard Greenfield. The song is noted for being similar in musical structure to Take Good Care of My Baby by Bobby Vee, and additionally for its resemblance to the melody of the Chiffons' subsequent 1963 hit "One Fine Day". Both of these songs exhibiting similarity to "Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen" were penned by the team of Carole King and Gerry Goffin. The song reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart.
Aldon Music was a New York–based music publishing company, founded by Don Kirshner and Al Nevins in 1958. Aldon is regarded as having played a significant role in shaping the Brill Building Sound in the late 1950s and 1960s.
Dimension Records was a record label founded in 1962 in New York City by Don Kirshner and Al Nevins, owners of Aldon Music. It concentrated on the girl group sound and showcased songs by Gerry Goffin and Carole King. Their composition "The Loco-Motion", sung by Little Eva, gave it its biggest hit. Background vocals on that record were by the Cookies, who had their own hits on the label, including "Chains", which was later recorded by the Beatles. In the UK, Dimension was licensed to London Records.
"I Love How You Love Me" is a song written by Barry Mann and Larry Kolber. It was a 1961 Top Five hit for the pop girl group The Paris Sisters, which inaugurated a string of elaborately produced classic hits by Phil Spector. Bobby Vinton had a Top Ten hit in 1968 with a cover version. The song has been recorded by many other artists over the years.
"Stupid Cupid" is a song written by Howard Greenfield and Neil Sedaka which became a hit for Connie Francis in 1958.
Albert "Al" Nevins was an American musician, producer, arranger, guitarist and violinist. He was also a member of pop trio The Three Suns, and is considered one of the major forces behind the evolution of the 1950s music into the early 1960s pop/rock music.
Florence Greenberg was an American record label owner, music executive, and record producer. She was the founder and owner of Tiara Records, Scepter Records, Hob Records, and Wand Records. She is best known for working as a record producer and music executive with several popular singers in the 1960s including Dionne Warwick, the Shirelles, Tammi Terrell, Chuck Jackson, and B.J. Thomas.
"It Hurts to Be in Love" is a song written by Howard Greenfield and Helen Miller which was a Top Ten hit in 1964 for Gene Pitney. It was one in a long line of successful "Brill Building Sound" hits created by composers and arrangers working in New York City's Brill Building at 1619 Broadway.
"Look of Love" is a song written by Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry, which was a 1964 Top 40 hit for Lesley Gore. The song was one in a long line of successful "Brill Building Sound" hits created by composers and arrangers working in New York City's Brill Building at 1619 Broadway. Pop songwriting stars Barry and Greenwich had previously scored hits with songs such as "Be My Baby" and "Baby, I Love You", and "Then He Kissed Me" and "Da Doo Ron Ron" . In the US, "Look of Love" peaked at #27 on the Billboard charts.
Helen Miller was an American songwriter. She collaborated with several lyricists, notably Howard Greenfield in the early 1960s, and with him wrote several pop hits, including "Foolish Little Girl" by The Shirelles, and "It Hurts To Be In Love" by Gene Pitney.
Artie Kaplan is an American recording artist, songwriter and a session musician. He has also been a music contractor where he was hired to musicians for sessions. In the 1960s, he was casting musicians for sessions for Aldon Music. When musician Joe Delia was asked about the best advice he had ever had, he said it was from Kaplan, who said "Always show up on time and bring a pencil."
"Maybe I Know" is an early 1960s pop song written by Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich and performed by Lesley Gore. The song was produced by Quincy Jones and arranged by Claus Ogerman. It was featured on her 1964 album, Girl Talk.
Arthur Marcus "Artie" Ripp is an American music industry executive and record producer.
Brill Building is a subgenre of pop music that took its name from the Brill Building in New York City, where numerous teams of professional songwriters penned material for girl groups and teen idols during the early 1960s. The term has also become a metonym for the period in which those songwriting teams flourished. In actuality, most hits of the mid-1950s and early 1960s were written elsewhere.
Though the music itself developed in African-American communities, the Jewish influence in rhythm and blues, particularly in terms of the music's presentation to a wider audience, was important. According to the Jewish writer, music publishing executive, and songwriter Arnold Shaw, during the 1940s in the United States there was generally little opportunity for Jews in the WASP-controlled realm of mass communications, but the music business was "wide open for Jews as it was for blacks". Jews played a key role in developing and popularizing African American music, including rhythm and blues, and the independent record business was dominated by young Jewish men, and some women, who promoted the sounds of black music.