Tom Bahler

Last updated
Tom Bahler
Born
Thomas Lee Bahler

(1943-06-01) June 1, 1943 (age 80)
Inglewood, California, U.S.
OccupationSinger - songwriter - arranger - producer
Years active1967–present

Thomas Lee Bahler (also spelled Bähler; born June 1, 1943) is an American singer, composer, songwriter, arranger, producer, and author. He is the younger brother of singer, arranger, conductor and composer John Bahler. Bahler is most known for his song "She's Out of My Life", which was recorded by Michael Jackson; the song was originally written for Frank Sinatra, who never recorded it. [1]

Contents

In Bahler's early career, he worked with Jan Berry [2] (of Jan and Dean). Later, he and his elder brother John were vocalists in the Ron Hicklin Singers. [3] Together with the Wrecking Crew, the Bahler brothers have sung, produced, and arranged hundreds of worldwide hits. They were the featured background voices on The Partridge Family recordings in the 1970s. [4]

The Love Generation

John and Tom Bahler tried their hands with their own band The Love Generation [5] which was not a great success. They made three records as a band. The last record, "Montage", is considered to be a project just by John and Tom. As session vocalists for The Partridge Family the brothers re-recorded the Screen Gems-published song "Let the Good Times In" for the series' pilot episode, which they had originally recorded for their debut "Love Generation" album in a slightly different arrangement. The Partridge version of the song remained a heavily sought after unreleased track until it appeared officially for the first time ever on the group's "The Very Best Of" CD which was released in 2005. [4]

The Going Thing

After "The Love Generation", John and Tom joined The Going Thing, [6] a band which was devised by the advertising agency J. Walter Thompson (now known as JWT), to promote the products of the Ford Motor Company. Tom appeared on Ford's 1969 "Going Thing" television commercial.[ citation needed ]

Later career

Bahler wrote the Bobby Sherman hit "Julie, Do Ya Love Me" (1970), and also Cher's 1972 hit "Living in a House Divided". "She's Out Of My Life", recorded by Michael Jackson and other artists, was written by Bahler in 1979. It has been claimed he wrote "She's Out Of My Life" about Karen Carpenter, who broke up with Bahler after discovering he had fathered a child with another woman, [7] but Bahler says the song was written about Rhonda Rivera. [8] In 1985, he was the associate producer for the Grammy Award winning "We Are the World", which he considers his most significant project. [9] [10]

Bahler is an associate of Quincy Jones. [1] He has also worked with B. J. Thomas, Neil Diamond, Sonny & Cher, David Cassidy, Billy Joel and Michael Jackson. [11]

For television and film, Bahler has produced the music for the Miss USA, Miss Teen USA and Miss Universe Pageant, for a number of years and he composed the music to a number of movies and scored a number of soundtracks. [12] He made cameo appearances in movies such as Wag The Dog , also composing the song, "The American Dream" for the film. [13]

Books

Related Research Articles

<i>The Partridge Family</i> American sitcom

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<i>The Partridge Family Album</i> 1970 studio album by The Partridge Family

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<i>Up to Date</i> 1971 studio album by The Partridge Family

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<i>Sound Magazine</i> 1971 studio album by The Partridge Family

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Crossword Puzzle is the seventh and penultimate studio album by The Partridge Family. Released in June 1973, it was the last Partridge Family album to chart in the US, entering Billboard's Top LP's chart in July and peaking at no. 167 in its second of just five weeks in the Top 200. Bell Records, losing faith in the group after oversaturating the market with product, chose not to release a US single from the album, though "Sunshine" was released as a single in Japan.

<i>Bulletin Board</i> (album) 1973 studio album by The Partridge Family

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shirley Jones</span> American actress and singer

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">She's Out of My Life</span> 1980 single by Michael Jackson

"She's Out of My Life" is a song written by American songwriter Tom Bahler and performed by American singer Michael Jackson. The song was released as the fourth single from Jackson's 1979 album Off the Wall released on April 19, 1980. In 2004, the song appeared in The Ultimate Collection. It peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100, marking the first time any solo artist had ever achieved four Top 10 hits from one album. In America, it earned a million-selling Platinum certification.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">I Think I Love You</span> Original song written and composed by Tony Romeo

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References

  1. 1 2 Elias Leight (February 6, 2016). "10 Things We Learned From Spike Lee's New Michael Jackson Doc". "She's Out of My Life" was originally intended for Frank Sinatra. Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on February 7, 2016. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
  2. ↑ "Jan & Dean: Jan Berry Official Website". Jananddean-janberry.com. Retrieved May 31, 2015.
  3. ↑ "RON HICKLIN SINGERS Related Articles". Amazines.com. Retrieved May 31, 2015.
  4. 1 2 "Come on Get Happy!: The Very Best of Partridge Family". AllMusic . Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  5. ↑ "B". 2009-10-28. Archived from the original on 2009-10-28. Retrieved 2015-05-31.
  6. ↑ Ford...The Going Thing! on YouTube
  7. ↑ Ray Coleman. The Carpenters: The Untold Story . HarperCollins. p.  237. ISBN   978-0060183455.
  8. ↑ Randy Schmidt. Little Girl Blue: The Life of Karen Carpenter. Chicago Review Press. ISBN   978-1569768181.
  9. ↑ Billy Johnson Jr. (7 March 2015). "'We Are the World' Associate Producer Shares 11 Behind-the-Scenes Stories". Yahoo Music. Archived from the original on 16 February 2016. Retrieved 16 February 2016. Bähler, who considers "We Are the World" his most significant project to date, shares some of his fondest behind-the-scenes stories about the recording session in an exclusive interview with Yahoo Music.
  10. ↑ "USA for Africa: We Are the World". AllMusic . Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  11. ↑ "Tom Bahler: Credits". AllMusic . Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  12. ↑ "Tom Bahler: Filmography". AllMovie . Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  13. ↑ JANET MASLIN (2013). "Wag the Dog (1997)". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times . Archived from the original on 18 November 2013. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
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