Tom Kelly | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Thomas F. Kelly |
| Born | April 16, 1949 Indiana, USA |
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Thomas F. Kelly (born April 16, 1952) is an American musician, best known for his songwriting partnership with Billy Steinberg. Steinberg and Kelly co-wrote numerous hit songs for popular music artists, including five number-one singles on the Billboard Top 100 chart in the 1980s.
Originally from Indiana, Kelly lived in Effingham, Illinois from 1963 to 1966, before moving back to West Lafayette, Indiana where he graduated from West Lafayette High School in 1967. [3] [4] Kelly attended Eastern Illinois University, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, and Purdue University, but dropped out of college to pursue his music career. [3] He played bass guitar and sang in several bands throughout Illinois and Indiana in the late 1960s and early 1970s, including the Trifaris, the Gaping Huggers, the One Eyed Jacks, and the Guild. [3] [5]
In 1974 Kelly moved to Los Angeles with his first wife, Kay Kelly, and two children, Barry and Denise. He played in Dan Fogelberg's backup band, and joined with other members of the band under the name 'Fools Gold' to release two albums in 1976 and 1977. Kelly became a prominent session singer in Los Angeles, singing backing vocals for many recording artists. He accompanied Toto on their 1979 World Tour as a backing vocalist and rhythm guitarist, and sang background vocals on the Toto albums Toto IV , Isolation and The Seventh One . In 1981 he wrote his first hit song, "Fire and Ice", with Pat Benatar for her album Precious Time .
After Kelly met Steinberg at a party in 1981, the duo began writing songs together, with Steinberg as lyricist and Kelly the principal music writer. Steinberg and Kelly wrote songs for a variety of popular music artists, including five number-one singles on the Billboard Top 100 chart. The pair also joined together as 'i-Ten' to release the album Taking a Cold Look in 1983.
Notable songs written by Steinberg and Kelly include:
Steinberg and Kelly were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2011. [6]
Kelly co-wrote "In My Dreams", recorded by REO Speedwagon with Kevin Cronin but Kelly lost enthusiasm for songwriting in the mid-1990s, and went into semi-retirement in 1998. He remarried and had two more children, Spencer and Tyson Kelly, with his second wife, Polly Russell Kelly (niece of actress Jane Russell). His son, Tyson, has followed in his footsteps as a songwriter and performer. His son, Spencer, became a founding member of the PRO Global Music Rights. As of 2011, he lives in Thousand Oaks, California near Sherwood Country Club where he enjoys playing golf regularly. [3]
The Bangles are an American pop rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1981. The band recorded several singles that reached the U.S. top 10 during the 1980s, including "Manic Monday" (1986), "Walk Like an Egyptian" (1986), "Hazy Shade of Winter" (1987), "In Your Room" (1988), and "Eternal Flame" (1989).
"I Drove All Night" is a song written and composed by American songwriters Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly and originally intended for Roy Orbison. Orbison recorded the song in 1987, the year before his death, but his version was not released until 1992. Cyndi Lauper recorded the song and released it as a single for her A Night to Remember album. Her version became a top 10 hit on both sides of the Atlantic in 1989 and was also her final top 40 hit on the American pop charts. Lauper still regularly performs the song in her live concerts. The song has also been covered by Canadian singer Celine Dion, whose version topped the Canadian Singles Chart and reached number 7 on the US Adult Contemporary chart in 2003.
Jules Mark Shear is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He wrote the Cyndi Lauper hit single "All Through the Night", The Bangles' hit "If She Knew What She Wants", and the Ignatius Jones and Allison Moyet hit "Whispering Your Name" and charted a hit as a performer with "Steady" in 1985.
Susanna Lee Hoffs is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actress and author. Hoffs, Debbi and Vicki Peterson founded the Bangles in 1981. They released their first full length album All Over the Place on Columbia Records in 1984. The group's third album, Everything (1988) included the US top-ten hit "In Your Room" and number one "Eternal Flame", both written by Hoffs with Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly. Following tensions in the band that included resentment at Hoffs being perceived as the band's leader, the group split in 1989. The Bangles reformed in 1999 and released albums in 2003 and 2011.
William Endfield Steinberg is an American songwriter. He achieved his greatest success in the 1980s with songwriting partner Tom Kelly; together they wrote or co-wrote the No. 1 hits "Like a Virgin" by Madonna (1984), "True Colors" by Cyndi Lauper (1986), "Eternal Flame" by the Bangles (1989), "So Emotional" by Whitney Houston (1987) and "Alone". They also wrote or co-wrote the hit songs "I Drove All Night", "I Touch Myself" by Divinyls (1990), and "I'll Stand by You" by The Pretenders (1994).
Michael Steele is a retired American musician, best known as the bassist for The Bangles. Under the name Micki Steele, she was a founding member of The Runaways but left in 1975, shortly before the band's major label debut. For the next several years, she played with various other musical groups for short periods of time.
"Eternal Flame" is a song by American pop rock group the Bangles for their third studio album, Everything (1988). The power ballad was written by group member Susanna Hoffs with the established hit songwriting team of Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly. Upon its 1989 single release, "Eternal Flame" became a number-one hit in nine countries, including Australia, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Since its release, it has been covered by many musical artists, including Australian boy band Human Nature, who reached the Australian top 10 with their version, and British girl group Atomic Kitten, who topped four national charts with their rendition.
"I'm Gonna Be Strong" is a song written by the songwriting duo Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. It was first recorded by Frankie Laine in 1963 and released as a single on Columbia Records. However, the song did not become a major hit until 1964, when Gene Pitney released his version as a single. It was also a single released by the 1980 band Blue Angel, with lead vocals provided by future star Cyndi Lauper. This release was prior to Lauper's solo career; however, Lauper re-recorded the track and released it as a single in 1994. The song was also featured on 1982's Quiet Lies album by Grammy winner Juice Newton. Though Newton never released the song as a single, her remake was later added as a bonus track to her first Greatest Hits collection.
Jay Joseph Graydon is an American songwriter, recording artist, guitarist, singer, keyboardist, producer, arranger, and recording engineer. He is the winner of two Grammy Awards with twelve Grammy nominations, among them the title "Producer of the Year" and "Best Engineered Recording". He has mastered many different music styles and genres, and his recordings have been featured on record, film, television and the stage.
"True Colors" is a song written by American songwriters Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly. It was both the title track and the first single released from American singer Cyndi Lauper's second album (1986). Released in mid-1986, the song would become a hit for Lauper, spending two weeks at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming her last single to occupy the top of the chart. It received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
"Change of Heart" is a song by American singer and songwriter Cyndi Lauper, released on November 11, 1986 as the second single from her second album, True Colors (1986). It went gold in the US, peaking at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. Popular remixes by Shep Pettibone were also released. A music video was produced for the song, filmed in Trafalgar Square in London. It features Lauper and her tour band performing the song in front of a large group of people. The Bangles sang background vocals on the original recording. A live version of the song was released on Lauper's live album/DVD, To Memphis, with Love.
When You're a Boy is the debut solo album by Susanna Hoffs. It begins with the Billboard Top 40 single "My Side of the Bed", includes the track "Unconditional Love", and ends with a cover of "Boys Keep Swinging", the 1979 song written by David Bowie and Brian Eno. The album's title comes from the lyrics to the latter.
"If She Knew What She Wants" is a song written by American singer-songwriter Jules Shear and introduced on his 1985 album The Eternal Return. The Bangles recorded the song for their 1986 album Different Light. That version, a call-and-response rendition with Susanna Hoffs as the main voice, was issued as a single and became a Top 40 hit. A mid-tempo ballad, it is sung from the viewpoint of someone, per songwriter Shear, "who wants to satisfy someone else but doesn't quite know how to do it because the other person is capricious." The song, especially The Bangles' version, is typically described with such adjectives as "bittersweet", "plaintive" and "wistful".
Belinda is the debut studio album by American singer Belinda Carlisle. It was released on May 19, 1986 by I.R.S. Records. Carlisle began work on the album in 1985 following the breakup of the Go-Go's, for whom she was the lead singer. The album was supported by four singles, with lead single "Mad About You" peaking at number 3 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 in Canada.
Richard E. Chertoff is an American five-time Grammy-nominated producer responsible for such hits as Joan Osborne's "One of Us", Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" and "Time After Time" and Sophie B. Hawkins' "Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover". Both Cyndi Lauper's album She's So Unusual and Joan Osborne's album Relish were debut albums that garnered multi-platinum sales and multiple Grammy nominations. Chertoff was nominated twice for 'album of the year', twice for 'record of the year' and also for 'producer of the year.'
"In Your Room" is a 1988 song by American rock group The Bangles, written by Susanna Hoffs in collaboration with Billy Steinberg and composer Tom Kelly. The song was released as the first single from the band's third album, Everything. It reached the top five of the US singles chart, and also charted in Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.
Peer Åström is a Swedish composer, lyricist, musician and record producer and partner with Anders Bagge. The two songwriters / producers are known as Bagge & Peer. They have together written and produced songs for Lara Fabian, Celine Dion, Madonna, Ace of Base, Ashley Tisdale, Enrique Iglesias, Jennifer Lopez and several others. Åström is an accomplished musician playing bass guitar, keyboards and drums.
John McCurry is an American musician and composer, a guitarist, songwriter and singer based in New York City. He has worked with many well-known musical artists, including Chicago, Cyndi Lauper, Billy Joel, David Bowie, Alice Cooper, John Waite, Belinda Carlisle, Julian Lennon, Joss Stone, Katy Perry, The Jonas Brothers, and Elliott Yamin.
Pamela Sheyne is a British songwriter, producer, mentor and singer best known for co-writing Christina Aguilera’s global smash debut single "Genie in a Bottle". She has achieved 50+ million record sales and over 100 RIAA Platinum, Gold and Silver Certified sales awards worldwide, an Ivor Novello Award along with seven BMI citations for US radio plays.
Robert White Johnson is an American songwriter and musician, based on Nashville, best known for co-writing "Where Does My Heart Beat Now", which was a major hit for Celine Dion.
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