Denny
Randell
Legendary songwriter, producer, arranger, performer and lifelong
musician Denny Randell is both savoring a renewed wellspring
of acclaim for his many historic musical accomplishments-including
three of his songs being featured in the Broadway hit Jersey
Boys: The Story of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons--and
enjoying breaking new artistic ground with Randell & Schippers,
his performing duo with partner Biddy Schippers. Randell also
co-owns DRC Entertainment and Music Avenue Records with Schippers,
and together they are building on the momentum of their Randell
& Schippers dance chart hit "Alice In Wonderland," and developing
projects for other artists.
Recently,
Denny Randell was nominated for induction into the Songwriters
Hall of Fame, the New York City-based institution founded
in 1969 to recognize those, "who create the popular songs
that serve as the soundtrack of our lives." It's a fitting
accolade for Randell, who first rose to international fame
over four decades ago with a pair of diverse and concurrent
successes.
Co-written
and produced by Randell, The Toys' classic "A Lover's Concerto"
was a top pop single of 1965, hitting #1 in Cashbox and #2
in Billboard, as well as #1 for six weeks running at NYC's
legendary radio station WABC-AM. It has since become a worldwide
standard covered by stars including Sarah Vaughn, Diana Ross
& the Supremes and Quincy Jones. The song is based on Bach's
"Concerto in G Major," a piece that made a lasting impression
on Randell when he practiced it during a handful of piano
lessons he had as a child. It reflects Denny's inspiration
to spin an original pop hit from the classical masterpiece.
He titled and constructed his "lover's poem" musically before
collaborating on lyrics, and the record was released independently
on the fledgling Dynovoice label after the majors passed on
it. In its review of the now-immortal song, allmusic.com writes,
"Few records are this perfect…'A Lover's Concerto' marks the
apogee of the Girl Group sound…verse and chorus are so cunningly
blended that neither stands apart from the other, to transform
a simple song into a virtual symphony."
The
other cornerstone of Denny Randell's initial success was his
hit-making work with the phenomenal Frankie Valli & The Four
Seasons. The same year that "A Lover's Concerto" soared up
the charts, "Let's Hang On (To What We've Got)"-co-written
with Four Seasons' producer Bob Crewe and with Sandy Linzer-was
a top Pop sensation. "It really was fantastic," recalls Randell,
"to have two monumental smashes at the same time." The song
and two others that Randell penned for the Four Seasons--"Opus
17" and "Working My Way Back To You" (also a Spinners hit)-are
spotlighted in the Broadway musical Jersey Boys: The Story
of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, about which New York
Times theater critic Ben Brantley wrote, "once the Four Seasons
classics are rolled out, every other pair of shoulders in
the house starts a-twitchin'…the group's songs remain exasperatingly
infectious."
In
all, Valli and the Seasons have recorded eight of Randell's
songs. Randell's original Four Seasons connection came through
an introduction to the group's Bob Gaudio made by then Columbia
Records A&R man Al Kasha. In addition to the aforementioned
classic songs, Randell arranged and conducted a number of
other important early sides for the Seasons including the
top Billboard hits "Big Man In Town" and "Save It For Me,"
as well as much of the Rag Doll album and later, "And That
Reminds Me." As a songwriter, Denny's hits also include "Betrayed,"
the Odyssey hit "Native Yorker," "Swearin' To God"-a solo
smash for Frankie Valli-and the Disco Tex hit "I Wanna Dance
Wit'Choo."
Over
the years, Denny Randell's songs have sold over 200 million
records and charted in Billboard more than fifty times.
In 1998, Smash Mouth had major chart action with Randell's
"Can't Get Enough Of You Baby;" in 2002, Denny's credits included
a co-write on the Busta Rhymes hit "Pass The Courvoisier."
Other Randell-penned highlights include Jay and The Techniques'
"Keep The Ball Rolling" and "Baby Make Your Own Sweet Music"
and Samantha Sang's recording of "You Keep Me Dancin'." With
theatrical composer Maury Yeston, Denny wrote songs for the
Star Wars Christmas Album, the An American Werewolf
In London soundtrack album and the Tommy Tune-directed off-Broadway
hit Cloud 9.
As
a producer, Randell has worked with artists including Iron
Butterfly, Tim Buckley, Richie Havens, Ruben and the Jets,
Bee Gees-affiliated vocalist Terri DeSario and, through his
production company, Kenny G (who he motivated Clive Davis
to sign as a solo artist). Also in association with Davis,
Denny's production company oversaw the hit album and single
Pop Goes The Movies by Meco. Over the last four decades,
songs Denny has written or co-written have also been recorded
by a diverse range of acts including Barry Manilow, Busta
Rhymes and P Diddy, Manhattan Transfer, the Monkees, Odyssey,
Diana Ross & The Supremes, Sarah Vaughn, Jan and Dean, Patti
Austin, Al Hirt, Cilla Black and many others.
Randell's
latest release, the trippy and infectious dance groove "Alice
In Wonderland," is a current favorite nationwide at clubs
and record pools, charting on the national DJ Times Dance
Crossover Top 40 chart. Randell co-wrote and co-produced the
song with his partner, collaborator and wife, Biddy Schippers,
performing it under their recording artist moniker Randell
& Schippers, with the two featured on lead vocals. The unique
hit is the title track from the pair's 2005 album Alice
In Wonderland, available on their
own label Music Avenue Records/DRC Entertainment. Previous
dance hits for Randell & Schippers include "Let's Go For It"
and "Love Jam," which the U.K.'s Blues & Soul Magazine called,
"Quite simply, a modern masterpiece."
Denny
Randell's current role as co-owner of Music Avenue and DRC
finds precedence in the A&R positions he's held over the years
at companies including RCA, Epic/CBS and Frank Zappa's Warner/Discreet
Records, among the many major labels for which he has produced.
Denny brings this vast experience to his creative partnership
with Biddy in developing DRC releases for diverse acts including
the vocal quartet Soul Tempo, whose recent R&S-produced Music
Avenue album Rendezvous features the national club/dance
hit version of "Swearin' To God."
A native New Yorker, Denny Randell began playing and writing
music as a child. Growing up, by day he spent all the time
he could in his school's band room, and at night, he was out
gigging at local dates beginning in his early teens, when
he was in one of the area's most popular bands, managed by
a top local radio DJ. Denny Randell lives and works in Southern
California.
