Tuesday Top Ten: Non-Performing Rock and Roll Songwriters

Last week, two songwriting legends died – Jerry Leiber and Nickolas Ashford. Leiber was one half of Leiber and Stoller – who wrote many of early rock and roll's hits. Ashford was one half of Ashford and Simpson – who wrote, among other things, several Motown hits in the late '60s and early '70s.

Back in the beginning decades of rock and roll, it was commonplace for there to be songwriters who did not perform, but whose job was just to write songs. Hell, there was even an entire building in New York dedicated to songwriting. Sometimes these songwriters were attached to a specific label, and other times they were basically free agents. This doesn't happen as often anymore, although it still does to some extent, since there will always be people who can sing well but can't do anything else. That said, even those artists who do write their own songs may go to a songwriting guru for some help now and then.

This week's list is who I consider the top ten non-performing songwriters or songwriting teams. Some people on the list may be performers also (such as Carole King), but I'm not taking into account the songs they wrote for themselves as performers (sorry, Tapestry fans).

Honorable mention (in alphabetical order): Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson ("Ain't No Mountain High Enough," "Your Precious Love," "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing," and "You're All I Need to Get By" Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell; "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)" and "Remember Me" by Diana Ross); Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart ("Come a Little Bit Closer" by Jay & the Americans, "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone" by Paul Revere and the Raiders; "Words" by The Leaves; and "(Theme from) The Monkees" and "Last Train to Clarksville" by The Monkees); Sean Garrett (hip-hop producer and songwriter who has written or co-written 15 Number Ones over the last decade, including "Yeah" by Usher); Mutt Lange (co-wrote all songs on Def Leppard's Pyromania, Hysteria, and Adrenalize albums, "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" by Bryan Adams, "Breathless" by The Corrs, "Do You Believe In Love" by Huey Lewis and the News); Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman ("A Teenager in Love" by Dion; "Save The Last Dance For Me," "This Magic Moment," and "Sweets For My Sweet" by The Drifters; "Hushabye" by The Beach Boys; "Turn Me Loose" by Fabian; "Can't Get Used to Losing You" by Andy Williams; "Little Sister," "Suspicion," "Surrender," "Viva Las Vegas," and "(Marie's the Name) His Latest Flame" by Elvis); Jim Steinman (wrote three Meat Loaf albums, including the songs "Paradise By The Dashboard Light" and "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)"; "Total Eclipse of the Heart" by Bonnie Tyler; "Making Love Out of Nothing at All" by Air Supply; "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" by Celine Dion); Diane Warren ("I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" by Aerosmith; "How Do I Live" by LeAnn Rimes and Trisha Yearwood; "Un-Break My Heart" by Toni Braxton; "Because You Loved Me" by Céline Dion; "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" by Starship; "Rhythm of the Night" by DeBarge; "There You'll Be" by Faith Hill)

10. Tom Kelly and Billy Steinberg
These guys wrote some pretty huge songs, including: "Like a Virgin" by Madonna; "I Touch Myself" by Divinyls (co-written with Christina Amphlett and Mark McEntee); "Alone" by Heart; "Eternal Flame" and "In Your Room" by The Bangles (both co-written with Susanna Hoffs); "True Colors" and "I Drove All Night" by Cyndi Lauper; "I'll Stand by You" by The Pretenders (co-written with Chrissie Hynde); and "So Emotional" by Whitney Houston. In addition, they have written songs for REO Speedwagon, Cheap Trick, Bette Midler, and Belinda Carlisle.

9. Smokey Robinson
Aside from the songs he wrote for his own group, The Miracles, he wrote a number of huge hits for other Motown artists, including: "My Guy" by Mary Wells; "The Way You Do the Things You Do," "My Girl," "Since I Lost My Baby," and "Get Ready" by The Temptations; "Still Water (Love)" by The Four Tops; "Don't Mess With Bill" and "My Baby Must Be a Magician" by The Marvelettes; "When I'm Gone" by Brenda Holloway; "Ain't That Peculiar" and "I'll Be Doggone" by Marvin Gaye; and "First I Look at the Purse" by The Contours.

8. Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil
Unlike many of their Brill Building counterparts, Mann and Weil kept writing hit songs long after the '60s ended (maybe because they are one of the few Brill Building songwriting teams that stayed married past the '60s). Most famously, they co-wrote (with Phil Spector) "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" by The Righteous Brothers, the most-played song of the 20th Century. Other hits included "On Broadway" by The Drifters (with Leiber and Stoller); "Don't Know Much" by Aaron Neville & Linda Ronstadt; "Uptown" and "He's Sure the Boy I Love" by The Crystals; "Kicks" and "Hungry" by Paul Revere & the Raiders; "Only in America" by Jay and the Americans; "Somewhere Out There" by Linda Ronstadt and James Ingram (co-written with James Horner); "Walking in the Rain" by The Ronettes; "We Gotta Get Out of This Place" by The Animals; and "(You're My) Soul & Inspiration" by The Righteous Brothers. They also wrote the title song for the movie Christmas Vacation.

7. Barrett Strong and Norman Whitfield
Barrett Strong had Motown's first hit, "Money," and then became a songwriter for Motown, teaming with Norman Whitfield. Together, they wrote: "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" by Marvin Gaye; "War" by Edwin Starr; "Smiling Faces Sometimes" by The Undisputed Truth; and "Cloud Nine," "I Can't Get Next to You," "Psychedelic Shack," "Ball of Confusion (That's What the World Is Today)," "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone," and "Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)" by The Temptations. In addition, Whitfield wrote "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" by The Temptations (with Edward Holland, Jr.), "(I Know) I'm Losing You" by The Temptations (and later Faces) (with Edward Holland, Jr. and Cornelius Grant); and "Car Wash" by Rose Royce.

6. Gerry Goffin and Carole King
Before she was a singing about the earth moving under her feet and it being too late, baby, Carole King and then-husband Gerry Goffin were writing masterpieces for other musicians. Their first big hit was 1961's "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" by The Shirelles – one of the first songs about shacking. They went on to write "Take Good Care of My Baby" by Bobby Vee, "Some Kind of Wonderful" by The Drifters (not to be confused with the song of the same name by Grand Funk Railroad), "Chains" by The Cookies (and covered by The Beatles), "The Loco-Motion" by Little Eva, "One Fine Day" by The Chiffons, "Up On the Roof" by The Drifters, "I'm Into Something Good" by Herman's Hermits, "Don't Bring Me Down" by The Animals, "Pleasant Valley Sunday" by The Monkees, "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" by Aretha Franklin, and "Just Once in My Life" by The Righteous Brothers (with Phil Spector).

5. Bert Berns (aka Bert Russell)
Bert Berns's songwriting career was relatively brief, as he died in 1968 at the age of 38, but he made the most of his time on this planet. Check out this line-up: "Here Comes the Night" by Them; "Piece of My Heart" by Big Brother and The Holding Company; "Hang on Sloopy" by The McCoys; "Twist and Shout" by The Isley Brothers (with Phil Medley); "I Want Candy" by The Strangeloves and later Bow Wow Wow (co-written with the Strangeloves); "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love" and "Cry to Me" by Solomon Burke; "Tell Him" by The Exciters; "Cry Baby" by Janis Joplin; and "Baby Let Me Take You Home" The Animals (1964).

4. Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller
Leiber and Stoller wrote "Hound Dog" and "Jailhouse Rock" by Elvis, "Kansas City" by Wilbert Harrison, "Stand By Me" (with Ben E. King), "On Broadway" (with Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil) and "There Goes My Baby" by The Drifters, "Poison Ivy, "Charlie Brown," "Searchin'," and "Yakety Yak" by The Coasters, "Love Potion #9" by The Clovers, and "Spanish Harlem" by Ben E. King and later Aretha Franklin (Jerry Leiber and Phil Spector). They even had a Broadway musical that featured 39 of their songs (Smokey Joe's Café).

3. Barry-Greenwich-Spector
In addition to being arguably the greatest record producer of all-time and a crack shot with a revolver, Phil Spector was a hell of a songwriter. He often teamed up with other Brill Building writers, most notably Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich. Together, the three of them wrote some of the most enduring pop songs of all-time, including: "Chapel of Love" by The Dixie Cups; "Be My Baby," "Baby, I Love You," and "I Can Hear Music" by The Ronettes; "River Deep - Mountain High" by Ike and Tina Turner; "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" by Darlene Love; and "Da Doo Ron Ron" and "Then He Kissed Me" The Crystals.

In addition, Berry and Greenwich wrote "Hanky Panky" by Tommy James & The Shondells and "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" by Manfred Mann. Jeff Barry also co-wrote "Sugar, Sugar" by The Archies, and wrote the theme songs for The Jeffersons and Family Ties (among other shows). Spector also wrote or co-wrote the following songs: "To Know Him Is to Love Him" by The Teddy Bears; "Leader of the Pack" by The Shangri-Las (with George "Shadow" Morton); "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" by The Righteous Brothers (with Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil); "Spanish Harlem" by Ben E. King and later Aretha Franklin (with Jerry Leiber); "There's No Other (Like My Baby)" by The Crystals (with Leroy Bates); and "Just Once in My Life" by The Righteous Brothers (with Gerry Goffin and Carole King)

2. Desmond Child
What can you say about Desmond Child? He resurrected Aerosmith's career, wrote some of the best hard rock and hair band songs of the '80s, and continues to write pop songs that should provide enough royalties so that his great grandchildren are financially secure. He is a songwriting chameleon, able to write for just about any genre. Among his hundreds of songwriting credits are: "I Was Made for Lovin' You" and "Heaven's on Fire" by Kiss; "Livin' on a Prayer," "You Give Love a Bad Name," "Bad Medicine," "Born to Be My Baby," and "Keep the Faith" by Bon Jovi; "Angel," "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)," "What It Takes," and "Crazy" by Aerosmith; "I Hate Myself for Loving You" by Joan Jett & The Blackhearts; "Poison" by Alice Cooper; "How Can We Be Lovers?" by Michael Bolton; "Givin' Yourself Away," "Heads I Win, Tails You Lose," "Lovin' You's A Dirty Job," and "Shame Shame Shame" by Ratt; "Kiss the Rain" by Billie Myers; "Livin' La Vida Loca," "The Cup of Life," "She Bangs," "Shake Your Bon-Bon" by Ricky Martin; and "Waking Up in Vegas" by Katy Perry.

1. Holland-Dozier-Holland
Lamont Dozier and brothers Brian Holland and Edward Holland, Jr. were behind the "Hits" in Motown's Hitsville USA. It's tough to top this stat: 35 Top 10 songs, including 14 Number Ones. Between 1963 and 1970, only The Beatles had more Number Ones than Holland-Dozier-Holland. Among their hits were: "(Love Is Like a) Heat Wave," "Nowhere to Run," and "Jimmy Mack" by Martha and the Vandellas; "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)" by Marvin Gaye; "Stop! In the Name of Love," "Baby Love," "Where Did Our Love Go," "Come See About Me," "You Can't Hurry Love," "You Keep Me Hangin' On" by The Supremes; "Reach Out (I'll Be There)," "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)," "It's The Same Old Song," "Standing In the Shadows of Love," "Baby I Need Your Loving by The Four Tops; "Band of Gold" by Freda Payne; "This Old Heart of Mine" by The Isley Brothers; and "Give Me Just a Little More Time" by Chairmen of the Board.

Anyone I'm missing?