From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Wed Nov 12, 2003  1:30 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Mort Shuman
 
MORT SHUMAN

Born Mortimer Shulman, 12 November 1938, Brooklyn, New York City, New York
Died 2 November 1991, London, England

While either on his own, or teamed with songwriting partner Doc Pomus,
Mort Shuman has authored some of the most lasting songs in pop music.
Born to Jewish immigrant parents, Shuman studied at the New York
Conservatory, but felt rejected and alienated by his peers in Brooklyn.
Identifying with the Black Community in Harlem, Shuman's true musical
education came within the area's raucous r&b clubs, where he soaked up
the sounds of Ruth Brown and others.

In 1955 the songwriter met fellow white r&b devotee Doc Pomus and
the two took up residence in a small Greenwich Village flat, forming what
was to become a very successful songwriting partnership. Pomus was
already an experienced song writer (and blues singer) then, but he needed
someone to help him to write teenage songs. He showed Mort his songs
and said he would take him as an apprentice. For the first six months of
their partnership, that's just what Shuman was, an apprentice. He would
sit with Doc while the latter worked and once in a while throw in a
suggestion of his own.

Together the duo signed on as writers at the Brill Building, working in
one of those legendary cubicles with a piano and two chairs. Unlike
most other Brill Building writers, they were not contracted to Aldon
Music (the publishing company of Don Kirshner and Al Nevins), but
to Hill and Range. Their first Top 40 hits came early in 1959: "Plain
Jane" by Bobby Darin and "I'm A Man" by Fabian. The latter song was
also recorded by Shuman himself, during a visit to the UK, with Joe
Brown on guitar ; it came out on Decca. The next song they penned for
Fabian was their first Top 10 hit, "Turn Me Loose", soon followed by
"A Teenager In Love" by Dion and the Belmonts, which went to # 5.
During the next six years, their catalogue was estimated at over 500
songs, in a mixture of styles for a variety of artists. They included
"Surrender", "Viva Las Vegas", "Little Sister" and "Kiss Me Quick"
(Elvis Presley), "Save The Last Dance For Me", "Sweets For My
Sweet" and "This Magic Moment" (the Drifters), "Can't Get Used To
Losing You" (Andy Williams), "Suspicion" (Terry Stafford) , "Seven
Day Weekend" (Gary "U.S."Bonds) and "Spanish Lace" (Gene
McDaniels).

Those early '60s songs represented the zenith of Shuman's creative
output ("Save the Last DanceFor Me" alone has been played across
the airwaves over 4 million times). After breaking up with Pomus in
1965, Shuman collaborated with several other writers. These included
John McFarland for Billy J. Kramer 's UK number 1, "Little Children",
Clive Westlake for "Here I Go Again" (the Hollies), ex-pop star Kenny
Lynch for "Sha La La La Lee" (Small Faces) and "Love's Just A Broken
Heart" (Cilla Black), and producer Jerry Ragavoy for "Piece Of My
Heart" (Erma Fanklin) and "Get It While You Can" (Janis Joplin).
Subsequently, Shuman moved to Paris, where he occasionally performed
his own one-man show, and issued solo albums such as "Amerika" and
"Imagine ...", as well as writing several songs for Johnny Halliday. In 1968
Shuman began translating the French lyrics of Belgian composer Jacques
Brel. These were recorded by many artists including Dusty Springfield,
Scott Walker and Rod McKuen. Together with Eric Blau, he devised,
adapted and wrote lyrics for the revue "Jacques Brel Is Alive And Well
And Living In Paris". Shuman also starred in the piece, which became a
world-wide success. He also became a star in his own right in France
(and several other European countries, like Holland) when several of his
French-language songs became hits.

In October 1989, "Budgie", a musical set in London's Soho district, with
Shuman's music and Don Black's lyrics, opened in the West End. It starred
former pop star, turned actor and entrepreneur, Adam Faith, and UK soap
opera actress, Anita Dobson. The show closed after only three months,
losing more than £1,000,000. Shuman wrote several other shows, including
"Amadeo, Or How To Get Rid Of It", based on an Ionesco play, a Hong
Kong portrayal of Madame Butterfly and a reworking of Bertolt Brecht
and Kurt Weill 's opera "Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny". None
has yet reached the commercial theatre. Shuman died at the age of 52 in a
London hospital from complications due to a liver operation.

Further reading: Spencer Leigh, My room has got two windows : the songwriting
genius of Doc Pomus. In four parts. Now Dig This 243-246 (June-September 2003).