Secret Songwriters Behind Classic Songs

[@Radewonik]

R.I.P. Quincy Jones, amazing producer.

[@pensivepenguin3000]

Amen. It was still a shock to see of his passing. I know he was in his 90s, but he just seemed like one of those guys who would be around forever

[@marcoguiotti]

2:34 Achivement unlocked: rickrolled by the GOAT of KZbin music theory

[@wyattstevens8574]

Unless you remember the 3-man group S.A.W!

[@pensivepenguin3000]

You could probably devote an entire video just to Burt Bacharach. He wrote so many songs, many of which you probably didn’t realize he wrote. For example, the song “always something there to remind me,” popularized by the group Naked Eyes in the 80s, is a Burt song and was originally a 60s R&B tune

[@virgo47]

I always liked over the top style of Jim Steinman. ;-) And the Bee Gees guys are totally crazy what they did as a side job. Mindblowing.

[@AurinneA]

After hearing how so many of the ones in the 2000s felt repetitive in overall sound, it makes me wonder how much of that is the songwriters or whether there are also some key producers with their hands on so many of these hits. I'd honestly be interested in some videos that look at the role producers play, because I sometimes hear them credited with a song/album's sound as much as anyone else involved with the songs, and would love to find out more about that aspect.

[@pensivepenguin3000]

I believe Dr. Luke and Max Martin also played a strong role in production, and there was another guy in that crew, Benny Blanco, who brought that kind of synth-heavy retro Funk/disco sound to all those late 2000s/early 2010s electro-pop songs

[@Altropos]

I agree, Max Martin is trailing only Paul McCartny for nr 1 songs but McCartney's overal songwriting for especially the Beatles is so much more varied.

[@RoseSolane]

Stock Aitken Waterman were not only the song writers behind many of the "British" hits of the mid to late 80's and early 90's but also the producers of those songs. "British" includes several Australian actors/singers, like Jason Donovan and Kylie Minogue.

[@MateusdeRezende]

very nice video David, very ggod work! I just miss Diane Warren, who wrote Aerosmith's number 1 hit "I don't wanna miss a thing", a lot other songs...

[@lightdarkness]

I was also thinking Diane Warren should've been here.

[@DavidBennettPiano]

@@MateusdeRezende great suggestion!

[@Just_DonovanJ]

Diane Warren wrote some amazing songs.... and LOTS of songs.... Huge omission... :/

[@toneman501]

Burt Bacharach....was one of the most prolific songwriters of the 20th century... Paul Williams is also quite notable..

[@BL-ob9fn]

Someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection...

[@Kj_Gamer2614]

Yeah but Burt Bacharach isn’t a secret songwriter, I think a hell of a lot of people know about him

[@pastorandreaswendt]

Looking forward to the next parts of the series. Spontanously I think of Guy Chambers, Leiber&Stoller and Goffin&King. On the other end of the spectrum there would be forgotten songs Taupin and Elton John wrote for others before they became famous.

[@johnward6203]

Great video as always David, one other suggestion might be Graham Gouldman who wrote a string of 60s hits for bands like the Hollies and the Yardbirds before achieving fame with 10CC in the 70s

[@bubsonwypraniec2538]

shellback, you' ve got him like 10 times in credits in this video

[@tmgrobg]

Great vid - I didn't appreciate how prolific some of these songwriters' output was! Diane Warren comes to mind if you're doing a follow up - her songs were everywhere in the 90s

[@DocGeezer]

One of my favorite songwriters from the late 70s and early 80s was Russ Ballard

[@DavidBennettPiano]

@@DocGeezer nice! I’d not heard of him but it looks like he’s written some real classics!!

[@Oafah]

@@DavidBennettPiano Not to be confused with Glen Ballard, who is also a songwriting titan.

[@andywild9183]

Great video, my thought immediately went to Russ Ballard, "Since You Been Gone" & "I Surrender", by Rainbow, "God Gave Rock and Roll to You" by KISS, plus many others like "New York Groove" Ace Frehley

[@ITSupport-q1y]

Enjoyed this, thanks for the hard work.

[@Kylora2112]

Jim Steinman is the man when you want an over-the-top melodramatic pop song with a ridiculous title!

[@papamiya3124]

J.J Cale is another good one.

[@pst_uk]

Chinn & Chapman - so many early 70s UK chart toppers, Dianne Warren, Desmond Child, Mike Batt just to pick a few.

[@DavidBennettPiano]

@@pst_uk wow they wrote loads of glam rock classics!!

[@pst_uk]

@@DavidBennettPiano Yes they were very much the Stock,Aiken, Waterman of their day.

[@PenneySounds]

Wow, Stock Aitken Waterman really loved that "dow dowdowdowdowdow" synth bassline.

[@vurogj]

They basically ran mainstream UK pop music for a decade. It was... an interesting time.

[@DarrenLandrum]

Glad to see Jimmy Webb get a mention. A brilliant songwriter, for sure.

[@andyjulia]

Great video David, and Witchita Lineman is one of my favorites too.

[@pensivepenguin3000]

Man, though much of it didn’t age very well, Max Martin and Dr. Luke were on fire in the late 2000s and early 2010s. Some of those songs are still a lot of fun

[@danpreston564]

As Billy Bragg once wrote 'Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong Are here to make right, everything that’s wrong Holland and Holland and Lamont Dozier too Are here to make it all ok with you'

[@NickLaslett]

Thank you David, for giving the spotlight to some great song writers. You really knocked it out of the park with your selection. I really enjoyed the journey across all these great songs. Jim Steinman, Jimmy Webb, Steinberg & Kelly, the Motown alumni, SAW (if you are a certain age, were UK pop music). I am a keen reader of the writing credits, as often I prefer these people to whoever is the performer of a given song. I notice that Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic has a lot of credits on other performers songs which I like.

[@ardeyband]

Chinn and Chapman wrote so much hits in de seventies ( Sweet, Mud, Suzi Quatro, Smokie, Exile and more)

[@IIISOLOIII]

Diane Warren should be mentioned too

[@lakrids-pibe]

I was a teenager in the 80s, and I remember Stock Aitken Waterman absolutely DOMINATING the charts. It was a bit too much, really . It was a bit too uniform. It wasn't until later I would appreciate what a great song "never give you up" actually is.

[@bartomiejcytlau4981]

I got rickrolled in the end of 2024 wow

[@fozzle6503]

Good stuff as always. You should do a video on the songs that the Beatles wrote for other artists!

[@rickalexanderguitar]

I was thinking the same. There were some good ones in the early years. Step Inside Love for Cilla Black. World Without Love. Peter and Gordon. Goodbye for Mary Hopkin.

[@TheTrumpReaper]

I had no idea that Ashford and Simpson wrote I'm Every Woman. There are a gazillion Rod Temperton songs that I like, starting with Boogie Nights. RIP Quincy Jones.

[@Jatzette]

Vanda and Young wrote the soundtrack to my youth, growing up in Australia in the 70’s and 80’s. A lot of their best work never charted overseas, but some did (Easybeats, ACDC). Their songs for John Paul Young and Stevie Wright are classics, along with many others.

[@askbask]

Ellie Greenwich is my fave. Basically half of the greatest pop songs from the 60s.

[@annamariaisland1960]

Great topic! HDH really need more study - perhaps there is a deep music analysis treatise on them somewhere ? (PS - your fingers got crossed up in Jackson's first name early in the video - you might want to fix that at some point)

[@marcschuler1702]

Thank you for your amazing content. I missed Desmond Child (who could fill a whole episode), Bob Ezrin, Dianne Warren, Jim Vallance, Guy Chambers, Prince and Albert Hammond.

[@theepisofdiabolos-dj5xh]

yes another video!

[@mrmillcake8525]

Now I know who 'fills the world with silly love songs'...=)

[@Oafah]

For Part 2, Desmond Child, Jim Vallance, Diane Warren, Glen Ballard and Mutt Lange come to mind.

[@DeGuerre]

Celine Dion once said that working with Jim Steinman, every song is like Gone with the Wind. An honourable mention Steinman song is "Making Love out of Nothing at All", performed by Air Supply. (Oh, and thank you for not mentioning MacArthur Park.)

[@papamiya3124]

Wish Labi Siffre was mentioned here

[@jcarty123]

How about a James Jamerson video? As a bass player. He leaps from your Motown pastiche, his sound is unmistakable & influenced your favorite 60s band.

[@bobblake7132]

Great video David. I’m going to throw Diane Warren into the mix. The songwriter who made Steven Tyler cry.

[@jeremiahlyleseditor437]

Great Video There are so many writers that you could make a video series about the subject.

[@juansalbador]

Dr Luke sounds like a film directed by Michael Bay.

[@djb903]

@ 10:26 max martin section, title says one more night by maroon 5 but the audio and the on screen album are the weeknd save your tears (remix)

[@man1963]

Desmond Child

[@cecilthymas]

I'v just been rickrolled🤦‍♂️

[@d.c.8828]

In 2024, ffs ! 😭

I was definitely expecting Ryan Tedder for songs for Pink, Rihanna, Ellie Goulding, Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran and more.

[@diarmuidwall9605]

Graham Lyle. Wrote an incredible amount of hits, including most of Tina Turners 80s hits!

[@jhsounds]

Dude misspelled Michael Jackson

[@robertprice2148]

Very Good 👏👏👏

[@REVontobel]

Bonnie McKee! She ruled the 2010's with her songwriting

[@pensivepenguin3000]

16:13 this song, “woman in love,” sounds very similar to “oops I did it again” which we heard earlier in the video. I’m guessing I’m not the first to notice this. Did Max Martin take inspiration from this track, subconsciously or otherwise?

[@manonvernon8646]

Beegees were definitely an influence on Mr. Martin

[@shootytheturtle]

Chinn/Chapman, Paul Williams, Desmond Child

[@niveketihw1897]

I've always heard Campbell pronounced so that it rhymes with gamble, but David pronounces it like two words, camp bell, or maybe cam bell.

[@peter-yh8mm]

You did not just rickroll me

[@djvoid1]

Good music grows from good 'soil'. If you could turn up to work and just focus on writing songs with a songwriting partner to support you and friendly competition from other hit makers in the building, that's good soil for your musical crops to grow in. These guys were lucky in that respect

[@MaTT-oo8de]

Very interesting! For me, the songwriters are the real genies of music.

[@jonreznick5531]

I've met Jimmy Webb.

[@michaelbarbour9827]

When I first heard “It’s All Coming Back To Me Now” I thought, “Weird, I think this would sound better if Meat Loaf was singing it,” then it dawned on me and I looked up the songwriter!

[@brocktighe3557]

how have i not heard of max martin. these are half the songs i know

[@graciasMiura]

First time I'm glad not seing any Beatle on a music related video thumbnail 😌

[@wyattstevens8574]

0:41 On Thriller, he's the V.O. artist!

[@Euan-gb3ig]

Can you make a video of max martin chord progressions and producing please

[@christian42]

Xenomania might have been worth a mention.

[@Metalballs50]

Don't see anyone going to bat for Babyface. More Babyface, less Dr. Luke !

[@jeremyjones5455]

Would love to see you talk about Dan Wilson from Semisonic. He co-wrote and produced big Grammy-winning hits with Adele, the (Dixie) Chicks, and Chris Stapleton.

[@RaccoonHenry]

next installment: PRINCE!!!

[@everydayispoetry]

Most of the post-2000 songs featured here are awful. It's somehow not surprising to find out that the same four or five people wrote all of these. Compare them to the excellent Jimmy Webb, H-D-H, and Brothers Gibb songs from the last century, and it's hard not to wonder why things have gone so far downhill. I'd love to see a video exploring that question.

[@ronaldsims9905]

Smokey Robinson; Thom Bell and Linda Creed

[@jlmso11568]

A couple more: Guy Chambers, Lauren Christy.

[@alfredtomey]

OMG! This short amount of songwriters have generated trillions of dollars with their songs

[@manonvernon8646]

Its always a bit weird to think kids and young adults through the past 30 years have been bopping to Max Martin's repertoire. He has a distinct style, something I think sounds Abba-esque - that would be his Swedish heritage.

[@davidpreston9909]

If you're including the Gibb brothers, then maybe Nile Rogers and Bernard Edwards in a similar context.

[@terrordisco2944]

+1 on Wichita Lineman. Possibly the best country song

[@jacekmalinowski9047]

Jam and Lewis

[@saleembarmania5295]

when you say "song writer" do you mean the lyrics or the tune or like a full-on score for all instruments and voices?

[@turnerIott]

RIP Quincy Jones the GOAT

[@cthellis]

Quincy Jones😢

[@BluesCover]

Willie Dixon (check wikipedia for info)

[@toneman501]

Bob Dylan....

[@S.J.L]

Hoagy Carmichael, Dianne Warren, Bobby Braddock, Bobby Charles...

[@zzzaphod8507]

Interesting topic, although I'm not sure I'd call of these "classic" songs

[@Heffiemonster]

I don't get the concept of large songwriting teams. Though there are some quite complex songs on the list (Toxic, Total Eclipse of the Heart), most consist of a single "hook" and quite a lot of filler. How do they justify such a long list of songwriters?

[@AndrewAMartin]

Lately, it seems like everybody in the room gets a songwriting credit, most likely so that they get a piece of the royalties, which are better for writers than performers.

[@GarrettWorcester]

At least you spelled "Cyndi" correctly.

[@Cardioid2035]

The people of England always tend to churn out the most legendary songs of all time imo. There’s something in the water over there.

[@d.c.8828]

It's that lingering poo in the Thames, methinks.

[@manonvernon8646]

Its our proud individualism - from "we wunt be druv" to "Unconquered" as our county mottos

[@PenneySounds]

I think you've stumbled on another "songs you didn't know were covers" example. I have only heard "I Drove All Night" as a Celine Dion song. Never heard the Cyndi Lauper version until this moment.

[@bentilley5412]

The Roy Orbison version is my favourite.

[@PenneySounds]

@@bentilley5412 I haven't heard that one at all.

[@hrizonsdebbie]

Giorgio Moroder?

[@nathanielmcdonald17]

Gregg Alexander and Harlan Howard

[@jasonremy1627]

Cathy Dennis had a legit hit of her own, with Touch Me (All Night Long) which she didn't actually write.

[@danpreston564]

She had multiple hits as a young solo artist.

[@carlosaz69]

great video. Maybe you could have included the great Burt Bacharach and the producer and composer David Foster.

[@Just_DonovanJ]

Yeah, if we're talking about writer/producers who cowrite a lot of famous songs (like Max Martin), then David Foster should be high up on that list.

[@alexanderoransky7601]

Thanks for Dr Luke reference. Now I get it why why entire modern pop industry sounds sounds all the same from one "song" to another. Dreadful stuff.

[@vixo551]

Dr. Luke is a rapist, that's the dreadful stuff, not some whatever pop songs

[@robo5409]

Look, I really love David’s videos, but all this talk in the comments about how modern pop music is horrible is making me so tired. There are tons of great pop songs in the modern era if you know where to look. And even if you’re only gonna look at the worst pop songs of today, you would still be ignoring all the terrible music of the past. The “modern pop industry” isn’t special, bad music has been released and gotten popular in all eras of music in general. Stop spreading negativity, please.

[@robo5409]

And also, I’m not saying that you have to like all kinds of music from every time period, it’s fine if you don’t like certain music, I just don’t like it when people say massive general statements about an entire period/genre of music and state it as an objective fact. You can’t just say that all modern pop sounds the same and that it’s dreadful. That’s completely a matter of taste, and since it’s only a matter of taste you don’t actually have to tell anyone your opinions. Sorry if I sound rude, I’m just really tired of seeing the same stuff spouted everywhere I look.

[@joeharris2659]

0:58 Argh!!! ‘Micheal’?! I’m disappointed in your proofreading, David.

[@danpreston564]

Kylie Minoque too.

[@LieuNoir]

And MarVin Gaye as well 5:26

[@toneman501]

John Williams ....

[@johnosullivan1680]

Loose idea for a video: covers that change the mode of the song. I don’t know how common this is, but I’m pretty sure that Afghan Whigs do it with their cover of Come See About Me by The Supremes.

[@adrianhepton9362]

Stevie Mac? Prince? Lieber and Stoller. Burt B and Hall D

[@RoseSolane]

I assume many secret American song writing duos will be mentioned in the Brill episode? I think I briefly saw a young Carol King in the video. You can't make a video about secret songwriters without mentioning Goffin and King. They were early in his career the inspiration for one part of the most famous (not-secret) songwriting duo in pop history 😁

[@checkedoff]

12:51 16 writers?!

[@AndrewAMartin]

"You get a credit, and you get a credit, and you, and you, and..." Everyone gets their piece of the pie that way, I guess...

[@Jaspertine]

You know, I didn't actually hate Max Martin or Dr Luke until you pointed out just how many of the most annoying songs I've ever heard were written by them.

[@YevgeniyVladimirovich]

Will we ever get rid of luke and martin stamp songs?

[@rafakegamestutoriais5455]

Don't love uncritically bringing Doctor Luke up

[@d.c.8828]

Frank Farian ! ! ! ! ! 🇩🇪 (Boney M., Milli Vanilli)