Barry Mann

Biography

Barry Mann (born Barry Imberman; February 9, 1939) is an American songwriter and musician, and was part of a successful songwriting partnership with his wife, Cynthia Weil.
He has written or co-written 53 hits in the UK and 98 in the US.

Early life

Mann was born Barry Imberman on February 9, 1939, to a Jewish family in Brooklyn. He was born two days before fellow songwriter Gerry Goffin.

Career

His first successful song as a writer was "She Say (Oom Dooby Doom)", a Top 20 chart-scoring song composed for the band The Diamonds in 1959. Mann co-wrote the song with Mike Anthony (Michael Logiudice). He wrote Footsteps recorded by Steve Lawrence in 1960. In 1961, Mann had his greatest success to that point with "I Love How You Love Me", written with Larry Kolber and a No. 5 scoring single for the band The Paris Sisters (seven years later, Bobby Vinton's version would reach the Top 10). The same year, Mann himself reached the Top 40 as a performer with a novelty song co-written with Gerry Goffin, "Who Put the Bomp×Who Put the Bomp1961 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Who Put the Bomp (In the Bomp, Bomp, Bomp)2:452I Love How You Love Me2:563The Way of a Clown2:464Sweet Little You1:565Bless You2:136The Millionaire2:337War Paint2:188Happy Birthday Broken Heart2:379Countin' Teardrops (Instead of Sheep)2:0210Footsteps2:3611Find Another Fool2:3212Love, True Love (I Put You Down)2:31", which parodied the nonsense words of the then-popular doo-wop genre.
Despite his success as a singer, Mann chose to channel his creativity into songwriting, forming a prolific partnership with Weil, a lyricist he met while both were staff songwriters at Don Kirshner and Al Nevin's company Aldon Music, whose offices were located in Manhattan, near the composing-and-publishing factory the Brill Building. Mann and Weil, who married in 1961, developed some songs intended to be socially conscious, with successes such as "Uptown" by The Crystals, "We Gotta Get out of This Place" by the Animals, "Magic Town" by The Vogues, and "Kicks" by Paul Revere & the Raiders. Mann and Weil were disturbed when "Only In America", a song they had written with the team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and conceived originally for and recorded by the Drifters as a protest against racial prejudice, was re-worked by Leiber and Stoller into an uncontroversial success for Jay & The Americans.
As of May 2009, Mann's song catalog lists 635 songs. He has received 56 popular music, country, and Rhythm & Blues awards from Broadcast Music Inc., and 46 Millionaire Awards for radio performances numbering more than one million plays. The song "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'", co-written with Weil and Phil Spector, was the most played song of the 20th century, with more than 14 million plays.
Mann has composed songs for movies, most notably "Somewhere Out There", co-written with Weil and James Horner, for the 1986 animated movie An American Tail. Linda Ronstadt and James Ingram performed the song as a duet during the movie's closing credits; their version was released as a single, which scored No. 2 on the Billboard chart and became a "gold"-scoring record. "Somewhere Out There" would win two 1987 Grammy Awards, as Song of the Year and Best Song Written for a Motion Picture or Television. "Somewhere Out There" was also nominated for a 1986 Oscar as best song, but lost to "Take My Breath Away" from Top Gun (a film that featured the Weil-penned "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" in a key scene). Mann's other movie work includes the scores for I Never Sang for My Father and Muppet Treasure Island, and songs for National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation and Oliver & Company.

Mann co-wrote, with Dan Hill, the song "Sometimes When We Touch", which scored No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100.
In 1987, Mann and Weil were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 2011, they received the Johnny Mercer Award, the greatest honor from the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Mann and Weil were named among the 2010 recipients of Ahmet Ertegun Award from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Mann and Weil operated a publishing company named Dyad Music.

Personal life

Mann was married to Cynthia Weil from 1961 until her death in 2023. They had one daughter, Jenn. They resided in Beverly Hills, California.