SOUNDTRACK TO THE SIXTIES: Writing the Hit Songs That Defined the Decade

New York 1957 At their wedding reception, larger-than-life songwriter Doc Pomus is sitting with his new bride, the glamorous Broadway singer-actress Willi Burke. Stricken by polio as a child, he is unable to walk without crutches, and as the dancing gets underway he takes her hand and tells her to go and have fun and dance with the other guests. Reluctantly she does, and as he sits there watching her dance with other guys, he takes a napkin and scribbles down the words “Don’t forget who’s taking you home and in who’s arms you’re gonna be…” Once wedded to a melody composed by his songwriting partner Mort Shuman, “Save the Last Dance For Me” went on to become a chart-topping hit for the Drifters in August 1960. This is just one of many stories behind some of the greatest (and not so great) songs ever written. This unique book relates those stories and charts the careers of hundreds of songwriters, together with a comprehensive list of all their songs that made the US and UK charts in the decade that would change pop music forever.