Composer, songwriter ("Look Homeward Angel", "Good Luck Charm", "Sweet
Bird of Youth"), author and saxophonist, educated at Boston University
(Bachelor of Science degree). He was a saxophonist in dance orchestras,
and a member of the US Navy Band during World War II. Later he formed
The Four Esquires vocal quartet, singing in night clubs and on records
and television. He was a manager for Arch Music and vice-president of
Aaron Schroeder Music Company. Joining ASCAP in 959, his chief musical
collaborator was Aaron Schroeder. His other popular-song compositions
include "It's Now or Never", "In Your Arms", "Lucky Devil", "Twixt
Twelve and Twenty", "Time and the River", "Because They're Young",
"Utopia", "Hither and Thither and Yon", "She Can't Find Her Keys",
"Half Heaven - Half Heartache", "It's My Party", and "Fools Hall of
Fame".
While working in the early 1970s as a producer and agent for Don
Kirshner's eponymous label, distributed by Columbia Records, he
discovered and signed the progressive rock band Kansas.