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Gerry Goffin
From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist
Gerry Goffin was born on 11 February 1939 in Brooklyn and grew up in Queens, New York. As a boy he already made up lyrics in his head, as a game. After a year at the naval academy he went to study chemistry at Queens College. There he met Carol Klein, who wrote songs under the name Carole King. She wrote the music, he the lyrics. In 1959 they married, and shortly afterwards they both signed a contract with the music publisher Aldon in Manhattan.
Music and breakthrough
The breakthrough came with Will You Love Me Tomorrow, which The Shirelles took to number 1 in America in January 1961. A long series of hits for others followed: Take Good Care of My Baby for Bobby Vee, The Loco-Motion for Little Eva, Up on the Roof for The Drifters, One Fine Day for The Chiffons, (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman for Aretha Franklin and Pleasant Valley Sunday for The Monkees. John Lennon said in 1963 that he and Paul McCartney wanted to become the Goffin-King of England.
Influence
After his divorce from King, Goffin worked with other composers, such as Michael Masser. With him he wrote Theme from Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To) and Saving All My Love for You, which both reached number 1. In all he wrote more than a hundred hits on the American Billboard Hot 100. His gift, according to others, was that he found words for what many young people felt but could not say. In 1990 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with King. He died on 19 June 2014.
Listening
Discography
Studio albums
In School of Rock
The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.
- Mixtape 10: Women in Pop MusicNL Reader
- Mixtape 12: The Hit FactoryNL Reader
Mentioned in other articles
- Brill Building and girl groups Genre
In the late 1950s young songwriting duos worked in small rooms with a piano in and around the Brill Building on Broadway, such as Carole King and Gerry Goffin, and wrote about what concerned teenagers.
- The Loco-Motion Song
Eva Boyd was the babysitter of Carole King and Gerry Goffin.