Phil Medley

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Phil Medley (1916 to 1997) was an American songwriter. He is best known as the writer of Twist and Shout, which he composed with Bert Russell, also known as Bert Berns. The song became world famous through the performances of the Isley Brothers and The Beatles. In all, more than sixty covers of Twist and Shout have appeared. Medley died in New York in 1997, aged 81.

Music and breakthrough

He wrote alone and with others, including Russell, William Stanford, Victor Abrams and Bob Elgin. With Russell he wrote If I Didn't Have a Dime, which was released by Gene Pitney in 1962. It was also the first song that the Dutch band The Cats put out as a single. He wrote A Million to One and was co-author of Killer Joe, which was recorded by the Rocky Fellers, The Rivieras and The Kingsmen, among others. In 1962 he composed and produced the song Limbo Lucy for Capitol Records for the group The Everglades, whose manager he was.

Influence

Medley belongs to the generation of songwriters who hardly appeared in the picture themselves, but whose songs were made big by others. His most important song is a dance number with a short, rousing build-up that lent itself easily to covers in widely differing styles. His compositions are still being reissued in the twenty-first century.

Listening