Hal David

Although I didn't know it until news of his death, it's perhaps not surprising that lyricist Hal David trained in journalism. Born in Brooklyn, he worked on the school newspaper at Thomas Jefferson High School and went on to study journalism at New York University. Then, on army service in World War II in the South Pacific, he was posted to an entertainment unit, and turned to lyric writing - a trade also adopted by his brother Mack after the war.

Hal had a brief post-war spell as an advertising copywriter at the New York Post, but kept up with the lyric writing sufficiently to catch the attention of "swing and sway" bandleader Sammy Kaye in 1947. The door was opened and other hits came - "Four Winds and the Seven Seas," with co-writer, Don Rodney, a vocalist for the Guy Lombardo Orchestra. Then followed with "Broken-Hearted Melody," Sarah Vaughan's biggest single hit ever, and "Johnny Get Angry," a success for Joanie Sommers.

In 1957 he met Burt Bacharach, and others have chronicled that partnership in much more detail. Before I knew what a lyricist was or does, I was listening to "Magic Moments" and "The Story of My Life" (in the version by Michael Holliday).

Hal's other collaborators, in a catalogue of published songs close to 500, included Albert Hammond, Henry Mancini, Arthur Altman, John Barry, Johnny Mandel, Paul Anka, Barry Manilow, Sherman Edwards, Michel Legrand, and David Rose.