Made for the "Biography" channel, Morgan Neville's documentary is a thrilling exploration of the Brill Building years of American pop music.
Songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller were the vanguard of NY pop music and HITMAKERS shows how they started a chain reaction that ran through the 1960s.
Leiber & Stoller and fellow songwriters Doc Pomus & Mort Schuman (SAVE THE LAST DANCE FOR ME) were approached in 1958 by music man Don Kirshner wishing to sign them to his new music publishing company. They agreed and Aldon Music was born.
With teenagers now buying records, Aldon put out a call to young songwriters that he was hiring.
Neil Sedaka & Howard Greenfield were followed by Bacharach & David, Carole King & Gerry Goffin, Cynthia Weil & Barry Mann, Ellie Greenwich & Jeff Barry... and Paul Simon... and Neil Diamond... and Phil Spector...
Their music lives on down the years...
Shelf or charity shop? Number One on the shelf. A glorious exploration of the music that flowed from the Brill Building and nearby 1650 Broadway, filmed at just the right moment to catch all the main protagonists: Don Kirshner, songwriters Gerry Goffin, Ellie Greenwich, Hal David, Jerry Leiber, Doc Pomus, Jack Keller, producers George Morton, Jerry Wexler, Tom Dowd and performers Ben E King and Lesley Gore have since moved to the top floor. Their music not only captures a moment in time but still fills you with the optimism of being young and in love or the desolation of being young and broken-hearted. The film shows how the Aldon songwriters were side-swiped when Kirshner sold the company to Columbia Pictures, initial success with writing for The Monkees and The Archies could not withstand the changes The Beatles started by writing their own material. Be that as it may... I can hear music...
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