Alfred Kasha (January 22, 1937 – September 14, 2020) was an American

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

, whose songs include " The Morning After" from '' The Poseidon Adventure''.

Life

Kasha started songwriting and producing at a young age and was hired as a producer at Columbia Records aged 22. He worked at the

Brill Building The Brill Building is an office building at 1619 Broadway on 49th Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, just north of Times Square and further uptown from the historic musical Tin Pan Alley neighborhood. It was built in 1931 as t ...

in 1959 alongside writers and artists like Carole King,

Neil Sedaka Neil Sedaka (; born March 13, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. Since his music career began in 1957, he has sold millions of records worldwide and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collabo ...

, Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller, Burt Bacharach,

Hal David Harold Lane David (May 25, 1921 – September 1, 2012) was an American lyricist. He grew up in New York City. He was best known for his collaborations with composer Burt Bacharach and his association with Dionne Warwick. Early life David ...

, and Neil Diamond. He worked with many great artists such as Aretha Franklin (" Operation Heartbreak" and "

Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody "Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody" is a popular song written by Jean Schwartz, with lyrics by Sam M. Lewis and Joe Young. The song was introduced by Al Jolson in the Broadway musical '' Sinbad'' and published in 1918. Probably the best- ...

"), Neil Diamond, Donna Summer ("I'm A Fire"),

Charles Aznavour Charles Aznavour ( , ; born Shahnour Vaghinag Aznavourian, hy, Շահնուր Վաղինակ Ազնավուրեան, ; 22 May 1924 – 1 October 2018) was a French-Armenian singer, lyricist, actor and diplomat. Aznavour was known for his dist ...

("Dance In The Old Fashioned Way"),

Bobby Darin Bobby Darin (born Walden Robert Cassotto; May 14, 1936 – December 20, 1973) was an American musician and actor. He performed jazz, pop, rock and roll, folk, swing, and country music. He started his career as a songwriter for Connie ...

("Irresistible You"), and Jackie Wilson ("I'm Coming on Back To You," "My Empty Arms," "Forever And A Day," "Each Night I Dream Of You," "Lonely Life," and "Sing And Tell The Blues So Long"). Kasha is most noted for his years of collaboration with songwriter

Joel Hirschhorn Joel Hirschhorn (December 18, 1937 – September 17, 2005) was an American songwriter. He won the Academy Award for Best Original Song on two occasions. He also wrote songs for a number of musicians, including Elvis Presley and Roy Orbison. Hirsc ...

. The two wrote and collaborated on many nominated and award-winning songs for many music groups, movies, and musicals.

The Peppermint Rainbow The Peppermint Rainbow was an American sunshine pop group from Baltimore, Maryland. They formed in 1967 under the name "New York Times" playing to local gigs in the mid-Atlantic states. They were signed to Decca Records in 1968 at the behest of t ...

's "Will You Be Staying After Sunday" is just one example of the many songs they wrote for groups during their time.

Accolades

The songwriting duo twice won the

Academy Award for Best Song An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

: for " The Morning After" from '' The Poseidon Adventure'' in 1973 and "

We May Never Love Like This Again In Modern English, ''we'' is a plural, first-person pronoun. Morphology In Standard Modern English, ''we'' has six distinct shapes for five word forms: * ''we'': the nominative (subjective) form * ''us'' and ': the accusative (objective; ...

" from ''

The Towering Inferno ''The Towering Inferno'' is a 1974 American disaster film directed by John Guillermin and produced by Irwin Allen, featuring an ensemble cast led by Paul Newman and Steve McQueen. It was adapted by Stirling Silliphant from the novels '' The Towe ...

'' in 1975, both made famous by Maureen McGovern. They also received two more Academy Award nominations for their work in the 1977 Disney film '' Pete's Dragon'', for Best Song Score as well as Best Song ("Candle On The Water," sung by Helen Reddy). Along with Hirschhorn, Kasha also received two

Tony Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leagu ...

nominations (one for '' Copperfield'' and the other for ''

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers ''Seven Brides for Seven Brothers'' is a 1954 American musical film, directed by Stanley Donen, with music by Gene de Paul, lyrics by Johnny Mercer, and choreography by Michael Kidd. The screenplay, by Albert Hackett, Frances Goodrich, and Do ...

''), two Grammy nominations, an Emmy, four Golden Globe nominations, and a

People's Choice Award The People's Choice Awards is an American awards show, recognizing people in entertainment, voted online by the general public and fans. The show has been held annually since 1975, with the winners originally determined using Gallup Polls until ...

. They also composed the theme song to the short-lived 1990s game show '' The Challengers''.Al Kasha Dies: Oscar-Winning 'The Morning After' Composer Was 83 — Deadline
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Later years

Kasha wrote three books: ''If They Ask You Can Write A Song,'' ''Notes On Broadway,'' and his autobiography, ''Reaching The Morning After.'' Kasha was married to Ceil Kasha and had a daughter, Dana Kasha-Cohen. He suffered with

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

in his latter years. Kasha died on September 14, 2020, at the age of 83.

Discography

Singles

*"Sing (And Tell The Blues "So Long")" Sid Wyche, Al Kasha / "One Of Them" Al Kasha, Hank Hunter 1960

References

External links

* *
Al Kasha's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kasha, Al 1937 births 2020 deaths American male composers American musical theatre composers American musical theatre lyricists American lyricists 21st-century American composers Songwriters from New York (state) Best Original Song Academy Award-winning songwriters Broadway composers and lyricists Musicians from Brooklyn Writers from Brooklyn 21st-century American male musicians American male songwriters