Milton Drake (August 3, 1912 - November 13, 2006) was an American

lyricist A lyricist is a songwriter who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's income de ...

and performing rights administrator. As a child, he performed in

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic compositio ...

s, in films and on

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transm ...

. Later he wrote special material for theater and nightclub revues, including "Cotton Club Parade", "Riviera Follies", "Paradise Parade", and "Latin Quarter Revue". Drake's musical collaborators included

Oscar Levant Oscar Levant (December 27, 1906August 14, 1972) was an American concert pianist, composer, conductor, author, radio game show panelist, television talk show host, comedian and actor. He was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for reco ...

Al Hoffman Al Hoffman (September 25, 1902 – July 21, 1960) was an American song composer. He was a hit songwriter active in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, usually co-writing with others and responsible for number-one hits through each decade, many of wh ...

Jerry Livingston Jerry Livingston (born Jerry Levinson; March 25, 1909 – July 1, 1987) was an American songwriter and dance orchestra pianist. Life and career Born in Denver, Colorado, Livingston studied music at the University of Arizona. While there he com ...

, Louis Alter, Ben Oakland and Con Conrad, among others. Drake was a member of the

American Guild of Authors and Composers The Songwriters Guild of America (SGA) is an organization founded in 1931, to help "advance, promote, and benefit" the profession of songwriters. It was founded as the Songwriters Protective Association by Billy Rose, George W. Meyer and Edgar Les ...

for 28 years, and for 5 years was the chairman of the AGAC council. In August 1962 he resigned from AGAC in protest, criticizing the lack of progressive leadership at the organisation, and their relationship with music publishers. In 1949 Drake married the singer Adele Clark, Decca recording artist and star of '' The Adele Clark Show''. His brother was songwriter

Ervin Drake Ervin Drake (born Ervin Maurice Druckman; April 3, 1919 – January 15, 2015) was an American songwriter whose works include such American Songbook standards as " I Believe" and "It Was a Very Good Year". He wrote in a variety of styles and his w ...

(1919-2015).

Notable songs

*" Java Jive" (1940) *"If It’s You" (1941) *"

Mairzy Doats “Mairzy Doats” is a novelty song written and composed in 1943 by Milton Drake, Al Hoffman, and Jerry Livingston. It contains lyrics that make no sense as written, but are near homophones of meaningful phrases. The song's title, for example, ...

" (1943) *"Fuzzy Wuzzy" (1944) *"

Nina Never Knew "Nina Never Knew" is a popular song with music by Louis Alter and lyrics by Milton Drake, published in 1952. Recordings that charted in 1952 were by the Sauter-Finegan Orchestra on RCA Victor Records (number 13 on the Billboard charts; firs ...

" (1952) *"She Broke My Heart in Three Places" *"My Dreams are Gone with the Wind" *"Has Hitler Made a Monkey Out of You?"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Drake, Milton 1912 births 2006 deaths Musicians from New York City American lyricists Jewish American songwriters Songwriters from New York (state) 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews