Arthur Singer (February 1, 1919 – May 2, 2008) was an American songwriter, music producer and bandleader. He was the co-writer and producer of the songs "

At the Hop "At the Hop" is a 1950s pop song written by Artie Singer, John Medora, and David White and originally released by Danny & the Juniors. The song was first issued circa October 1957 on a small Philadelphia label (Singular 711) and included a ...

" and "

Rock and Roll Is Here To Stay "Rock and Roll Is Here to Stay" is a song written by David White and first recorded by his group, Danny & the Juniors. Released in January 1958 by ABC-Paramount Records as the follow-up to the group's #1 hit "At the Hop", it reached #19 on the ...

" by

Danny & the Juniors Danny & the Juniors were an American doo-wop and rock and roll vocal group formed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Originally consisting of Danny Rapp, Dave White, Frank Maffei and Joe Terranova, the group was formed in 1955. They are best know ...

Career

Singer began his career as a bass player and performed on WIP radio and on the TV Show '' Paul Whiteman's Goodyear Revue''. He became well known as a vocal coach with his brother Harold, whose students included

Frankie Avalon Francis Thomas Avallone (born September 18, 1940), better known as Frankie Avalon, is an American singer, actor and former teen idol. He had 31 charting U.S. ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' singles from 1958 to late 1962, including Record ...

Chubby Checker Chubby Checker (born Ernest Evans; October 3, 1941) is an American singer and dancer. He is widely known for popularizing many dance styles, including the Twist, with his 1960 hit cover of Hank Ballard & The Midnighters' R&B song " The Twis ...

Al Martino Jasper Cini (October 7, 1927 – October 13, 2009), known professionally as Al Martino, was an American traditional pop and standards singer. He had his greatest success as a singer between the early 1950s and mid-1970s, being described as "one o ...

and

Bobby Rydell Robert Louis Ridarelli (April 26, 1942 – April 5, 2022), known by the stage name Bobby Rydell (), was an American singer and actor who mainly performed rock and roll and traditional pop music. In the early 1960s, he was considered a teen idol. ...

, and he was a vocal coach to Danny Kaye in the early 1950s. Singer wrote hundred of songs for the educational children's TV program '' Gina D's Kids Club''. He also led the Artie Singer Orchestra. As a songwriter, music producer and orchestra conductor, Singer's most famous songs were the hits "At the Hop" and "Rock and Roll Is Here to Stay", released in 1957 and 1958, respectively. The songs were originally recorded by Danny & the Juniors. "At the Hop", which Singer co-wrote with John Medora and David White, reached number one on the

Billboard Top 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), on ...

on January 6, 1958, and remained there for seven consecutive weeks. It was also the number one song of the year. He wrote the score to a Broadway musical, "Dream Weavers" with lyricist Marjorie Badarak, but it was never produced.

Payola involvement

On the 2008 nationally-televised

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

documentary ''Wages of Spin: Dick Clark, American Bandstand and the Payola Scandals'', Singer claimed that

Dick Clark Richard Wagstaff Clark (November 30, 1929April 18, 2012) was an American television and radio personality and television producer who hosted ''American Bandstand'' from 1956 to 1989. He also hosted five incarnations of the Pyramid (game show), ...

would not play "At the Hop", the hit song Singer co-wrote, without receiving half of the publishing proceeds. Singer agreed to make the payments and called the situation "bittersweet" because although he didn't like having to give the money, he credited his success in the music industry to Clark and therefore was grateful to him.

Payola Payola, in the music industry, is the name given to the illegal practice of paying a commercial radio station to play a song without the station disclosing the payment. Under U.S. law, a radio station must disclose songs they were paid to pla ...

was not illegal at the time and Clark sold the song prior to the 1960 payola hearings.

Personal life

Singer was born in

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Canada and moved to

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

, to

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, and eventually to

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, where he graduated from Simon Gratz High School. The son of a Jewish

cantor A cantor or chanter is a person who leads people in singing or sometimes in prayer. Cantor as a profession generally refers to those leading a Jewish congregation, although it also applies to the lead singer or choir director in Christian contexts. ...

, Singer performed at

High Holiday In Judaism, the High Holy Days, also known as High Holidays or Days of Awe (Yamim Noraim; , ''Yāmīm Nōrāʾīm'') consist of: #strictly, the holidays of Rosh Hashanah ("Jewish New Year") and Yom Kippur ("Day of Atonement"); #by extension, the ...

services at local synagogues for over 50 years. He was married twice. He and his first wife, Esther (Ivry), deceased, had a son, Richard, and daughter, Marcy Domosh, and two grandchildren. Singer resided in

King of Prussia, Pennsylvania King of Prussia (nicknamed K.O.P.) is a census-designated place in Upper Merion Township, Pennsylvania, Upper Merion Township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. The community took its unusual name in the 18th century from a loca ...

, when he died on May 2, 2008, at age 89.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Singer, Arthur 1919 births 2008 deaths American record producers Jewish American songwriters 20th-century American musicians 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews