Janna Allen (May 12, 1957 – August 25, 1993) was an American

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates 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 genre and film scoring. ...

. She is best known as a co-writer of some of the biggest hits recorded by

Hall & Oates Daryl Hall & John Oates, commonly known as Hall & Oates, were an American Rock music, rock duo formed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1970. Daryl Hall was generally the lead vocalist, while John Oates primarily supplied electric guitar and ba ...

, in collaboration variously with

Daryl Hall Daryl Franklin Hohl (born October 11, 1946), known professionally as Daryl Hall, is an American rock, R&B, and soul singer. He is best known as the co-founder and principal lead vocalist of Hall & Oates, with guitarist and songwriter John Oa ...

John Oates John William Oates (born April 7, 1948) is an American musician, best known as half of the rock and soul duo Hall & Oates along with Daryl Hall. He has played rock, R&B, and soul music, serving as a guitarist, singer, songwriter, and record ...

and her sister

Sara Allen Sara Allen (born March 23, 1954) is an American songwriter best known for her work with the duo Hall & Oates. Working as a flight attendant in the early 1970s, Allen was introduced to John Oates, who subsequently wrote the song "Las Vegas Turna ...

, who was Hall's longtime girlfriend and the person for whom the duo's hit song "

Sara Smile "Sara Smile" is a song written and recorded by the American musical duo Hall & Oates. It was released as the third single from their album '' Daryl Hall & John Oates''. The song was the group's first top 40 and first top ten hit in the US, reachi ...

" was written. Among Janna Allen's most successful co-written songs for Hall & Oates were "

Kiss on My List "Kiss on My List" is a song by American duo Hall & Oates. It was written by Daryl Hall and Janna Allen, and produced by Hall and John Oates. It was the third single release from their ninth studio album, ''Voices'' (1980), and became their sec ...

" and " Private Eyes", both of which reached #1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1981. She worked as a receptionist at the time of the two songs' release. She also co-wrote Hall & Oates' top 10 singles " Did It in a Minute" and " Method of Modern Love". Allen also wrote songs with such artists as

Cheap Trick Cheap Trick is an American rock band formed in Rockford, Illinois in 1970 by guitarist Rick Nielsen, bassist Tom Petersson, lead vocalist Robin Zander and drummer Bun E. Carlos. Their work bridged elements of '60s pop rock, guitar pop, '70s har ...

Peter Wolf Peter Wolf (born March 7, 1946) is an American musician best known as the lead vocalist of The J. Geils Band from 1967 to 1983 and as a solo artist. Early life and education Wolf was born Peter Walter Blankfield on March 7, 1946, in the Bronx ...

and

Joan Jett Joan Jett (born Joan Marie Larkin; September 22, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actress. Often referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music#J, Godmother of Punk", she is regarded as a Pop icon, rock icon and ...

. Allen died of

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

at the age of 36 in 1993.

References

External links

Songwriting credits at BMI
* 1993 deaths 1957 births American women songwriters Deaths from leukemia 20th-century American composers 20th-century American women composers Hall & Oates {{US-songwriter-stub