Marcus Barkan (July 4, 1934 – May 8, 2020) 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. ...

and

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

. He was also a

musical director A music director, musical director or director of music is a person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert ...

for the television show ''

The Banana Splits Adventure Hour ''The Banana Splits'' is an American children's television variety show produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and featuring the Banana Splits, a fictional rock band composed of four costumed animal characters in red helmets with yellow crests. ...

'', which aired between September 7, 1968, and September 5, 1970, lasting two seasons, on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

Biography

Barkan was born in

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 ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, and started his career as a writer in 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 farther uptown from the historic musical Tin Pan Alley neighborhood. The Brill Building hous ...

. His first major success as a writer was with " The Writing on the Wall", a 1961 US top 5 hit for Adam Wade which he co-wrote with

Sandy Baron Sandy Baron (born Sanford Irving Beresofsky; May 5, 1936 – January 21, 2001) was an American actor and comedian who performed on stage, in films, and on television. He is best known for his recurring role of Jack Klompus on the NBC sitcom ''Sein ...

and

George Paxton George Paxton (March 24, 1914 – April 19, 1989) was an American big band leader, saxophonist, arranger, and publisher during the 1930s and 1940s. He was president of Coed Records and a producer for the label. Early career He was born in Jack ...

(credited as George Eddy). Songs written by Mark Barkan
''Musicvf.com''. Retrieved May 12, 2020 He had further success with " I'm Gonna Be Warm This Winter" (co-written with Hank Hunter), which was a hit for

Connie Francis Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero ( ; born December 12, 1937), known as Connie Francis, is a retired American Pop music, pop singer, actress, and top-charting female vocalist of the late 1950s and early 1960s. She is estimated to have sold more th ...

in 1963;

Lesley Gore Lesley Gore (born Lesley Sue Goldstein, May 2, 1946 – February 16, 2015) was an American singer and songwriter. At the age of 16, she recorded her first hit song " It's My Party", a US number one in 1963. She follow ...

's Top 5 hit "

She's a Fool "She's a Fool" is a song written by Mark Barkan and Ben Raleigh that was originally recorded by Lesley Gore in 1963; it appeared as a single and on the album '' Lesley Gore Sings of Mixed-Up Hearts''. Quincy Jones was the producer. Background The ...

" (co-written with

Ben Raleigh Ben Raleigh (June 16, 1913, New York – February 26, 1997, Hollywood) was an American lyricist and composer responsible for a number of major hits, including " Dungaree Doll", "Wonderful! Wonderful!", "Hold on Girl", " She's a Fool", " I Don't Wa ...

); the often-covered "

Pretty Flamingo "Pretty Flamingo" is a song written by Mark Barkan, which became a hit in 1966 when Manfred Mann's recording of it was released as a single. The single reached number one in the UK Singles Chart on 5 May 1966. Manfred Mann's recording was a minor ...

", which was a hit single for

Manfred Mann Manfred Mann were an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. They were named after their keyboardist Manfred Mann (musician), Manfred Mann, who later led the successful 1970s group Manfred Mann's Earth Band. The group had two l ...

in 1966; and "

The Tra La La Song (One Banana, Two Banana) "The Tra La La Song (One Banana, Two Banana)" is a 1968 pop song, which was the theme song for the children's television program ''The Banana Splits Adventure Hour''.CD liner notes: Saturday Morning: Cartoons' Greatest Hits, 1995 MCA Records Origin ...

" from ''The Banana Splits'' (co-written with

Ritchie Adams Richard Adam Ziegler (December 15, 1938 – March 6, 2017), known professionally as Ritchie Adams, was an American singer and songwriter. Biography Born in New York City, by 1959 he joined The Fireflies, and sang lead vocals on their hit rec ...

). In 1966, Barkan was responsible for producing the album ''

Psychedelic Moods ''Psychedelic Moods'' is the debut album by the American psychedelic rock band, The Deep, and was released on Cameo-Parkway Records in October 1966 (''see'' 1966 in music). The album was one of the first pieces to produce a consistent psychedeli ...

'', by The Deep, which has been credited as the first album to have the word

psychedelic Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary mental states (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips") and a perceived "expansion of consciousness". Also referred to as classic halluci ...

in the title. Barkan also wrote songs for many other artists, and was involved in "cult" bands as well. He and Ritchie Adams co-wrote songs for

The Archies The Archies are an American fictional rock band featured in media produced by, and related to, Archie Comics. They are best remembered for their appearance in the animated TV series '' The Archie Show''. In the context of the series, the band ...

The Monkees The Monkees were an American pop rock band formed in Los Angeles in the mid-1960s. The band consisted of Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones (musician), Davy Jones, Michael Nesmith, and Peter Tork. Spurred by the success of ''The Monkees (TV series), Th ...

, and for many other recording artists in the late 1960s. The team of Barkan and Adams was instrumental on the ''Banana Splits'' project, and they also wrote and produced all the songs for '' Toomorrow'', a 1970

sci-fi Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

, produced by

Don Kirshner Donald Kirshner (April 17, 1934 – January 17, 2011) was an American music publisher, music consultant, rock music producer, talent manager, and songwriter. Dubbed "the Man with the Golden Ear" by ''Time'', he was best known for managin ...

, which starred

Olivia Newton-John Dame Olivia Newton-John (26 September 1948 – 8 August 2022) was a British and Australian singer and actress. With over 100 million records sold, Newton-John was one of the List of best-selling music artists#100 million to 119 million record ...

as a band member. In later life, he collaborated with

Albert Bouchard Albert Bouchard (; born May 24, 1947) is an American musician. He is a founding member and one of the first and most prominent drummers of the hard rock band Blue Öyster Cult and current drummer of The Dictators. He is the older brother of f ...

, formerly of

Blue Öyster Cult Blue Öyster Cult ( ; sometimes abbreviated BÖC or BOC) is an American rock band formed on Long Island, New York, in the hamlet of Stony Brook, in 1967. They have sold 25 million records worldwide, including 7 million in the United States. ...

, on the 2018 album ''Fidelis ad Mortem''. Barkan died at his home in

on May 8, 2020, at age 85.

References

External links

Interview with Mark Barkan
''Millennial Throwback Machine'', November 24, 2019 {{DEFAULTSORT:Barkan, Mark 1934 births 2020 deaths Musicians from Brooklyn Record producers from New York (state) American male songwriters