Michael Brown (born Michael David Lookofsky, April 25, 1949 – March 19, 2015) was an American keyboardist and songwriter, most notable for his work with

the Left Banke The Left Banke was an American baroque pop band, formed in New York City in 1965. They are best remembered for their two U.S. hit singles, "Walk Away Renée" and "Pretty Ballerina". The band often used what the Music journalism, music press refer ...

. He 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, the son of

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

ist and arranger

Harry Lookofsky Harry William Lookofsky (1 October 1913 – 8 June 1998) was an American jazz violinist. He was also the father of keyboardist-songwriter Michael Brown, who most notably was a founding member of the Left Banke and Stories. Early life and fa ...

The Left Banke

Brown was the principal songwriter for the 1960s baroque-pop group

, writing their two biggest hits, " Walk Away Renee" and "

Pretty Ballerina "Pretty Ballerina" is a song written by pianist Michael Brown that was released as a single by his band The Left Banke in December 1966. It peaked at number 15 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and number 4 on the Canadian '' RPM'' chart. Co ...

". He also was a

harpsichord A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard, keyboard. Depressing a key raises its back end within the instrument, which in turn raises a mechanism with a small plectrum made from quill or plastic that plucks one ...

ist and

clavinet The Clavinet is an electric clavichord invented by Ernst Zacharias and manufactured by the Hohner company of Trossingen, West Germany, from 1964 to 1982. The instrument produces sounds with rubber pads, each matching one of the keys and respond ...

player for the band. "Walk Away Renee" was also a top 20 hit for the

Four Tops The Four Tops are an American vocal group formed in Detroit, Michigan in 1953 as the Four Aims. They were one of the most commercially successful American pop music groups of the 1960s and helped propel Motown Records to international fame. The ...

, having reached No. 15 on the soul singles chart, and No. 14 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Internal band tensions saw Brown leave the Left Banke in late 1967, prior to the completion of their second record. Brown, along with

Bert Sommer Bert Sommer (February 7, 1949 – July 23, 1990) was an American folk singer and songwriter. He appeared in the musical ''Hair'' and at the Woodstock Festival, and he released several albums as a singer-songwriter. Early life Sommer was born in ...

, co-wrote the minor mid-1968 hit "And Suddenly", initially for Brown's version of the new Left Banke, with Sommer also slated as lead singer. The song went on to be recorded by The Cherry People, peaking at #45 single on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The flip side of the Left Banke version of the single was "Ivy, Ivy" written by Tom Feher. He briefly returned to the Left Banke, producing the single "Myrah" in 1969 and Left Banke vocalist

Steve Martin Caro The Left Banke was an American baroque pop band, formed in New York City in 1965. They are best remembered for their two U.S. hit singles, " Walk Away Renée" and " Pretty Ballerina". The band often used what the music press referred to as "baro ...

's solo single "Two By Two".

Later career

In 1969, Brown became involved in the band Montage (again collaborating with Sommer and Feher in songwriting), as well as producing the band's self-titled album. In 1971 Brown and vocalist Ian Lloyd formed Stories. They were introduced by their fathers, Peter Buonconsiglio and Harry Lookofsky, who had worked together as session

ists. A self-titled

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

and single – "I'm Coming Home" (No. 42, 1972) – followed. The band recorded a second album ''About Us'' in (1973). Brown left the band prior to the recording of

Hot Chocolate Hot Chocolate are a British soul band formed by Errol Brown and Tony Wilson. The group had at least one hit song every year on the UK Singles Chart from 1970 to 1984. Their hits include " You Sexy Thing", a UK number two which also made ...

's " Brother Louie", which became a No. 1 hit for Stories in the US and Canada. Subsequently, he became involved with The Beckies. Brown briefly reunited with the Left Banke at a New York performance in June 2013.

Personal life and death

Michael David Lookofsky was born in

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 ...

in 1949 to

(1913–1998), a jazz violinist from

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

, who was a member of the

NBC Symphony Orchestra The NBC Symphony Orchestra was a radio orchestra conceived by David Sarnoff, the president of the Radio Corporation of America, the parent corporation of the National Broadcasting Company especially for the conductor Arturo Toscanini. The NBC ...

from to 1954. On March 19, 2015, Brown died at age 65 of heart failure in

Englewood, New Jersey Englewood is a city in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Englewood was incorporated as a city by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 17, 1899, from portions of Ridgefield Township and the remaining portions of Engle ...

. He is survived by his wife Yvonne and sons Skylar and Adrian. He was the first of the original four members of the Left Banke to pass away: George Cameron died in 2018, and Steve Martin Caro and Tom Finn both died in 2020.

Selected discography

* The Left Banke: "

Walk Away Renée "Walk Away Renée" is a song written by Michael Brown, Bob Calilli, and Tony Sansone for the band the Left Banke, released as a single in July 1966. Steve Martin Caro is featured on lead vocals. It spent 13 weeks on the US charts, with a top s ...

" (1966) * The Left Banke: "

" (1966) * Stories: " Brother Louie" (1973) (See full discographies at

The Left Banke The Left Banke was an American baroque pop band, formed in New York City in 1965. They are best remembered for their two U.S. hit singles, "Walk Away Renée" and "Pretty Ballerina". The band often used what the Music journalism, music press refer ...

and Stories)

References

External links