Michael William Masser (March 24, 1941 – July 9, 2015) was an American songwriter, composer and producer of

popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Funk ...

Early life

Born to a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family in Chicago to Ester Huff and William Masser, he attended the University of Illinois College of Law. He became a stockbroker, but left to pursue his interest in music.

Career

Masser's first major composition hit, co-written with Ron Miller, was " Touch Me in the Morning", recorded by

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame as the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown's most successful act during the 1960s and one of the world's best-selling girl groups o ...

. He co-wrote several other hit songs in the 1970s and 1980s, including four made famous by

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed "Honorific nicknames in popular music, The Voice", she is Whitney Houston albums discography, one of the bestselling music artists ...

, " Didn't We Almost Have It All", " Saving All My Love for You", " All at Once" and "Greatest Love of All", originally recorded as " The Greatest Love of All" by

George Benson George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist. A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the 1960s, pla ...

for the 1977 film '' The Greatest''. Other Masser's songs by Benson are " In Your Eyes" (

, Jeffrey Osborne), " Nothing's Gonna Change My Love for You" (

, Glenn Medeiros) and "You Are the Love of My Life" (

and

Roberta Flack Roberta Cleopatra Flack (born February 10, 1937) is a retired American singer. She topped the ''Billboard'' charts with the No. 1 singles " The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", " Killing Me Softly with His Song", " Feel Like Makin' Love", " W ...

). His hit songs by other artists include " Hold Me" ( Teddy Pendergrass and

), " Tonight, I Celebrate My Love" (

and Peabo Bryson), " If Ever You're in My Arms Again" ( Peabo Bryson), " Miss You Like Crazy" (

Natalie Cole Natalie Maria Cole (February 6, 1950 – December 31, 2015) was an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She was the daughter of American singer and jazz pianist Nat King Cole. She rose to success in the mid-1970s as an R&B singer with the ...

) and "Someone That I Used To Love" (

), "So Sad the Song" ( Teddy Pendergrass,

Gladys Knight Gladys Maria Knight (born May 28, 1944), known as the "Empress of Soul", is an American singer, actress and businesswoman. A seven-time Grammy Award-winner, Knight recorded hits through the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s with her family group Gladys K ...

), and " It's My Turn" and " Last Time I Saw Him" (Diana Ross). A country cover of "Last Time I Saw Him" by Dottie West also became a hit, peaking at #8 on the country charts. Masser was nominated for an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment in ...

in 1976 for Best Music, Original Song, for " Theme from Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To)," which he wrote with Gerry Goffin. The song had actually been first recorded (also in 1975) by fellow Motown labelmate Thelma Houston as a planned single but was pulled before release. Diana Ross' version was released as the theme song for her 1975 film, '' Mahogany''. Among the many recordings that Masser produced are

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers awar ...

's "Someone That I Used to Love" (originally a hit for

) and the

duet A duet is a musical composition for two performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a harmony, as the performers take turns performing a solo ...

by Judy Collins and

T. G. Sheppard William Neal Browder (born July 20, 1944) is an American country music singer-songwriter, known professionally as T. G. Sheppard. He had 14 number-one hits on the US country charts between 1974 and 1986, including eight consecutive number ones ...

, "Home Again". Over the course of his career, more than 110 recordings of his songs were released. In 2002, a Golden Palm Star on the

Palm Springs, California Palm Springs (Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Riverside County by la ...

Walk of Stars A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...

was dedicated to him. Masser was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2007.

Personal life

Masser and his wife, the former Ogniana Drandiyska, lived in Rancho Mirage, California. On July 9, 2015, Masser died at the age of 74 at his home in Rancho Mirage.

Compositions

References

External links

*
Michael Masser
at

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Masser, Michael 1941 births 2015 deaths American male composers Record producers from Illinois University of Illinois College of Law alumni Stockbrokers Businesspeople from Chicago Songwriters from Illinois American composers American male songwriters Jewish American songwriters Burials at Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century American Jews