Milton Yakus (December 25, 1917 – November 6, 1980) was an American songwriter and producer of popular music. He is best known as the writer of the

Patti Page Clara Ann Fowler (November 8, 1927 – January 1, 2013), better known by her stage name Patti Page, was an American singer. Primarily known for Pop music, pop and Country music, country music, she was the top-charting female vocalist and b ...

hits " Go On with the Wedding" and "

Old Cape Cod "Old Cape Cod" is a song written by Claire Rothrock, Milton Yakus and Allan Jeffrey that was published in 1957. The single, as recorded by Patti Page, became a gold record, having sold more than a million copies. Hailed by Cape Cod natives as the ...

" in the mid-1950s.

Early life

Milton was born in 1917. He trained in audio engineering in the U.S. Navy.

Career

Milton began as an independent writer, producer and engineer for

WMEX (AM) WMEX (1510 AM broadcasting, AM) is a commercial radio, commercial radio station city of license, licensed to Quincy, Massachusetts, and serving the Greater Boston media market. It is owned by L&J Media, headed by Tony LaGreca and Larry Justic ...

, Boston and various New York stations. In 1946, Milton with his younger brother Herbert Yakus founded Ace Recording Studios in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, Massachusetts, the premiere recording studio in New England. The studio produced hits by artists such the G-Clefs ("Ka-Ding Dong" in 1955) and

Freddy Cannon Frederick Anthony Picariello, Jr. (born December 4, 1936), better known by his stage name Freddy Cannon, is an American rock and roll singing, singer. His biggest international hits included "Tallahassee Lassie", "Way Down Yonder in New Orleans", ...

Tallahassee Lassie "Tallahassee Lassie" is a song written by Bob Crewe, Frank Slay, and Frederick Picariello and performed by Freddy Cannon (Picariello's stage name). The song was featured on his 1960 album '' The Explosive! Freddy Cannon''. The song was produced ...

" in 1959) both from Boston. He wrote the hits " Go on with the Wedding" (1956) and "

" (1957) that were recorded by Patti Page. Ace closed in 1980 due to

urban renewal Urban renewal (sometimes called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address real or perceived urban decay. Urban renewal involves the clearing ...

. Milton died four months later at an early age of sixty-two.

Personal life

He was married to Martha Gold. Their son

Shelly Yakus Sheldon Gershon "Shelly" Yakus (born November 1945) is an American music engineer and mixer. Formerly chief engineer and vice president of A&M Records, he was nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999. Yakus is referenced ...

, was born in 1945, and became a recording engineer.HARTMAN, KENT "Goodnight L.A.: The Rise and Fall of Class Rock" published by Hackette Book Group His other sons, Bernie and Joey also had careers in the music business.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yakus, Milton American male songwriters 1917 births 1980 deaths 20th-century American male musicians