Thomas Lee Bahler (also spelled Bähler; born June 1, 1943) is an American singer, composer, songwriter, arranger, producer, and author. He is the younger brother of singer, arranger, conductor and composer

John Bahler John Bahler (born November 11, 1940; surname also spelled Bähler) is an American vocalist, arranger, conductor, composer and producer. He is the elder brother of singer Tom Bahler, and the husband of Janet Lennon of the Lennon Sisters. Early ...

. Bahler is most known for his song " She's Out of My Life"; recorded by

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

, the song was originally written for Frank Sinatra, who never recorded it. In Bahler's early career, he worked with

Jan Berry Jan and Dean was an American rock duo consisting of William Jan Berry (April 3, 1941 – March 26, 2004) and Dean Ormsby Torrence (born March 10, 1940). In the early 1960s, they were pioneers of the California Sound and vocal surf music styles ...

(of

Jan and Dean Jan and Dean was an American rock duo consisting of William Jan Berry (April 3, 1941 – March 26, 2004) and Dean Ormsby Torrence (born March 10, 1940). In the early 1960s, they were pioneers of the California Sound and vocal surf music styles ...

). Later, he and his elder brother John were vocalists in the Ron Hicklin Singers. Together with the Wrecking Crew, the Bahler brothers have sung, produced, and arranged hundreds of worldwide hits. They were the featured background voices on

The Partridge Family ''The Partridge Family'' is an American musical sitcom starring Shirley Jones and featuring David Cassidy. Jones plays a widowed mother, and Cassidy plays the oldest of her five children, in a family who embarks on a music career. It ran from ...

recordings in the 1970s.

The Love Generation

John and Tom Bahler tried their hands with their own band The Love Generation which was not a great success. They made three records as a band. The last record, "Montage", is considered to be a project just by John and Tom. As session vocalists for

the brothers re-recorded the

Screen Gems Screen Gems is an American brand name used by Sony Pictures' Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group, a subsidiary of Japanese multinational conglomerate, Sony Group Corporation. It has served several different purposes for its parent ...

-published song "Let the Good Times In" for the series' pilot episode, which they had originally recorded for their debut "Love Generation" album in a slightly different arrangement. The Partridge version of the song remained a heavily sought after unreleased track until it appeared officially for the first time ever on the group's "The Very Best Of" CD which was released in 2005.

The Going Thing

After "The Love Generation", John and Tom joined The Going Thing, a band which was devised by the advertising agency J. Walter Thompson (now known as JWT), to promote the products of the

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobiles ...

. Tom appeared on Ford's 1969 "Going Thing" television commercial.

Later career

Bahler wrote the

Bobby Sherman Robert Cabot Sherman Jr. (born July 22, 1943), known professionally as Bobby Sherman, is an American retired paramedic, police officer, singer, actor and occasional songwriter who became a teen idol in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He had a ...

hit " Julie, Do Ya Love Me" (1970), and also

Cher Cher (; born Cherilyn Sarkisian; May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Often referred to by the media as the "Goddess of Pop", she has been described as embodying female autonomy in a male-dominated industr ...

's 1972 hit " Living in a House Divided". " She's Out Of My Life", recorded by

and other artists, was written by Bahler in 1979. It has been claimed he wrote "She's Out Of My Life" about

Karen Carpenter Karen Anne Carpenter (March 2, 1950 – February 4, 1983) was an American singer and drummer, who formed half of the sibling duo the Carpenters alongside her older brother Richard. With a distinctive three-octave contralto range, she was prais ...

, who broke up with Bahler after discovering he had fathered a child with another woman, but Bahler says the song was written about Rhonda Rivera. In 1985, he was the associate producer for the

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

winning "

We Are the World "We Are the World" is a charity single originally recorded by the supergroup USA for Africa in 1985. It was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie and produced by Quincy Jones and Michael Omartian for the album '' We Are the World''. ...

", which he considers his most significant project. Bahler is an associate of

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...

. He has also worked with B. J. Thomas,

Neil Diamond Neil Leslie Diamond (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. He has sold more than 130 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling musicians of all time. He has had ten No. 1 singles on the Hot 100 and Adul ...

Sonny & Cher Sonny & Cher were an American pop and entertainment duo in the 1960s and 1970s, made up of husband and wife Sonny Bono and Cher. The couple started their career in the mid-1960s as rhythm and blues, R&B backing singers for record producer Phil Spe ...

David Cassidy David Bruce Cassidy (April 12, 1950 – November 21, 2017) was an American actor, singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He was best known for his role as Keith Partridge, the son of Shirley Partridge (played by his stepmother, Shirley Jones), in ...

Billy Joel William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, pianist and songwriter. Commonly nicknamed the " Piano Man" after his album and signature song of the same name, he has led a commercially successful career as a solo artist since th ...

and

. For television and film, Bahler has produced the music for the Miss USA, Miss Teen USA and Miss Universe Pageant, for a number of years and he composed the music to a number of movies and scored a number of soundtracks. He made cameo appearances in movies such as '' Wag The Dog'', also composing the song, "The American Dream" for the film.

Books

* *

References

External links

An interview with Tom Bahler
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bahler, Tom 1943 births Living people American male singer-songwriters People from Inglewood, California Singer-songwriters from California