Ferrante & Teicher
Arthur Ferrante (b. 7 September 1921, New York, USA) and Louis Teicher (b. 24 August 1924, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, USA). Ferrante And Teicher met at the age of six while studying at the Juilliard School Of Music, Manhattan, New York. After they graduated as piano majors, they combined teaching and concert work until 1948, when they became full-time piano duettists, touring the USA and Canada with leading classical orchestras. During the next 12 years they gradually exchanged Rachmaninov for Richard Rodgers, Cole Porter and Jerome Kern, featuring their own arrangements for two pianos. They also adapted their pianos so that they could sound like other instruments and produce strange effects during novelty numbers, and began to introduce comedy into their act. After recording for several labels during the '50s with their twin pianos, they signed for United Artists in 1960, and had their first big US chart hit with Theme From The Apartment, from Billy Wilder's Oscar-winning film. This was followed in the same year by Exodus-Main Theme (which reached number 2), and in 1961, by Tonight. All three titles sold over a million copies. In 1969, they had another Top 10 single with Midnight Cowboy. At their peak, between 1960 and 1970, they are said to have sold over 20 million records.