Don Kirshner
b. 17 April 1934, The Bronx, New York, USA. An aspiring songwriter while still in his teens, Kirshner gained early experience penning several naive, and unsuccessful, tracks for Bobby Darin. In an effort to subsidize their careers, the duo composed advertising jingles, one of which was sung by Connie Francis, whom Kirshner later managed. In 1958, he founded Aldon Music with publisher Al Nevins, having convinced the latter of the potential of the burgeoning teen market. The partnership attracted several stellar songwriting teams, including Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield, Gerry Goffin and Carole King, and Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, who composed hits for the Shirelles, Bobby Vee and the Drifters. Kirshner then established Dimension Records as an outlet for his proteges, scored major successes with Little Eva (The Loco-Motion), the Cookies (Chains) and Carole King (It Might As Well Rain Until September) which was issued on the short-lived Companion subsidiary. In 1963, the Aldon empire was sold to Screen-Gems/ Columbia, of which Kirshner later rose to president. Work for the in-house Colpix label was artistically less satisfying, but established the groundwork for the executive's greatest coup, the Monkees. His ambitious plan to marry a recording group with a weekly television series was initially a great success, fuelled by material provided by the entrepreneur's staff songwriters, notably Boyce And Hart. However, disputes with the band over royalties, material and the right to perform on record inspired a legal wrangle which ended with Kirshner's departure from the Screen-Gems board. In riposte, he embarked on a similar project, the Archies, but with cartoon characters, rather than temperamental musicians, promoting the songs on the attendant series. New composers, including Andy Kim and Ron Dante, provided a succession of hit songs, including the multi-million selling Sugar Sugar. In 1972, Kirshner began an association with ABC-Television which in turn inspired DON KIRSHNER'S ROCK CONCERT, a widely syndicated weekly show which became an integral part of that decade's music presentation. This astute controller successfully guided the career of Kansas under the aegis of his Kirshner record label and has also maintained considerable publishing interests.