Michael Brown (rock musician)
Michael Brown (born Michael David Lookofsky; April 25, 1949 – March 19, 2015) was an American keyboardist-songwriter. Born in New York as the son of violinist and arranger Harry Lookofsky, he was best known as the principal songwriter for the 1960s baroque-pop group the Left Banke with songwriter credit for their two biggest hits "Walk Away Renee" (with Tony Sansone and Bob Calilli) and "Pretty Ballerina".[1]
After internal band tensions saw Brown leave the Left Banke in late 1967, prior to the completion of their second record, he went on to become heavily involved in the band Montage.[1] Brown also co-wrote the minor mid-1968 hit "And Suddenly" for The Cherry People, which was a #45 single on the Billboard Hot 100. Subsequently, he became involved with Stories and The Beckies. Brown briefly reunited with the Left Banke at a New York performance in April 2012.
Brown died of heart failure on March 19, 2015. He was 65.[2][3]
References
- ^ a b The Left Banke at AllMusic
- ^ "Michael Brown, the Left Banke's brilliant baroque-pop leader, dies at 65". OregonLive.com. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
- ^ Shaw, Phil (March 24, 2015). "Michael Brown: Keyboard player who wrote 'Walk Away Renee', a tale of unrequited love, for his group Left Banke when he was 16 years old". The Independent . Retrieved April 14, 2015.
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- Bloom, Ken. American Song. The Complete Musical Theater Companion. 1877-1995’’, Vol. 2, 2nd edition, Schirmer Books, 1996.
- Clarke, Donald (Ed.). The Penguin Encyclopedia of Popular Music, Viking, 1989.
- Larkin, Colin. The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music, Guinness Publishing, 1992.
- Larkin, Colin. The Encyclopedia of Popular Music, 3rd edition, Macmillan, 1998.
External links
- Michael Brown discography at Discogs
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