Barry De Vorzon

This article relies largely or entirely upon a single source. Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources. Discussion about the problems with the sole source used may be found on the talk page. (April 2012)

Barry De Vorzon

Barry De Vorzon (born July 31, 1934, New York City) is an American singer, songwriter, producer, and composer. His first composing big hit was the rock song "Dreamin'," sung by Johnny Burnette in 1960, although he had a number-one hit previously called "Just Married," which he wrote for Marty Robbins in 1958. Dorsey Burnette (who he was managing) and De Vorzon co-wrote several of Dorsey's hits ("Hey, Little One"; "Big Rock Candy Mountain"; "Red Roses"; "Noah's Ark").

De Vorzon founded Valiant Records later in the 1960s, during which time he signed the Association and produced its first single, a cover of the Bob Dylan tune "One Too Many Mornings."

De Vorzon wrote "I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight" for the Cascades, but the group did not record it. In 1963, De Vorzon recorded the song himself, with his group Barry and the Tamerlanes.

He composed the soundtracks to many 1970s and 1980s films, and one of the tunes, "Cotton's Dream" (from Bless the Beasts and Children) was retitled "Nadia's Theme" and re-released by A&M Records for the television soap opera The Young and the Restless. "Nadia's Theme" hit #8 on the US Top 40 in 1976 and the album from which it was taken peaked at #42 on the Billboard 200; in 1977, it won a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement. The main title song, "Bless the Beasts and Children," was recorded by the Carpenters and received an Academy Award nomination.

De Vorzon also composed the tune "It's Christmas Once Again in Santa Barbara," which was re-recorded with various other city names, such as San Francisco and San Diego. He also wrote the theme from S.W.A.T., and co-wrote the Eagles' hit "In the City" with Joe Walsh. In 1979 he wrote the music for the movie The Warriors.

He is also one of the developers of the MasterWriter creative software for songwriters and lyricists.^[1]

Awards and nominations

"Note: This list is incomplete."

• Won the 1978 Grammy for Best Instrumental Arrangement, for "Nadia's Theme (The Young and the Restless)".
• Nominated for a 1972 Academy Award for "Bless the Beasts and Children".^[2]
• Won six Emmys.^[3]
• Received several other nominations.^[4]

Soundtracks

Note:this list is incomplete.

• R. P. M. (1970) (with Perry Botkin, Jr.)
• Bless the Beasts and Children (1971)
• Dillinger (1973)
• Hard Times (1975)
• S.W.A.T. (1975)
• Rolling Thunder (1977)
• The Ninth Configuration (1978)
• The Warriors (1979)
• Private Benjamin (1980)
• The Comeback Kid (1980)
• Xanadu (1980)
• Simon & Simon (1981)
• Looker (1981)
• Mr. Mom (1983)
• V: The Final Battle (1984)
• Mischief (1985)
• Stick (1985)
• Night of the Creeps (1986)
• The Exorcist III (1990)

References

External links

• Barry De Vorzon at Allmusic.com