Robert Stanley Crewe was an American songwriter, dancer, singer, manager, and record producer.
22 Facts About Bob Crewe
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Bob Crewe had hit recordings with the Rays, Diane Renay, Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, Freddy Cannon, Lesley Gore, Oliver, Michael Jackson, Bobby Darin, Roberta Flack, Peabo Bryson, Patti LaBelle, Barry Manilow, and his own Bob Crewe Generation.
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Bob Crewe studied for almost a year at Parsons School of Design in New York City with the intention of eventually pursuing a career in architecture.
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In 1953, Bob Crewe met and partnered professionally with Frank Slay Jr.
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Bob Crewe and Slay's 1957 recording session with the Rays for XYZ produced two major hit songs.
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Bob Crewe Dylan recorded "Silhouettes" during his legendary Basement Tapes sessions of the late 1960s, although his version was not released until 2014.
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Bob Crewe began to score his own hits, "Sweetie Pie" and "The Whiffenpoof Song".
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The record became a major hit in New York and led to Bob Crewe's receiving "teen heartthrob" coverage in such popular teen magazines as 16 Magazine, and to guest appearances with Mickey Rooney and Connie Francis on such TV variety shows as The Revlon Revue.
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In 1965, Bob Crewe formed his own record label, DynoVoice Records.
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Bob Crewe helped bring success to the Epic Records group the Tremeloes with their hit cover of "Silence Is Golden", a song originally written for and recorded by the Four Seasons.
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Bob Crewe himself released a version of Sid Ramin's 1967 instrumental "Music to Watch Girls By" on DynoVoice.
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In 1967, Bob Crewe produced and wrote seven of the songs sung by Lesley Gore on her last commercially successful album, California Nights, including producing the title track.
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The Bob Crewe Generation recorded the original soundtrack for the 1968 Paramount Pictures motion picture Barbarella, starring Jane Fonda and directed by Roger Vadim.
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In 1969, Bob Crewe collaborated with the singer Oliver, producing his pop hit "Jean", a song written by poet Rod McKuen which served as theme to the Oscar-winning film The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, starring Maggie Smith.
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Bob Crewe produced a hit single of Oliver performing the optimistic "Good Morning Starshine" from the rock musical Hair.
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In 1977, at the insistence of producer Jerry Wexler, who had been an early mentor of his, Bob Crewe recorded a solo album in Memphis, with Barry Beckett co-producing.
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In 1984, a collaboration by Crewe and writers Jerry Corbetta and Bob Gaudio produced another Billboard Top 100 success with the romantic duet "You're Looking Like Love To Me", sung by Roberta Flack and Peabo Bryson.
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In 1985, Bob Crewe was inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame.
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Bob Crewe used his proceeds from the show to start a foundation supporting gay rights, people with AIDS, and bringing music and art to children in deprived communities.
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From April 2014 until his death, Bob Crewe resided in a Scarborough, Maine, nursing home.
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Bob Crewe died in the nursing home on September 11,2014, at the age of 83.
22.
Bob Crewe had been in declining health for several years following a fall.