| Hamlisch was born a musical genius. At the age of 7 he auditioned for Julliard School Of Music. He was accepted, becoming the youngest student in Juilliard's history. While working as a music counselor at an upstate New York summer camp he wrote songs for their shows, one of the songs "Travelin' Man," was recorded by Liza Minnelli on her debut album. However, Hamlisch's first hit came when he was 21 years old, from Lesley Gore, in the form of "Sunshine, Lollipops, and Rainbows," which rode the Billboard charts for 11 weeks in 1965, peaking at number 13. The next decade saw Marvin gain a reputation in both the stage and movie worlds through his writing and arranging. In 1973, Hamlisch was engaged to score "The Way We Were," a high-profile romantic drama starring Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford. Streisand initially balked at using Hamlisch's title song (authored with lyricists Marilyn and Alan Bergman); it became one of the singer's biggest chart hits, her first million-selling single, and one of her most recognizable songs. Not only did the song win the Oscar, but so did Hamlisch's entire score. Hamlisch pulled off an even more prodigious feat the next year with his score for "The Sting." "The Entertainer" became a top 40 hit for Marvin and renewed interest in the music of Scott Joplin. Hamlisch also won his second Oscar for "The Sting." Hamlisch scored perhaps the biggest hit of his career with"A Chorus Line," his very first attempt at writing a Broadway musical, co-authored with lyricist Edward Kleban. Opening on Broadway in May of 1975, it became the most successful musical of the decade, winning multiple awards in the bargain and running well into the 1990's. One of the score's songs, "What I Did for Love," has been recorded hundreds of times by artists including Johnny Mathis, Kenny Rogers, Jim Nabors, and the Three Degrees. Hamlisch chose that point in his career to try and revive his performing career with a cabaret act that played well throughout the country and as a pianist in appearances with some of the country's major orchestras. Unfortunately he also chose to record disco at this point. The 12" single of "Bond '77/The James Bond Theme" will go down in history as his biggest misstep. Needless to say it never made it on any turntables at any clubs that I know of. Wisely he made his way back to what he knows best, soundtrack work. The early 1980's saw Hamlisch writing the music to the Neil Simon comedies, "Chapter Two," "Seems Like Old Times," and "I Ought to Be in Pictures," and the score for the dramatic period musical film "Pennies From Heaven." Hamlisch has been somewhat less-visible as a composer in terms of new work since the early 1980's, but has been a producer and arranger for recordings by John Williams and the Boston Pops Orchestra, Liza Minnelli, and Barbra Streisand since then. |
