Joey Levine
Joey Levine (born May 29, 1947, New York City)[1] is an American singer,[2] songwriter and record producer of pop music, who has been active since 1966.
Joey Levine | |
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Joey Levine in concert on May 17, 2008. | |
Background information | |
Born | New York City, New York, United States | May 29, 1947
Genres | Pop, bubblegum pop, psychedelic pop, psychedelic rock |
Occupation(s) | Record producer, songwriter, musician |
Years active | 1966–present |
Associated acts | The Ohio Express, The Third Rail, Kasenetz-Katz Singing Orchestral Circus, Reunion |
Career
He sang lead vocals on several Top 40 singles including "Run Run Run" by The Third Rail (1966), "Yummy Yummy Yummy" (co-written with Artie Resnick), and three others by The Ohio Express (1968–1969), "Quick Joey Small" by Kasenetz-Katz Singing Orchestral Circus (1968), and the record that best showcased his rapid speech delivery, "Life Is a Rock (But the Radio Rolled Me)" by Reunion (1974). He specialized in bubblegum pop.[3]
Levine produced records for Super K Productions, run by Jerry Kasenetz and Jeffry Katz, who released many singles in the late 1960s by The Ohio Express, The 1910 Fruitgum Company, and The Music Explosion. Levine sang lead for various groups of studio musicians, whose songs were released under the name of actual groups of musicians, or sometimes the groups did not exist at all outside the studio.
Starting in the early 1970s, Levine began working on jingles for television commercials, as well as singing on them, with one of his most well-remembered jingles being "Sometimes You Feel Like A Nut" for Mounds and Almond Joy chocolate bars.
Levine founded Crushing Enterprises in New York City in 1969, and continues to write music for commercials and television. Popular campaigns from the past include: “Pepsi – The Joy of Cola", "Gentlemen Prefer Hanes", "Just For the Taste of It – Diet Coke", "Orange you smart, (for drinking Orange Juice)", "Come See the Softer Side of Sears", "Heartbeat of America – Chevrolet", "Dr Pepper – You Make the World Taste Better", "You Asked For It, You Got It, Toyota," "Who's that Kid With the Oreo Cookie," and "This Bud's For You" for Anheuser-Busch. Most recently he wrote the current Budweiser anthem, "This Is Budweiser, This Is Beer." In addition, Levine has also contributed songs, some of them with his 1960's bubblegum pop sound, to the PBS series Dragon Tales.[4]
References
- Benarde, Scott R. (2003). Stars of David: Rock'n'Roll's Jewish stories (1. printing. ed.). Waltham: Brandeis. p. 145. ISBN 978-1-58465-303-5. Retrieved September 11, 2011.
- Mann, Brent (2003). 99 red balloons – : and 100 other all-time great one-hit wonders (1. printing. ed.). New York: Citadel Press. p. 179. ISBN 978-0-8065-2516-7. Retrieved February 1, 2011.
- "Joey Levine induction". Bubblegum University. Archived from the original on January 3, 2011. Retrieved December 28, 2010.
- "Joey Levine". Archived from the original on April 30, 2011. Retrieved December 28, 2010.