b. 23 October 1940, Brooklyn, New York, USA. Greenwich's singing career began in 1958 with "Cha-Cha-Charming", released under the name Ellie Gaye. Two years later she met budding songwriter Jeff Barry and, following a release as Ellie Gee And The Jets, the couple formed the Raindrops in 1963. The group enjoyed a US Top 20 hit with "The Kind Of Boy You Can't Forget", but increased demand on the now-married duo's compositional skills led to the band's demise. Having abandoned respective partnerships with Toni Powers and Art Resnick, Greenwich and Barry enjoyed a sustained period of success with a series of notable compositions, including "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" (the Exciters/Manfred Mann), "I Wanna Love Him So Bad" (the Jelly Beans) and "Hanky Panky" (Tommy James And The Shondells). Collaborations with Phil Spector generated hits for the Crystals ("Da Doo Ron Ron" and "Then He Kissed Me"), the Ronettes ("Be My Baby" and "Baby, I Love You") and Ike And Tina Turner ("River Deep - Mountain High") while work with Shadow Morton reaped commercial success for the Shangri-Las, notably "Leader Of The Pack". Ellie also rekindled her solo career with "You Don't Know", but her divorce from Barry in 1965 put an intolerable strain on their working relationship. Together they produced Neil Diamond's early recordings, but in 1967 she severed their partnership and made an exclusive songwriting deal with Unart Music.

Listen to Ellie Greenwich at Finetune.

• You Don't Know

• The Toys
• THE HONEYS
• Raindrops
• The Murmaids
• The Paris Sisters
• Robin Ward
• The Caravelles
• Christopher Cross
• Petula Clark
• Kyu Sakamoto
• George Fame & The Blue Flames
• Gilbert O'Sullivan
• The Mindbenders
• Wayne Fontana
• Linda Scott
• The Seekers
• Sue Thompson
• Diane Renay
• Harpers Bizarre
• Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich