- John Wallowitch
John Wallowitch (
February 11 ,1926 –August 15 ,2007 ) was an Americansongwriter and cabaret performer. He wrote over 2,000 songs; his works include "Bruce", "I See the World Through Your Eyes ", "Back on the Town " and "Mary's Bar ". For over 50 years he played and sang a catalogue of original songs at nightspots around New York City. He is also known for his sophisticated takes on the songs ofIrving Berlin .Biography
Wallowitch was born in the Methodist Hospital in South
Philadelphia . He attended Edgar Allan Poe Elementary School, Vare Junior High School, Central High School andTemple University in Philadelphia. Wallowitch spent his youth in a desolate neighborhood inSouth Philadelphia , dreaming about moving toNew York . He finally arrived there in his late teens to study classical piano atJuilliard . In order to survive, he played rehearsal piano for shows, among them Leonard Sillman's "New Faces of '52", and began to play at the Duplex, aGreenwich Village saloon.His first professional appearance was on the Lithuanian Furniture Company Radio Hour (Station WHAT) on which he rendered
Irving Berlin 's "So Help Me."Wrote
Stephen Holden in "The New York Times ": "WhileNoel Coward is no longer around to set the standards for a certain kind of sophisticated songwriting sensibility, Mr. Wallowitch nimbly carries the torch." He displays his predilection for Coward-like wit and satire on such songs as "Cosmetic Surgery", in which he sums up the surgical predilections of friends who are "getting younger than ever" with such dexterity.:"In a matter of weeks:With the modern techniques:For improving physiques:They have altered their beaks:And they've lifted their cheeks:And now everyone speaks:In society's cliques:Of the changes that science has wrought:Of the changes that money has bought!"
He often wrote about growing up in Philadelphia, and of life with his family. "I See the World Through Your Eyes" is a remembrance of Wallowitch's late brother, photographer
Edward Wallowitch (associated withAndy Warhol ). "Manhattan, You're A Dream" pays tribute to Wallowitch's mother.During the 1960s he met three women who would become his greatest champions: singer-pianist
Blossom Dearie of which Wallowitch's song "Bruce" is a favorite standard;Dixie Carter of "Designing Women " who recorded a collection of Wallowitch songs in 1984; and Joanne Beretta. Wallowitch's compositions have also been recorded byShirley Horn ,Tony Bennett , Berri Blair, John Dubois, Marlene VerPlanck, Lynn Lobban, and many others.Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Wallowitch was part of a popular cabaret act with his longtime partner,
Bertram Ross . Wallowitch and Ross sang in nightspots ranging from London's Pizza on the Park to the Ballroom in New York City. A CD of their performance cabaret, “Wallowitch and Ross” (Miranda Music) was released in 2003 to accompany the documentary film of the couple, "Wallowitch & Ross: This Moment."As a solo cabaret entertainer, Wallowitch performed throughout the world and was famous for his long-running hit revue, "The World of Wallowitch". He was the recipient of both the MAC and Bistro Awards for Composer of the Year.
Wallowitch performed and recorded the song "Hillary Oh Hillary," for
Hillary Clinton during her run for U.S. Senate. Henry and Bobbie Shaffner, veteran members of ASCAP, wrote the lyrics and set them to the tune of the oldGroucho Marx song, "Lydia, the Tattooed Lady". Wallowitch and the Shaffners were inspired to write it after Clinton's six-hour long visit to Wallowitch's New York studio, where he performed for the former first lady. Later, he translated the Shaffner's lyrics toYiddish , to create a version called "Hillary, Oy! Hillary!"
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
