Red Bird · Public domain

Wrote or co-wrote a run of 1960s girl-group and pop staples — Da Doo Ron Ron, Be My Baby, and Chapel of Love among them, mostly with then-wife Ellie Greenwich and producer Phil Spector — before co-writing Leader of the Pack and the bubblegum hit Sugar, Sugar for the Archies. His songs became some of the most covered hooks of the era, and he later wrote Olivia Newton-John's I Honestly Love You.