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What is the best songwriting duo in music history?

By YPB Team

Brill Building professionals, band-mate partnerships and lyricist-composer pairs who never wrote in the same room. Which pen wins?

  1. Lennon-McCartney — ranked #11
    Lennon-McCartney
    The Beatles partnership that wrote the bulk of the band's catalogue and holds the record for most number-one hits by a songwriting team.
    1000pts
  2. Burt Bacharach and Hal David — ranked #22
    Burt Bacharach and Hal David
    Pop-orchestral duo behind Walk On By and Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head.
    724pts
  3. Jagger-Richards — ranked #33
    Jagger-Richards
    The Rolling Stones' writing core since 1963, credited on everything from Satisfaction to Gimme Shelter.
    689pts
  4. Steven Tyler and Joe Perry — ranked #44
    Steven Tyler and Joe Perry
    Aerosmith's Toxic Twins, credited together on Sweet Emotion, Walk This Way and Draw the Line.
    596pts
  5. Walter Becker and Donald Fagen — ranked #55
    Walter Becker and Donald Fagen
    Steely Dan's writing pair, who put jazz harmony and unreliable narrators into the pop charts.
    517pts
  6. Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus — ranked #66
    Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus
    The two men who wrote ABBA, then wrote Chess and Mamma Mia on top of it.
    517pts
  7. Rodgers and Hammerstein — ranked #77
    Rodgers and Hammerstein
    Broadway team behind Oklahoma!, Carousel and The Sound of Music.
    423pts
  8. Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil — ranked #88
    Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil
    Brill Building husband-and-wife team behind You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' and On Broadway.
    423pts
  9. Joe Strummer and Mick Jones — ranked #99
    Joe Strummer and Mick Jones
    The Clash's writing axis, from White Riot through London Calling.
    423pts
  10. Morrissey and Johnny Marr — ranked #1010
    Morrissey and Johnny Marr
    The Smiths' lyricist and guitarist, whose four-album run defined British indie songwriting.
    423pts
  11. Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson — ranked #1111
    Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson
    Motown writers responsible for Ain't No Mountain High Enough and Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing.
    310pts
  12. Elton John and Bernie Taupin — ranked #1212
    Elton John and Bernie Taupin
    Taupin writes the lyrics, John writes the music, and the two have worked that way since 1967 without ever writing in the same room.
    310pts
  13. Gerry Goffin and Carole King — ranked #1313
    Gerry Goffin and Carole King
    Brill Building couple behind Will You Love Me Tomorrow and The Loco-Motion, with more than 120 Hot 100 entries.
    310pts
  14. Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller — ranked #1414
    Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller
    Wrote Hound Dog, Jailhouse Rock and Stand By Me, effectively inventing the rock-and-roll songwriting team.
    0pts

#pop218#music827#rock204#songwriters1

Comments

Jagger–Richards exists because Lennon and McCartney handed them a song and Andrew Loog Oldham decided it would not happen twice: https://youpick.best/articles/beatles-vs-rolling-stones-ranked

YP
ypb-team·Aug 21·
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