Mark Barkan is a songwriter

Songwriter

A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...

 and producer

Record producer

A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...

. He was also a musical director

Music director

A music director may be the director of an orchestra, the director of music for a film, the director of music at a radio station, the head of the music department in a school, the co-ordinator of the musical ensembles in a university or college , the head bandmaster of a military band, the head...

 for the television show The Banana Splits Adventure Hour. This prolific songwriter has written numerous songs including Lesley Gore

Lesley Gore

Lesley Gore is an American singer. She is perhaps best known for her 1963 pop hit "It's My Party", which she recorded at the age of 16. Following the hit, she became one of the most recognized teen pop singers of the 1960s.- Biography :Gore was born in New York City, New York. She was raised in...

's Top 5 hit "She's a Fool

She's a Fool

"She's a Fool" is a song written by Mark Barkan and Ben Raleigh that was originally recorded by Lesley Gore in 1963. The song appeared as a single and on the album Lesley Gore Sings of Mixed-Up Hearts. The song was produced by Quincy Jones. The single reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #26...

," the often covered "Pretty Flamingo

Pretty Flamingo

"Pretty Flamingo" is a song written by Mark Barkan, which became a hit in 1966 when Manfred Mann's recording of it was released as a single. The single reached number one in the UK singles chart on 5 May 1966....

," which was a hit single for Manfred Mann

Manfred Mann

Manfred Mann was a British beat, rhythm and blues and pop band of the 1960s, named after their South African keyboardist, Manfred Mann, who later led the successful 1970s group Manfred Mann's Earth Band...

 in 1966; "I'm Gonna Be Warm This Winter

I'm Gonna Be Warm This Winter

"I'm Gonna Be Warm This Winter" is a 1962 single by Connie Francis, released in that December to peak at #18 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the Cash Box Top 100...

," which was a hit for Connie Francis

Connie Francis

Connie Francis is an American pop singer of Italian heritage and the top-charting female vocalist of the 1950s and 1960s. Although her chart success waned in the second half of the 1960s, Francis remained a top concert draw...

 in 1963; and "The Tra La La Song (One Banana, Two Banana)

The Tra La La Song (One Banana, Two Banana)

"The Tra La La Song " was written by Mark Barkan and Ritchie Adams to be the theme song for the children’s television program The Banana Splits Adventure Hour....

," which entered the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 chart in 1969.

Barkan also wrote songs for many other artists and was involved in "cult" bands as well. He and Ritchie Adams co-wrote songs for The Archies

The Archies

The Archies are a garage band founded by Archie Andrews, Reggie Mantle, and Jughead Jones, a group of adolescent fictional characters of the Archie universe, in the context of the animated TV series, The Archie Show...

, The Monkees

The Monkees

The Monkees are an American pop rock group. Assembled in Los Angeles in 1966 by Robert "Bob" Rafelson and Bert Schneider for the American television series The Monkees, which aired from 1966 to 1968, the musical acting quartet was composed of Americans Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork,...

, and for many other recording artists in the late 60's. The team of Barkan and Adams was instrumental on the Banana Splits project, and they also wrote and produced all the songs for Toomorrow

Toomorrow (film)

Toomorrow is a 1970 British musical film starring Olivia Newton-John, and directed by Val Guest.-Synopsis:A group of students pay their way through school by forming a pop band called Toomorrow; sonic vibrations from a special instrument called a "tonaliser" cause an extraterrestrial to abduct the...

, an obscure 1970 musical

Musical film

The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...

 sci-fi

Science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 thriller, produced by Don Kirshner

Don Kirshner

Don Kirshner , known as "The Man With the Golden Ear", was an American song publisher and rock producer who is best known for managing songwriting talent as well as successful pop groups, such as The Monkees, Kansas and The Archies.-Early life:Don Kirshner was born to Gilbert Kirshner, a tailor,...

, which starred Olivia Newton-John

Olivia Newton-John

Olivia Newton-John AO, OBE is a singer and actress. She is a four-time Grammy award winner who has amassed five No. 1 and ten other Top Ten Billboard Hot 100 singles and two No. 1 Billboard 200 solo albums. Eleven of her singles and 14 of her albums have been certified gold by the RIAA...

as a band member.

External links

• http://community-2.webtv.net/pLuMcRaZy4rOn/jeffbarry/page5.html
• http://movies.nytimes.com/person/169990/Mark-Barkan
• http://lyricsplayground.com/alpha/songs/p/prettyflamingo.shtml
• http://www.secondhandsongs.com/artist/4996
• http://www.guntheranderson.com/v/data/bananasp.htm