- [in 2001, on longtime songwriting partner Kal Mann] He was a very talented writer. He had his finger on the pulse of what was going on in those days. Very simple lyrics, about romancing and dancing . . . And the teenagers dug it at the time . . . a very prolific, imaginative guy . . . He was very, very commercial in his treatment of music. Though he was much older than the audience he was writing for, he was very contemporary.
- [in 2003, about the secret of his songwriting success] Take a song that had come off copyright and re-work it. "Ida" became "Wild One" for Bobby Rydell. "South Street"? That's the old 'Stephen Foster (iiI)' (QV) classic "Camptown Races". I always liked that tune.
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