RITCHIE ADAMS - Sänger & Songschreiber

1962

August 1960

Richard Adam Ziegler (December 15, 1938 – March 6, 2017), known professionally as Ritchie Adams, was an American singer and songwriter.

Born in New York City, by 1959 he joined The Fireflies, and sang lead vocals on their hit record "You Were Mine", as well as on their follow-ups including "I Can't Say Goodbye". After the Fireflies, Adams cut solo singles on Beltone, Congress, Imperial, and other labels. He also wrote many of them, something he didn't do with the Fireflies, but never charted with any significant impact. He made up for it, however, with his songwriting. Adams has written nearly 375 songs and scored two mammoth hits, "Tossin' and Turnin'," a hit in the US in 1961 for Bobby Lewis; and "Happy Summer Days", recorded by Ronnie Dove in 1966.

In the late 1960s he co-wrote songs with Mark Barkan, including several on The Archies' debut album, and also sang lead on "Love Is Living in You," the only Archies single that doesn't feature Ron Dante. He and Barkan are also credited with writing "The Tra La La Song (One Banana, Two Banana)", a hit for the Banana Splits in 1969 and later in the UK by The Dickies. Adams was a music director on the Banana Splits TV show, and also contributed to songs including "Goin' Back" from the band Toomorrow's soundtrack to the 1970 film of the same name, starring Olivia Newton-John. Later some of his tracks were used in episodes of The Simpsons.

In 1976, Adams joined such veterans as Bobby Rydell as part of the P.I.P. label roster, releasing the wonderful self penned Mamacita single for the label that year. Also in the 1970s, he co-wrote songs with Alan Bernstein for Engelbert Humperdinck, including "After the Lovin'" (1976) and "This Moment in Time" (1978), as well as Al Martino's "The Next Hundred Years" (1977).

After leaving the music business Ritchie went to work for a local Board of Education on Long Island as a computer purchaser. Adams died in 2017, aged 78, after a long illness.

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