Paul Vance

Paul Vance (born November 4, 1929 in Brooklyn, New York, United States) is an American songwriter and record producer.

With over 300 recorded songs, Vance co-wrote (with Lee Pockriss) such hits as "Catch a Falling Star," recorded in 1957 by Perry Como, which topped Billboard's "Most Played By Jockeys" chart and became one of Como's signature songs, and "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini," recorded in 1960 by Brian Hyland, which rose to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Vance got the idea for "Itsy Bitsy Bikini" because his daughter was too shy to wear a bikini in public. The song was a Top 10 hit in other countries around the world. Vance and Pockriss also provided English lyrics for the song "Calcutta". "What Will Mary Say", a Top 10 hit for the singer Johnny Mathis in 1963, was written by Vance with Eddie Snyder.

In 1964, Vance and Pockriss wrote a song entitled "Leader Of The Laundromat," a spoof of the then-popular "Leader of the Pack" by the Shangri-Las, and Vance produced a recording of the track by a trio consisting of Ron Dante, Tommy Wynn, and Vance's nephew Danny Jordan. The record was released under the name the Detergents, and its success led to an album called The Many Faces Of The Detergents, which Vance produced and for which he, along with Pockriss, penned all the songs. The release of "Leader of the Laundromat" earned a lawsuit against the group by "Leader Of The Pack" composers Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, and George "Shadow" Morton. Dante would later work alongside Barry as lead vocalist for the Archies.

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