Thomas Jefferson Kaye
| Thomas Jefferson Kaye | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Thomas Jefferson Kontos |
| Also known as | Tommy Kontos Tommy Kaye |
| Born | 1940/42 North Dakota, United States |
| Died | 16 September 1994 (age 51/53) Warwick, New York, United States |
| Occupation(s) | Record producer, singer-songwriter |
| Years active | 1956–1992 |
| Labels | Scepter, ABC-Dunhill, RSO |
| Associated acts | Gene Clark, others |
Thomas Jefferson "Tommy" Kaye (born Thomas Jefferson Kontos, 1940? – 16 September 1994) was an American record producer, singer-songwriter and musician. Described as a "legendary hipster", he worked as a songwriter and producer with a wide variety of musicians including The Shirelles, Loudon Wainwright III, and Gene Clark, and also recorded solo albums.
He claimed to have been born in North Dakota in 1940, though some sources suggest a date around 1942. By 1956, when known as Tommy Kontos, he started a vocal group, The Blaretones, in New York City, before forming a new group, the Rock-Abouts, the following year. They changed their name to The Ideals in 1958, and recorded two singles for Decca Records. The group regularly backed singer Joey Dee, before he formed the Starliters.
Kontos then joined Scepter Records as an A&R man, reputedly at the age of 18, and changed his name to Kaye at the suggestion of company owner Florence Greenberg. During the 1960s, he wrote and produced material at Scepter and its subsidiary Wand Records for The Shirelles (for whom he co-wrote their 1966 single "Shades of Blue"), Judy Clay, Maxine Brown, Chuck Jackson, The Kingsmen, and others. He reportedly also worked with ? and the Mysterians during this period, though suggestions that he produced their hit "96 Tears" have been discounted by music historian Dave Marsh. Kaye co-wrote the song "One Man Band", which was recorded by Three Dog Night on their 1970 album Naturally and became a hit single. He also co-produced the album Capture the Moment by Jay and the Americans, with session musicians including Donald Fagen and Walter Becker, later of Steely Dan. In the late 1960s and early 1970s Kaye performed regularly in Greenwich Village with a band, White Cloud, who also appeared on many of his record productions. The band included fiddler Kenny Kosek, and released a self-titled album on the small Good Medicine label in 1972. About the same time, Kaye was commissioned by Columbia Records to produce the third album by Loudon Wainwright III. This produced the hit single "Dead Skunk", and raised Kaye's profile.
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