Harvey Rachlin

Harvey Rachlin is the author of 13 books including “The Songwriter’s Handbook” and “The Encyclopedia of the Music Business.” The latter title won the ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award for excellence in music journalism, was named Outstanding Music Reference Book of the Year by the American Library Association, and was recommended by composer Henry Mancini on the 1984 internationally-televised Grammy Awards. His music books have been praised by Elton John, Aaron Copland, Johnny Mathis, Pat Boone, and the Academy Award-winning songwriters Burt Bacharach, Sammy Cahn, Marvin Hamlisch, Henry Mancini, Richard Rodgers, and Jule Styne.  Another of Prof. Rachlin’s books, “Lucy’s Bones, Sacred Stones, and Einstein’s Brain,” was adapted for the long-running smash-hit History Channel series “History’s Lost and Found.” Prof. Rachlin has written more than 200 newspaper and magazine articles, with publication credits such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The London Times, The Jerusalem Post, Law and Order, Publishers Weekly, The Writer, School Band and Orchestra, JazzEd, and Westchester Magazine. He has published interviews with the composers of numerous perennially popular Broadway shows and songs such as Stephen Schwartz (“Wicked,” “Pippin,” “Godspell”), Charles Strouse (“Annie,” “Bye, Bye Birdie”), Johnny Marks (“Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”), Larry Weiss (“Rhinestone Cowboy”), Sandy Linzer (“Let’ Hang On!”), Ron Miller (“For Once In My Life”), and Chip Taylor (“Wild Thing”). Prof. Rachlin’s books have been optioned for motion pictures, been published in several foreign languages, been reviewed in dozens of major American newspapers as well as publications around the world, and have been selections of numerous major book clubs. He has appeared on hundreds of radio and television shows including “The Late Late Show” (CBS) and the “Dinah Shore Show” (syndicated), and one of his books was featured on “Good Morning America.”  Other luminaries who have praised his books include President Gerald Ford, actresses Barbara Eden and Estelle Getty, author Nicholas Pileggi, movie producer Samuel Z. Arkoff, "French Connection" detective Sonny Grosso, and Special Assistant to President John F. Kennedy, Dave Powers. He has worked in music publishing and personal management, taught music business at Five Towns College, and is a member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors. His Manhattanville music business majors have interned at numerous major and boutique entertainment companies including Sony Music, Warner Music Group, Universal Music Group, Interscope Records, Island Def Jam, RCA Records, ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, Harry Fox Agency, Nickelodeon, iHeart Media (formerly Clear Channel), Joe D’Ambrosio Management, Judith Finell Music Services, Billboard magazine, and MTV.

Prof. Rachlin’s latest book, Song and System: The Making of American Pop Music, was published in 2020 by Rowman & Littlefield. This book weaves “a history of the evolution of pop music in tandem with the music business.” Publishers Weekly wrote “[Song and System] expertly lays out the history of pop music…Rachlin’s information and highly detailed narrative will resonate with music geeks and industry folks alike.” The Booklist review included “Opening with Tin Pan Alley and counting through years of rock and roll, disco, hip hop, rap, and many other genres and subgenres, [Rachlin] explores the often symbiotic relationship between music and its purveyors. . . . sure to be a hit with readers interested in music or pop culture. And Choice magazine said “Opening with Tin Pan Alley and counting through years of rock and roll, disco, hip hop, rap, and many other genres and subgenres, [Rachlin] explores the often symbiotic relationship between music and its purveyors. . . .sure to be a hit with readers interested in music or pop culture.” Song and System is praised on its back cover by such music luminaries as Tony Orlando, Bobby Rydell, hit songwriter Sandy Linzer, Dutch Robinson (lead singer of the Ohio Players), and Janis Ian.