Richard Gottehrer on Hit Songwriting, Producing Blondie and the Go-Go’s, and 25 Years of the Orchard
Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor There’s a good chance that you’ve never heard the name Richard Gottehrer — but there’s an equally good chance that if you’re even a casual music fan, you know something, or several things, he’s done very well. As a songwriter in the early ‘60s, he co-wrote such hits as “I Want Candy,” “My Boyfriend’s Back” and “Sorrow.” As a producer, he helmed classic albums by Blondie, the Go-Go’s, Richard Hell, Joan Armatrading, the Raveonettes and the Dum Dum Girls among many others. As an artist, he formed a short-lived group called the Strangeloves with songwriting/producing partners Jerry Goldstein and Bob Feldman that nonetheless racked up several hit singles (including the original “I Want Candy”). As an executive, he co-founded Sire Records with Seymour Stein in 1966, and 30 years later, he co-founded the Orchard with Scott Cohen. Now owned by Sony Music, that company is one of the world’s largest distributors of independent music.