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Irving Gordon

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Songwriter

The Resume

    (February 14, 1915-December 1, 1996)
    Born in Brooklyn, New York
    Birth name was Israel Goldener
    Best known for writing the Nat ‘King’ Cole hit ‘Unforgettable’ (1951)
    Also wrote ‘Allentown Jail,’ ‘Be Anything, But Darling Be Mine,’ ‘Me, Myself and I’ and ‘Prelude to a Kiss’

Why he might be annoying:

    He wrote the pun-filled song ‘Delaware.’ (‘What did Delaware? Her New Jersey’)
    He originally called his big song ‘Uncomparable’ until the publishers suggested ‘Unforgettable.’
    He admitted he did not think much of ‘Unforgettable’ until Cole had a hit with it.
    He said rock music contained ‘maladies, not melodies.’
    ’Unforgettable’ won the Grammy for Song of the Year a whopping forty years after it was originally written and recorded.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He began writing songs in his teens while working in hotels on the Catskills Mountains borscht belt circuit.
    He collaborated with Duke Ellington.
    After rock music dominated the pop charts, he became a tennis pro.
    After a decade of songs from the 70s winning various Song of the Year awards during the 80s (including ‘Always on My Mind’ as Song of the Year for 1983, ‘City of New Orleans’ as Country Song of the Year for 1986 and ‘Lean on Me’ as R&B Song of the Year for 1988), Unforgettable’s four decade gap was finally enough to convince NARAS to adopt rules to prevent old hits from competing with new songs.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 5 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 17 Votes: 52.94% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying