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Tom Shapiro
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Tom Shapiro's songwriting career is unparalleled in the history of Music Row. The statistics speak for themselves: Music Row magazine's Top Country Songwriter in 1995; CMA Trip Play award winner in 1995 and 1997: BMI Country Songwriter of the Year three times in a five year period ('93, '96, '97), and, amazingly, a fourth time in 2002; NSAI’s first ever Songwriter of the Decade for the 90's; an incredible 23 #1 songs: and 52 Top Ten charted singles. In short, Tom Shapiro has mastered the art of the country song.
Born and raised in Kansas City, Tom was into movie music and was playing the piano by the time he was ten years old. After his senior year in high school Tom spent the summer at a French university, and his dorm met an Oklahoman who played his guitar a lot when he wasn't studying French. When his newfound friend explained that he was writing songs, Tom began to write with him. "That was my first real entry into the world of songwriting," he says.
Like many successful songwriters, his musical influences come from many places. Tom spent a year at Whittier College in California then moved to Boston University, where he majored in music and minored in English, a sure sign that he had songwriting in mind as a future vocation. He also spent a brief time teaching at the Berklee School of Music. In 1973 he helped found a school of contemporary music, but he wanted to write, not teach, so a year later he sold his share of the school and moved to L.A. There he made do with a variety of jobs, notably one at a dental lab in the San Fernando Valley where he ran teeth to dentists in the L.A. area.
Tom's first major publishing deal, with a company called Heath-Levy Music, yielded several pop cuts, including "You Come First At Last" by L.T. D and major cuts by Sister Sledge and Smokey Robinson. Country didn't cross his mind until he met Michael Garvin, who introduced him to the world of country songwriting. "We wrote about twenty songs," Tom recalls, "most as an exercise, but we did get five of them recorded, including one on George Strait’s first album."
The songwriting grind began to wear Tom down so he quit for a while and took a job working in a large East L.A. music store. During his hiatus, George Benson cut a song called "Never Give Up On A Good Thing" which became an international smash. "Monday I got word that the song had been cut over the weekend," he says. "Tuesday I quit my job. Wednesday I packed my clothes, and Thursday I headed for Nashville because I was tired of L.A. and I knew I could get an advance on the Benson cut to keep my going in Nashville for a while."
In Nashville he signed with Tree International and before long was having hits with artists like Crystal Gayle, Eddie Raven, Lee Greenwood and Marie Osmond. Over the next few years with Tree, Terrace Music, and then Great Cumberland Music Group, he had a flood of number 1 hits, including "Your Heart's Not In It," recorded by Janie Fricke, Tanya Tucker's "Highway Robbery," and Lorrie Morgan's "Watch Me."
Things got even hotter for Tom Shapiro in the last decade when he got involved in producing. He co-produced and co-wrote Billy Dean's string of smashes, including "Only The Wind," "You Don't Count The Cost," and the #1, "If There Hadn't Been You." His expertise in the studio led to multi-genre production projects including the legendary Dusty Springfield.
Many of Shapiro's hits are no airplay standards and have led to multi-platinum careers for the artists. These include Kathy Mattea’s "Walking Away A Winner," Neal McCoy’s #1 "Wink," Randy Travis's "This Is Me," the Trisha Yearwood #1 "Thinkin' Bout You," the Collin Raye smash, "Somebody Else's Moon", the Terri Clark #1 "Better Things To Do," and the Tim McGraw #1 "She Never Lets It Go To Her Heart." In 1996, Tom wrote two songs with legendary performer Neil Diamond for his platinum country album, Tennessee Moon.
In 1998 Tom returned to Sony/ATV Tree Publishing and had the honor of placing "I Will Be There For You" on the award-winning Prince of Egypt soundtrack that was also a single by newcomer Jessica Andrews. In 1999, he enjoyed three consecutive #1’s with Clay Walker's "You're Beginning To Get To Me," Terri Clark's "You're Easy On The Eyes," and Sara Evans' "No Place That Far." Tom began the millennium with another major accomplishment with NSAI named him the first ever 'Songwriter of the Decade' for the 90's. Tom had four top twenty singles in 2001, including Billboard Magazine's and ASCAP's Top Country Song of The Year, the 6-Week #1 by Brooks and Dunn, "Ain’t Nothing Bout You."
Tom began 2002 with two consecutive top-ten singles – Joe Diffie's "In Another World," and Tracy Byrd's "Just Let Me Be In Love," and finished the year with two more #1 singles (Darryl Worley's "I Miss My Friend" and George Strait’s "Living And Living Well") and a top-five success with Sara Evans' "I Keep Looking." He also gained a cover by pop sensation Jennifer Lopez, and cuts with Clay Walker, Trace Adkins, Gary Allan, and Tracy Byrd. Tom continued his success in 2003 with songs recorded by Mark Wills, Rebecca Lynn Howard, Montgomery Gentry and Lonestar.
In 2004, Tom Shapiro celebrated the milestone achievement of 50 Top Ten charted singles. He continued his dominance of the Country singles chart with two consecutive top-five singles ("Hot Mama" and "Perfect"), as well as his 22nd #1 with "If You Ever Stop Loving Me" by Montgomery Gentry. If you want to locate Tom Shapiro, it's a safe bet that you can find him at anytime and anywhere on the Country charts.
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