Introduction to Mickey Lee Lane
Mickey Lee Lane was an American singer and songwriter who began his music career by at the Brill Building as a songwriter. His material was classified as rock and roll and soul (particularly Northern Soul). Lane penned “My Little Woman” for Bill Haley, worked as a touring pianist for singer Neil Sedaka and was a sometime member of The Bell Notes. He was also a recording artist, releasing songs such as the Top 40 hit “Shaggy Dog” and “Hey Sah-Lo-Ney” which would later be covered by the British band The Action. In the late 60s up to the 90s Lane went on doing behind-the-scenes work as a record engineer . He died in 2011, aged 70.
Mickey Lee Lane and his interesting music career
Mickey Lee Lane was an American singer, songwriter and arranger, born Mickey Lee Schreiber in Rochester, New York on February 2, 1941. A teenage rock devotee, Lane entered the music business by becoming a songwriter at the Brill Building. He even did a single together with his own sister Shonnie, for Brunswick Records.
Lane went on to pursue his own music career. He was a member of the Bell Notes for a brief time, then he became Neil Sedaka’s touring pianist, and being a songwriter for a then-fading Bill Haley (Lane penned “My Little Woman” for Haley). Despite all these efforts it seems that Lane’s career was going nowhere. Still, Lane went on struggling until he managed to get a contract from Swan label, where he put out a few rock and roll and pop singles during the mid-1960s.
Mickey Lee Lane’s only hit with “Shaggy Dog”
One of those singles was “Shaggy Dog,” which eventually made a notch on the Top 40 Billboard pop charts in 1964, at #38. The single also reached the Top 40 of the Australian charts, at #36.
Other Mickey Lee Lane songs and later life and career
He might not score another hit again, but Lane created equally hip rock and roll and pop numbers such as “The Zoo,” “Hey Sah-Lo-Ney,” “The Senior Class,” “Little Girl (I Was Wrong). Lane demonstrated his deftness as well as eclectic and versatile style which echoed those of the several artists during his day: The Shangri-La’s, Jan and Dean, Gary Lewis, the Four Seasons, and many others.
Mickey Lee Lane returned to behind-the-scenes work in the music industry, mostly as a recording engineer from the late 1960s up to the 1990s. He was employed at New York’s Studio 76 as a recording engineer. Lane also rose to become a head engineer at Kama Sutra Records. He also would record and produce demos on his own through the rest of his life until he died on March 18, 2011. He was 70 years old.
A Mickey Lee Lane compilation and restrospective disc was released during the 1990s. It was titled Rockin On… And Beyond, which contained all his singles (that included of course “Shaggy Dog”) and previously unreleased tracks.
A list of Mickey Lee Lane songs:
- “Shaggy Dog” (only charting single)
- “Hey Sah-Lo-Ney”
- “OO-OO”
- “Of Yesterday”
- “The Zoo”
- “(They’re All In) The Senior Class”
- “Little Girl (I Was Wrong)”
- (That’s How You’ll Know) When You’re in Love”
- “She Don’t Want To”
- “The Only Thing to Do (Is Say Goodbye)”
- “Rock the Bop!”
- “Don’t Drop Out”
- “Sour Biscuits”
- “Your Mind”
(This may be an impartial list)