The Top 10 Gerry Goffin Songs [Video]

This lyrics to this song about the blandness of surburbia are still pretty relevant today.

This silly dance song went Top 5 in three successive decades for three different artists in three different genres. Little Eva's R-and-B version went up the charts in 1962, Grand Funk went to number one with a rock version in 1974, and Kylie Minogue's dance version rocketed up the charts in 1988.
According to Wikipedia, "As the song came before the dance, there was no dance when the song was originally written. When the song became a smash hit, Eva Boyd ended up having to create a dance to go along with the song."

This may be the most recorded Goffin/King song ever, with over 40 versions out there, with artists as varied as U2, Smokey Robinson, Linda Ronstadt, Bryan Ferry, and Amy Winehouse taking a crack at it. Here's the original 1960 version by The Shirelles.

This ode to seeking romantic solace from the cacophony of urban life is deceptively beautiful. Rolling Stone magazine once wrote of the song, "From the internal rhyme of 'stairs' and 'cares' to the image of ascending from the street to the stars by way of an apartment staircase, it's first-rate, sophisticated writing."

I still consider the jangly piano intro to this song to be one of the great intros in pop music. The song is included on the soundtracks of 11 movies, and an episode of the Simpsons.

If you graduated from high school in the late '70s or early '80s, chances are pretty good this was voted your class song, for its lyrics of youthful wonder of what the future has to hold. Mariah Carey and Jennifer Lopez are among the many who have covered this classic.

Originally written for Billy Davis Jr. and Marilyn McCoo in 1978, it was Whitney Houston who mad this song her own, taking it to the top of the charts a decade later.

The psychedelic era of late '60s rock wasn't a genre that Goffin and King dabbled in, but artists like the Animals appreciated their writing enough to record their music in that style. Tom Petty also recorded a version of this song.

Originally written for R-and-B artist Earl-Jean in 1964, this song went nowhere until Peter Noone of the Hermits discovered and whipped it into a breezy pop song that typified the "British Invasion" era of '60s AM Radio. I love the simplicity of it.

A song that transcends time and place, this song is still a top choice among young women in modern singing competitions like American Idol and The Voice, for its lyrics reaffirming a strong, feminine ideal. The song has been recorded by countless artists from Mary J. Blige to Demi Lovato, but Aretha Franklin's 1967 take is still the gold standard, and is best known for its inclusion in the famous soundtrack to the movie, "The Big Chill."