Colgems Songwriters: Gerry Goffin and Carole King

The Brill Building produced some excellent songwriters in the pre-Beatle era, but the duo of Gerry Goffin and Carole King were able to carry over their successes through the Beatles era and beyond.

The writers of the song "The Locomotion" and many other big hits in the early 1960s hooked up with The Monkees project early on, and produced a number of remarkable tunes for the Pre-Fab Four during the 1966-1970 era.

"Take a Giant Step," "Pleasant Valley Sunday," and "The Porpoise Song" are just a few of these tunes, but there were many others. They helped define The Monkees sound, and along with Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, were the engine that enabled The Monkees project to get off the ground and prosper.

The married Goffin and King had actually recorded themselves way before The Monkees project, but King has gone on record as saying the success they had with this project gave her the confidence to go out on her own as a performer. Goffin has also recorded solo, but he never matched the success of King. The two divorced in the early 1970s.