Career
In Harlem, Shuman became a fan of rhythm and blues music in the clubs, and after meeting Doc Pomus, the two men teamed up to compose for Aldon Music at offices in New York City's Brill Building. Their songwriting collaboration saw Pomus write the lyrics and Shuman the melody, though each occasionally worked on both. Their compositions would be recorded by artists such as Dion, the Flamingos, Andy Williams, Bobby Darin, Fabian, Ajda Pekkan, the Drifters, and Elvis Presley, among others. Their most famous songs include "A Teenager in Love", "Turn Me Loose", "This Magic Moment", "Save the Last Dance for Me", "Little Sister", "Can't Get Used to Losing You", "(Marie's the Name) His Latest Flame", "Viva Las Vegas" and "Sweets for My Sweet".
With the advent of the British Invasion, they moved to London, where they penned songs for a number of British musicians. After his partnership with Doc Pomus ended in 1965, Shuman moved to Paris, France, where he wrote songs for Johnny Hallyday and launched his own recording career. Shuman wrote songs for Eddy Mitchell and Michel Sardou.
He also wrote a couple of hits in the UK (including the Small Faces' "Sha-La-La-La-Lee" and Cilla Blacks' "Love's Just A Broken Heart", both co-written with Kenny Lynch), as well as a musical, Budgie (lyrics by Don Black). With the Welsh songwriter Clive Westlake, he wrote "Here I Go Again", which was recorded by the Hollies. Billy J. Kramer enjoyed success with another Shuman song, "Little Children".
In 1968, Shuman teamed with Eric Blau and adapted the French lyrics of songs by the Belgian composer Jacques Brel used as the basis of the successful off-Broadway production Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris. Some of the songs from the show were subsequently recorded by Scott Walker, including "Jackie" and "Mathilde", and by David Bowie, including "My Death" and "Amsterdam".
During the 1970s, Shuman enjoyed "great success" in France with his best-known songs, such as "Le Lac Majeur", "Un été de porcelaine", and "Papa-Tango-Charly".
Shuman appeared in both the stage revue and the 1975 film adaptation. This was followed the next year with work on the soundtrack of the film Sex O'Clock U.S.A., which is notable for featuring one of the earliest known gay songs, "You're My Man," while another one of his compositions from the soundtrack, "Baby Come On" (billed under the Sex O'Clock U.S.A. name during its chart run) become a modest hit on Billboard's Disco chart, peaking at number 37 in July 1977. He also did many collaborations with the Israeli singer Mike Brant, and composed film scores, often French movies, including A Day at the Beach (1970), Romance of a Horsethief (1971), Black Thursday (1974), À nous les petites Anglaises (1976), Monsieur Papa (1977) and The More It Goes, the Less It Goes (1977). He also worked occasionally as an actor, notably appearing with Jodie Foster in The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane (for which he also served as musical supervisor).
"Sorrow" was another of his well-known songs, which he performed on January 14, 1978, during TF1's Numéro Un, the variety show of Maritie and Gilbert Carpentier.
In 2019, journalist Jean-Alphonse Richard said that Shuman "was never a star, but a clandestine worker of song: a man who fabricated hits on an assembly line... Too modest to claim gleaming paternity for it".
