Early Songwriting
As a result of performing his early songwriting efforts in cabarets around Manhattan, Pitchford was invited to write with such composers as Stephen Schwartz, Alan Menken and Rupert Holmes. In 1979, he collaborated with recording artist and cabaret performer Peter Allen to write new songs for Allen’s one-man Broadway revue, Up In One.
With composer Michael Gore, Pitchford collaborated on three songs for Alan Parker's motion picture Fame (1980)-- Red Light, a disco hit for singer Linda Clifford; the symphonic/rock finale I Sing the Body Electric; and the title song Fame, which became a multi-platinum, international best seller for Irene Cara. That song earned Gore and Pitchford an Oscar, a Golden Globe, and a Grammy nomination for Song of the Year (1981). They also received a Grammy nomination for Best Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media.
When Pitchford was signed by Warner Brothers Publishing (1981) he began collaborating with a variety of songwriters. Among the first songs he wrote with Tom Snow was "Don't Call It Love", first cut by Kim Carnes on her Bette Davis Eyes album (1981), the tune charted in the U.S. country singles top-ten for Dolly Parton in 1985 and was named the BMI Country Song of the Year.
For the ill-fated 1981 movie The Legend of the Lone Ranger, Pitchford wrote a narrative ballad, The Man In the Mask. This was spoken (throughout the movie) and sung (at its beginning and end) by Merle Haggard.
You Should Hear How She Talks About You, another Snow/Pitchford composition, was a Top 5 hit for Melissa Manchester for which she won the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance (1983). That same year, Pitchford and Kenny Loggins wrote (with Steve Perry of Journey fame) Don’t Fight It, a Top 20 hit that was Grammy-nominated in the Best Pop Vocal Duo category.
With musical director Michael Miller, Pitchford wrote the theme song for the weekly dance-music show Solid Gold (1980–1988); the theme was first sung by Dionne Warwick, and, in subsequent seasons, re-recorded by replacement hosts Andy Gibb, Marilyn McCoo, and Rex Smith.
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