Jay WARNER

WARNER, Jay 66, six time Grammy winning music publisher, author and music historian and first publisher to be entered into The Congressional Record for his contributions to the music industry, passed away on Monday, April 23 after a long illness. In a four decade career as a general professional manager in the music publishing industry, Jay worked with such notable companies and people as Sidney Seidenberg, legendary manager of Gladys Knight & The Pips and B.B. King, Wes Farrell's music publishing empire, "The Entertainment Company" (Charles Koppleman) and K-Tel Records. Jay was named to ASCAP's West Coast advisory board, where he served for more than twenty years. Warner represented writers, artists and celebrities as diverse as Bruce Springsteen, Rick James and Teena Marie and has published over 100 Top 40 hits including "Blinded By The Light" (Manfred Mann), "Born to Run" (Bruce Springsteen), "Up, Up and Away' (5th Dimension, "People Gotta Be Free" (The Rascals), "Dawn" (Four Seasons), "It's A Miracle" (Barry Manilow), "Knock Three Times" (Tony Orlando), "Midnight Train to Georgia" (Gladys Knight & The Pips), "Groovin" (The Rascals), "Who Loves You" (Four Seasons), "Cold Blooded" (Rick James) and Hammer's #1 single "U Can't Touch This" and many more.
In 1978, Jay wrote the first, in-depth text on publishing, song-writing and copyright law in layman's terms, "How To Have Your Hit Song Published" (Hal Leonard). In 1993, Warner's encyclopedic work, "The Billboard Book of American Singing Groups, A History 1940-1990" was published to rave reviews as the ultimate resource on the subject. In 2004, Jay started a new series of books with "On This Day In Music History", with a foreword written by Beatles producer, Sir George Martin. In 2006, he wrote "On This Day In Black Music History", with a foreword written by Grammy winner, Quincy Jones. And in 2008, Jay wrote "Notable Moments of Women in Music", with a foreward written by Grammy winner Melissa Etheridge. He is survived by his wife, Jacqueline and stepson, Jonathan. Funeral Services, 1:00 P.M., Thursday, April 26, Eden Memorial Park, Mission Hills. Malinow and Silverman Mortuary 800.710.7100