Born in
Brooklyn, Vance grew up hanging around the famous
Brill Building, the
Tin Pan Alley song machine, and started his first vocal group, the Harbor Lites, at 15. The group recorded two singles for Ivy Records in 1959. An early single, "Is That Too Much To Ask", experienced local popularity due to radio promotion by disc jockey
Cousin Brucie. He then formed another group and auditioned for
Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who signed them to United Artists Records, and named the group Binky Jones and the Americans, which they tweaked to Jay and the Americans.
Jay and the Americans Jay and the Americans released fifteen albums, and their first hit was "
She Cried", which was released in 1962. The group's musical style evoked nostalgia for 1950s
rock and roll and
doo wop. The group was the opening act for not only
the Beatles' first US performance, in
Washington, D.C., but also for
the Rolling Stones at
Carnegie Hall, the final stop on the Rolling Stones' tour. They also appeared on
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. They had many other hit singles and an album,
Capture the Moment, The soundtrack album went gold in the U.S. and sold more than 2.5 million copies worldwide.
Steely Dan In 1967, the songwriting duo of
Walter Becker and
Donald Fagen came to the Brill Building to sell their songs, and ended up knocking on Vance's door. The duo arranged horn and string sections for Jay and the Americans recordings and toured with them as bassist and keyboardist. He continued to work with Becker & Fagen until 1971, when he brought one of their songs ("I Mean to Shine") to
Richard Perry, who then brought it to
Barbra Streisand and recorded it on
Barbra Joan Streisand. They were hired as songwriters at
ABC Dunhill Records, and released their first
Steely Dan album, ''
Can't Buy a Thrill, in 1972. They went on to become one of the best selling and critically acclaimed bands of the 1970s. In Steely Dan FAQ: All That's Left to Know About This Elusive Band'', Anthony Robustelli wrote, "For all intents and purposes, Vance should be credited as the man who discovered the core of Steely Dan." == Production, film and television ==