Charles Strouse

In the half-hour solo portion of his interview, Charles Strouse (1928-2025) talks about his early childhood and influences. He details his musical education, including the Eastman School of Music and his studies under Aaron Copland. He discusses his first professional credit on Broadway, his work on Bye Bye Birdie and Annie, and his favorite compositions. 

In the hour-and-a-half joint portion of their interview, Lee Adams and Charles Strouse discuss their musical collaborations. Strouse and Adams discuss writing music and lyrics for Broadway plays including their hit, Bye Bye Birdie, Golden Boy (starring Sammy Davis, Jr.), and Applause (an adaptation of All About Eve). The pair then talk about their composition of one of the most well-remembered television theme songs of all time, All in the Family's "Those Were the Days." They offer advice to aspiring composers and lyricists, and talk about taking time off from their partnership. They also speak of their Emmy-winning song "Let's Settle Down" which was written for a 1995 television movie version of Bye Bye Birdie, starring Vanessa Williams and Jason Alexander. Karen Herman conducted the interviews on November 10, 2005 in New York, NY.