Thomas Lee Bahler (also spelled Bähler; /ˈbeɪlər/; born June 1, 1943) is an American singer, composer, songwriter, arranger, producer and author. Bahler is most known for his song "She's Out of My Life", which was recorded by Michael Jackson; the song was originally written for Frank Sinatra, who never recorded it.[1] He is the younger brother of the singer, arranger, conductor and composer John Bahler.
In Bahler's early career, he worked with Jan Berry[2] (ofJan and Dean). Later, he and his brother John were vocalists in the Ron Hicklin Singers.[3] Together with The Wrecking Crew, the Bahler brothers have sung, produced and arranged hundreds of worldwide hits. They were the featured background voices on The Partridge Family recordings in the 1970s.[4]
John and Tom Bahler tried their hands with their own band, The Love Generation,[5] which was not a great success. They made three records as a band. The last record, "Montage", is considered to be a project just by John and Tom. As session vocalists for The Partridge Family, they re-recorded the Screen Gems-published song "Let the Good Times In" for the series' pilot episode, which they had originally recorded for their first Love Generation album in a slightly different arrangement. The Partridge version of the song remained a heavily sought after unreleased track until it appeared officially for the first time on the group's Come on Get Happy!: The Very Best of The Partridge Family CD, which was released in 2005.[4]
After "The Love Generation", John and Tom joined The Going Thing,[6] a band which was devised by the advertising agency J. Walter Thompson (now known as JWT), to promote the products of the Ford Motor Company. Tom Bahler appeared on Ford's 1969 "Going Thing" television commercial.[citation needed]
For television and film, Bahler produced the music for the Miss USA, Miss Teen USA and Miss Universe Pageants for a number of years and he composed the music for a number of movies and scored a number of soundtracks.[11] He made cameo appearances in movies such as Wag The Dog, also composing the song, "The American Dream" for the film.[12]
