Sam Hollander

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article does not cite any references or sources. (January 2008)
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

This article or section needs to be wikified to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.
Please help improve this article with relevant internal links. (January 2008)

Sam Hollander (S*A*M) is an American songwriter and record producer. He has co-written and/or produced songs for Boys Like Girls, Gym Class Heroes, Kelly Rowland, The Cab, Carole King, Cobra Starship, Coheed and Cambria,^[1] Metro Station, We The Kings, Blake Lewis^[2], All Time Low, Arrested Development, Cooler Kids, Michael Tolcher ^[3] and O.A.R. among others.

1 Current
2 Early Years
3 Selected Discography
4 External Links
5 References

[edit] Current

In 2005, Sam partnered with Dave Katz (Sluggo). The duo have collaborated with artists as diverse as Gym Class Heroes (Atlantic), Boys Like Girls, Coheed and Cambria, All Time Low, Blake Lewis, We The Kings, Metro Station, Katy Perry, and Charlotte Sometimes.

Highlights include: Gym Class Heroes’ “Cupid's Chokehold” selling of 1.5 million singles, having reached #1 on and #3 in the US and UK Top 40 charts, respectively (NOW Vol. 67 UK). S*A*M and Sluggo then co-wrote and produced Gym Class Heroes full length LP, As Cruel As School Children, certified gold, and spawning two more Top 40 singles, “The Queen and I” and “Clothes Off”.^[4]

The duo co-wrote four songs on Boys Like Girls’ self titled debut CD, including the platinum certified Top 10 hit “The Great Escape”.

Their collaboration with Coheed and Cambria yielded the band’s Top 20 alternative hit single, “The Running Free”, from 2007’s No World For Tomorrow.

The two first worked together on the title track for the film Snakes on a Plane (New Line Cinema) performed by Cobra Starship. "Snakes On A Plane" went to #1 on both Fuse and MTV playlists.

Hollander married the former Jennifer Abu in 1999 with whom he created the VH-1 series Mission Manband. The two are parents of a daughter, Joey.

[edit] Early Years

Hollander was born in New York City, and grew up in Bedford Hills, New York. He graduated from Fox Lane High School in 1988. After high school, he moved to New York City where he connected with songwriter David Schommer (Duke Mushroom). Collaborating under the name Pop Rox, the duo cut their teeth remixing hits for the likes of DMX, Method Man, Montell Jordan, and Master P. Pop Rox got their first songwriting break when they composed and produced “Supersonic” for the 2x Platinum Jock Jams 3 soundtrack.

From there, Pop Rox wrote and produced international hits for the likes of Carole King,^[5] The Baha Men, Static Revenger and the Cooler Kids before calling it quits in 2004.

[edit] Selected Discography

Boys Like Girls "The Great Escape"/"Five Minutes To Midnight"/"Learning To Fall" (Columbia) (co-write)
Gym Class Heroes "As Cruel As School Children" (Decaydance/Fueled By Ramen) (co-write/produce)
Gym Class Heroes "Cupid's Chokehold" (Decaydance/Fueled By Ramen) (produce)
Gym Class Heroes "Shell Shock" (Atlantic) (co-write/produce for the movie and soundtrack TMNT)
Coheed and Cambria "The Running Free"/"The Road And The Damned" (Columbia) (co-write)
Blake Lewis "How Many Words"/"Here's My Hello" (RCA) (co-write/produce)^[6]
Cobra Starship "Snakes On A Plane (Bring It)" (Decaydance/New Line) (co-write/produce for the movie and soundtrack Snakes on a Plane)
Cobra Starship "While The City Sleeps, We Rule The Streets" (Decaydance/Fueled By Ramen) (co-write/produce)
Metro Station "'Self Titled" (Red Ink/Columbia) (produce)
We The Kings "Self Titled" (S-Curve/EMI) (co-write/produce)
All Time Low "Holly (Would You Turn Me On)" (Hopeless) (co-write)
Arrested Development "Since The Last Time" (Edel/Pony Canyon) (co-write/produce)
O.A.R. "Lay Down" (Lava) (co-write)
Michael Tolcher "I Am" (Octone/J) (produce)
Red "To Empower" (Geffen) (co-produce for the soundtrack Akeelah and the Bee) Lion's Gate
Jill Cunniff "Happy Warriors"/"Apartment 3" (The Militia Group) (co-write/produce)
Carole King "Love Makes The World" (Koch) (co-write/produce)
Static Revenger "Happy People" (Ministry of Sound) (co-write/additional production)
Cooler Kids "All Around The World" (DreamWorks) (co-write/produce for the movie and soundtrack The Lizzie McGuire Movie)
The Freshmaka "I Am The Freshmaka"/"The Freshest" (Moonshine) (co-write/produce "The Freshest" for the movie and soundtrack Thirteen)