Who were the five best songwriters of the 20th century?

Each of these songwriters wrote many songs that became standards: Not in any particular order: Irving Berlin: Songs such as "Top Hat","Cheek to Cheek", "Putting on the Ritz", "Blue Skies", "There's No Business Like Show Business" and "White Chr... read more

A century covers a lot of ground with Western music. This is almost, but not quite, equivalent to asking"who are the best 5 songwriters ever", because what we think of as songwriting (as opposed to composing) is largely tied up in the ability to have songs recorded and widely heard. read more

At a time when most songwriters were still talking about love and heartbreak, Curtis Mayfield was penning sweet, subtle Civil Rights epistles like 1964's"Keep on Pushing" and 1965's"People Get Ready" (the latter a favorite of Martin Luther King). read more