Mike Stoller

Well, I think the first piece of music I ever heard that I really loved was 'Salome's Dances' by Richard Strauss. I…

— Mike Stoller

I heard a young black pianist. He was a teenager, I was eight years old, and he was playing boogie-woogie, and he…

— Mike Stoller

I write a melody and then change it and change it until I get it the way I like it.

— Mike Stoller

I was always very leery of my piano playing. As a young kid, I wanted to be a jazz musician, but my…

— Mike Stoller

We never thought we were writing for posterity, because at the time everyone assumed that all the great standards had already been…

— Mike Stoller

It wasn't until 'Smokey Joe's' came out that I actually got to step out from behind the curtain and meet our 'fans.'

— Mike Stoller

I have to write the songs before I become too enamored with my own melodies.

— Mike Stoller

As would-be songwriters, our interest was in black music and black music only. We wanted to write songs for black voices.

— Mike Stoller