Barkan was born in Brooklyn, New York City, and started his career as a writer in the Brill Building.

[3] He had further success with "I'm Gonna Be Warm This Winter" (co-written with Hank Hunter), which was a hit for Connie Francis in 1963; Lesley Gore's Top 5 hit "She's a Fool" (co-written with Ben Raleigh);[3] the often-covered "Pretty Flamingo", which was a hit single for Manfred Mann in 1966;[4] and "The Tra La La Song (One Banana, Two Banana)" from The Banana Splits (co-written with Ritchie Adams).

He and Ritchie Adams co-wrote songs for The Archies, The Monkees, and for many other recording artists in the late 1960s.

The team of Barkan and Adams was instrumental on the Banana Splits project, and they also wrote and produced all the songs for Toomorrow, a 1970 sci-fi musical, produced by Don Kirshner, which starred Olivia Newton-John as a band member.

[8] In later life, he collaborated with Albert Bouchard, formerly of Blue Öyster Cult, on the 2018 album Fidelis ad Mortem.