He arranged the orchestration on many pop hit records, most notably in the early 1960s, including The Drifters' "Save the Last Dance for Me"; Ben E. King's "Spanish Harlem" and "Stand By Me"; Brian Hyland's "Sealed with a Kiss"; and Neil Sedaka's "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do".
He wrote arrangements for Cootie Williams, Lucky Millinder, and others, before serving in World War II in Germany, where he joined the US Army band.
He arranged the orchestration on "There Goes My Baby" by the Drifters, the first R&B record to use strings, and continued to work with the two producers and lead singer Ben E. King on his solo hits "Spanish Harlem" and "Stand By Me".
Among the other recording artists whose hits were arranged by Applebaum were Connie Francis, Neil Sedaka, Brook Benton, Brian Hyland, Joanie Sommers, and Bobby Vinton.
[1][2] Applebaum was also a prolific writer of over 1,500 commercials, notably writing the Pan Am jingle "Makes the Going Great" – later the basis of a ballet by George Balanchine – and winning four Clio Awards.