[3] Kontos then joined Scepter Records as an A&R man, reputedly at the age of 18, and changed his name to Kaye at the suggestion of company owner Florence Greenberg.
[1] During the 1960s, he wrote and produced material at Scepter and its subsidiary Wand Records for The Shirelles (for whom he co-wrote their 1966 single "Shades of Blue"), Judy Clay, Maxine Brown, Chuck Jackson, The Kingsmen, and others.
He also co-produced the album Capture the Moment by Jay and the Americans, with session musicians including Donald Fagen and Walter Becker, later of Steely Dan.
Kaye's second album, First Grade, used the same musicians and producer, and contained two songs written by Becker and Fagen, "Jones" and "American Lovers", the latter a "farewell" to the era's counterculture.
Produced with a vast array of session musicians and backing singers, the album was an extraordinary amalgam of country rock, folk, gospel, soul and choral music with poetic, mystical lyrics.
[1] His final album, Not Alone, came out in 1992 and featured a guest line-up that included Eric Clapton, Dr. John, Steve Miller, Rick Danko, Timothy B. Schmit, Joe Walsh and Robby Krieger.
[7] Kaye's son Chris Kontos has been a drummer for several metal bands, including Machine Head, playing on their acclaimed 1994 debut album Burn My Eyes.