Meanings
- attributivehistoricalentertainmentA style of pop music of the early 1960s, written by teams of professional songwriters to be performed by girl groups and teen idols.
Located at Broadway and 51st St. in Manhattan, Aldon and Nevins-Kirshner were part of the famous Brill Building music scene.
2016, Mark A. Moore, The Jan & Dean Record, page 742 more examples
But when a list of Brill Building songs was attached to the proposal, it seemed to go on forever and read like a history of pop music.
2001 August 25, Jim Bessman, quoting Carol Anne Dolan, “TV's ‘Hitmakers’ Spotlights Home of Brilliant Songwriting”, in Billboard, →ISSN, page 44As importantly, Brill Building music tended to utilize elements of African American music, often making use of vocal stylings characteristic of rhythm and blues—and, indeed, many songs typical of the Brill Building sound were sung by African American artists […]
2008, Jack R. Fischel, Encyclopedia of Jewish American Popular Culture, page 33
Origin
After the Brill Building in New York City, where some (though not most) of the songs were written. The building acquired its name from a haberdasher who operated a store there and subsequently purchased the building.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
Brill Building. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Brill%20Building
“Brill Building.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Brill%20Building. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Brill Building,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Brill%20Building.
Source: Brill Building on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.