Born in Salina, Kansas, Terry Kirkman went to California to study music and turned professional in the wake of a chance meeting with guitarist Jules Alexander. They put together a 13-member group that quickly fell apart in a disagreement over direction, and managed to keep the remaining six-man line-up together as the Association. A prodigious songwriter as well as a multi-instrumentalist, Kirkman was responsible for several of the group's best known songs -- in addition to “Cherish", the group's biggest hit (written with the Righteous Brothers in mind), these included “Enter the Young", “Requiem for the Masses", and “Six Man Band". Following the break-up of the original line-up in the early 1970's, Kirkman was working as a producer at HBO when the notion of an Association reunion for a cable feature came up, and he got the ball rolling on what proved to be the group's second incarnation, which carried them into the mid-1980's, and the group has continued working into the new century. In 2003, Kirkman and the other members were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide