Bill Martin (musician)
Bill Martin (actually: William Wylie MacPherson , born November 9, 1938 in Govan , Glasgow ; † before or on March 26, 2020 ) was a Scottish songwriter , music publisher and impresario .
Life
His first song to be released on record was "Kiss Me Now" in 1963, performed by Tommy Quickly . In 1964 he entered into a writing partnership with Tommy Scott. As Scott & Martin, he had successes with artists such as the Irish trio The Bachelors , Twinkle , the Irish folk band The Dubliners , Van Morrison and Serge Gainsbourg .
In 1965 he met Phil Coulter and the two established themselves as a successful songwriting team (Martin for the lyrics, Coulter for the music) that lasted over 10 years. They wrote pieces for different artists, including the comedian and baritone Ken Dodd , Geno Washington , Los Bravos , Dave Dee & Co , The Troggs , Mireille Mathieu , George Harrison , Dick Emery , Tony Blackburn , Cliff Richard , Sandie Shaw and Elvis Presley .
Between 1967 and 1976 they had four number 1 hits in the UK: Puppet on a String , Congratulations , Back Home and Forever and Ever . Other top 40 hits followed, including Shang-A-Lang for Bay City Rollers , Fancy Pants for glam rock band Kenny , Requiem for Scottish pop band Slik and Surround Yourself with Sorrow for English singer Cilla Black .
The Bay City Rollers had a number one hit in the US in 1976 with Saturday Night , a song that was not released as a single in the UK. In total, Martin / Coulter had three No. 1 hits in the United States; the other two were Thanks (sung by Bill Anderson ) and My Boy (sung by Elvis Presley).
The two writers also wrote the music for the films The Water Babies and the Carry-On film series (which ran under the title Ist ja crazy ... in Germany ) as well as for numerous television films. After their triumph in 1967 with Puppet on a String , the first British winner at the Eurovision Song Contest , they reached second place the following year with Congratulations (sung by Cliff Richard). In 1975 a third song of the two reached the final, this time for Luxembourg : Toi was sung by Coulter's future wife, the Irish singer Geraldine. In Stockholm the song came fifth. A final attempt for the Song Contest was followed in 1978 with the song Shine It On , sung by singer Christian, and came third in the British preliminary decision.
Their success as a songwriter, record producer, and music publisher brought wealth and influence in the music industry to Martin and Coulter. For their music publisher Martin-Coulter Music , they engaged other authors such as Van Morrison, Billy Connolly , Christy Moore , Donal Lunny , Eric Bogle , the progressive rock band Sky , Midge Ure and BA Robertson .
Although he continued to write music, he became increasingly involved in the business side of the music industry through the 1980s. His partnership with Coulter ended in 1983 when Bill Martin took over Phil Coulter's stake in the joint venture and paid off his partner. He later sold his business to EMI . During his career he built several companies which he then sold.
In 1983 he produced the musical Jukebox in London's West End , which ran for six months. In 1984 he was executive producer on Elkie Brooks ' album Screen Gems - now a collector's item.
Martin continued to work as a songwriter, music publisher and producer - now for Angus Publications . In 2000 he allied with Sony / ATV Music.
Since 2005 he has been engaged as an entertainer and talk guest on cruise ships.
At the beginning of the 1970s he bought the former London house Kenwood from John Lennon in St. George's Hill, which he later sold again. He later lived in the luxury Belgravia district of London . Bill Martin died in late March 2020 at the age of 81.
Honors
- Three Ivor Novello Awards , including one for Songwriter of the Year
- Three ASCAP Awards
- Award of Excellence (Rio de Janeiro, 1967 & 1969)
- Yamaha Best Song Award (Japan, 1978)
- Songwriter of the Decade (Scotland, 1980)
- Numerous gold & platinum plates.
Web links
- Bill Martin's website
- Bill Martin at Discogs (English)
- Bill Martin in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Martin, Bill |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | MacPherson, William Wylie (real name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Scottish songwriter, music publisher and impresario |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 9, 1938 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Govan , Glasgow |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 2020 |