Mitch Murray

Mitch Murray (real name: Lionel Michael Stitcher ; born January 30, 1940 in Hove, Sussex ) formed together with his partner Peter Callander (real name: Peter Robin Callander , born October 10, 1939 in Hampshire ) one of the most successful British pop music writing teams in the 1960s and 1970s.

Life

Murray's only relationship with music in his early teens was his father's impressive record collection. The former handbag seller began to compose by recording his ideas on his parents' tape recorder without any knowledge of music notes. Music publishers advised him to listen to the radio to see what was considered commercial. He was looking for a formula to compose songs that brought the organic fusion of music and text. But the structure of correctly placed words and bars is initially unimportant, the principle of trial and error is paramount in pop music. His fairly straightforward songs are a response to the era in which they became a hit. They follow the American concept of predictable harmony progression and often repeated phrases (so-called hooks ). Authors who did not sing themselves were rare in the early 1960s.

Mark Wynter - That Kinda Talk

Mitch Murray's first published composition was the B-side I Knew It All The Time from the Dave Clark Five single That's What I Said , which was released in June 1962 but missed the hit parade. His first commercial success was That Kinda Talk , the b-side of Mark Wynter's Go Away Little Girl (December 1962). Murray knew he would get royalties on a B-side once the A-side turned out to be a hit. Since the A-side reached a sixth position on the British charts, he received £ 500 for his composition.

Music publisher Dick James was made aware of the young composer by Beatles producer George Martin . Murray presented three compositions to James, who had just entered the publishing business, namely The Beetroot Song , Better Luck Next Time and How Do You Do It? . On September 4, 1962, the Beatles, together with Love Me Do , had the title How Do You Do It ? received without enthusiasm, so that their producer Martin had it archived unpublished. Many of Murray's early compositions remained hidden from the public, such as Save A Dream For Me (lyrics by Tony Charles; February 1962), I Hate Getting Up in The Morning (January 1963), Looks Like They're in Love (music by Les Reed ; February 1963), You Momma's Out of Town (November 1963) or Gonna Be A Good Boy Now (January 1964).

The Fate of How Do You Do It? took an unexpected turn on January 22, 1963, because on that recording date George Martin produced the song this time with Gerry & the Pacemakers . After the title came onto the market on March 1, 1963, it got to the first rank, which it held for three weeks. In the USA he contributed to the British Invasion , because he came here to ninth place. Dick James had meanwhile included the young Murray in his music publisher Dick James Music . On April 24, 1963 Gerry & the Pacemakers were back in the studio to have another composition by Murray leveled with I Like It . Exactly four weeks later, the title was released and again earned the group a first place.

A short time after, Mitch Murray noticed a certain Pauline Matthews in a London cabaret. He procured her a recording contract with Fontana Records in May 1963 and left her with the composition Early Night , registered on March 21, 1963 , which appeared in May under her stage name Kiki Dee . The single, like half a dozen other singles, was unsuccessful. It was not until 1971 that she became known to the general public as Elton John's duet partner .

From the July 8, 1963 recording session for Freddie & the Dreamers, I'm Telling You Now was selected as the A-side, with Freddie Garrity registered as Murray's writing partner. The result was a second place in the charts. On September 26, 1963, Freddie & the Dreamers recorded his You Were Made For Me , whose B-side drink This Up It'll Make You Sleep was also written by him. Murray, however, was annoyed that the group could ruin his compositions and insisted on being present at the studio recordings. However, the market saw the quality of You Were Made For Me differently, as it came up to third place. Murray's demonstration recordings were made up to the exact tempo for the intended performers and should be taken over without deviation. In doing so, however, he robbed the producer of the creative leeway he was entitled to with a recording. For December 9, 1963, another recording session was scheduled with Gerry & the Pacemakers, who had chosen Murray's I'm The One , again rewarded with a second place in the charts.

Murray published How To Write A Hit Song on January 20, 1964 , but the composer's literary manual was not a hit in the book market itself. Only the then 12-year-old Sting was apparently inspired by this and describes Murray as his mentor. On March 23, 1964, Freddie & The Dreamers were again in the studio and recorded Murray's Just For You , which was released in July 1964. Murray was focused on these two groups, the success of which depended almost entirely on Murray's compositions. In the meantime, the very successful female soul trio Supremes had released an LP entitled A Bit of Liverpool in October 1964 in recognition of the British Invasion , which also included Murray's How Do You Do It? contained. Johnny Kidd & the Pirates took over as B-side I Hate Getting up in The Morning (recorded September 10, 1965).

Peter Callander emerged as a copywriter seen for the first time at Walkin 'Tall by Adam Faith on which to release on July 11, 1963 only at # 23 on the charts came - disappointing for the performance-usual Faith. In October 1965 Callander wrote under the pseudonym Robin Conrad together with Les Reed for the brothers Paul and Barry Ryan their first single Don't Bring Me Your Heartaches , in April 1966 the title I Love was created in collaboration with Ivor Raymonde for the pop duo Her .

In the meantime, Shirley Bassey had recorded the song Liquidator in March 1965 , which had received the last overdubbing in Hollywood on December 19, 1965 and appeared as the theme song in the spy film of the same name, which was released in Great Britain in December 1965 (German title: L - The silent one ). Lalo Schifrin wrote the entire film music for this. In June 1965 Lulu brought the composition Leava A Little Love , composed between Callander (under the pseudonym Robin Conrad) and David Reed, to the sixth position on the charts. On November 26, 1965, tenor Kenneth McKellar recorded the track A Man Without Love (music by Cyril Ornadel), which came ninth in the 1966 Eurovision competition. Callander then wrote the lyrics for four songs, the originals of which came from Italy. On March 9, 1966, his text for the Italian composition Ti Vedo Uscire was recorded by Cilla Black under the English title Don't Answer Me, making it up to sixth in the charts. Tom Jones took over Once There Was a Time on May 4, 1966 . It was followed by A Fool Am I , recorded on August 10, 1966 again with Cilla Black, which reached number 13. Callander finally wrote the title Give Me Time for Dusty Springfield for their recording session on April 14, 1967 .

The writing team Murray and Callander

Wayne Fontana - You made me what I am today

For all previous titles, Mitch Murray wrote mostly both the music and the lyrics. Murray had already put six compositions in the charts, Callander only had two hits before the two joined together as a team of authors. At the end of 1965 Callander and Murray wrote their first songs together, Callander initially reappearing under the pseudonym Robin Conrad. For example, You Made Me What I Am Today (B-side of the single It Was Easier To Hurt Her ) for Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders in November 1965 or Down Came The Rain in December 1965, co-author Murray under the pseudonym “Mister Murray “Released as a separate single. A year later both appear as co-authors of the humorous title I Drink to Your Memory / It Was A Good Song (February 1966), again sung by Mister Murray. While the song failed in Great Britain, Frank Zander brought it to fourth place in Germany under the title Ich trink auf Dein Wohl, Marie in January 1975.

An intensive and continuous collaboration between Murray and Callander did not begin until 1967, whereby they agreed on a division of labor, because Murray took care of the music and Callander would be responsible for the text. The first joint composition by Murray and Callander with their own names was the title Tell The Boys , which lost to Sandie Shaw's Puppet on a String and came second in the British qualifying for Eurovision on February 25, 1967 . The song was finally released as the B-side of the single Puppet on a String in March 1967 and became the new team's first top hit due to the A-side. This is followed by Even The Bad Times Are Good for the tremeloes , for which Murray tried four different rhythms and finally decided on the calypso , which is rare in pop music . The song, released in July 1967, reached fourth place in the charts. A studio appointment for Cliff Richard is scheduled for October 5, 1967 , during which the song All My Love will be written, which in turn is based on an Italian original. In turn, Peter Callander contributes the English text. In December 1967 they wrote the title Gina for Wayne Fontana , but it did not make it into the charts.

Georgie Fame - The Ballad of Bonnie And Clyde

The biggest hit of the writing team is The Ballad Of Bonnie And Clyde with Georgie Fame , which tells the entire story of the legendary American gangster couple and is garnished with authentic exchanges of fire. Fame took over the composition after watching the gangster film Bonnie And Clyde , which came out on August 13, 1967 . The story song about realistic film content, published on December 1, 1967, was the team's first top placement, reaching seventh place in the USA and selling five million copies worldwide. Once again, the Tremeloes took over an Italian song called Suddenly You Love Me , to which Callander had written the lyrics.

Balladier John Rowles smashed Hush… Not A Word To Mary into the charts up to 12th place in June 1968, and soft pop group Vanity Fair received a gold record for Hitchin 'A Ride , although the title only went up after its release in June 1968 advanced to 16th place. In January 1969 Callander wrote an English text for the original German title Monsieur Dupont , written by Christian Bruhn / Georg Buschor , for Sandie Shaw, the version of which reached number six in the British charts. Manfred Mann made eighth with Ragamuffin Man in April 1969, Goodbye Sam Hello Samantha from Cliff Richard made it sixth in June 1970 (Geoff Stephens was the third co-author). The title Daddy Don't You Walk So Fast comes from the collaboration between Geoff Stephens and Peter Callander, about a father-child relationship, initially in the version by Daniel Boone (August 1971), then covered by Wayne Newton and with a fourth place rewarded in the USA (April 1972).

Record label

The team of authors founded the Bus Stop label in August 1972 , which promoted the career of Paper Lace . First single was initially the lost title Himalayan Lullabye by Steve Royal. Paper Lace became the label's only hit supplier through three titles. Murray / Callander's first composition for the British pop band was Billy Don't Be A Hero , which was released on February 11, 1974 and reached number one in the charts. It was a made-up story from the American Civil War. The April 1974 subsequent The Night Chicago Died , which glorified heroism during Al Capone's time in Chicago, advanced to 3rd place and sold 2 million copies in the US, where it made first place. The version of Billy Don't Be A Hero by Bo Donaldson & the Heywoods , which also topped the US charts in April 1974 , achieved sales of 3 million records . The third hit for Paper Lace, but only registered with an eleventh place, was The Black-Eyed Boys from August 1974.

The last Murray / Callander composition for their Bus Stop label was Love Don't Change as the B-side of Sing Me from the one-hit wonder The Brothers, the A-side of which climbed to eighth in January 1977.

Compositions for Tony Christie

Tony Christie - Las Vegas

In 1971 the career of the pop tenor Tony Christie began , who owes his success in particular to the Murray / Callander writing team. Christie has been releasing records since November 1967, but it wasn't until the January 1971 single Las Vegas / So Deep Is The Night , composed and produced by the team of authors, that he achieved his breakthrough. The message song against gambling addiction only reached number 21 in the British charts, but paved the way for more singles to hit the charts. I Did What I Did For Maria , composed and produced again by Murray / Callander, was released in May 1971 and was Christie's biggest hit with a second place in the hit parade. The single (Is This The Way To) Amarillo , released on October 8, 1971 , which was only produced by Murray / Callander and penned by Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield , only reached rank 18, but developed into Tony Christie's only million seller. Almost all of Tony Christie's subsequent singles were penned by Murray / Callander, such as Don't Go Do Town To Reno . The single, released in May 1972, no longer played a role in the British charts, but Tony Christie was increasingly able to make a name for himself in Germany. Avenues And Alleyways from February 1973 was then the theme tune of the British television series The Protectors (from April 20, 1977 in Germany under the title No Pardon for Guardian Angels ), which first ran on the screens in Great Britain on September 29, 1972. For this series alone, Murray and Callander wrote over 400 titles. The year 1972 was the creative high point of the writing team, when a total of 31 productions and / or compositions appeared, most of them for Tony Christie.

More hits for other record labels

However, Murray and Callander did not concentrate on their own record label, but also wrote for non-label artists. On March 15, 1969, the Lords chose Four O'Clock in New York as the B-side of the single People World , Giorgio Moroder took over Arizona Man / Sally Don't You Cry in 1970 (and was co-author with the writing team), In 1971, 14 productions or compositions came onto the market, including again for Tony Christie (such as Give Me Your Love Again , Love Is A Friend of Mine , I Never Was A Child , My Love Song or Sunday Morning ).

statistics

For Mitch Murray, 164 titles are copyright registered with BMI , while for Peter Callander a total of 229 titles are protected. Double registrations through joint compositions are included in the numbers. The Ballad Of Bonnie And Clyde and two other compositions received a BMI Award.

Web links

• Literature by and about Mitch Murray in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Gordon Thompson, Please Please Me, Sixties British Pop - Inside Out , 2008, pp. 188 ff.
2. ↑ The song deals with beetroot and was adopted by Lance Percival and the Barron Knights in October 1963
3. ^ Mark Lewisohn, The Beatles Recording Sessions , 1988, p. 18.
4. ↑ by Bruno Zambrini / Luis Enriquez / Francesco Migliacchi jun.
5. ^ By Giovanni Mecchia / Antonio Del Monaco / Enrico Sericolli
6. ↑ Dimmelo Parlami Flavio Carraresi / Giovanni Alceo Guatelli / Alberto Testa
7. ↑ by Amedeo Tommasi / Alberto Morina / Pietro Melfa
8. ↑ Solo Tu ; by Roberto Arduini / Frederico Monti
9. ^ Joseph Murrells, Million Selling Records , 1985, p. 240
10. ↑ Zai, Zai, Zai ; by Daniele Pace / Mario Panzeri / Laurenzo Pilat
11. ↑ the German original was from February 1967 and was sung by Manuela
12. ↑ Billboard Magazine, August 26, 1972, p. 71
13. ^ Joseph Murrells, Million Selling Records , 1985, p. 321.
14. ↑ Mitch Murray ( Memento of the original from December 22, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , BMI entry 
15. ↑ Peter Callander  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , BMI entry