Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway

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Roger Frederick Cook (born August 19, 1940 in Bristol ) and Roger John Greenaway (born August 23, 1938 in Bristol) were an English songwriter duo whose songs were particularly successful worldwide in the 1960s and 1970s. As David and Jonathan , the two brought out their own records from 1965 to 1968 and had two top 20 hits with Lovers of the World Unite and Michelle ; in addition, both were successful in the early 1970s as members of different bands such as Blue Mink or White Plains .

The 1960s

Cook joined Greenaway's band The Kestrels in early 1965, which Tony Burrows also belonged to. During a tour of England both wrote the song You've Got Your Troubles in a locker room. The Kestrels broke up after just a few weeks, but the two Rogers continued to work together. They developed their singing skills and contributed choral singing to recordings by other artists, such as Françoise Hardy and Billy Fury . Shortly after they wrote the song Everything in the Garden for Petula Clark in May 1965 , their debut You've Got Your Troubles in the version of the English band The Fortunes stormed the charts. The single peaked at number 2 in the UK and number 7 in the US.

David and Jonathan

George Martin , producer of the Beatles and impressed by their skills, convinced the two Rogers to publish and perform their own records. Mr. Martin's wife Judy came up with the idea for her stage name, borrowed from the Old Testament: David and Jonathan . Their first single, Laughing Fit to Cry , was released in October 1965, but failed to reach the chart. At the same time they were featured with their background vocals on the first two singles of Paul and Barry Ryan , as well as on actor Peter Sellers version of the Beatles song A Hard Days Night .

Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Singles
Michelle
  UK 11 01/13/1966 (6 weeks)
Lovers of the World Unite
  UK 7th 07/07/1966 (16 weeks)

Her next release, the Lennon / McCartney composition Michelle , reached number 11 in the UK and number 18 in the US charts in January 1966. George Martin was again the producer. At the beginning of January, David and Jonathan toured the USA together with Martin. In February 1966, The Fortunes recorded the Greenaway / Cook song This Golden Ring and reached number 15 on the UK charts. David and Jonathan's own single Lovers of the World Unite reached number 2 in June 1966.

In September 1966, Greenaway and Cook flew to New York, where they recorded several jingles for Coca-Cola . Her next single, Ten Storeys High , was released in the same year . They wrote the song while they were in New York in their apartment, which was on the 12th floor of a hotel.

The following 1967 singles Scarlett Ribbons and The Magic Book , all produced by George Martin, remained without significant success. Only the following She's Leaving Home (again a Lennon / McCartney composition) and their own Softly Whispering I Love You attracted more attention.

The decreasing success of their own productions stood in great contrast to the hits that other artists were able to post with their compositions, so that in March 1968 they announced that they would no longer perform as David and Jonathan, but would continue to write songs together.

Sought-after songwriters

After the first successes as David & Jonathan Cook and Greenaway were among the most sought-after songwriters, the artists like Andy Williams ( Home Lovin 'Man ), Cilla Black ( Something Tells Me Something's Gonna Happen Tonight ), Deep Purple ( Hallelujah ), Joe Dolan ( It Makes No Difference ), Gene Pitney ( Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart ), White Plains ( My Baby Loves Lovin ' ), den Hollies ( Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress und Gasoline Alley Bred ), Whistling Jack Smith ( I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman ), Blue Mink ( Melting Pot and Good Morning Freedom ) and Cliff Richard ( High and Dry ) helped make hits.

The 1970s

From August 1968 Cook began a solo career under the name Roger James Cook. In August 1969 the band Blue Mink was formed and Greenaway was offered the role of singer, alongside Madeline Bell. Greenaway refused and instead suggested his partner Roger Cook, who was part of the group until it broke up in the fall of 1974. Numerous songs from the Blue Mink repertoire were penned by Greenaway / Cook.

Greenaway and Cook initially decided on a reunion under the name Campus Kazoo , but expanded their project in April 1970 to the short-lived formation Currant Kraze . This band released the unsuccessful single Lady Pearl / Breaking the Heart of a Good Man ( Deram DM292) on April 17, 1970 . The project consisted of Cook and Greenaway and Tony Burrows - already a member of the Kestrels in 1964 - from John Goodison, Sue Glover and Sunny Leslie, who were all members of the Brotherhood of Man group at the same time . It was to be the last joint recording project between the two Rogers.

In 1969, however, Greenaway had already founded the band White Plains, together with former members of the Flowerpot Men , including Tony Burrows, a companion from the time of the Kestrels. The band achieved their greatest success with My Baby Loves Lovin ' in January 1970.

Greenaway soon left White Plains and founded, together with Burrows, The Pipkins , who made it to number 7 on the UK charts with Gimme Dat Ding (Hammond / Hazelwood). Greenaway and Cook worked together as songwriters until 1975 and continued to help numerous artists achieve chart successes, including The New Seekers with I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing , a reworking of the Coca-Cola commercial song I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke and Keep It Company .

Separate paths since 1975

In 1975 the successful duo separated; only rarely did they revive David & Jonathan , for example on November 10, 1991 on the occasion of a fundraising event for children with cancer and leukemia, when they sang Lovers of the World Unite and You've Got Your Troubles together. On March 19, 1994, they both gave an interview on Michael Barrymore's television show and then sang Lovers of the World Unite .

Roger Cook

In the winter of 1975 Roger Cook decided to go to the USA to make a fresh start. Via New York and Los Angeles he came to Nashville, where he founded a publishing company with Ralph Murphy in early 1976. In February of the same year he released his first solo album Alright .

In the following years he was mainly active as a producer, but also continued to write songs, etc. a. for Crystal Gayle , the Chanter Sisters, Demis Roussos , Don Williams , Dr. Hook , Johnny Cash, and many others. His new songwriting partners were u. a. Ralph Murphy and John Prine . He also took part in a Blue Mink reunion.

In 1992 he started working on the musical Zelda with Les Reed , the composer of Here It Comes Again (follow-up single to You've Got Your Troubles for The Fortunes) . By 1995 they were able to complete the studio recordings. In 1992 Cook founded the group CCW together with Hugh Cornwell (Ex- The Stranglers ) and Andy West (Ex-Deep Six). In the same year they released a single, an album and toured Europe.

In 1997, Cook became the first English songwriter to be elected to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame . In the summer of 1998 he received the songwriter of the year award from ASCAP Nashville Country Music.

Roger Greenaway

After Cook emigrated to the USA in 1975, where he is still a sought-after songwriter, Greenaway worked with other partners, including Geoff Stephens in particular , with whom he wrote It's Like We Never Said Goodbye ( Crystal Gayle , No. 1 on the Country Charts in 1980 ) wrote.

Roger Greenaway largely withdrew from the role of active artist and instead took on important administrative functions in the music business. In 1983 he became chairman of the Performing Right Society. Since 1995 he has headed the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) as a representative of their European office. He has also written advertising jingles for Allied Carpets, ASDA and British Gas.

music

Greenaway and Cook began their careers in the style of Brill Building songwriters. Her songs are mainly based on European harmonies and were intensely orchestrated in the 1960s. Rhythmically, they could their productions a. a. enriched with the then popular Tamla-Motown Groove. The vocal harmonies were often 2-3 voices and reached a high level of complexity, for example in Softly Whispering I Love You . In the late 1960s they joined simpler musical styles and were able to achieve further success during the glam rock era. Together with Allan Clarke from the Hollies, they expanded their spectrum into the blues.

meaning

Roger Greenaway and Roger Cook are among the most successful songwriters in England. Until today (2008) her songs are interpreted again and again by numerous artists. Especially in the years 1965 to 1969, the recording of one of her songs was almost a guarantee of success in the charts.

On May 25, 1995, both of them received the "Lifetime Achievement Award" from BASCA (British Association of Songwriters, Composers and Authors). First well-wisher in the audience: Elton John .

Discography

Roger Cook

Albums

  • Alright 1976

David and Jonathan

Singles

  • Laughing Fit To Cry / Remember What You Said (1965)
  • Michelle / How Bitter The Taste Of Love (1966)
  • Speak Her Name / Take It While You Can (1966)
  • Lovers Of The World Unite / Oh My Word (1966)
  • Ten Storeys High / Looking For My Life (1966)
  • Tu cambi idea / La compagnia del larallala (Italy only) (1966)
  • Scarlet Ribbons For Her Hair / Gilly Gilly Ossenfeffer Katzenellenbogen By The Sea (1966)
  • The Magic Book / Time (1967)
  • She's Leaving Home / One Born Every Minute (1967)
  • Softly Whispering I Love You / Such A Peaceful Day (1967)
  • You Ought To Meet My Baby / I've Got That Girl On My Mind (1968)

Albums

  • David and Jonathan (UK) (1966)
  • Michelle (USA) (1966)
  • The Very Best Of David and Jonathan (Germany) (1967)
  • Lovers Of The World Unite (1984)

Hit songs as authors (selection)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b UK chart positions according to David Roberts (Ed.): Guinness World Records - British Hit Singles and Albums . 19th edition. 2006, ISBN 1-904994-10-5 , p. 142
  2. ↑ a b The "Hilltop" Ad: The Story of a Commercial , viewed August 11, 2008
  3. ↑ US chart position according to MC Strong: The Great Rock Discography . 3. Edition. Edinburgh / Frankfurt am Main 1996, ISBN 0-86241-604-3
  4. ^ Günter Ehnert (Ed.): Hit-Bilanz, Deutsche Chart Singles 1956-1980 . Taurus-Press, Hamburg 1990, ISBN 3-922542-24-7 , p. 51
  5. ^ Joel Whitburn: The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits . 7th edition. Billboard Books, New York 2000, ISBN 0-8230-7690-3 , p. 214