Tony Hatch

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Tony Hatch (actually Anthony Peter Hatch ; born June 30, 1939 ) is a British composer , songwriter , pianist , record producer and arranger .

Life

Also pianist - - encouraged by the musical abilities of the little Tony wrote him his mother in London Choir School in Bexley in the county of Kent one, when he was ten. But instead of continuing to study at the Royal Academy of Music , Tony left school in 1955 and preferred to work at Robert Mellin Music Publishing in London .

It wasn't long before he was writing songs and making a name for himself in the record industry. When he was called up for military service, he managed to hire out at the Chapel of the Coldstream Guards . When he finished, he found a part-time job at Pye Records . In 1959, Hatch began his own recording career with a cover version of Russ Conway's piano instrumental hit Side Saddle .

1960 Tony's composition Look for a Star in the film Circus of Horrors (Eng. Title: "The red shadow") was used; Garry Mills' recording of the song became a top ten hit in the UK; in the US four versions of the song hit the charts at the same time. At Pye, he assisted his mentor, music producer Alan Freeman , with the recording of "Sailor" , a number 1 hit for Petula Clark .

Hatch continued to write songs for Pye artists, sometimes using the pseudonym Mark Anthony . In 1963 teenage idol Bobby Rydell hit the charts with "Forget Him," written and produced by Hatch. Hatch subsequently produced, arranged and composed for other US stars such as Keely Smith , Connie Francis and Pat Boone .

The first Tony Hatch composition that Petula Clark recorded was "Valentino" . From then on he became its permanent producer. They worked together on a series of shoots in French for Disques Vogue . (Petula Clark's husband was French; she was fluent in French and had a notable career across Europe with songs in English, French, German, and other languages.) Hatch became one of her regular composers and also wrote English lyrics for the songs she spoke French Had written to copywriters.

In 1964 Hatch first visited New York to look for new material for Petula. The trip inspired him to write the song " Downtown " , which he actually wanted to give to the Drifters . When Petula heard the melody, she told him that if he could write some great lyrics to the song, she would record it as her next single.

The release of "Downtown" made Petula Clark a major international star. The song climbed to the top of the charts around the world in 1965 and paved the way for Petula to hit the US record market. Clark and Hatch also co-wrote “You're the One,” a Vogues hit . Tony Hatch and Petula Clark established themselves in the States as the British counterpart to Burt Bacharach and Dionne Warwick .

By Tony Hatch song "I Love the Little Things" reached Matt Monro at Euro Vision Song Contest 1964 second place. In 1964, Hatch was also hired to write his first television themed music - for the British soap opera Crossroads . Soon, in Britain at least, this would become his most famous tune. When asked to write a song for the television series It's Dark Outside , Hatch delivered “Where Are You Now (My Love)?” With lyrics and the voice of Pye's recently signed singer Jackie Trent . The single reached number 1 in the UK charts in May 1965. In 1965 Tony Hatch also released his first album, The Downtown Sound of Tony Hatch , with instrumental versions of some of his most famous songs and new compositions.

Petula Clark's series of hits with Hatch songs continued: "My Love" , "A Sign of the Times" , "Who Am I?" , "Color My World" and "I Couldn't Live Without Your Love" ( Engl .: "I couldn't live without your love"), inspired by the affair of the still married Hatch with Jackie Trent, with whom he wrote songs more and more often. Hatch and Trent were married in 1966. Their duet "The Two of Us" became number one in Australia , and the two responded to the demand for concerts and performances. They quickly got the nickname "Mr. & Mrs. Music ” .

Hatch's compositions for The Doctors , Codename , Back to the Land , The Champions , Hadleigh and Who-Dun-It established him as the undisputed number one in the world of TV themed songs.

In the 1970s, Hatch and Trent took a detour into the world of musicals . Her first project, The Card , was based on a novel by Arnold Bennett and was performed in London's West End with Jim Dale and Millicent Martin in the lead roles. (Coincidentally, Petula Clark had a leading role in the 1952 film version with Alec Guinness .) An album with the stage version was released in 1975. A rewritten version of the show, starring Peter Duncan and Hayley Mills , was performed at Regent's Park Open Air Theater in the 1990s and also released as an album. The second Hatch / Trent musical was "Rock Nativity," with libretto and lyrics by David Wood. It was initially produced in Newcastle ; In 1976 a revised version, which was also recorded for television, went on tour through Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

In 1978, Hatch and Trent moved to Dublin and stayed there for four years. You hosted the television series "Words and Music" and "It's a Musical World" . Hatch continued to produce themed music for television series such as "Seagull Island" and "Airline" before the two moved to Australia in 1982. There, the pair wrote one of his most famous compositions, the theme of the television soap opera Neighbors (Neighbors) . Trent and Hatch separated in 1995 and divorced in 2002. 2003 was Disco - remix the band OUTpsiDER of "Downtown" - released in Australia and a hit - with the blessing of Hatch and Clark.

Hatch has two daughters from his first marriage to Jean and a son ( Darren Hatch ) and a daughter from his marriage to Jackie Trent. He lives in Menorca , Spain with his third wife, Maggie .

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