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Bruce Woolley
Bruce Martin Woolley (born 11 November 1953) is a British musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He wrote songs with artists such as the Buggles and Grace Jones, including "Video Killed the Radio Star" and "Slave to the Rhythm", and co-founded the Radio Science Orchestra.
Woolley was born in Loughborough, Leicestershire, on 11 November 1953 and educated at Loughborough Grammar School, where he learned electric guitar and where he met his future wife Tessa. He lived in Shepshed, playing the UK pub and club circuit extensively for some years, before landing his first professional engagement in 1974, with Ivor Kenney's Dance Band at Leicester Palais. After a transfer to Derby Tiffany's, Bruce left for London in 1976 to pursue a career in songwriting, after being offered a publishing contract with Everblue Music, in Piccadilly.
Woolley's first hit was "Dancing with Dr Bop" for Australian group the Studs, followed by his first English hit "Baby Blue" for Dusty Springfield, co-written with Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes.
In 1979, Woolley established the new wave music outfit the Camera Club, with Thomas Dolby on keyboards, Matthew Seligman on bass, Dave Birch on guitar and Rod Johnson on drums. Seligman joined the Soft Boys, and was replaced by Re-Flex bassist Nigel Ross-Scott. The Camera Club released their debut and only album English Garden in 1979 and toured the UK and North America. Dolby left the band in 1982 to pursue a solo career, with one final Camera Club track he co-wrote on his debut album. They disbanded in 1983 after two years largely spent on the road, and following disagreements with CBS Records, which refused to release their second album, which was eventually released in October 2024 on a compilation of unreleased material, some of which had never seen the light of day for over 40 years.
In 1978, Woolley co-wrote the Ivor Novello Award-nominated "Video Killed the Radio Star", together with Horn and Downes, who later became the Buggles. Bruce Woolley and the Camera Club recorded and broadcast their own version of the song before the Buggles released their version in 1979, but it was not a hit. It did rank at number 18 for 2 weeks on Canada's CHUM Chart, May 19 and 26, 1980.
In 1981, Woolley and Trevor Horn co-wrote and produced "Hand Held in Black and White" and "Mirror Mirror" for Dollar. In 1983, Magnus Uggla recorded a cover of the Camera Club's 1981 single "Blue Blue (Victoria)" with new (i.e. not a translation of Woolley's) lyrics in Swedish.
In 1985, Woolley co-wrote Grace Jones' Slave to the Rhythm. The title track was originally intended for Frankie Goes to Hollywood, but Island Records' founder, Chris Blackwell, suggested using the song for Jones. The album took nearly a year to produce and made pioneering use of the Synclavier system.
In 1986, Woolley and Grace Jones co-wrote and produced Jones' eighth studio album Inside Story with Nile Rodgers, which spawned the single "I'm Not Perfect (But I'm Perfect for You)". During production of the music video for this track, Woolley spent time with Andy Warhol, Timothy Leary and also Keith Haring, who were collectively responsible for set design. The song received an ASCAP Award for Black Music in 1987, presented to Woolley by Cab Calloway.
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Bruce Woolley
Bruce Martin Woolley (born 11 November 1953) is a British musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He wrote songs with artists such as the Buggles and Grace Jones, including "Video Killed the Radio Star" and "Slave to the Rhythm", and co-founded the Radio Science Orchestra.
Woolley was born in Loughborough, Leicestershire, on 11 November 1953 and educated at Loughborough Grammar School, where he learned electric guitar and where he met his future wife Tessa. He lived in Shepshed, playing the UK pub and club circuit extensively for some years, before landing his first professional engagement in 1974, with Ivor Kenney's Dance Band at Leicester Palais. After a transfer to Derby Tiffany's, Bruce left for London in 1976 to pursue a career in songwriting, after being offered a publishing contract with Everblue Music, in Piccadilly.
Woolley's first hit was "Dancing with Dr Bop" for Australian group the Studs, followed by his first English hit "Baby Blue" for Dusty Springfield, co-written with Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes.
In 1979, Woolley established the new wave music outfit the Camera Club, with Thomas Dolby on keyboards, Matthew Seligman on bass, Dave Birch on guitar and Rod Johnson on drums. Seligman joined the Soft Boys, and was replaced by Re-Flex bassist Nigel Ross-Scott. The Camera Club released their debut and only album English Garden in 1979 and toured the UK and North America. Dolby left the band in 1982 to pursue a solo career, with one final Camera Club track he co-wrote on his debut album. They disbanded in 1983 after two years largely spent on the road, and following disagreements with CBS Records, which refused to release their second album, which was eventually released in October 2024 on a compilation of unreleased material, some of which had never seen the light of day for over 40 years.
In 1978, Woolley co-wrote the Ivor Novello Award-nominated "Video Killed the Radio Star", together with Horn and Downes, who later became the Buggles. Bruce Woolley and the Camera Club recorded and broadcast their own version of the song before the Buggles released their version in 1979, but it was not a hit. It did rank at number 18 for 2 weeks on Canada's CHUM Chart, May 19 and 26, 1980.
In 1981, Woolley and Trevor Horn co-wrote and produced "Hand Held in Black and White" and "Mirror Mirror" for Dollar. In 1983, Magnus Uggla recorded a cover of the Camera Club's 1981 single "Blue Blue (Victoria)" with new (i.e. not a translation of Woolley's) lyrics in Swedish.
In 1985, Woolley co-wrote Grace Jones' Slave to the Rhythm. The title track was originally intended for Frankie Goes to Hollywood, but Island Records' founder, Chris Blackwell, suggested using the song for Jones. The album took nearly a year to produce and made pioneering use of the Synclavier system.
In 1986, Woolley and Grace Jones co-wrote and produced Jones' eighth studio album Inside Story with Nile Rodgers, which spawned the single "I'm Not Perfect (But I'm Perfect for You)". During production of the music video for this track, Woolley spent time with Andy Warhol, Timothy Leary and also Keith Haring, who were collectively responsible for set design. The song received an ASCAP Award for Black Music in 1987, presented to Woolley by Cab Calloway.