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Tony Hatch
Anthony Peter Hatch OBE (born 30 June 1939) is an English composer for musical theatre and television. He is also a songwriter, pianist, arranger and producer.
Hatch was born in Pinner, Middlesex. Encouraged by his musical abilities, his mother—a pianist herself–enrolled him in the London Choir School in Wansunt Road, Bexley, Kent when he was 10. Instead of continuing at the Royal Academy of Music, he left school in 1955 and found a job with Robert Mellin Music in London's Tin Pan Alley.
Not long after working as a tea boy, Hatch was writing songs (under the name Mark Anthony) and entered the recording industry when he joined The Rank Organisation's new subsidiary Top Rank Records; there he worked for future Decca Records A&R man Dick Rowe. While he served his National Service, he became involved with the Band of the Coldstream Guards.
On his return in 1959, Hatch began producing Top Rank artists such as Bert Weedon, the then unknown Adam Faith ("Ah, Poor Little Baby"), Josh MacRae (together with MacRae's early recordings with Scottish folk trio the Reivers), Jackie Dennis, Carry On comedy actor Kenneth Connor, and the Knightsbridge Strings, and started his own recording career with a version of Russ Conway's piano instrumental "Side Saddle". Although he used his real name Tony Hatch as a performer and producer, until about 1964 virtually all his songs were credited to Mark Anthony.
In 1960, Garry Mills's recording of the Mark Anthony composition "Look for a Star", featured in the film Circus of Horrors, became a Top Ten hit in the UK for Top Rank. Four versions of the song charted simultaneously in the United States, including Mills's original and a version by "Garry Miles" (a recording alias of future member of the Crickets, Buzz Cason). Top Rank, despite some worldwide success with artists such as Jack Scott and the Fireballs, ultimately failed because of an unusual distribution arrangement with EMI.
A swift succession of events ensued through 1961 that Top Rank was sold to EMI, briefly operated as a subsidiary, with hits by John Leyton, and shuttered, with its artists transferred to other EMI labels. Hatch moved on to a part-time job with Pye Records, where he assisted his new mentor, Alan A. Freeman, with the recording of "Sailor", a number 1 hit for Petula Clark.
As Mark Anthony, Hatch continued to write songs for Pye artists, including "Messing About on the River" for Josh MacRae. In 1963, Philadelphia teen idol Bobby Rydell hit the charts with "Forget Him" written and produced by Hatch (still writing as Mark Anthony); Hatch produced, arranged and wrote for other American stars such as Chubby Checker, Connie Francis, Pat Boone, Big Dee Irwin and Keely Smith. In 1963 he wrote (under the pseudonym of Fred Nightingale) the Searchers' hit "Sugar and Spice". By mid-1964, Hatch finally began using his own name as a composer regularly, with Tony Hatch being the credited author of many of Petula Clark's biggest mid-1960s hits, including "Downtown", "I Know a Place", and "Sign of the Times", among others. In February 1964, Hatch's song "I Love the Little Things" won the BBC's A Song for Europe contest, beating out the other five songs performed by Matt Monro; thus becoming the UK's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1964, where it placed second. The single of the track failed to reach the UK singles chart.
In November 1965, Hatch performed with David Bowie (then known as Davy Jones) in the band the Lower Third, in an unsuccessful audition for the BBC's Talent Selection Group. The band were not picked up for broadcast, with one member of the judging panel commenting "I don't think they'll get better with more rehearsals."
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Tony Hatch
Anthony Peter Hatch OBE (born 30 June 1939) is an English composer for musical theatre and television. He is also a songwriter, pianist, arranger and producer.
Hatch was born in Pinner, Middlesex. Encouraged by his musical abilities, his mother—a pianist herself–enrolled him in the London Choir School in Wansunt Road, Bexley, Kent when he was 10. Instead of continuing at the Royal Academy of Music, he left school in 1955 and found a job with Robert Mellin Music in London's Tin Pan Alley.
Not long after working as a tea boy, Hatch was writing songs (under the name Mark Anthony) and entered the recording industry when he joined The Rank Organisation's new subsidiary Top Rank Records; there he worked for future Decca Records A&R man Dick Rowe. While he served his National Service, he became involved with the Band of the Coldstream Guards.
On his return in 1959, Hatch began producing Top Rank artists such as Bert Weedon, the then unknown Adam Faith ("Ah, Poor Little Baby"), Josh MacRae (together with MacRae's early recordings with Scottish folk trio the Reivers), Jackie Dennis, Carry On comedy actor Kenneth Connor, and the Knightsbridge Strings, and started his own recording career with a version of Russ Conway's piano instrumental "Side Saddle". Although he used his real name Tony Hatch as a performer and producer, until about 1964 virtually all his songs were credited to Mark Anthony.
In 1960, Garry Mills's recording of the Mark Anthony composition "Look for a Star", featured in the film Circus of Horrors, became a Top Ten hit in the UK for Top Rank. Four versions of the song charted simultaneously in the United States, including Mills's original and a version by "Garry Miles" (a recording alias of future member of the Crickets, Buzz Cason). Top Rank, despite some worldwide success with artists such as Jack Scott and the Fireballs, ultimately failed because of an unusual distribution arrangement with EMI.
A swift succession of events ensued through 1961 that Top Rank was sold to EMI, briefly operated as a subsidiary, with hits by John Leyton, and shuttered, with its artists transferred to other EMI labels. Hatch moved on to a part-time job with Pye Records, where he assisted his new mentor, Alan A. Freeman, with the recording of "Sailor", a number 1 hit for Petula Clark.
As Mark Anthony, Hatch continued to write songs for Pye artists, including "Messing About on the River" for Josh MacRae. In 1963, Philadelphia teen idol Bobby Rydell hit the charts with "Forget Him" written and produced by Hatch (still writing as Mark Anthony); Hatch produced, arranged and wrote for other American stars such as Chubby Checker, Connie Francis, Pat Boone, Big Dee Irwin and Keely Smith. In 1963 he wrote (under the pseudonym of Fred Nightingale) the Searchers' hit "Sugar and Spice". By mid-1964, Hatch finally began using his own name as a composer regularly, with Tony Hatch being the credited author of many of Petula Clark's biggest mid-1960s hits, including "Downtown", "I Know a Place", and "Sign of the Times", among others. In February 1964, Hatch's song "I Love the Little Things" won the BBC's A Song for Europe contest, beating out the other five songs performed by Matt Monro; thus becoming the UK's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1964, where it placed second. The single of the track failed to reach the UK singles chart.
In November 1965, Hatch performed with David Bowie (then known as Davy Jones) in the band the Lower Third, in an unsuccessful audition for the BBC's Talent Selection Group. The band were not picked up for broadcast, with one member of the judging panel commenting "I don't think they'll get better with more rehearsals."