Andy Hill (composer)

For other people named Andy Hill, see Andy Hill (disambiguation).
Andy Hill
Birth name Andrew Gerard Hill
Born

1957 (age 58–59)


Bracknell, Berkshire, England

Genres Pop
Occupation(s) Songwriter, record producer, musician
Instruments Guitar, keyboards
Years active 1980–present
Labels Big Note Music, RCA
Associated acts Bucks Fizz and others

Andrew Gerrard Hill (born 1957 in Bracknell, Berkshire, England) is an English record producer and songwriter, who was involved in creating many hits during the 1980s and 1990s. He is most famous for his work with Bucks Fizz.

On many of his compositions he was partnered by lyricist Peter Sinfield, who had formerly worked with King Crimson.[1] He has been nominated for an Ivor Novello Awards on seven occasions, and has won the award twice in the category "Best Song Musically and Lyrically" and once for "Songwriter of the Year". He also composed the winning song in the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest.

Career

Hill first experienced his earliest success when he co-wrote and produced the UK's winning 1981 Eurovision Song Contest entry for Bucks Fizz, "Making Your Mind Up".[2]

Hill took part in the 1981 A Song For Europe contest, alongside his partner (and later his wife) Nichola Martin, with their band Gem, performing "Have You Ever Been in Love?" This was released as a single under the name Paris but did not chart. Leo Sayer took his version of the single into the UK Singles Chart.[3] The song been covered by many other musicians.

For much of the decade, Hill concentrated on carving a successful career for Bucks Fizz and following their Eurovision chart-topper, he went on to write and produce two further UK number 1's "The Land of Make Believe"[4] and "My Camera Never Lies".[5] By 1986 he was responsible for (either writing or producing) all 11 of the band's UK Top 20 hits.

Since then, he has also written for Celine Dion, Cliff Richard, Ronan Keating, Diana Ross, Cher, and Brian Kennedy. These writing credits include Celine Dion's "Think Twice" (1994),[6] which reached number one in the charts of Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom. In the UK, the song topped the chart for seven weeks in 1995,[7] and went on to sell over a million copies. It remains Hill's biggest hit to date. He also gained success in the US, when he partnered with Peter Cetera for his World Falling Down album. From this, the single "Restless Heart" reached number 1 on the Adult Contemporary Chart for 10 consecutive weeks.[8]

More recently he has written songs for Il Divo on their debut album,[9] and collaborated with Gary Barlow on Katherine Jenkins 2007 album, Rejoice.[10] He wrote "Proud" on Susan Boyle's 2009 album, I Dreamed a Dream, and has written songs for Westlife and Boyzone.

Compositions

The following is a selected list of his most popular songs (with the artist who most notably recorded it)

He has also provided songs for albums by the following musicians:

Producer

As a producer, Hill produced many of Bucks Fizz's biggest hits, as well as UK top ten hits "One Step Further" by Bardo;[23] "Real World" by D-Side[20] and the US AC number one "Restless Heart" by Peter Cetera.[17]

Performer

As a performer he played guitar, and performed backing vocals, on many of his own productions. He also sang lead vocals for his short-lived early 1980s band, Paris.[24] The group originally took part in the 1981 Song for Europe under the name Gem, with "Have You Ever Been in Love". Paris started out as a quartet of Hill, Nicola Martin (keyboards, backing vocals), Graham Broad (drums, backing vocals) and Ian Bairnson (guitars). Bairnson left the group after the first single and they remained a three-piece.[24]

Paris released four singles in total:

Date Single
March 1982 "Have You Ever Been in Love"[25]
May 1982 "No Getting Over You"[26]
January 1983 "Censored"[27]
July 1983 "Another Sad Affair"[28]

Of these, only "No Getting Over You" made the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number 49.[29]

Other work

From 2001 to 2006, Hill owned the Nyetimber[30] vineyard in West Sussex, one of England's best sparkling wine producers.[31]

References

  1. ↑ "Songwriting ~ Passion is a blue pencil". Songsouponsea.com. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  2. 1 2 "Bucks Fizz – Making Your Mind Up (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  3. ↑ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 483. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  4. 1 2 "The Land of Make Believe – Bucks Fizz : Listen, Appearances, Song Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  5. 1 2 "My Camera Never Lies – Bucks Fizz : Overview". Allmusic.com. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  6. 1 2 "Celine Dion* – Think Twice (CD) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  7. ↑ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 578. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  8. ↑ "Peter Cetera". Associatedentertainment.com. Archived from the original on 4 December 2012. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  9. ↑ Christopher, James (19 April 2005). "Il Divo – Il Divo : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  10. ↑ Mawer, Sharon. "Rejoice – Katherine Jenkins : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  11. ↑ "Piece of the Action – Bucks Fizz : Listen, Appearances, Song Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  12. ↑ "Leo Sayer – The Very Best Of (CD) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  13. ↑ "Now Those Days Are Gone – Bucks Fizz : Listen, Appearances, Song Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  14. ↑ "If You Can't Stand the Heat – Bucks Fizz : Listen, Appearances, Song Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  15. ↑ "Run for Your Life – Bucks Fizz : Listen, Appearances, Song Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  16. ↑ "Cher – Heart of Stone (CD, Album) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  17. 1 2 "Peter Cetera – Restless Heart (CD) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  18. ↑ "Peace in Our Time – Cliff Richard : Listen, Appearances, Song Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  19. ↑ "Celine Dion* – Call The Man (CD) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  20. 1 2 "D-Side – Real World (CD) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  21. ↑ "Westlife – Where We Are (CD, Album) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  22. ↑ "Proud – Susan Boyle : Listen, Appearances, Song Review". AllMusic. 23 November 2009. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  23. ↑ "Bardo – One Step Further (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  24. 1 2 "Paris (23) Discography at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  25. ↑ "Paris (23) – Have You Ever Been in Love (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  26. ↑ "Paris (23) – No Getting Over You (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs.com. 19 June 1982. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  27. ↑ "Paris (23) – Censored (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  28. ↑ "Paris (23) – Another Sad Affair (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  29. ↑ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 417. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  30. ↑ "Welcome to Nyetimber". Nyetimber.com. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  31. ↑ "Nyetimber Rosé Sparkling Wine". Waitrose. 21 November 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2013.

External links

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