Andy Hill (composer)

Andy Hill (born Andrew Gerrard Hill, 1957 in Bracknell, England) is a British music producer and songwriter who scored many hits during the 1980s and 90s. He is most famous for his work with Bucks Fizz.

Career

Andy 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".

Ironically, Hill himself took part in the 1981 A Song For Europe contest, alongside his partner (later 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 didn't chart. Leo Sayer took his version of the single into the UK top 10.^[1] The song has gone on to be covered by many artists.

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 No.1's "The Land Of Make Believe" and "My Camera Never Lies". 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" 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 charts for seven weeks and went on to sell over a million copies. It currently stands as the 45th highest selling single of all time in the UK.^[2] 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 No.1 on the Adult Contemporary Chart for 10 consecutive weeks.^[3]

On many of his compositions he was partnered by lyricist Pete Sinfield, who had formerly worked with King Crimson.^[4]

Most recently he has written songs for Il Divo on their multi platinum selling debut album and collaborated with Gary Barlow on Katherine Jenkins 2007 album Rejoice. He wrote "Proud" on Susan Boyle's worldwide 10 million selling album of 2009 and has written songs for Westlife and Boyzone.

He has been nominated for an Ivor Novello award on seven occasions and has won the award twice in the category "Best Song Musically and Lyrically" and once for "Songwriter of the Year".

Compositions

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

• "Making Your Mind Up" (Bucks Fizz, 1981)
• "Piece of the Action" (Bucks Fizz, 1981)
• "The Land of Make Believe" (Bucks Fizz) 1981
• "Have You Ever Been in Love" (Leo Sayer, 1982)
• "My Camera Never Lies" (Bucks Fizz, 1982)
• "Now Those Days are Gone" (Bucks Fizz, 1982)
• "If You Can't Stand the Heat" (Bucks Fizz, 1982)
• "Run for Your Life" (Bucks Fizz, 1983)
• "Heart of Stone" (Cher, 1989)
• "Restless Heart" (Peter Cetera, 1992)
• "Peace in Our Time" (Cliff Richard, 1993)
• "Think Twice" (Celine Dion, 1994)
• "Call the Man" (Celine Dion, 1996)
• "Real World" (D-Side, 2003)
• "I'll See You Again" (Westlife, 2009)
• "Proud"" (Susan Boyle, 2009)

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

• Boyzone
• Michael Ball
• Bonnie Tyler
• Lulu
• Elaine Paige
• Elkie Brooks
• Jane Weidlin
• Vanessa Mae
• Barbara Dickson
• Nick Berry
• Albert Hammond ^[5]

Producer

As a producer, he produced many of Bucks Fizz's biggest hits as well as UK top ten hits "One Step Further" by Bardo,"Real World" by D-Side and the US AC #1 "Restless Heart" by Peter Cetera.

His trademark as a Producer tended to consist of full productions with heavy drum sounds. Critics have called his production both "cluttered" and "stylish".

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. 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.

Paris released four singles in total:

Of these, only "No Getting Over You" made the UK Charts, peaking at No.49.^[6]

Other work

From 2001 to 2006, Hill owned the Nyetimber vineyard in West Sussex, one of England's best sparkling wine producers.^[7]

References

1. www.chartstats.com
2. thecustard.tv links and lists The Ultimate Chart
3. Peter Cetera
4. Songwriting ~ Passion is a blue pencil
5. Song details: Through the eyes of a child - Albert Hammond
6. Chart Stats - Paris - No Getting Over You
7. Waitrose magazine article

External links

• Andy Hill fan site

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