Gordon Lorenz
Encyclopedia
Gordon Lorenz was an English
songwriter
and record producer
, who made his fame by writing the UK Christmas
number one hit "There's No-one Quite Like Grandma
" for St Winifred’s School
Choir
. Since the song's release, Lorenz has become one of the most prolific record producers in the music industry, producing over 800 albums (believed to be a world record
), selling eight million records, and earning seventeen platinum, gold and silver discs.
, an affluent suburb of Liverpool
, his parents were both members of the Salvation Army
. To improve projection of his voice, his parents sent him to drama school, where he was first introduced to show business. After leaving school he became a travelling evangelist
, travelling the United Kingdom
in support of various Salvation Army endeavours.
After his father died, he approached his mother nervously and told her that he wanted to become a full time musician. After struggling for a while, he was offered a job by Border Television
to write fill-in music between their various day time shows, where he was introduced to the recording studio
: "I always liked working in studios. They don't have any windows, they're always very quiet, deliberately conducive to concentration and work."
. Having initially turned it down, the managing director rang me and said he decided to put it out because he said he could not get grandma, we love you out of his mind: "If it's caught in my mind chances are that it will with the public, and we'll put it out for Christmas". It was one of the last Christmas singles to sell one million copies, won an Ivor Novello Award for highest selling record of 1980 - beating Barbra Streisand
's "Woman In Love
" and The Police
's "Don't Stand So Close to Me
".
Subsequently employed full time by EMI, Lorenz became one of the most prolific record producers in the music industry, producing over 800 albums (believed to be a world record), selling 8 million records, earning 17 platinum, gold and silver discs featuring some of the biggest international artists. After being asked by Unicef to help raise funds for children in Africa
suffering from HIV
and Aids
, he produced The Best Gospel Album In The World . . . Ever, which featured the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
, Philharmonia Orchestra
, Royal Choral Society
and Howells Girls Choir
. He also produced the five album series Your 100 Favourite Hymns that are still the biggest-selling religious recordings in history. In 2002, Lorenz wrote the song "Rejoice Rejoice" for the Queen's Golden Jubilee, sung by a 1,000 strong choir conducted by Sir David Willcocks outside Buckingham Palace
as the Queen left in her coach for a Thanksgiving service at St Paul's Cathedral
.
Approached by music manager Jonathan Shalit, Lorenz was asked to produce two songs for a 12 year old Charlotte Church
, and introduce her to the recording studio. Lorenz recorded and produced her first two recordings, including the recording of "Pie Jesu
".
Lorenz was a member of the British Academy of Composers and Authors, The Good Turns Society and The Music Publishers Association. He was also a vice-president of the Morriston Orpheus Choir
and Llandudno Town Brass Band.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
and record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, who made his fame by writing the UK Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
number one hit "There's No-one Quite Like Grandma
There's No-one Quite Like Grandma
"There's No One Quite Like Grandma" was a number one hit single by Stockport-based primary school choir St Winifred's School Choir from 27 December 1980 to 3 January 1981. It was written by Gordon Lorenz....
" for St Winifred’s School
St Winifred's Roman Catholic Primary School
St Winifred's Roman Catholic Primary School is a Roman Catholic primary school. Opened in 1936, the British school is a part of the Parish of Saint Winifred with Saint Mary in Heaton Mersey, Stockport, England; part of the Diocese of Salford....
Choir
St Winifred's School Choir
St Winifred's School Choir, from St Winifred's Roman Catholic Primary School in Stockport, United Kingdom, was a choir of children whose single in 1980 became the British Christmas number one single of that year. The song was entitled "There's No-one Quite Like Grandma", and it spent two weeks at...
. Since the song's release, Lorenz has become one of the most prolific record producers in the music industry, producing over 800 albums (believed to be a world record
World record
A world record is usually the best global performance ever recorded and verified in a specific skill or sport. The book Guinness World Records collates and publishes notable records of all types, from first and best to worst human achievements, to extremes in the natural world and beyond...
), selling eight million records, and earning seventeen platinum, gold and silver discs.
Biography
Born in ChildwallChildwall
Childwall is a suburb of Liverpool, Merseyside, England and a Liverpool City Council Ward. It is located to the south of the city, bordered by Gateacre, Wavertree, Belle Vale, Broadgreen, Bowring Park and Mossley Hill...
, an affluent suburb of Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, his parents were both members of the Salvation Army
Salvation Army
The Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian church known for its thrift stores and charity work. It is an international movement that currently works in over a hundred countries....
. To improve projection of his voice, his parents sent him to drama school, where he was first introduced to show business. After leaving school he became a travelling evangelist
Evangelism
Evangelism refers to the practice of relaying information about a particular set of beliefs to others who do not hold those beliefs. The term is often used in reference to Christianity....
, travelling the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in support of various Salvation Army endeavours.
After his father died, he approached his mother nervously and told her that he wanted to become a full time musician. After struggling for a while, he was offered a job by Border Television
Border Television
Border Television is the ITV franchise holder for the Border region, spanning the England/Scotland border and covering Dumfries & Galloway region, a small part of the south-west area of Ayrshire, the Scottish Borders, parts of north and west Northumberland and the majority of Cumbria...
to write fill-in music between their various day time shows, where he was introduced to the recording studio
Recording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
: "I always liked working in studios. They don't have any windows, they're always very quiet, deliberately conducive to concentration and work."
Writer/producer
In 1980, Lorenz wrote "There's No One Quite Like Grandma" to tie in with the Queen Mother's 80th birthday, and sent it to EMIEMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
. Having initially turned it down, the managing director rang me and said he decided to put it out because he said he could not get grandma, we love you out of his mind: "If it's caught in my mind chances are that it will with the public, and we'll put it out for Christmas". It was one of the last Christmas singles to sell one million copies, won an Ivor Novello Award for highest selling record of 1980 - beating Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
's "Woman In Love
Woman in Love
"Woman in Love" is a popular song performed by Barbra Streisand and taken from her 1980 album, Guilty. The song was written by Barry and Robin Gibb of The Bee Gees....
" and The Police
The Police
The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For the vast majority of their history, the band consisted of Sting , Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland...
's "Don't Stand So Close to Me
Don't Stand So Close to Me
"Don't Stand So Close to Me" is a 1980 song and hit single by the British rock band The Police. It concerns a schoolgirl's crush on her young teacher and the teacher's nervousness about the situation. The Police won the 1982 "Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal"...
".
Subsequently employed full time by EMI, Lorenz became one of the most prolific record producers in the music industry, producing over 800 albums (believed to be a world record), selling 8 million records, earning 17 platinum, gold and silver discs featuring some of the biggest international artists. After being asked by Unicef to help raise funds for children in Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
suffering from HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
and Aids
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
, he produced The Best Gospel Album In The World . . . Ever, which featured the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It tours widely, and is sometimes referred to as "Britain's national orchestra"...
, Philharmonia Orchestra
Philharmonia Orchestra
The Philharmonia Orchestra is one of the leading orchestras in Great Britain, based in London. Since 1995, it has been based in the Royal Festival Hall. In Britain it is also the resident orchestra at De Montfort Hall, Leicester and the Corn Exchange, Bedford, as well as The Anvil, Basingstoke...
, Royal Choral Society
Royal Choral Society
The Royal Choral Society is an amateur choir, based in London. Formed soon after the opening of the Royal Albert Hall in 1871, the choir gave its first performance as the Royal Albert Hall Choral Society on 8 May 1872 – the choir's first conductor Charles Gounod included the Hallelujah Chorus from...
and Howells Girls Choir
Howell's School Llandaff
Howell’s School Llandaff is an independent school in Llandaff, Cardiff. The school teaches girls from the age of 3 years up to 18, and contains a nursery, junior, senior school and a sixth form college...
. He also produced the five album series Your 100 Favourite Hymns that are still the biggest-selling religious recordings in history. In 2002, Lorenz wrote the song "Rejoice Rejoice" for the Queen's Golden Jubilee, sung by a 1,000 strong choir conducted by Sir David Willcocks outside Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace, in London, is the principal residence and office of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality...
as the Queen left in her coach for a Thanksgiving service at St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral, London, is a Church of England cathedral and seat of the Bishop of London. Its dedication to Paul the Apostle dates back to the original church on this site, founded in AD 604. St Paul's sits at the top of Ludgate Hill, the highest point in the City of London, and is the mother...
.
Approached by music manager Jonathan Shalit, Lorenz was asked to produce two songs for a 12 year old Charlotte Church
Charlotte Church
Charlotte Maria Church is a Welsh singer-songwriter, actress and television presenter. She rose to fame in childhood as a classical singer before branching into pop music in 2005. By 2007, she had sold more than 10 million records worldwide including over 5 million in the United States...
, and introduce her to the recording studio. Lorenz recorded and produced her first two recordings, including the recording of "Pie Jesu
Pie Jesu
Pie Jesu is a motet derived from the final couplet of the Dies irae and often included in musical settings of the Requiem Mass. The settings of the Requiem Mass by Luigi Cherubini, Gabriel Fauré, Maurice Duruflé, John Rutter, Karl Jenkins and Fredrik Sixten include a Pie Jesu as an independent...
".
Lorenz was a member of the British Academy of Composers and Authors, The Good Turns Society and The Music Publishers Association. He was also a vice-president of the Morriston Orpheus Choir
Morriston Orpheus Choir
The Morriston Orpheus Choir, based in Morriston, near Swansea, Wales, is a male voice choir, one of the best-known in the UK.-History:The Choir was formed on April 23, 1935 by Ivor E. Sims and in its early days concentrated primarily on competitions and local concerts...
and Llandudno Town Brass Band.
Produced artists
Choirs
- Royal Philharmonic OrchestraRoyal Philharmonic OrchestraThe Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It tours widely, and is sometimes referred to as "Britain's national orchestra"...
- BBC Concert OrchestraBBC Concert OrchestraThe BBC Concert Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London, one of the British Broadcasting Corporation's five radio orchestras. With around fifty players, it is the only one of the five which is not a full-scale symphony orchestra....
- City of London SinfoniaCity of London SinfoniaThe City of London Sinfonia is an English chamber orchestra based in London. In London, the CLS performs regularly at Cadogan Hall and St Paul's Cathedral. It is also the resident orchestra at Opera Holland Park. The CLS has annual residencies in four towns in Southern England: Ipswich, King's...
- Choir of St Paul's CathedralSt Paul's CathedralSt Paul's Cathedral, London, is a Church of England cathedral and seat of the Bishop of London. Its dedication to Paul the Apostle dates back to the original church on this site, founded in AD 604. St Paul's sits at the top of Ludgate Hill, the highest point in the City of London, and is the mother...
- Choir of York MinsterYork MinsterYork Minster is a Gothic cathedral in York, England and is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe alongside Cologne Cathedral. The minster is the seat of the Archbishop of York, the second-highest office of the Church of England, and is the cathedral for the Diocese of York; it is run by...
- Choir of Exeter
- Choir of Guildford
- Choir of St George's Chapel Windsor Castle
- Bridgend Male Choir