Tony Hatch
Encyclopedia
Anthony Peter "Tony" Hatch (born 30 June 1939) is an English composer, songwriter, pianist, music arranger
and producer.
, North London
. Encouraged by his musical abilities, his mother – also a pianist – 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
.
Before long, he was writing songs and making a name for himself within the recording industry, joining The Rank Organisation's new subsidiary Top Rank Records; there he worked for the once and future Decca Records
A&R man Dick Rowe
. While he served his National Service
, he managed to become involved with the band of the Coldstream Guards
. On his return in 1959, Hatch began his own recording career with a cover version of Russ Conway
's piano instrumental "Side Saddle". In 1960, Garry Mills
' (trumpeter Nat Gonella
's nephew) recording of Hatch's 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' 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 artist roster 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
.
Hatch continued to write songs for Pye artists, sometimes under the pseudonym 'Mark Anthony'. In 1963, Philadelphia teen idol Bobby Rydell
hit the charts with "Forget Him" written and produced by Hatch, who went on to produce, arrange and write for other American stars such as Keely Smith
, Connie Francis
and Pat Boone
. In 1964 he wrote (under the pseudonym of 'Fred Nightingale') the Searchers
' hit "Sugar and Spice
".
While at Pye, he produced many of their artists; The Searchers, David Bowie
, and The Montanas
, among others.
, he became her regular producer. They collaborated on a series of French language recordings for Vogue Records
. (Clark, whose husband was French and who spoke the language fluently, had a successful career throughout Europe.) Hatch became one of her regular songwriting partners, in addition to supplying English lyrics for songs she had composed with French lyricist
s.
In 1964, Hatch made his first trip to New York City in search of new material for Clark. The visit inspired him to write "Downtown
", originally with The Drifters
in mind. When Clark heard the still unfinished tune, she told him that if he could write lyrics to match the quality of the music, she would record the song as her next single. Its release transformed her into a huge international star, topping charts globally early in 1965, and introducing her to the US market. The year also yielded the remarkable series of hits "I Know A Place
", "You'd Better Come Home", and "Round Every Corner" for Clark. She and Hatch wrote "You're The One", which became a major hit for The Vogues
. Tony Hatch and Petula Clark became established as the British equivalent of Burt Bacharach
and Dionne Warwick
. In 1965 Hatch's first album under his own name was released. The Downtown Sound of Tony Hatch, features instrumental versions of some of his best known songs, along with new compositions.
The song "Call Me", written for and recorded by Petula Clark in 1965, was recorded by Chris Montez
later in the year. Released in November 1965, Montez's version entered the US Easy Listening Top 40 in Billboard that December, and the Billboard Hot 100 in January 1966, peaking that March on the Easy Listening chart at #2 and on the Hot 100 at #22.
Petula Clark's run of hits continued with "My Love
", "A Sign Of The Times
", "Who Am I?", "Colour My World
", and "I Couldn't Live Without Your Love
". Hatch also wrote Clark's 1967 hits "Don't Sleep In The Subway
" and "The Other Man's Grass Is Always Greener
".
and Wings
. When asked to write a song to be featured in the Inspector Rose series, It's Dark Outside, he supplied "Where Are You Now?
", with lyrics and vocals by a recently acquired Pye artist, Jackie Trent
. The song immediately clicked with the public and shot to number 1 in the charts.
Though still married to his first wife, Hatch began an affair with Jackie Trent
, who had become a frequent songwriting collaborator. This ongoing affair was the inspiration for the song "I Couldn't Live Without Your Love".
Hatch and Trent were married in 1966. Their duet "The Two Of Us" topped the Australian charts and created a demand for concert and cabaret performances earning the duo the nickname of "Mr & Mrs Music". His compositions for Sportsnight
, The Doctors, Codename, Back to the Land, The Champions
, Hadleigh
, Mr and Mrs and Whodunnit!
established Hatch as a composer of television theme tunes.
The couple also wrote the song "Joanna
", a hit for Scott Walker
. One of their more unusual collaborations was the song "We'll be with you" written for Stoke City Football Club in the club's successful run for the League Cup in 1972. The song is still sung by fans as the team runs out on matchdays.
During the 1970s, Hatch and Trent diversified into musical theatre. Their first project, The Card
, based on Arnold Bennett
's novel, with book by Keith Waterhouse
and Willis Hall
, ran in London's West End with Jim Dale
and Millicent Martin
in the lead roles. (Coincidentally, Petula Clark had starred in the 1952 film version with Alec Guinness
.) An original cast album was released in 1975. A rewritten version of the show, starring Peter Duncan
and Hayley Mills
, played the Regent's Park
Open Air Theatre in the 1990s and spawned a new cast album. The second Hatch/Trent musical was Rock Nativity, with book and lyrics by David Wood
. Initiated and produced by Cameron Mackintosh
, it first played in Newcastle
. An updated version of the show toured nationally in 1976 and was broadcast nationally by Scottish TV. A full-length concert version was recorded at the Cork Opera House
for the Irish television state broadcaster RTE
. In 1972, he composed the original theme to Emmerdale Farm. During the 1970s Hatch was also a regular panellist on the talent show New Faces
where his blunt style of assessing the contestants has proved to be a forerunner of approaches to come in later, similar series.
After completing the music score to the movie Sweeney 2
in 1978, Hatch and Trent moved to Dublin, where they remained for four years, hosting their own TV series, Words And Music and It's A Musical World. Hatch continued to produce hit TV themes for series such as Seagull Island and Airline
before moving to Australia in 1982. While there, the couple wrote one of their most famous compositions, the theme for the TV soap opera Neighbours
. They separated in 1995, and divorced in 2002.
's radio show, The Shuttleworths in 1994.
In 2003, a disco
remix of the original recording of "Downtown" was released in Australia by The OUTpsiDER with the blessing of both Hatch and Clark and became a major hit. A souvenir CD box-set of six of Hatch's albums (four from the 60s and two from the 70s – including one with Jackie Trent), all in replicas of their original covers, was released in 2005.
In 2010 the song "Push A Little Button", written by Hatch and performed by his (then 15 year old) sister Ninette and released on the Pye Records
label in 1966, was used as the soundtrack for a campaign by UK TV Licensing, promoting the availability of online methods of paying a UK TV licence (which funds the BBC).
Arrangement
The American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
and producer.
Early life and early career
Hatch was born in PinnerPinner
- Climate :Pinner's geographical position on the far western side of North West London makes it the furthest London suburb from any UK coastline. Hence the lower prevalence of moderating maritime influences make Pinner noticeably warmer in the spring and the summer compared to the rest of the capital...
, North London
North London
North London is the northern part of London, England. It is an imprecise description and the area it covers is defined differently for a range of purposes. Common to these definitions is that it includes districts located north of the River Thames and is used in comparison with South...
. Encouraged by his musical abilities, his mother – also a pianist – enrolled him in the London Choir School in Wansunt Road, Bexley
Bexley
Bexley is an South East London]] in the London Borough of Bexley, London, England. It is located on the banks of the River Cray south of the Roman Road, Watling Street...
, Kent when he was 10. Instead of continuing at the Royal Academy of Music
Royal Academy of Music
The Royal Academy of Music in London, England, is a conservatoire, Britain's oldest degree-granting music school and a constituent college of the University of London since 1999. The Academy was founded by Lord Burghersh in 1822 with the help and ideas of the French harpist and composer Nicolas...
, he left school in 1955 and found a job with Robert Mellin Music in London's Tin Pan Alley
Tin Pan Alley
Tin Pan Alley is the name given to the collection of New York City music publishers and songwriters who dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th century and early 20th century...
.
Before long, he was writing songs and making a name for himself within the recording industry, joining The Rank Organisation's new subsidiary Top Rank Records; there he worked for the once and future Decca Records
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
A&R man Dick Rowe
Dick Rowe
Richard Paul Rowe was an A&R man at Decca Records from the 1950s to the 1960s.He was one of the most important producers and record executives in the United Kingdom in the 1950s and early 1960s and is the man who signed The Rolling Stones, Them , The Moody Blues, The Animals, The Zombies, John...
. While he served his National Service
National service
National service is a common name for mandatory government service programmes . The term became common British usage during and for some years following the Second World War. Many young people spent one or more years in such programmes...
, he managed to become involved with the band of the Coldstream Guards
Coldstream Guards
Her Majesty's Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards, also known officially as the Coldstream Guards , is a regiment of the British Army, part of the Guards Division or Household Division....
. On his return in 1959, Hatch began his own recording career with a cover version of Russ Conway
Russ Conway
Russ Conway was a British popular music pianist. Conway had 20 piano instrumentals in the UK Singles Chart between 1957 and 1963, including two number one hits.-Career:...
's piano instrumental "Side Saddle". In 1960, Garry Mills
Garry Mills
Garry Mills , was a British pop singer.Mills had three hits on the UK Singles Chart in the early 1960s. "Look for a Star" hit #7 in 1960, followed by "Top Teen Baby" later that same year and "I'll Step Down" in 1961...
' (trumpeter Nat Gonella
Nat Gonella
Nathaniel Charles Gonella was an English jazz trumpeter, bandleader, vocalist and mellophonist born in London, perhaps most notable for his work with the big band he founded, The Georgians....
's nephew) recording of Hatch's composition "Look For A Star", featured in the film Circus of Horrors
Circus of Horrors
Circus of Horrors is a 1960 British horror film directed by Sidney Hayers. It starred Anton Diffring, Yvonne Monlaur, Erika Remberg, Kenneth Griffith, Jane Hylton, Conrad Phillips, Yvonne Romain and Donald Pleasence....
, became a Top Ten hit in the UK for Top Rank. Four versions of the song charted simultaneously in the United States, including Mills' original and a version by 'Garry Miles' (a recording alias of future member of The Crickets
The Crickets
The Crickets are a rock & roll band from Lubbock, Texas, formed by singer/songwriter Buddy Holly in the 1950s. Their first hit record was "That'll Be the Day", released in 1957....
, Buzz Cason
Buzz Cason
Buzz Cason is an American rock singer, songwriter, producer and author....
) Top Rank, despite some worldwide success with artists such as Jack Scott and The Fireballs
The Fireballs
The Fireballs, sometimes billed as Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs, is an American rock and roll group, particularly popular at the end of the 1950s and in the early 1960s...
, 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
John Leyton
John Leyton is an English actor and singer. As a singer he is best known for his hit song, "Johnny Remember Me" , which reached Number 1 in the UK Singles Chart in August 1961.-Career:Leyton went to Highgate School and after completing his national service, he...
, and shuttered, with its artist roster transferred to other EMI labels. Hatch moved on to a part-time job with Pye Records
Pye Records
Pye Records was a British record label. In its first incarnation, perhaps Pye's best known artists were Lonnie Donegan , Petula Clark , The Searchers , The Kinks , Sandie Shaw and Brotherhood of Man...
, where he assisted his new mentor, Alan A. Freeman
Alan A. Freeman
Alan A. Freeman was an English record producer, remembered for being Petula Clark's producer from 1949 until 1963, when his role was taken over by Tony Hatch...
, with the recording of "Sailor", a number 1 hit for Petula Clark
Petula Clark
Petula Clark, CBE is an English singer, actress, and composer whose career has spanned seven decades.Clark's professional career began as an entertainer on BBC Radio during World War II...
.
Hatch continued to write songs for Pye artists, sometimes under the pseudonym 'Mark Anthony'. In 1963, Philadelphia teen idol Bobby Rydell
Bobby Rydell
Bobby Rydell is an American professional singer, mainly of rock and roll music. In the early 1960s he was considered a so-called "teen idol"...
hit the charts with "Forget Him" written and produced by Hatch, who went on to produce, arrange and write for other American stars such as Keely Smith
Keely Smith
Keely Smith is an American jazz and popular music singer who enjoyed popularity in the 1950s and 1960s. She collaborated with, among others, Louis Prima and Frank Sinatra.-Career:...
, Connie Francis
Connie Francis
Connie Francis is an American pop singer of Italian heritage and the top-charting female vocalist of the 1950s and 1960s. Although her chart success waned in the second half of the 1960s, Francis remained a top concert draw...
and Pat Boone
Pat Boone
Charles Eugene "Pat" Boone is an American singer, actor and writer who has been a successful pop singer in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. He covered black artists' songs and sold more copies than his black counterparts...
. In 1964 he wrote (under the pseudonym of 'Fred Nightingale') the Searchers
The Searchers (band)
The Searchers are an English beat group, who emerged as part of the 1960s Merseybeat scene along with The Beatles, The Fourmost, The Merseybeats, The Swinging Blue Jeans, and Gerry & The Pacemakers....
' hit "Sugar and Spice
Sugar and Spice (song)
"Sugar and Spice" is a 1963 song by Merseybeat band The Searchers written by Tony Hatch under the pseudonym Fred Nightingale. It made number two on the UK charts and number 44 in the USA charts....
".
While at Pye, he produced many of their artists; The Searchers, David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
, and The Montanas
The Montanas
The Montanas were a 1960s and 1970s rock and roll band, from Wolverhampton, England. Though they never found significant success in their home country, they had one minor hit in the United States.The group formed in 1964 and became known for their live shows...
, among others.
Collaboration with Petula Clark
After "Valentino", the first of Hatch's compositions to be recorded by Petula ClarkPetula Clark
Petula Clark, CBE is an English singer, actress, and composer whose career has spanned seven decades.Clark's professional career began as an entertainer on BBC Radio during World War II...
, he became her regular producer. They collaborated on a series of French language recordings for Vogue Records
Vogue Records
Vogue Records was a short-lived United States based record label of the 1940s, noted for the artwork embedded in the records themselves. Founded in 1946 as part of Sav-Way Industries of Detroit, Michigan, the discs were initially a hit, because of the novelty of the colorful artwork, and the...
. (Clark, whose husband was French and who spoke the language fluently, had a successful career throughout Europe.) Hatch became one of her regular songwriting partners, in addition to supplying English lyrics for songs she had composed with French lyricist
Lyricist
A lyricist is a songwriter who specializes in lyrics. A singer who writes the lyrics to songs is a singer-lyricist. This differentiates from a singer-composer, who composes the song's melody.-Collaboration:...
s.
In 1964, Hatch made his first trip to New York City in search of new material for Clark. The visit inspired him to write "Downtown
Downtown (Petula Clark song)
"Downtown" is a pop song composed by Tony Hatch which, as recorded by Petula Clark, became an international hit – No. 1 in the US and No. 2 in the UK – at the end of 1964.-Original recording:...
", originally with The Drifters
The Drifters
The Drifters are a long-lived American doo-wop and R&B/soul vocal group with a peak in popularity from 1953 to 1963, though several splinter Drifters continue to perform today. They were originally formed to serve as Clyde McPhatter's backing group in 1953...
in mind. When Clark heard the still unfinished tune, she told him that if he could write lyrics to match the quality of the music, she would record the song as her next single. Its release transformed her into a huge international star, topping charts globally early in 1965, and introducing her to the US market. The year also yielded the remarkable series of hits "I Know A Place
I Know a Place
"I Know a Place" is a song with music and lyrics by Tony Hatch. It was recorded in 1965 by Petula Clark at the Pye Studios in Marble Arch in a session which featured drummer Bobby Graham and the Breakaways vocal group....
", "You'd Better Come Home", and "Round Every Corner" for Clark. She and Hatch wrote "You're The One", which became a major hit for The Vogues
The Vogues
The Vogues are an American vocal group from Turtle Creek, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh. The original group consisted of Bill Burkette , Don Miller , Hugh Geyer and Chuck Blasko .-Career:...
. Tony Hatch and Petula Clark became established as the British equivalent of Burt Bacharach
Burt Bacharach
Burt F. Bacharach is an American pianist, composer and music producer. He is known for his popular hit songs and compositions from the mid-1950s through the 1980s, with lyrics written by Hal David. Many of their hits were produced specifically for, and performed by, Dionne Warwick...
and Dionne Warwick
Dionne Warwick
Dionne Warwick is an American singer, actress and TV show host, who became a United Nations Global Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization, and a United States Ambassador of Health....
. In 1965 Hatch's first album under his own name was released. The Downtown Sound of Tony Hatch, features instrumental versions of some of his best known songs, along with new compositions.
The song "Call Me", written for and recorded by Petula Clark in 1965, was recorded by Chris Montez
Chris Montez
Chris Montez , is an American singer.-Early life:Montez grew up in Hawthorne, California, influenced by the Latino-flavored music of his community and the success of Ritchie Valens....
later in the year. Released in November 1965, Montez's version entered the US Easy Listening Top 40 in Billboard that December, and the Billboard Hot 100 in January 1966, peaking that March on the Easy Listening chart at #2 and on the Hot 100 at #22.
Petula Clark's run of hits continued with "My Love
My Love (Petula Clark song)
"My Love" is a 1965 single release by Petula Clark which in early 1966 became an international hit, reaching #1 in the US: Clark's regular songwriter and producer Tony Hatch was responsible for "My Love"....
", "A Sign Of The Times
A Sign of the Times
"A Sign of the Times" was the followup to Petula Clark's #1 US hit "My Love", continuing her association with writer/producer Tony Hatch though with a more percussive sound than was evident on Clark's previous singles – or would be evident on her later ones....
", "Who Am I?", "Colour My World
Colour My World (Petula Clark song)
"Colour My World" is a song written by Tony Hatch and Jackie Trent recorded by Petula Clark in 1966.While overall conforming to the hit formula Hatch had come up with for Clark with "Downtown" - and being especially reminiscent of Clark's 1965 #1 hit "My Love - "Colour My World" acknowledged the...
", and "I Couldn't Live Without Your Love
I Couldn't Live Without Your Love
"I Couldn't Live Without Your Love" is a 1966 single written by Tony Hatch and Jackie Trent and recorded by Petula Clark. It was inspired by the affair the songwriters were having at the time....
". Hatch also wrote Clark's 1967 hits "Don't Sleep In The Subway
Don't Sleep in the Subway
"Don't Sleep in the Subway" is a song written by Tony Hatch and Jackie Trent and recorded by Petula Clark. Released in April 1967, it peaked at #5 on the US charts that June. It was Clark's final US top-ten single and the second of two #1 hits on the Billboard Easy Listening chart, following "I...
" and "The Other Man's Grass Is Always Greener
The Other Man's Grass Is Always Greener
"The Other Man's Grass Is Always Greener" is a song written by Tony Hatch and Jackie Trent which was a 1967 hit for Petula Clark.After working exclusively with producer/songwriter Tony Hatch following their 1964 breakout collaboration "Downtown", Clark had had her most successful single ever in the...
".
Collaboration and life with Jackie Trent
In 1964, Hatch was hired to write his first television theme, for the soap opera Crossroads. It would become one of his best-known compositions, and have the distinction of being re-worked by Paul McCartneyPaul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
and Wings
Wings (band)
Wings were a British-American rock group formed in 1971 by Paul McCartney, Denny Laine and Linda McCartney that remained active until 1981....
. When asked to write a song to be featured in the Inspector Rose series, It's Dark Outside, he supplied "Where Are You Now?
Where Are You Now (My Love)
"Where Are You Now " is a 1965 song written by Tony Hatch and Jackie Trent, and was recorded by Trent. The single gave Trent her one and only solo #1 hit when it reached the top of the UK Singles Chart for one week in May 1965...
", with lyrics and vocals by a recently acquired Pye artist, Jackie Trent
Jackie Trent
Jackie Trent is an English singer, songwriter, and actress.-Career:Trent's first stage appearance was as a ten-year-old ingenue in the pantomime Babes In The Wood, but her primary interest was a career in pop music...
. The song immediately clicked with the public and shot to number 1 in the charts.
Though still married to his first wife, Hatch began an affair with Jackie Trent
Jackie Trent
Jackie Trent is an English singer, songwriter, and actress.-Career:Trent's first stage appearance was as a ten-year-old ingenue in the pantomime Babes In The Wood, but her primary interest was a career in pop music...
, who had become a frequent songwriting collaborator. This ongoing affair was the inspiration for the song "I Couldn't Live Without Your Love".
Hatch and Trent were married in 1966. Their duet "The Two Of Us" topped the Australian charts and created a demand for concert and cabaret performances earning the duo the nickname of "Mr & Mrs Music". His compositions for Sportsnight
Sportsnight
Sportsnight was a midweek BBC television sports programme that ran from 1968 until 1997.-Sportsview:Sportsnight was a successor to Sportsview which started on 8 April 1954. Sportsview was devised by Paul Fox, later Controller of BBC1 and Peter Dimmock was the original host for a decade...
, The Doctors, Codename, Back to the Land, The Champions
The Champions
The Champions is a British espionage/science fiction/occult detective fiction adventure series consisting of 30 episodes broadcast on the UK network ITV during 1968–1969, produced by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment production company...
, Hadleigh
Hadleigh (TV series)
Hadleigh was a British television series made by Yorkshire Television which originally ran from 1969 to 1976. Developed by Robert Barr, it was a sequel to the writer's earlier Gazette for the same company...
, Mr and Mrs and Whodunnit!
Whodunnit!
Whodunnit? is a British television game show, broadcast between 1972 and 1978 for ITV by Thames Television.It was written by Lance Percival and Jeremy Lloyd, and hosted first by Edward Woodward, then by Jon Pertwee...
established Hatch as a composer of television theme tunes.
The couple also wrote the song "Joanna
Joanna (Scott Walker song)
"Joanna" is a song written by the husband and wife song-writing team Tony Hatch and Jackie Trent.Scott Walker recorded the song and released it as a single in 1968 shortly after the release of his second album Scott 2. The single hit the top ten in the UK and is one of Walker's most popular...
", a hit for Scott Walker
Scott Walker (singer)
Scott Walker, born Noel Scott Engel on January 9, 1943 is an American singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and the former lead singer of The Walker Brothers. Despite being American born, Walker's chart success has largely come in the United Kingdom, where his first four solo albums...
. One of their more unusual collaborations was the song "We'll be with you" written for Stoke City Football Club in the club's successful run for the League Cup in 1972. The song is still sung by fans as the team runs out on matchdays.
During the 1970s, Hatch and Trent diversified into musical theatre. Their first project, The Card
The Card (musical)
The Card is a musical with a book by Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall and music and lyrics by Tony Hatch and Jackie Trent.Based on Arnold Bennett's 1911 comedic novel of the same name, it chronicles the rise of Denry Machin from washerwoman's son to Mayor of Bursley through luck, guile, initiative,...
, based on Arnold Bennett
Arnold Bennett
- Early life :Bennett was born in a modest house in Hanley in the Potteries district of Staffordshire. Hanley is one of a conurbation of six towns which joined together at the beginning of the twentieth century as Stoke-on-Trent. Enoch Bennett, his father, qualified as a solicitor in 1876, and the...
's novel, with book by Keith Waterhouse
Keith Waterhouse
Keith Spencer Waterhouse CBE was a novelist, newspaper columnist, and the writer of many television series.-Biography:Keith Waterhouse was born in Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England...
and Willis Hall
Willis Hall
Willis Hall was an English playwright and radio and television writer who drew on his working class roots in Leeds for much of his writings....
, ran in London's West End with Jim Dale
Jim Dale
Jim Dale, MBE is an English actor, voice artist, singer and songwriter. He is best known in the United Kingdom for his many appearances in the Carry On series of films and in the US for narrating the Harry Potter audiobook series, for which he received two Grammy Awards, and the ABC series Pushing...
and Millicent Martin
Millicent Martin
Millicent Mary Lillian Martin is an English actress, singer and comedienne.Martin was born in Romford, England. She made her Broadway debut opposite Julie Andrews in The Boy Friend in 1954...
in the lead roles. (Coincidentally, Petula Clark had starred in the 1952 film version with Alec Guinness
Alec Guinness
Sir Alec Guinness, CH, CBE was an English actor. He was featured in several of the Ealing Comedies, including Kind Hearts and Coronets in which he played eight different characters. He later won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Colonel Nicholson in The Bridge on the River Kwai...
.) An original cast album was released in 1975. A rewritten version of the show, starring Peter Duncan
Peter Duncan (actor)
Peter Duncan is a British actor and television presenter, best known as a former presenter of Blue Peter and for his later family travel documentaries.-Education:...
and Hayley Mills
Hayley Mills
Hayley Mills is an English actress. The daughter of John Mills and Mary Hayley Bell, and sister of actress Juliet Mills, Mills began her acting career as a child and was hailed as a promising newcomer, winning the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer for Tiger Bay , the Academy Juvenile Award...
, played the Regent's Park
Regent's Park
Regent's Park is one of the Royal Parks of London. It is in the north-western part of central London, partly in the City of Westminster and partly in the London Borough of Camden...
Open Air Theatre in the 1990s and spawned a new cast album. The second Hatch/Trent musical was Rock Nativity, with book and lyrics by David Wood
David Wood (actor)
David Wood OBE is an English-born actor and writer, called "the National Children's Dramatist" by The Times.He was educated at Chichester High School For Boys and Worcester College, Oxford....
. Initiated and produced by Cameron Mackintosh
Cameron Mackintosh
Sir Cameron Anthony Mackintosh is a British theatrical producer notable for his association with many commercially successful musicals. At the height of his success in 1990, he was described as being "the most successful, influential and powerful theatrical producer in the world" by the New York...
, it first played in Newcastle
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
. An updated version of the show toured nationally in 1976 and was broadcast nationally by Scottish TV. A full-length concert version was recorded at the Cork Opera House
Cork Opera House
Cork Opera House is a theatre and opera house in Cork in the Republic of Ireland. It was originally built in 1855, although its existence has not been continuous; having survived the burning of much of Cork by British forces in reprisal for an ambush of a military convoy in 1920 by Irish rebels,...
for the Irish television state broadcaster RTE
RTE
RTÉ is the abbreviation for Raidió Teilifís Éireann, the public broadcasting service of the Republic of Ireland.RTE may also refer to:* Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, 25th Prime Minister of Turkey...
. In 1972, he composed the original theme to Emmerdale Farm. During the 1970s Hatch was also a regular panellist on the talent show New Faces
New Faces
New Faces was a British television talent show popular in the 1970s and 1980s, presented originally by Derek Hobson. It was produced by ATV Network Limited for the ITV Network. The first run of the show was from 29 September 1973 to 2 April 1978 and was recorded at the ATV Centre, Birmingham...
where his blunt style of assessing the contestants has proved to be a forerunner of approaches to come in later, similar series.
After completing the music score to the movie Sweeney 2
Sweeney 2
Sweeney 2 is a 1978 film that is a sequel to the 1977 film Sweeney! which was itself a spin-off from the popular British TV show The Sweeney. Some of the action was transferred from the usual London setting to Malta. Denholm Elliot appears as a corrupt ex-officer, who asks his former subordinates...
in 1978, Hatch and Trent moved to Dublin, where they remained for four years, hosting their own TV series, Words And Music and It's A Musical World. Hatch continued to produce hit TV themes for series such as Seagull Island and Airline
Airline (1982 TV series)
Airline is a British television series produced by Yorkshire Television for the ITV network in 1982.The series starred Roy Marsden as Jack Ruskin, a pilot demobbed after the end of the Second World War who starts up his own air freight business....
before moving to Australia in 1982. While there, the couple wrote one of their most famous compositions, the theme for the TV soap opera Neighbours
Neighbours
Neighbours is an Australian television soap opera first broadcast on the Seven Network on 18 March 1985. It was created by TV executive Reg Watson, who proposed the idea of making a show that focused on realistic stories and portrayed adults and teenagers who talk openly and solve their problems...
. They separated in 1995, and divorced in 2002.
Other recent events
Hatch made a guest appearance on Graham FellowsGraham Fellows
Graham David Fellows is an English comedy actor and musician, best known for creating the characters of John Shuttleworth and Jilted John.-Early life:...
's radio show, The Shuttleworths in 1994.
In 2003, a disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
remix of the original recording of "Downtown" was released in Australia by The OUTpsiDER with the blessing of both Hatch and Clark and became a major hit. A souvenir CD box-set of six of Hatch's albums (four from the 60s and two from the 70s – including one with Jackie Trent), all in replicas of their original covers, was released in 2005.
In 2010 the song "Push A Little Button", written by Hatch and performed by his (then 15 year old) sister Ninette and released on the Pye Records
Pye Records
Pye Records was a British record label. In its first incarnation, perhaps Pye's best known artists were Lonnie Donegan , Petula Clark , The Searchers , The Kinks , Sandie Shaw and Brotherhood of Man...
label in 1966, was used as the soundtrack for a campaign by UK TV Licensing, promoting the availability of online methods of paying a UK TV licence (which funds the BBC).