Bill Martin
Encyclopedia
Bill Martin is a Scottish
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...

 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...

, music publisher and impresario
Impresario
An impresario is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays or operas; analogous to a film producer in filmmaking, television production and an angel investor in business...

.

Biography

He had his first song
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...

 released on record
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...

 in 1963, with "Kiss Me Now" by Tommy Quickly
Tommy Quickly
Tommy Quickly was a Liverpool rock and roll singer in the early 1960s. He was a later signing of artist manager Brian Epstein, whose biggest act was The Beatles....

. In 1964 he entered into a writing partnership with Tommy Scott. As Scott & Martin he had success with such acts as the Irish trio
Trio (music)
Trio is generally used in any of the following ways:* A group of three musicians playing the same or different musical instrument.* The performance of a piece of music by three people.* The contrasting section of a piece in ternary form...

 The Bachelors
The Bachelors
The Bachelors are a popular music group, originating from Dublin, Ireland.-Career:The founding members of the group were Conleth Cluskey , Declan Cluskey , and John Stokes...

, Twinkle
Twinkle (singer)
Twinkle is an English singer-songwriter, primarily in the 1960s. Twinkle's most famous songs were "Terry" and "Golden Lights".-Career:...

, the Irish folk band The Dubliners
The Dubliners
The Dubliners are an Irish folk band founded in 1962.-Formation and history:The Dubliners, initially known as "The Ronnie Drew Ballad Group", formed in 1962 and made a name for themselves playing regularly in O'Donoghue's Pub in Dublin...

, Van Morrison
Van Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...

, and Serge Gainsbourg
Serge Gainsbourg
Serge Gainsbourg, born Lucien Ginsburg was a French singer-songwriter, actor and director. Gainsbourg's extremely varied musical style and individuality make him difficult to categorize...

.

In 1965 he met Phil Coulter
Phil Coulter
Phil Coulter is an artist with an international reputation as a successful songwriter, pianist, music producer, arranger and director. His success has spanned four decades and he is one of the biggest record sellers in Ireland...

 and the two became established as a successful songwriting team that lasted more than ten years (Martin for the lyrics
Lyrics
Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...

, Coulter for the melody
Melody
A melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...

). They had records
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...

 with such (mostly UK
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...

) performers as comedian and baritone Ken Dodd
Ken Dodd
Kenneth Arthur Dodd OBE is a British comedian and singer songwriter, famous for his frizzy hair or “fluff dom” and buck teeth or “denchers”, his favourite cleaner, the feather duster and his greeting "How tickled I am!", as well as his send-off “Lots and Lots of Happiness!”...

, American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...

 artist Geno Washington
Geno Washington
Geno Washington is an American R&B singer who released five albums with The Ram Jam Band between 1966 and 1969, and eight solo albums beginning in 1976.-Early to late 1960s:...

, Los Bravos
Los Bravos
Los Bravos were a Spanish beat group, formed in 1965, and based in Madrid. Their single "Black Is Black" reached #2 in the United Kingdom in July 1966, and #4 in the United States selling over a million records.-Biography:...

, Dave Dee & Co
Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich
Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich , were a British pop/rock group of the 1960s. Two of their single releases sold in excess of one million copies each, and they reached Number One in the UK with the second of them, "The Legend of Xanadu".-Biography:Five friends from Wiltshire, David John Harman,...

, The Troggs
The Troggs
The Troggs are an English rock band from the 1960s that had a number of hits in UK and the US. Their most famous songs include, "Wild Thing", "With a Girl Like You", and "Love Is All Around"...

, Mireille Mathieu
Mireille Mathieu
Mireille Mathieu is a French chanteuse, and pop singer. Hailed in the French press as the successor to Édith Piaf, she has achieved great commercial success, recording over 1200 songs in nine different languages, with more than 120 million records sold worldwide.-Childhood to early...

, George Harrison
George Harrison
George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...

, Dick Emery
Dick Emery
Richard Gilbert "Dick" Emery was an English comedian and actor. Beginning on radio in the 1950s, an eponymous television series ran from 1963 to 1981. He was the brother of Ann Emery.-Life and career:...

, Tony Blackburn
Tony Blackburn
Tony Blackburn is an English disc jockey, who broadcast on the "pirate" stations Radio Caroline and Radio London in the 1960s and was the first disc jockey to broadcast on BBC Radio 1 in 1967. In 2002 he was the winner of the ITV reality TV programme I'm a Celebrity.....

, Cliff Richard
Cliff Richard
Sir Cliff Richard, OBE is a British pop singer, musician, performer, actor, and philanthropist who has sold over an estimated 250 million records worldwide....

, Sandie Shaw
Sandie Shaw
Sandie Shaw is an English pop singer, who was one of the most successful British female singers of the 1960s. In 1967 she was the first UK act to win the Eurovision Song Contest...

, and Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....

.

Between 1967 and 1976 they had four No. 1 hits
Hit record
A hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings...

 in the UK: "Puppet on a String
Puppet on a String
"Puppet on a String" is the name of the Eurovision Song Contest-winning song in 1967 by British singer Sandie Shaw. It was her thirteenth UK single release....

", "Congratulations
Congratulations (song)
"Congratulations" is a song written by Bill Martin and Phil Coulter as the UK entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1968 on 6 April with Cliff Richard performing....

", "Back Home
Back Home (England song)
Back Home was a popular song written by Bill Martin and Phil Coulter. It was recorded by the 1970 England World Cup squad and released on the single Pye 7N 17920. It was produced by Martin and Coulter. The arrangements were made by Phil Coulter...

" and "Forever and Ever". There were also numerous Top 10 hits including the Bay City Rollers
Bay City Rollers
The Bay City Rollers were a Scottish pop band who were most popular in the 1970s. The British Hit Singles & Albums noted that they were "tartan teen sensations from Edinburgh", and were "the first of many acts heralded as the 'Biggest Group since The Beatles' and one of the most screamed-at...

' "Shang-A-Lang", "Fancy Pants" by the glam rock
Glam rock
Glam rock is a style of rock and pop music that developed in the UK in the early 1970s, which was performed by singers and musicians who wore outrageous clothes, makeup and hairstyles, particularly platform-soled boots and glitter...

 band Kenny
Kenny (band)
Kenny were a mid-1970s English pop and glam rock band.-Career:Kenny emerged from a North London band called Chufff. Songwriters Bill Martin and Phil Coulter wrote the bulk of the successful songs for them. In the event, stardom was to prove extremely fleeting...

, "Requiem" by the Scottish
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...

 pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

 group Slik
Slik
Slik were a Scottish pop group of the mid 1970s, most notable for their UK no.1 hit "Forever and Ever" in 1976. Beginning with glam rock and changing their style to soft rock/bubblegum...

, and "Surround Yourself with Sorrow" by Cilla Black
Cilla Black
Cilla Black OBE is an English singer, actress, entertainer and media personality, who has been consistently popular as a light entertainment figure since 1963. She is most famous for her singles Anyone Who Had A Heart, You're My World, and Alfie...

.

The Bay City Rollers had a No. 1 hit in 1976 in the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 chart
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....

  with "Saturday Night
Saturday Night (Bay City Rollers song)
"Saturday Night" is the title of a song recorded by the Scottish band Bay City Rollers. It was written and produced by Bill Martin and Phil Coulter. The tune is an upbeat pop-rock number with a memorable hook: the word "Saturday" spelled out in a rhythmic chant.An early version of the song was...

", a song that was not released as a single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

 in the UK. In all, there were three No. 1 hits in the U.S. for the songwriters, the other two being "Thanks", performed by Bill Anderson and "My Boy" performed by Elvis Presley.

The songwriters also wrote for the film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

s The Water Babies
The Water Babies
The Water Babies may refer to:* The Water-Babies, A Fairy Tale for a Land Baby, a novel published in 1863* The Water Babies , a 1978 animated film based on the novel* Water Babies , a 1976 album by Miles Davis...

and Carry On
Carry On films
The Carry On films are a series of low-budget British comedy films, directed by Gerald Thomas and produced by Peter Rogers. They are an energetic mix of parody, farce, slapstick and double entendres....

and a number of television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 theme songs
Theme music
Theme music is a piece that is often written specifically for a radio program, television program, video game or movie, and usually played during the title sequence and/or end credits...

. Having triumphed in the 1967 Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...

 with "Puppet on a String
Puppet on a String
"Puppet on a String" is the name of the Eurovision Song Contest-winning song in 1967 by British singer Sandie Shaw. It was her thirteenth UK single release....

", the first UK entry to win the competition, they finished second the following year in 1968 with "Congratulations
Congratulations (song)
"Congratulations" is a song written by Bill Martin and Phil Coulter as the UK entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1968 on 6 April with Cliff Richard performing....

" from Cliff Richard. In April 1968, the British
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...

 music magazine, NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...

, reported that Martin and Coulter were being sued by the Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...

 songwriters, Shay O'Donoghue and Aiden Magennis claiming that "Congratulations" had the same chord sequence as their song, "Far Away From You", recorded eighteen months earlier by Doc Carroll & the Royal Blues. In 1975, Martin and Coulter reached the Eurovision final for the third time, this time writing Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...

's entry, "Toi
Toi (song)
"Toi" was the Luxembourgish entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1975, performed in French by Irish singer Geraldine. The entry had a high pedigree, being penned by three authors/composers who had all written/composed previous Eurovision winners...

", for Coulter's future wife, the Irish
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

 singer Geraldine. The song finished fifth in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...

. Their final attempt at Eurovision glory was in 1978, when their song "Shine It On" finished third in the UK heat A Song for Europe performed by Glaswegian, Christian.

As successful songwriters, 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...

s and music publishers Martin and Coulter became a wealthy and powerful partnership in the music industry. Apart from being writers/producers of their own songs, they started a publishing company called Martin-Coulter Music, and signed such other songwriters such as Van Morrison, Billy Connolly
Billy Connolly
William "Billy" Connolly, Jr., CBE is a Scottish comedian, musician, presenter and actor. He is sometimes known, especially in his native Scotland, by the nickname The Big Yin...

, Christy Moore
Christy Moore
Christopher Andrew "Christy" Moore is a popular Irish folk singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is well known as one of the founding members of Planxty and Moving Hearts...

, Donal Lunny
Dónal Lunny
Dónal Lunny is an Irish folk musician. Lunny has been at the forefront of the evolution of traditional Irish music for more than thirty-five years and has participated within the renaissance of traditional Irish music in that time period...

, Eric Bogle
Eric Bogle
Eric Bogle is a folk singer-songwriter. He emigrated to Australia in 1969 and currently resides near Adelaide, South Australia.-Career:...

, the progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...

 band Sky
Sky (band)
Sky was a British instrumental group that specialised in fusing a variety of musical styles including light rock, progressive rock, classical and jazz. The group's best known members were classical guitarist John Williams, bass player Herbie Flowers Sky was a British instrumental group that...

, Midge Ure
Midge Ure
James "Midge" Ure, OBE is a Scottish guitarist, singer, keyboard player, and songwriter...

 and B. A. Robertson
B. A. Robertson
B. A. Robertson is a Scottish musician, actor, composer and songwriter.-Career:...

.

Although he continued to write music, Martin found himself gravitating to the business side of the music industry by the 1980s. His partnership with Coulter ended in 1983 when Martin bought out Coulter's share of the business. He later sold the company to EMI
EMI
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...

. In his business career, he successfully built up and sold numerous companies in such diverse fields as music publishing, marketing and properties. He once owned the rights for Van Morrison and East/Memphis Music Corp., which he sold respectively to Chappell Music and Rondor Music Catalogue.

In 1983 he produced the musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...

 Jukebox, which had a six-month run in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

's West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...

 and was acclaimed in the Royal Variety Performance
Royal Variety Performance
The Royal Variety Performance is a gala evening held annually in the United Kingdom, which is attended by senior members of the British Royal Family, usually the reigning monarch. In more recent years Queen Elizabeth II and The Prince of Wales have alternately attended the performance...

 of that year. In 1984 he was executive producer on the Elkie Brooks
Elkie Brooks
Elkie Brooks is an English singer, formerly a vocalist with Vinegar Joe, and later a solo artist. Elkie has been nominated twice for Brit Awards' top female singer. She is known for her powerful husky voice...

 album, Screen Gems.

Martin continued as a songwriter, music publisher and producer with Angus Publications. In 2000 he associated with Sony/ATV Music which sub-publishes his catalogue, while he acquires music catalogues for his partners.

In the early 1970s, Martin bought the former home of John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...

 - Kenwood, St. George's Hill
Kenwood, St. George's Hill
Kenwood is a house on the St. George's Hill estate, Weybridge, Surrey, England. Originally called the Brown House, it was designed by architect T.A. Allen, and built in 1913 by local builders, Love & Sons. The estate was constructed around the Weybridge Golf Club, which was designed in 1912 by...

 - although he later sold it and now lives in Belgravia
Belgravia
Belgravia is a district of central London in the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Noted for its immensely expensive residential properties, it is one of the wealthiest districts in the world...

, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

.

Martin was awarded the Gold Badge Award, for services to the music industry, by the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors
British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors
British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors was founded in 1947.It represents its members within the industry, to the government and to the European Commission....

 in October 2009.

Honours and awards

  • Awarded three Ivor Novello Awards, including one as 'Songwriter of the Year'
  • Three ASCAP Awards
  • Award of Excellence (Rio de Janeiro, 1967 and 1969)
  • Yamaha Best Song Award (Japan, 1978)
  • Songwriter of the Decade (Scotland, 1980)
  • First British winner (with Phil Coulter) of the Eurovision Song Contest with "Puppet on a String" (1967)
  • Served on the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (1960s)
  • Founding member of the Society of Distinguished Songwriters (SODS) (1972)

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK