Wayne Bickerton
Encyclopedia
Wayne Bickerton is an English
songwriter
, record producer
, and music business executive. He became well known, with Tony Waddington, as writer and producer of a series of UK chart hits in the 1970s for The Rubettes
, and is now a leading figure in SESAC
, the Society of European Stage Authors & Composers.
, Bickerton first came to prominence in 1963 when, after spells with the Bobby Bell Rockers, Steve & the Syndicate, Lee Curtis & the All Stars and The Remo Four
, he became bassist
and singer with the Pete Best Four (later the Pete Best Combo), at the same time as childhood friend Tony Waddington became the group's guitarist. As well as sharing most of the singing, Bickerton and Waddington became songwriters for the group, which toured mainly in Germany
and the US, before they left in 1966.
Bickerton then became a record producer at Deram Records
, responsible for albums by Giles, Giles & Fripp (the precursor to King Crimson
) and World of Oz
; he also worked with Petula Clark
and Tom Jones
. He later joined Polydor Records
, becoming A&R
chief and producing the band Mongrel. At the same time, he and Waddington continued writing songs together. One of the most successful was "Nothing But A Heartache
", recorded by American girl singing group The Flirtations, which reached #34 on the US Billboard Hot 100
in 1969 and is now regarded as a northern soul
classic. It was later covered by Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes
.
During this period, he and Waddington also came up with the idea for a rock 'n' roll musical
. They co-wrote and produced a demonstration recording
of a song, "Sugar Baby Love
", originally intending to submit it for the Eurovision Song Contest
but instead offering it to Showaddywaddy
, who turned it down. Bickerton and Waddington then offered it to the demo musicians, provided that they would become an actual group. The musicians agreed, became The Rubettes
, and "Sugar Baby Love" became a UK #1 hit in 1974, also reaching #37 in the US charts. They wrote and produced all of the Rubettes' subsequent UK hits - nine Top 50 hits in all between 1974 and 1977 - winning an Ivor Novello Award as Songwriters of the Year, and also reached the UK Top 10 with "Sugar Candy Kisses" by Mac and Katie Kissoon
. They set up their own record label, State Records
, which diversified in 1979 into owning Odyssey Studios
and a new office building at Marble Arch
in central London
, later sold to the radio station Jazz FM
.
Bickerton moved into the upper reaches of the wider music industry, initially as an executive of the Performing Right Society
in England, where he worked from the late 1970s, eventually as Chairman and acting Chief Executive. He also became Deputy Chairman of The University of Liverpool
Institute of Popular Music. In 1997, he became an executive at SESAC
, as Chairman of SESAC International, and was also awarded an honorary doctorate
(LL.D.) by the University of Liverpool.
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
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...
, 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...
, and music business executive. He became well known, with Tony Waddington, as writer and producer of a series of UK chart hits in the 1970s for The Rubettes
The Rubettes
The Rubettes were an English pop band assembled in 1973 by the songwriting team of Wayne Bickerton, then the head of A&R at Polydor Records, and his co-songwriter, Tony Waddington, after their doo-wop and 1950s American pop-influenced songs had been rejected by a number of existing acts...
, and is now a leading figure in SESAC
SESAC
SESAC, originally the Society of European Stage Authors & Composers, is the smallest of the three performance rights organizations in the United States. SESAC was founded in 1930, making it the second-oldest performing rights organization in the U.S. SESAC is also the fastest-growing PRO in the...
, the Society of European Stage Authors & Composers.
Life and career
Born Arthur Ronald Bickerton in LiverpoolLiverpool
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...
, Bickerton first came to prominence in 1963 when, after spells with the Bobby Bell Rockers, Steve & the Syndicate, Lee Curtis & the All Stars and The Remo Four
The Remo Four
The Remo Four were a 1950s-1960s rock band from Liverpool, England. They were contemporaries of The Beatles, and later had the same manager, Brian Epstein...
, he became bassist
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
and singer with the Pete Best Four (later the Pete Best Combo), at the same time as childhood friend Tony Waddington became the group's guitarist. As well as sharing most of the singing, Bickerton and Waddington became songwriters for the group, which toured mainly in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and the US, before they left in 1966.
Bickerton then became a record producer at Deram Records
Deram Records
Deram Records was a subsidiary record label established in 1966 by Decca Records in the United Kingdom. At this time U.K. Decca was a completely different company than the Decca label in the United States, which was then owned by MCA Inc. Deram recordings were also distributed in the U.S. through...
, responsible for albums by Giles, Giles & Fripp (the precursor to King Crimson
King Crimson
King Crimson are a rock band founded in London, England in 1969. Often categorised as a foundational progressive rock group, the band have incorporated diverse influences and instrumentation during their history...
) and World of Oz
World of Oz
The World of Oz were a British psychedelic pop group who released a sole self-titled LP in 1968, before fading into relative obscurity, although CD re-issues of the album are now widely available...
; he also worked with 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...
and Tom Jones
Tom Jones (singer)
Sir Thomas John Woodward, OBE , known by his stage name Tom Jones, is a Welsh singer.Since the mid 1960s, Jones has sung many styles of popular music – pop, rock, R&B, show tunes, country, dance, techno, soul and gospel – and sold over 100 million records...
. He later joined Polydor Records
Polydor Records
Polydor is a record label owned by Universal Music Group, headquartered in the United Kingdom.-Beginnings:Polydor was originally an independent branch of the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. Its name was first used as an export label in 1924, the British and German branches of the Gramophone...
, becoming A&R
A&R
Artists and repertoire is the division of a record label that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists. It also acts as a liaison between artists and the record label.- Finding talent :...
chief and producing the band Mongrel. At the same time, he and Waddington continued writing songs together. One of the most successful was "Nothing But A Heartache
Nothing But A Heartache
"Nothing but a Heartache" is a song originally released on the Deram Records label in 1968 by The Flirtations. Written by Wayne Bickerton and Tony Waddington - the team who'd be responsible for The Rubettes successs in the 1970s - "Nothing But a Heartache" just missed the UK Top 50 with a #51...
", recorded by American girl singing group The Flirtations, which reached #34 on the US 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...
in 1969 and is now regarded as a northern soul
Northern soul
Northern soul is a music and dance movement that emerged from the British mod scene, initially in northern England in the late 1960s. Northern soul mainly consists of a particular style of black American soul music based on the heavy beat and fast tempo of the mid-1960s Tamla Motown sound...
classic. It was later covered by Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes
Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes
Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes are a Jersey Shore musical group led by Southside Johnny. They have been recording albums since 1976 and are closely associated with Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band. They have recorded and/or performed several Springsteen songs, including "The Fever" and...
.
During this period, he and Waddington also came up with the idea for a rock 'n' roll 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...
. They co-wrote and produced a demonstration recording
Demo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
of a song, "Sugar Baby Love
Sugar Baby Love
"Sugar Baby Love", recorded in autumn 1973 and released in January 1974, is a bubblegum pop song, and the debut single of the Rubettes. Written by Wayne Bickerton and Tony Waddington and produced by Wayne Bickerton, engineered by John Mackswith at Lansdowne Recording Studios, "Sugar Baby Love" was...
", originally intending to submit it for the 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...
but instead offering it to Showaddywaddy
Showaddywaddy
Showaddywaddy are a 1970s pop group from Leicester, England. They specialised in revivals of hit songs from the 1950s and early 1960s, and dressed as Teddy Boys.-History:...
, who turned it down. Bickerton and Waddington then offered it to the demo musicians, provided that they would become an actual group. The musicians agreed, became The Rubettes
The Rubettes
The Rubettes were an English pop band assembled in 1973 by the songwriting team of Wayne Bickerton, then the head of A&R at Polydor Records, and his co-songwriter, Tony Waddington, after their doo-wop and 1950s American pop-influenced songs had been rejected by a number of existing acts...
, and "Sugar Baby Love" became a UK #1 hit in 1974, also reaching #37 in the US charts. They wrote and produced all of the Rubettes' subsequent UK hits - nine Top 50 hits in all between 1974 and 1977 - winning an Ivor Novello Award as Songwriters of the Year, and also reached the UK Top 10 with "Sugar Candy Kisses" by Mac and Katie Kissoon
Mac and Katie Kissoon
Mac and Katie Kissoon is a male / female vocal duo, consisting of brother and sister Mac Kissoon and Katie Kissoon...
. They set up their own record label, State Records
State Records
State Records is a record label established by Wayne Bickerton, Tony Waddington and John Fruin in 1975. The label released hits by many successful artists including The Rubettes, Mac & Katie Kissoon and Delegation.-History:...
, which diversified in 1979 into owning Odyssey Studios
Odyssey Studios
Odyssey Studios was a recording studio based near Marble Arch in London and opened in 1979. It was set up by Wayne Bickerton as an extension from State Records, the label he had set up with Tony Waddington and John Fruin in 1975...
and a new office building at Marble Arch
Marble Arch
Marble Arch is a white Carrara marble monument that now stands on a large traffic island at the junction of Oxford Street, Park Lane, and Edgware Road, almost directly opposite Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park in London, England...
in central 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...
, later sold to the radio station Jazz FM
102.2 Jazz FM
102.2 Jazz FM was a local jazz and soul music station for London run by GMG Radio. The station was based and broadcast from Castlereagh Street in London to around 15.5 million people within the broadcasting area...
.
Bickerton moved into the upper reaches of the wider music industry, initially as an executive of the Performing Right Society
Performing Right Society
PRS for Music is a UK copyright collection society undertaking collective rights management for musical works. PRS for Music was formed in 1997 as the MCPS-PRS Alliance, bringing together two collection societies: the Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society and Performing Right Society...
in England, where he worked from the late 1970s, eventually as Chairman and acting Chief Executive. He also became Deputy Chairman of The University of Liverpool
University of Liverpool
The University of Liverpool is a teaching and research university in the city of Liverpool, England. It is a member of the Russell Group of large research-intensive universities and the N8 Group for research collaboration. Founded in 1881 , it is also one of the six original "red brick" civic...
Institute of Popular Music. In 1997, he became an executive at SESAC
SESAC
SESAC, originally the Society of European Stage Authors & Composers, is the smallest of the three performance rights organizations in the United States. SESAC was founded in 1930, making it the second-oldest performing rights organization in the U.S. SESAC is also the fastest-growing PRO in the...
, as Chairman of SESAC International, and was also awarded an honorary doctorate
Legum Doctor
Legum Doctor is a doctorate-level academic degree in law, or an honorary doctorate, depending on the jurisdiction. The double L in the abbreviation refers to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both Canon Law and Civil Law, the double L indicating the plural, Doctor of both...
(LL.D.) by the University of Liverpool.