Al Hodge (21/12/1950 – 06/07/2006) was a Cornish guitarist, singer and songwriter, who had success with "

Rock 'n' Roll Mercenaries "Rock 'n' Roll Mercenaries" is a song by Meat Loaf and John Parr, which was released in 1986 as the lead single from Meat Loaf's fifth studio album ''Blind Before I Stop''. The song was written by Al Hodge (rock musician), Al Hodge and Michael Da ...

", a song that was recorded by

Meat Loaf Michael Lee Aday (born Marvin Lee Aday; September 27, 1947 – January 20, 2022), known professionally as Meat Loaf, was an American rock singer and actor. He was noted for his powerful, wide-ranging voice and theatrical live shows. He is on t ...

with John Parr in 1986. Hodge co-wrote the song with the American, Michael Dan Ehmig. Al Hodge was one of the most successful singer-songwriters to come out of

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

in recent years. For forty years Hodge, who was born in

Bodmin Bodmin () is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated south-west of Bodmin Moor. The extent of the civil parish corresponds fairly closely to that of the town so is mostly urban in character. It is bordere ...

, performed mostly in pubs and clubs. During the 1960s, he was guitarist for the band

The Onyx The Onyx or OnyxPete Frame ''Pete Frame's Rockin' Around Britain: Rock'n'roll Landmarks'' 0711969736 1999 "WADEBRIDGE Home of psychedelic group Onyx, who recorded for Pye." were a psychedelic rock band formed in Wadebridge, Cornwall, England ...

. In the mid to late 1970s, he was a member of the

soft rock Soft rock is a form of rock music that originated in the late 1960s in Southern California and the United Kingdom which smoothed over the edges of singer-songwriter and pop rock, relying on simple, melodic songs with big, lush productions. S ...

band

Rogue A rogue is a person or entity that flouts accepted norms of behavior. Rogue or rogues may also refer to: Companies * Rogue Ales, a microbrewery in Newport, Oregon * Rogue Arts, a film production company * Rogue Entertainment, a software com ...

. He also did session work with Toyah Willcox,

Sad Café Sad Café are an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1976, who achieved their peak of popularity in the late 1970s and early 1980s. They are best known for the UK top 40 singles "Every Day Hurts", "Strange Little Girl", " My Oh My" and "I ...

, Randy Crawford,

Linda Ronstadt Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is a retired American singer who performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin. She has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three American ...

Clifford T. Ward Clifford Thomas Ward (10 February 1944 – 18 December 2001) was an English singer-songwriter, best known for his career as a solo artist. Ward's 1973 album '' Home Thoughts'' remains his best known recording and he had hit singles with "G ...

and Suzi Quatro. Hodge was a guitarist for Leo Sayer from 1981 to 1985. He was also a guitarist for Elkie Brooks in 1999 and 2000. He wrote music for numerous TV programmes and appeared on many TV shows throughout Europe. In the years before he died, he taught many young guitarists in Cornwall. He died after a two-year battle with cancer on 6 July 2006. In July 2007, the first Alstock Festival was held in his memory with one of the bands made up of Al Hodge's students. In June 2008, the second Alstock took place in Bodmin, Cornwall, with a much larger line-up of local bands and is now held every year on the last Saturday in July.

References

External links

Cornish rock musician Hodge dies
BBC news 7 July 2006.
Al Hodge home page/obituary/etc.BBC video clip from the 2003 Cropredy concert at Oxford
1951 births 2006 deaths English male guitarists English male singers English songwriters People from Bodmin Deaths from cancer in England 20th-century English singers 20th-century British guitarists 20th-century British male singers British male songwriters {{Cornwall-stub