Gerald Roland Shury (11 August 1944General Register Office; United Kingdom; Volume: 17; Page: 0919 – 24 May 1978)England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), page 7395 was a British songwriter, arranger, and record producer who worked in the late 1960s and 1970s. Shury was born in

Berkhamsted Berkhamsted ( ) is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, in the Bulbourne valley, north-west of London. The town is a civil parish with a town council within the borough of Dacorum which is based in the neighbouring large new town ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

, England, though some sources state

Brixton Brixton is a district in south London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th ce ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. He started his career in the late 1960s initially as an arranger and went on to work with

Barry Blue Barry Blue (born Barry Ian Green, 4 December 1950) is an English singer, producer, and songwriter. As an artist, he is best known for his hit songs "Dancin' (on a Saturday Night)" and "Do You Wanna Dance" (both 1973). Blue has also been a pro ...

, Lynsey de Paul,

Ron Roker Ronald Ernest Alfred Roker (born 23 January 1941) is an English songwriter, singer and record producer Roker has written UK chart hits for Jackie Lee, The Fortunes, Barry Blue, Tina Charles, Polly Brown, The Pearls, The Real Thing and Sweet ...

The Bee Gees ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

Biddu Biddu Appaiah (born 8 February 1944) is a British-Indian singer-songwriter, composer, and music producer who composed and produced many worldwide hit records during a career spanning five decades. Considered one of the pioneers of disco, Euro d ...

and

The Rubettes The Rubettes are an English pop/glam rock band put together in 1974 after the release of "Sugar Baby Love", a recording assembled of studio session musicians in 1973 by the songwriting team of Wayne Bickerton, the then head of A&R at Polydor R ...

, before becoming involved in the

British soul British soul, Brit soul, or (in a US context) the British soul invasion, is soul music performed by British artists. Soul has been a major influence on British popular music since the 1960s, and American soul was extremely popular among some yout ...

, funk and disco scene of the 1970s. After flirting with

glam rock Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was performed by musicians who wore outrageous costumes, makeup, and hairstyles, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists drew on diver ...

by co-writing the UK top 10 single "Do You Wanna Dance" with Barry Blue and Ron Roker, he moved to writing in a more soul/funk/disco vein with songs such as "

Guilty Guilty or The Guilty may refer to: * Guilt (emotion), an experience that occurs when a person believes they have violated a moral standard Law *Culpability, the degree to which an agent can be held responsible for action or inaction *Guilt (law) ...

", a UK number 10 hit for

The Pearls The Pearls were an English 1970s girl vocal duo from Liverpool, England, featuring Lyn Cornell and Ann Simmons (née O'Brien). They released a total of 12 singles, the most successful being "Guilty", which reached No. 10 in the UK Singles Char ...

in 1974, as well as "Dance Little Lady Dance", which was a hit for Tina Charles, reaching number 6 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. Another song Shury co-penned is "

Up in a Puff of Smoke "Up in a Puff of Smoke" is a song recorded in 1974 by Polly Brown, released as a non-album single to become an international Top 40 hit in 1975. Overview The songwriting/production team of Gerry Shury and Ron Roker had admired Brown's voice from ...

" originally recorded by

Polly Brown Polly Brown (born 18 April 1947), also known as Polly Browne, is an English singer from Birmingham. A member of Pickettywitch and Sweet Dreams - and with each group lead singer on a Top Ten hit, respectively "That Same Old Feeling" and "Honey H ...

and covered by

the Rubinoos The Rubinoos are an American power pop band that formed in 1970 in Berkeley, California. They are perhaps best known for their singles "I Think We're Alone Now" (1977, a cover of the hit by Tommy James & the Shondells), "I Wanna Be Your Boyfrien ...

. It reached number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 43 on the UK Singles Chart in 1974. He also co-wrote "

Devil's Gun "Devil's Gun" is a 1977 song by C. J. & Company from the album of the same name. "Devil's Gun" was written by Barry Green (also known as Barry Blue), Ron Roker, and Gerry Shury and produced by Mike Theodore and Dennis Coffey. Along with the trac ...

", an American hit for C. J. & Company, which was the first record played when

Studio 54 Studio 54 is a Broadway theater and a former disco nightclub at 254 West 54th Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Operated by the Roundabout Theatre Company, Studio 54 has 1,006 seats on two levels. The theater was ...

opened on April 26, 1977. Together with Chris Rae and Ron Roker, he also wrote "Do You Believe in Love at First Sight" for

Dionne Warwick Marie Dionne Warwick (; born December 12, 1940) is an American singer, actress, and television host. Warwick ranks among the 40 biggest U.S. hit makers between 1955 and 1999, based on her chart history on ''Billboards Hot 100 pop singles cha ...

. Shury died in a car crash in 1978 aged 33. According to Ron Roker, he was returning to London late at night after visiting a club in

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

when he fell asleep at the wheel of his car, which crashed, killing him instantly. "'We never found another Gerry Shury': the late genius of British soul", ''Glitter Suits & Platform Boots''
Retrieved 8 November 2019

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shury, Gerry 1944 births 1978 deaths People from Brixton People from Berkhamsted British songwriters British record producers British music arrangers Road incident deaths in England