Michael Edwin Hawker (29 November 1936 – 4 May 2014) was an English songwriter.
Biography
Born in
Bath, Somerset, he lived as a child in
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
, where his father was stationed in the
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...
, before returning to settle with relatives in
Barnsley,
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...
. After attending university, he spent time with the RAF in Europe, and started writing concert reviews of American
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...
musicians, which he submitted to such magazines as the ''
New Musical Express'' and ''
Jazz Journal
''Jazz Journal'' is a British jazz magazine established in 1946 by Sinclair Traill (1904–1981). It was first published in London under the title ''Pick Up'', which Traill founded as a locus for serious jazz criticism in Britain.Roberta Freund Sc ...
''. He started working in the publicity department at
EMI
EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...
in the late 1950s, and then moved into promotion work with
Larry Parnes
Laurence Maurice Parnes (3 September 1929 – 4 August 1989) was a British pop manager and impresario. He was the first major British rock manager, and his stable of singers included many of the most successful British rock and roll singers of ...
.
[
He started writing songs around 1960, and linked up with composer John Schroeder to write lyrics for producer ]Norrie Paramor
Norman William Paramor (15 May 1914 – 9 September 1979), known professionally as Norrie Paramor, was a British record producer, composer, arranger, pianist, bandleader, and orchestral conductor. He is best known for his work with Cliff R ...
's young protégée Helen Shapiro. Hawker wrote the lyrics for several songs recorded by Shapiro, including " Don't Treat Me Like a Child", " You Don't Know", and "Walkin' Back to Happiness
"Walkin' Back to Happiness" is a 1961 single by Helen Shapiro. The song was written by John Schroeder and Mike Hawker. With backing orchestrations by Norrie Paramor, the song was released in the United Kingdom on the Columbia (EMI)
Colu ...
", for which he won an Ivor Novello award
The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and composing. They have been presented annually in London by the Ivors Academy (formerly the BASCA) since 1956, and over 1,000 statuettes have been ...
. He also co-wrote "I Only Want to Be with You
"I Only Want to Be with You" is a song written by Mike Hawker and Ivor Raymonde. The debut solo single released by British singer Dusty Springfield under her long-time producer Johnny Franz, "I Only Want to Be with You" peaked at number 4 on th ...
" recorded by Dusty Springfield
Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien (16 April 1939 – 2 March 1999), known professionally as Dusty Springfield, was an English singer. With her distinctive mezzo-soprano sound, she was a popular singer of blue-eyed soul, pop and dram ...
.
Hawker married Jean Ryder of the Vernons Girls
The Vernons Girls were an English musical ensemble of female vocalists. They were formed at the Vernons football pools companyLarkin C., ''Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music'' (Muze UK Ltd, 1997), , p. 461 in the 1950s in Liverpool, settlin ...
. He continued to write for many of the most successful girl singers of the early 1960s including Dusty Springfield, Susan Maughan
Susan Maughan (born Marian Maughan, 1 July 1938) is an English singer who released successful singles in the 1960s. Her most famous and successful song, " Bobby's Girl" (a cover of the Marcie Blane single), reached number three in the UK Sing ...
, and Jackie Trent
Yvonne Ann Burgess (6 September 1940 – 21 March 2015), better known by her stage name Jackie Trent, was an English singer-songwriter and actress. She was best known for co-writing (with Tony Hatch) several hits for Petula Clark in the 1960s an ...
, but with diminishing commercial success. In 1973, he co-wrote Cliff Richard
Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...
's hit single "Help It Along", with Brian Bennett of the Shadows
The Shadows (originally known as the Drifters) were an English instrumental rock group, who dominated the British popular music charts in the late 1950s and early 1960s, in the pre- Beatles era. They served as the backing band for Cliff Richard ...
. He continued to work in the music business in London, among other successes discovering singer-songwriter Labi Siffre
Claudius Afolabi Siffre (born 25 June 1945) is a British singer, songwriter and poet. Siffre released six albums between 1970 and 1975, and four between 1988 and 1998. His best known compositions include " It Must Be Love" which reached number 1 ...
.[
He died in 2014, after several years of poor health.][
]
References
External links
Mike Hawker obituary
''M'' magazine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hawker, Mike
English songwriters
People from Bath, Somerset
English lyricists
1936 births
2014 deaths
Ivor Novello Award winners