Michael Edward Hazlewood (24 December 1941 – 6 May 2001)Mike Hazelwood – Credits
AllMusic (6 May 2001). Retrieved 4 January 2013. was a British singer, composer and songwriter. He variously worked with

Albert Hammond Albert Louis Hammond OBE (born 18 May 1944) is a British-Gibraltarian singer, songwriter, and record producer. A prolific songwriter, he also collaborated with other songwriters such as Mike Hazlewood, John Bettis, Diane Warren, Holly Knight ...

T-Bone Burnett Joseph Henry "T Bone" Burnett III (born January 14, 1948) is an American record producer, guitarist and songwriter. He rose to fame as a guitarist in Bob Dylan's band during the 1970s. He has received multiple Grammy awards for his work in fil ...

Van Dyke Parks Van Dyke Parks (born January 3, 1943) is an American musician, songwriter, arranger, and record producer who has composed various film and television soundtracks. He is best known for his 1967 album ''Song Cycle'' and for his collaborations with ...

and

Harry Nilsson Harry Edward Nilsson III (June 15, 1941 – January 15, 1994), sometimes credited as Nilsson, was an American singer-songwriter who reached the peak of his commercial success in the early 1970s. His work is characterized by pioneering vocal ove ...

Biography

Educated at

Hazelwick School Hazelwick School is a co-educational comprehensive school with academy status for pupils aged 11 to 18, located in Crawley, West Sussex, England. History Hazelwick School was built in 1953 as part of developing Crawley as a new town and wa ...

, in

Crawley Crawley () is a large town and borough in West Sussex, England. It is south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Crawley covers an area of and had a population of 106,597 at the time of th ...

, West Sussex, Hazlewood began his career as a DJ at the radio station

Radio Luxembourg Radio Luxembourg was a multilingual commercial broadcaster in Luxembourg. It is known in most non-English languages as RTL (for Radio Television Luxembourg). The English-language service of Radio Luxembourg began in 1933 as one of the earlies ...

in the early 1960s. In 1966 he founded the group

the Family Dogg The Family Dogg were a British vocal group, noted for their harmony vocals. They are best known for their debut album, '' A Way of Life'', and the subsequent single of the same name. Career The idea was born when the Anglo-American singers of t ...

with

and Steve Rowland. In addition, he often wrote songs in collaboration with Hammond such as "Green Green Trees" or " Little Arrows" for Leapy Lee, and " Gimme Dat Ding" for

the Pipkins The Pipkins were a short-lived English novelty duo, best known for their hit single "Gimme Dat Ding" (written by Albert Hammond and Mike Hazlewood), which reached No. 6 on the UK Singles Charts, No. 7 in Canada ( ''RPM'' Top Singles), and No. ...

. He wrote "

The Air That I Breathe "The Air That I Breathe" is a ballad written by British-Gibraltarian singer-songwriter Albert Hammond and Mike Hazlewood, initially recorded by Hammond on his debut album, ''It Never Rains in Southern California'' (1972). It was a major hit for t ...

" for

Phil Everly The Everly Brothers were an American rock duo, known for steel-string acoustic guitar playing and close harmony singing. Consisting of Isaac Donald "Don" Everly (February 1, 1937 – August 21, 2021) and Phillip "Phil" Everly (January 19, 1939 ...

's 1973 solo album ''Star Spangled Springer''. The song was subsequently a huge

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

for

The Hollies The Hollies are a British pop rock band, formed in 1962. One of the leading British groups of the 1960s and into the mid-1970s, they are known for their distinctive three-part vocal harmony style. Allan Clarke and Graham Nash founded the band ...

. Hazlewood's collaboration with Hammond resulted in co-composed songs for the latter such as "

It Never Rains in Southern California "It Never Rains in Southern California" is a 1972 song jointly written and composed by Albert Hammond and Mike Hazlewood and sung by Hammond, a British-born singer-songwriter. Lyrics content The lyrics of "It Never Rains In Southern Californi ...

" and "

The Free Electric Band "The Free Electric Band" is a song written by Albert Hammond and Mike Hazlewood and performed by Hammond. The song reached #19 on the UK Singles Chart, #11 in South Africa and #48 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1973. The song appeared ...

". Hazlewood and Hammond also wrote the international hit song " Make Me an Island" for the Irish singer

Joe Dolan Joseph Francis Robert Dolan (16 October 1939 – 26 December 2007) was an Irish entertainer, recording artist, and pop singer. Chiefly known in Ireland for his association with showbands and for his innovative style and high pitched singing v ...

in 1969, as well as his follow-up singles, "

Teresa Teresa (also Theresa, Therese; french: Thérèse) is a feminine given name. It originates in the Iberian Peninsula in late antiquity. Its derivation is uncertain, it may be derived from Greek θερίζω (''therízō'') "to harvest or re ...

" and "

You're Such a Good Looking Woman "You're Such a Good Looking Woman" is a song by Irish singer Joe Dolan. The song was written by Albert Hammond and Mike Hazlewood and produced by Geoffrey Everitt. It was released in 1970 becoming an international hit for Dolan, peaking at numbe ...

". The latter became a signature hit for Dolan, topping the Irish charts twice, in 1970 and 1997 when he re-recorded it with

Dustin the Turkey Dustin the Turkey, a character performed by John Morrison is a former star of RTÉ television's '' The Den'' between 1989 and 2010 and from 2020. He has been described as "the most subversive comedy force on Irish television". A turkey-vulture ...

. Hazlewood also wrote the song "Southern Lady", which was recorded by

Rita Coolidge Rita Coolidge (born May 1, 1945) is an American recording artist. During the 1970s and 1980s, her songs were on ''Billboard'' magazine's pop, country, adult contemporary, and jazz charts, and she won two Grammy Awards with fellow musician and the ...

. During the late 1980s, Hazlewood held the theatrical rights to

Mervyn Peake Mervyn Laurence Peake (9 July 1911 – 17 November 1968) was an English writer, artist, poet, and illustrator. He is best known for what are usually referred to as the '' Gormenghast'' books. The four works were part of what Peake conceived ...

's novel ''

Mr. Pye ''Mr Pye'' is a 1953 novel by English novelist Mervyn Peake. Plot Mr. Pye travels to the Channel Islands, Channel Island of Sark to awaken a love of God in all the islanders. His landlady on the island, Miss Dredger, quickly becomes a devout foll ...

'', and completed a musical theatre version of the book in collaboration with Howard Lee Sloan, the American-born pianist and composer. Hazlewood and Hammond are also credited as co-writers of the 1992

Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass) ...

song, " Creep". Due to similarities to "The Air That I Breathe", Radiohead was successfully sued for

plagiarism Plagiarism is the fraudulent representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 '' Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close imitation of the language and thought ...

. "Creep" used a chord progression taken from "The Air That I Breathe" in its verse, and a melody from the latter in the bridge following the second chorus.English, Tim (2007). ''Sounds Like Teen Spirit: Stolen Melodies, Ripped-Off Riffs, and the Secret History of Rock and Roll'', p.149. . On 6 May 2001, Hazlewood died aged 59 from a heart attack, during his holiday in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

, Italy.The Dead Rock Stars Club 2001
Thedeadrockstarsclub.com. Retrieved 4 January 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hazlewood, Mike 1941 births 2001 deaths People educated at Hazelwick School English male singers English songwriters People from Cuckfield 20th-century English singers 20th-century British male singers British male songwriters