Nathan Kipner (October 2, 1924 – December 1, 2009) was an American songwriter and record producer with a considerable career in Australia. He is remembered as the producer of the

Bee Gees The Bee Gees were a musical group formed in 1958 by brothers Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio were especially successful in popular music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers in the disco music era in ...

' first hit " Spicks and Specks". He was the father of

Steve Kipner Stephen Alan Kipner (born 1950) is an American-born Australian songwriter and record producer, with hits spanning a 40-year period, including chart-topping songs such as Olivia Newton-John's "Physical", Natasha Bedingfield's "These Words", an ...

who is also a songwriter and music producer.

History

Kipner was born in

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Day ...

. He joined the

US Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

and served with

Supply Supply may refer to: *The amount of a resource that is available **Supply (economics), the amount of a product which is available to customers **Materiel, the goods and equipment for a military unit to fulfill its mission *Supply, as in confidenc ...

, 4ADG ( 4th Air Depot Group) which became 81st Air Depot Group, arriving in Brisbane, Australia aboard SS ''President Coolidge'' on December 26, 1941, later serving in

Finschhafen Finschhafen is a town east of Lae on the Huon Peninsula in Morobe Province of Papua New Guinea. The town is commonly misspelt as Finschafen or Finschaven. During World War II, the town was also referred to as Fitch Haven in the logs of some U.S ...

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

. Kipner married Alma Dorothy Moore of Albion, Queensland at Holy Trinity, Brisbane on November 4, 1944; they lived in America until the early 1950s, when they returned to Brisbane with their young son Steve. There he found work with the newly established home appliance department of Queensland Home Furnishers, Queen Street,

Petrie Bight Petrie Bight is a reach (geography), reach of the Brisbane River in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The land to the north of the bight, centred on the area under the Story Bridge's northern point and around the Brisbane River to Customs House, B ...

. After hosting a live to air pop music programme on Brisbane TV, he joined entrepreneur

Ivan Dayman Ivan Howard Dayman (20 July 19201 October 1989) was an Australian music promoter, record producer, label owner and talent manager of the 1960s and 1970s, based first in Adelaide, then Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. Although his career was brief � ...

's "Sunshine" artist and venue management company, and moved to

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, where he produced hit records "

Shakin' All Over "Shakin' All Over" is a song originally performed by Johnny Kidd & the Pirates. It was written by leader Johnny Kidd, and his original recording reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart in August 1960. The song is sometimes credited to Frederick ...

" and " Que Sera, Sera" for

Normie Rowe Norman John Rowe (born 1 February 1947) is an Australian singer and songwriter of pop music and an actor of theatre and soap opera for which he remains best known as Douglas Fletcher in 1980s serial '' Sons and Daughters''. As a singer he was ...

and "Velvet Waters" for Tony Worsley on Sunshine Records. In 1965 he became A&R manager for

Clyde Packer Robert Clyde Packer (22 July 19358 April 2001), usually known as Clyde Packer, was the son of Australian newspaper magnate Frank Packer and the elder brother of media baron Kerry Packer. From 23 April 1964 to 22 April 1976 he was a Member of ...

, helping him found the record label "Spin", signing up the

, whose career with the

Festival A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival c ...

label had gone nowhere, and produced their first hit " Spicks and Specks". Kipner returned to America, and died at

West Hills, California West Hills is a suburban / residential community in the western San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, California. The percentage of residents aged 35 and older is among the highest in Los Angeles County. The neighborhood was f ...

aged 86, survived by his wife Alma and son Steve.

Songwriting credits

Kipner wrote or co-wrote (principally the lyrics to) a great number of popular songs, among them: *"Cheryl Moana Marie" (w/ John Rowles); recorded by

John Rowles Sir John Edward Rowles (born 26 March 1947) is a New Zealand singer. He was most popular in the late 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s, and he is best known in New Zealand for his song from 1970, "Cheryl Moana Marie", which he wrote about his younge ...

*"Got a Zac in the Back of Me Pocket";

Johnny Devlin John Lockett Devlin (born 11 May 1938) is a New Zealand singer, songwriter and rock musician, who has been compared to Elvis Presley. His cover of Lloyd Price's "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" in 1958 went to number one in the New Zealand charts with s ...

*"How Can I Make It on My Own"; Co-Co *"I Found a New Love"; Lonnie Lee *"Keep Singing Those Love Songs"; Co-Co *"Too Much, Too Little, Too Late";

Johnny Mathis John Royce Mathis (born September 30, 1935) is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standard music, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum s ...

and

Deniece Williams Deniece Williams (born June Deniece Chandler; June 3, 1951) is an American singer. She has been described as "one of the great soul voices" by the BBC. She is best known for the songs " Free", " Silly", "It's Gonna Take a Miracle" and two ''Bill ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kipner, Nat 1924 births 2009 deaths Australian record producers Australian songwriters United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II