Peter Robin Callander (10 October 1939 – 25 February 2014) was an English songwriter and record producer. Active from the 1960s onwards, Callander wrote or co-wrote songs that have been performed by

recording artists A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who w ...

such as

Cilla Black Priscilla Maria Veronica White (27 May 1943 – 1 August 2015), better known as Cilla Black, was an English singer, actress and television presenter. Championed by her friends the Beatles, Black began her career as a singer in 1963. Her ...

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, and The Tremeloes, amongst many others. On some songs he was credited as Robin Conrad. Callander was also a founder member of the Society of Distinguished Songwriters (SODS), a director of

PRS for Music PRS for Music Limited (formerly The MCPS-PRS Alliance Limited) is a British music copyright collective, made up of two collection societies: the Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society (MCPS) and the Performing Right Society (PRS). It undertakes ...

, and formed a publishing company, Callander Family Music Ltd.

Early life

Born in

Lyndhurst, Hampshire Lyndhurst is a large village and civil parish situated in the New Forest National Park in Hampshire, England. Serving as the administrative capital of the New Forest, it is a popular tourist attraction, with many independent shops, art galle ...

, he was educated at the

City of London School , established = , closed = , type = Public school Boys' independent day school , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Alan Bird , chair_label = Chair of Governors , chair = Ian Seaton , founder = John Carpenter , special ...

on a scholarship, before following in his father's footsteps and training as a chef. He then moved into music publishing as a song plugger for Bron Music and he became a manager at Shapiro Bernstein Music.Obituary in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...

'' p56. 7 March 2014

Career

He often worked in conjunction with

Mitch Murray Mitch Murray (born Lionel Michael Stitcher; 30 January 1940) is an English songwriter, record producer and author. He has won two Ivor Novello Awards, including the Jimmy Kennedy Award. Murray has written, or co-written, songs that have produ ...

whom he met in 1966, with Murray's writing the music and Callander the

lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a " libretto" and their writer, ...

. The two also teamed together to produce recording artists such as

Paper Lace Paper Lace are a British pop/rock band, formed in Nottingham, who rose to success in 1974 and during that year had three UK Top 40 hit singles. In the United States they are considered a one-hit wonder, having a single US top 40 hit. There are ...

Tony Christie Anthony Fitzgerald (born 25 April 1943), known professionally as Tony Christie, is an English musician, singer and actor. He is best known for his recording of "(Is This the Way To) Amarillo", a double UK chart success. Career 1960s to 1970 ...

, and The Brothers. Their joint compositions included "

Even the Bad Times Are Good "Even the Bad Times Are Good" is a song written by British group the Tremeloes, released as a single in July 1967. It became their third consecutive top-ten hit in the UK and continued their international success. Release and reception "Even t ...

" ( The Tremeloes), "

The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde "The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde" is a song, written by Mitch Murray and Peter Callander, and recorded by the British rhythm and blues singer Georgie Fame. Released as a single, the song reached number one in the UK Singles Chart for one week from ...

" (

Georgie Fame Georgie Fame (born Clive Powell; 26 June 1943) is an English R&B and jazz musician. Fame, who had a string of 1960s hits, is still performing, often working with contemporaries such as Alan Price, Van Morrison and Bill Wyman. Fame is the on ...

), " Goodbye Sam, Hello Samantha" (

), "Ragamuffin Man" (

Manfred Mann Manfred Mann were an English rock band, formed in London and active between 1962 and 1969. The group were named after their keyboardist Manfred Mann, who later led the successful 1970s group Manfred Mann's Earth Band. The band had two diffe ...

), " Hitchin' a Ride" (

Vanity Fare Vanity Fare (often misspelled ''Vanity Fair'', due to the similarity of the novel and magazine title) are an English pop/rock group formed in 1966. They had the million-selling song, " Hitchin' a Ride", which became a worldwide hit in 1970. C ...

), "Turn on the Sun" (

Nana Mouskouri Ioanna "Nana" Mouskouri ( el, Ιωάννα "Νάνα" Μούσχουρη ) (born 13 October 1934) is a Greek singer. Over the span of her career, she has released over 200 albums in at least twelve languages, including Greek, French, English, Germ ...

) plus "

Avenues and Alleyways "Avenues and Alleyways" is a 1973 single recorded by Tony Christie as the theme song for the television series '' The Protectors (1972 - 1974)''. It was written and produced by Mitch Murray and Peter Callander, who were also responsible for Chris ...

", "

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

", and "

I Did What I Did for Maria "I Did What I Did for Maria" is a song recorded by British singer Tony Christie. It was written and produced by Mitch Murray and Peter Callander, who were also responsible for Christie's "Las Vegas" and " Avenues and Alleyways". The song is about ...

" for

. In 1972, his joint composition with

Geoff Stephens Geoffrey Stephens (1 October 1934 – 24 December 2020) was an English songwriter and record producer, most prolific in the United Kingdom in the 1960s and 1970s. He wrote a long series of hit records, often in conjunction with other British so ...

of "

Daddy Don't You Walk So Fast "Daddy Don't You Walk So Fast" is a song written by Peter Callander and Geoff Stephens and performed by Wayne Newton. It appeared on Newton's 1972 album, ''Daddy Don't You Walk So Fast''. "Daddy Don't You Walk So Fast" reached #3 on the U.S. Adul ...

", was recorded by

Wayne Newton Carson Wayne Newton (born April 3, 1942) is an American singer and actor. One of the most popular singers in the nation from the mid-to-late 20th-century, Newton remains one of the best-known entertainers in Las Vegas. He is known by the nicknam ...

. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a

gold disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

by the R.I.A.A. in July 1972. Whilst Callander was especially prolific during the 1960s and 1970s, his influence continued throughout his life. In 2005,

spent seven weeks at

number one Number One most commonly refers to: * 1 (number) Number One, No. 1, or #1 may also refer to: Music Albums * ''Number 1'' (Big Bang album), and the title song * ''No. 1'' (BoA album), and the title song * ''No.1'' (EP), by CLC * ''n.1 ...

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 ...

with the Murray and Callander produced tune, "

Is This the Way to Amarillo "(Is This the Way to) Amarillo" is a song written by Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield. It is about a man traveling to Amarillo, Texas, to find his girlfriend Marie. Written by two Americans with a strong country-western lyrical theme, the s ...

". In an interview in ''

'' in which he described another Murray-Callander penned tune, "Las Vegas", Christie noted that the two "were the star songwriters of the day". Also in 2005,

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

pop singer

Agnetha Fältskog Agneta Åse Fältskog (born 5 April 1950), known as Agnetha Fältskog (), is a Swedish singer, songwriter, and musician. She first achieved success in Sweden with the release of her 1968 self-titled debut album. She later achieved internatio ...

recorded the tune, "A Fool Am I", which had been a hit in the UK for

in 1966, for Fältskog's successful comeback album, '' My Colouring Book'', a collection of covers of classic 1960s pop tunes. Callendar provided the English language lyrics to what had originally been an

Italian language Italian (''italiano'' or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. Together with Sardinian, Italian is the least divergent language from Latin. Spoken by about ...

song. He died at the age of 74 on 25 February 2014.

Discography (selected)

As songwriter

* "A Fool Am I"; originally written by F. Carraresi (music) and A. Testa (lyrics); English lyrics by Peter Callander; recorded by Cilla Black and Agnetha Fältskog * "Give Me Time"; originally written by Alberto Morina, Amedeo Tommasi and Pietro Melfa; English lyrics by Peter Callander; 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 ...

and

P. J. Proby P. J. Proby (born James Marcus Smith; November 6, 1938) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. Proby recorded the singles " Hold Me", " Somewhere", and "Maria". In 2008, EMI released the greatest hits album '' Best of the EMI Years 1961 ...

* "

" (1968); written by Mitch Murray and Peter Callander; recorded by

* " The Night Chicago Died" (1974); written by Mitch Murray and Peter Callander; recorded by

* "

Billy, Don't Be a Hero "Billy Don't Be a Hero" is a 1974 pop song that was first a UK hit for Paper Lace and then, some months later, a US hit for Bo Donaldson and The Heywoods. The song was written and composed by two British songwriters, Mitch Murray and Peter C ...

" (1974); written by Mitch Murray and Peter Callander; recorded by both Paper Lace and Bo Donaldson and The Heywoods * "Beautiful" (1977); written by Mitch Murray and Peter Callander; recorded by The Brothers * " Monsieur Dupont" (1969); originally written by Christian Bruhn; English lyrics by Peter Callander; recorded by

Sandie Shaw Sandie may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Sandie Clair (born 1988), French professional racing cyclist * Sandie Fitzgibbon, Irish former camogie player * Sandie Jones (1950/1951–2019), Irish singer * Sandie Lindsay, 1st Baron Lindsay of Birker (187 ...

* " Suddenly You Love Me" (1967); originally written by

Mario Panzeri Mario Panzeri (11 October 1911 – 19 May 1991) was an Italian lyricist and composer. He is well known for his composed songs that include "Maramao perché sei morto?" "Pippo non lo sa", "Lettera a Pinocchio", and "Grazie dei fior", which won t ...

Daniele Pace Daniele Pace (20 April 1935 – 24 October 1985) was an Italian composer, lyricist and singer-songwriter. Life and career Born in Milan, Pace started his career as lead vocalist of the group I Marcellini. After a brief solo career as a singer ...

and Laurenzo Pilat; English lyrics by Peter Callander; recorded by The Tremeloes * "Special" (1999); written by Robert Dallas and Peter Callander, recorded by Johnny Crawfish (James Rankin)

As producer

* "Sing Me" – The Brothers (1977) (with Mitch Murray) – UK No. 8 * "Beautiful" – The Brothers (1977) (with Mitch Murray)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Callander, Peter 1939 births 2014 deaths English songwriters English record producers People educated at the City of London School