Tony Fennell (born 16 November 1963) is a British musician, songwriter and producer. He was the lead singer, lyricist and musician for the band

Ultravox Ultravox (earlier styled as Ultravox!) were a British new wave band, formed in London in April 1974 as Tiger Lily. Between 1980 and 1986, they scored seven Top Ten albums and seventeen Top 40 singles in the UK, the most successful of which was ...

from 1992 until 1994, as well as a writer and producer of music for television. Fennell has signed publishing and recording contracts with

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American Film studio, film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, Califo ...

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

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 conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

and

BMG BMG may refer to: Organizations * Music publishing companies: ** Bertelsmann Music Group, a 1987–2008 division of Bertelsmann that was purchased by Sony on October 1, 2008 *** Sony BMG, a 2004–2008 joint venture of Bertelsmann and Sony that wa ...

. His film and television credits include

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

Viacom Viacom, an abbreviation of Video and Audio Communications, may refer to: * Viacom (1952–2006), a former American media conglomerate * Viacom (2005–2019), a former company spun off from the original Viacom * Viacom18, a joint venture between Par ...

, HBO,

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

and

Syfy Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. Lau ...

as well as commercials for

Dodge Dodge is an American brand of automobiles and a division of Stellantis, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Dodge vehicles have historically included performance cars, and for much of its existence Dodge was Chrysler's mid-priced brand above P ...

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in more ...

and

General Mills General Mills, Inc., is an American multinational manufacturer and marketer of branded processed consumer foods sold through retail stores. Founded on the banks of the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls in Minneapolis, the company orig ...

Career

Fennell was born in Birmingham, and started playing music in the early 1980s, signing his first publishing contract with

Warner/Chappell Music Warner Chappell Music, Inc. is an American music publishing company and a subsidiary of the Warner Music Group. Warner Chappell Music's catalogue consists of over 1.4 million compositions and 65,000 composers, with offices in over 40 countries. ...

. His band, Mr. President, went on to sign with Atlantic Records. During this time, Fennell was also the bass player for

Edwin Starr Charles Edwin Hatcher (January 21, 1942 – April 2, 2003), known by his stage name Edwin Starr, was an American singer and songwriter. Starr was famous for his Norman Whitfield-produced Motown singles of the 1970s, most notably the number-on ...

. In 1985, the band changed its name to "Big Noise". The band released the album ''Bang! '', produced by Elliot Wolfe (

Paula Abdul Paula Julie Abdul (born June 19, 1962) is an American singer, dancer, choreographer, actress, and television personality. She began her career as a cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers at the age of 18 and later became the head choreograph ...

). He toured extensively throughout the United Kingdom and Europe, including with

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...

. After moving to the US permanently in the late 1980s, Fennell co-wrote with David Frank ( The System) the track "If You Believe" for soul singer Kenny Thomas' 1991 Platinum album ''

Voices Voices or The Voices may refer to: Film and television * ''Voices'' (1920 film), by Chester M. De Vonde, with Diana Allen * ''Voices'' (1973 film), a British horror film * ''Voices'' (1979 film), a film by Robert Markowitz * ''Voices'' (19 ...

''. In 1992 Fennell became the lead singer of UK band Ultravox and signed with EMI. He recorded the EP " Vienna 92" and co-wrote the album ''

Revelation In religion and theology, revelation is the revealing or disclosing of some form of truth or knowledge through communication with a deity or other supernatural entity or entities. Background Inspiration – such as that bestowed by God on the ...

''. In 1995 Fennell signed a publishing deal with Japanese company

Avex is a Japanese entertainment conglomerate led by founder Max Matsuura and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1988, the company manages J-pop talents like Ayumi Hamasaki and internet sensation PikoTaro. It has also shifted into other busi ...

. While with Avex, Fennell co-wrote the underscore for the movie ''

Within the Rock ''Within the Rock'' is a 1996 American made-for-TV science fiction horror film directed by Gary J. Tunnicliffe. It starred Xander Berkeley, Brian Krause, and Duane Whitaker. It featured a cameo from former U.S. Marine Corps captain and technica ...

'' (Gary Tunnicliffe) for the Syfy Channel. Teaming up with Rod Gammons (

Liberty X Liberty X (originally called Liberty) are a British-Irish group originally consisting of Michelle Heaton, Tony Lundon, Kevin Simm, Jessica Taylor and Kelli Young. The group was formed by the five finalists of the 2001 ITV talent show ''Popstars' ...

) and Bob Khozouri (

Eternal Eternal(s) or The Eternal may refer to: * Eternity, an infinite amount of time, or a timeless state * Immortality or eternal life * God, the supreme being, creator deity, and principal object of faith in monotheism Comics, film and television * ...

), he co-wrote two songs for

Jaki Graham Jacqueline Graham (born 15 September 1956) is a British singer-songwriter. Following her hit version of "Could It Be I'm Falling in Love" with David Grant in 1985, Graham scored a further five UK top 20 hits over a two-year period. In 1994, her ...

's album ''Hold On'' and another for her album ''Real Life''. In 1996/7 Fennell formed the band ''Luxx'' with fellow Englishman Ian Hatton ( Bonham,

The Honeydrippers The Honeydrippers were an English rock and roll band of the 1980s, deriving their name from Roosevelt Sykes, an American blues singer also known as "Honeydripper". Former Led Zeppelin lead singer Robert Plant formed the group in 1981 to sati ...

) and signed with Push/BMG. The band went on to record two albums: ''Luxx'' and ''Hyrdroponic'' and toured the US over a period of 4 years. In the early 2000s, he wrote and recorded songs for ''

Bear In The Big Blue House ''Bear in the Big Blue House'' is an American children's television series created by Mitchell Kriegman and produced by Jim Henson Television for Disney Channel's Playhouse Disney preschool television block. Debuting on October 20, 1997, it aire ...

'' (

), ''

Little Bill ''Little Bill'' is an American animated educational television series created by Bill Cosby. It is based on the ''Little Bill'' book series, written by Cosby with illustrations by Varnette P. Honeywood. Cosby also composed some of the theme mu ...

'' (

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

), '' Out Of The Box'' (

), ''

Gullah Gullah Island ''Gullah Gullah Island'' is an American musical children's television series that was produced by and aired on the Nick Jr. programming block on the Nickelodeon network from October 24, 1994, to April 7, 1998. The show was hosted by Ron Daise - n ...

'' (Nickelodeon),

Cyberchase ''Cyberchase'' is an educational animated sci-fi children's television series that airs on PBS Kids. The series centers around three children from Earth: Jackie, Matt, and Inez, who are brought into Cyberspace, a digital universe, in order to p ...

(

), ''

Scrubs Scrub(s) may refer to: * Scrub, low shrub and grass characteristic of scrubland * Scrubs (clothing), worn by medical staff * ''Scrubs'' (TV series), an American television program * Scrubs (occupation), also called "scrub tech," "scrub nurse," o ...

'' (

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

) and ''

Nash Bridges ''Nash Bridges'' is an American police procedural television series created by Carlton Cuse. The show stars Don Johnson and Cheech Marin as two Inspectors with the San Francisco Police Department's Special Investigations Unit (SIU). The seri ...

'' (CBS). In 2004, he signed with Zest Music as the in-house writer/ producer working in conjunction with CEO Steve Weltman (Chrysalis, Hit and Run Music). With Zest, Fenelle wrote and produced with Richard Evans (

Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and activist. He rose to fame as the original lead singer of the progressive rock band Genesis. After leaving Genesis in 1975, he launched ...

) and co-wrote and produced the album ''Night Racing'' for Tara Chinn. Fenelle and Chinn went on to tour Australia to promote the album ''Night Racing''. In 2009, Fennell wrote/ produced songs and underscore for the movie, ''King Of The Avenue'' (

Ving Rhames Irving Rameses Rhames (born May 12, 1959) is an American actor. He is best known for his supporting roles as IMF Agent Luther Stickell in the ''Mission: Impossible'' film series and gang kingpin Marsellus Wallace in ''Pulp Fiction''. He also ap ...

). In 2010, Fennell co-wrote "Crash and Burn" and "Black and White" with

Alex Smith Alexander Douglas Smith (born May 7, 1984) is an American former quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons. He played college football at Utah, where he received first-team All-American honors and won the 20 ...

( James Morrison) and Karen Louise Barrowor Scarlette Fever. "Crash and Burn" achieved high rotation on

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...

's B-List and the

Jason Nevins Jason Nevins (born December 15, 1972) is an American songwriter, record producer and remixer, who is most widely known for his pop and dance productions, including his multi-platinum, multi-million selling production of " It's Like That" by Ameri ...

remix reached number 2 in the

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

Commercial Pop Club Chart. It also made the top ten of the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' Breakout Club Charts in the USA. In 2013/14 Fennell wrote and co-produced with Jason Silver (

Mark Ronson Mark Daniel Ronson (born 4 September 1975) is a British-American DJ, songwriter, record producer, and record executive. He is best known for his collaborations with artists such as Duran Duran, Amy Winehouse, Adele, Lady Gaga, Lily Allen, Robbi ...

) the album Bring It Back for singer

Brenda Edwards Brenda Claudina Susan Edwards (' Artman; born 2 March 1969) is an English singer, actress, television personality and presenter. In 2005, she finished in fourth place in the second series of ''The X Factor''. As of 2019, she is a weekly paneli ...

(We Will Rock You/The X Factor). He is writing/producing with bass player Chip Z'nuff and the band

Enuff Z'nuff Enuff Z'Nuff (a sensational spelling of "enough's enough") is an American rock band from Blue Island, Illinois, founded by singer Donnie Vie and bassist Chip Z'Nuff. The Chicago-area band is best known for their charting singles " Fly High Michel ...

and has produced two songs for the band's latest release " Diamond Boy". In March 2019, following a three and a half year stint with the band, Fennell announced his departure from Enuff Z'nuff in a statement on the band's

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

page. June 2019 saw Fennell join as lead singer and guitar player for the band When in Rome II. During January–March 2020, he embarked on a nationwide US tour with

the Motels The Motels are an American new wave band from Berkeley, California, that is best known for the singles "Only the Lonely" and "Suddenly Last Summer", each of which peaked at No. 9 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, in 1982 and 1983, respectively. In ...

and is recording new material for the band.

Current work

Fennell is currently the co-founder and co-owner of the company Musations. The company released the social media/music app, Musations in July 2014. The app consequently charted at #3 in the Apple AppStore's free music downloads.

Partial Discography

*Big Noise - ''Bang'' (1989) *

- " Vienna 92" (1992) *Ultravox - ''

'' (1993) *Gerry Laffy - Sheer Greed *Luxx - Luxx *Luxx - Hydroponic *Bear in the Big Blue House *Scarlette Fever - Medication Time *Brenda Edwards - Bring It Back * Enuff Znuff - '' Diamond Boy'' (2018)

References

External links

* *http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118183/fullcredits cast Within The Rock {{DEFAULTSORT:Fenelle, Tony 1963 births Living people Musicians from Birmingham, West Midlands English rock singers English male singer-songwriters