Steven Nicholas Jolley (born April 1950) and Tony Swain (born 20 January 1952, London, England) were a successful songwriting and

record production A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

duo in the United Kingdom in the early to mid-1980s, producing some of the top artists and songs of the era.

Career

The pair met in 1975 when Swain was working as a television

cameraman A camera operator, or depending on the context cameraman or camerawoman, is a professional operator of a film camera or video camera as part of a film crew. The term "cameraman" does not imply that a male is performing the task. In filmmaking ...

on ''

The Muppet Show ''The Muppet Show'' is a sketch comedy television series created by Jim Henson and featuring the Muppets. The series originated as two pilot episodes produced by Henson for ABC in 1974 and 1975. While neither episode was moved forward as a ser ...

'', where Jolley was sound technician and sometimes boom operator. They formed the band Chaser in 1975 with Richard Palmer (rhythm guitar and percussion), Nick Adams (lead guitar), Ray Bailey (bass) and Brian Grant (drums). Chaser released the single "Red Rum" (1975), written by Jolley, Palmer and Swain, on

Polydor Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...

as a tribute to the famous racehorse. Swain left to pursue a career as a songwriter/record producer while Jolley released a single and an album with The English Boys in 1980. Their first known collaborative work was released by the late 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 ...

on his 1980 album ''Turn Out the Light'', which featured four Jolley/Swain compositions. In 1981, they reunited to produce the debut single "Body Talk" for

Imagination Imagination is the production or simulation of novel objects, sensations, and ideas in the mind without any immediate input of the senses. Stefan Szczelkun characterises it as the forming of experiences in one's mind, which can be re-creations ...

. They produced four albums for the group and eight

hit single A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single or simply a hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record' ...

s including "

Just an Illusion "Just an Illusion" is a song by the British trio Imagination. Co-written by Steve Jolley, Tony Swain, Ashley Ingram and Leee John, the song was a major European hit, peaking at number 2 in the group's native UK. In the United States, "Just an ...

" which peaked at number two in 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 ...

and "

Music and Lights "Music and Lights" is a single by British trio Imagination, released in 1982 by R&B Records. It was composed by the band's members in a collaboration with Jolley & Swain. The song has appeared on their second album titled '' In the Heat of the ...

" which reached number one in both Italy and France, number 2 in Spain, 5 in the UK, as well as charting highly in several other countries. At the same time they produced albums and singles for

Bananarama Bananarama are an English pop duo from London, formed as a trio in 1980 by friends Sara Dallin, Siobhan Fahey and Keren Woodward. Fahey left the group in 1988 and was replaced by Jacquie O'Sullivan until 1991, when the trio became a duo. Thei ...

, including " Cruel Summer". They subsequently produced the album ''

True True most commonly refers to truth, the state of being in congruence with fact or reality. True may also refer to: Places * True, West Virginia, an unincorporated community in the United States * True, Wisconsin, a town in the United States * Tr ...

'' for

Spandau Ballet Spandau Ballet () were an English new wave band formed in Islington, London, in 1979. Inspired by the capital's post-punk underground dance scene, they emerged at the start of the 1980s as the house band for the Blitz Kids, playing "European Da ...

; the title track reaching

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 ...

in the UK in 1983, and its follow-up ''

Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually ce ...

''. They also produced the album '' Alf'' for

Alison Moyet Geneviève Alison Jane Ballard ( ; born 18 June 1961) is an English singer noted for her powerful bluesy contralto voice. She came to prominence as half of the duo Yazoo (also known as Yaz), but has since mainly worked as a solo artist. Her ...

on which the pair shared songwriting and musician credits for many of the tracks, and were nominated for a

BRIT Award The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...

for the song, "

Love Resurrection "Love Resurrection" is a pop song written by English singer-songwriter Alison Moyet and producers Jolley & Swain for Moyet's debut studio album '' Alf'' (1984). Released as the album's first single in June 1984, it reached number 10 in the UK S ...

". Most of their recordings and productions were done at Red Bus Studios in London. Swain and Jolley also produced Kevin Kitchen for

China Records China Records was a record label founded 1 October 1984 by Derek Green (music), Derek Green. Its top-selling artists were Art of Noise, Morcheeba and the The Levellers (band), Levellers. In 1986 and 1987, China Records releases were manufactu ...

. The album ''Split Personality'', and single "Put My Arms Around You", were both released in 1985. The single reached No. 64 in the UK Singles Chart. In 1985, they released their own (instrumental) album, ''Backtrackin, from which "Soul Street" was released as single. They subsequently worked with

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame as the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown's most successful act during the 1960s and one of the world's best-selling girl groups o ...

Tom Robinson Thomas Giles Robinson (born 1 June 1950) is a British singer, bassist, radio presenter and long-time LGBT rights activist, best known for the hits "Glad to Be Gay", "2-4-6-8 Motorway", and "Don't Take No for an Answer", with his Tom Robinson ...

Errol Brown Lester Errol Brown MBE (12 November 1943 – 6 May 2015) was a British-Jamaican singer and songwriter, best known as the frontman of the soul and funk band Hot Chocolate. In 2004, Brown received the Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contributi ...

and Wang Chung, as well as

Louise Goffin Louise Goffin (born March 23, 1960) is an American singer-songwriter and producer of the 2011 album ''A Holiday Carole''. Signed by record executive Lenny Waronker to DreamWorks Records, DreamWorks in 1999, Goffin released ''Sometimes a Circle ...

(daughter of

Carole King Carole King Klein (born Carol Joan Klein; February 9, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who has been active since 1958, initially as one of the staff songwriters at 1650 Broadway and later as a solo artist. Regarded as one ...

and

Gerry Goffin Gerald Goffin (February 11, 1939 – June 19, 2014) was an American lyricist. Collaborating initially with his first wife, Carole King, he co-wrote many international pop hits of the early and mid-1960s, including the List of Billboard number-one ...

). They worked in London and LA, with H.S.H.

Princess Stephanie of Monaco Princess is a regal rank and the feminine equivalent of prince (from Latin ''princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or for the daughter of a king or prince. Princess as a subst ...

Later years

After splitting up, Swain went on to produce

Kim Wilde Kim Wilde (born Kim Smith, 18 November 1960) is an English pop singer, DJ and television presenter. She first saw success in 1981 with her debut single "Kids in America", which peaked at No. 2 in the UK. In 1983, she received the Brit Award f ...

's million-selling ''

Close Close may refer to: Music * ''Close'' (Kim Wilde album), 1988 * ''Close'' (Marvin Sapp album), 2017 * ''Close'' (Sean Bonniwell album), 1969 * "Close" (Sub Focus song), 2014 * "Close" (Nick Jonas song), 2016 * "Close" (Rae Sremmurd song), 201 ...

'' album. Jolley set up a record label and production company, releasing uptempo club version of Aznavour's ''What Makes A Man'' and other records, under the group name 'Marseilles'. He also went on to co-produce and write tracks for Bananarama's '' Pop Life'' album. Swain was head A&R Consultant for

Universal Records Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch–American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

International. Jolley was later convicted of sexual offences involving minors and jailed for 18 months.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jolley and Swain English record producers English songwriters Record production duos English musical duos British songwriting teams British record production teams