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Tony Hymas | |
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| Born | 23 September 1943 |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, composer |
| Instrument(s) | Piano, keyboards |
Anthony James Keith "Tony" Hymas (born 23 September 1943) is an English keyboard player, pianist, and composer. In the Eighties he formed the band Ph.D., who had a Top 10 hit in the UK with the song "I Won't Let You Down" in 1982. He worked closely with Jeff Beck, recording with him the 1980 album There & Back , and the 1989 album "Jeff Beck's Guitar Shop".
Hymas started as a chorister at Exeter Cathedral School, where his contemporaries included composer and cathedral organist Barry Ferguson, percussionist Tristan Fry and singer and pianist Roger Cleverdon. After leaving school, Hymas studied piano with Harold Rubens at the Royal Academy of Music. As company pianist for the Ballet Rambert in its resurgent 'modern' form, Hymas wrote a substitute score for Glen Tetley's Rag Dances over the course of eight days. After his employment at Rambert, Hymas found work in the busy London session scene of the 1970s.
In 1974 he co-composed the theme song with Joe Campbell to the UK television series Mr Men , based on the children's books by Roger Hargreaves.
Hymas played with Jack Bruce in the Jack Bruce Band between 1976 and 1978. He accompanied guitarist Jeff Beck, appearing with him on the 1980 album There & Back . He also wrote songs for Beck, including "Angel Footsteps" and "Brush with the Blues". [1]
In 1980, Hymas and Beck's drummer Simon Philips hired Scottish singer Jim Diamond for the trio Ph.D. The band had a Top 10 hit in the UK with the song "I Won't Let You Down" in 1982, but disbanded a year later after poor sales of their subsequent singles and Diamond's decision to return to his solo career. He also plays keyboards and synthesizers on Jeff Beck's 1989 album "Jeff Beck's Guitar Shop". Hymas continued to collaborate with Diamond on his solo projects; the duo released a third Ph.D. album in 2009 entitled Three and remained active until Diamond's death in 2015.
Hymas composed and sang on the track "Desperate for Your Love", the opening song on the 1985 album, The Great Balloon Race, by progressive rock band Sky.
His albums include De l'origine du Monde (2010), Chroniques de resistance (2013), Hope Street (Nato), and I Will Not Take 'But' for an Answer (2010) with the band Ursus Minor. In 2016, he recorded Tony Hymas joue Léo Ferré, an album of piano transcriptions of songs by Léo Ferré,.
Geoffrey Arnold Beck was an English guitarist. He rose to prominence as a member of the rock band the Yardbirds, and afterwards founded and fronted the Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice. In 1975, he switched to an instrumental style with focus on an innovative sound, and his releases spanned genres and styles ranging from blues rock, hard rock, jazz fusion and a blend of guitar-rock and electronica.
James Aaron Diamond was a Scottish singer-songwriter, best known for his three top 5 hits: "I Won't Let You Down" (1982), as the lead singer of PhD; and his solo performances "I Should Have Known Better", a United Kingdom No. 1 in 1984, and "Hi Ho Silver", the theme song from Boon, which reached No. 5 on the UK Singles Chart in 1986.
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Simon Phillips is an English jazz, fusion and rock drummer, songwriter, and record producer, based in the United States. He worked with rock bands during the 1970s and 1980s, and was the drummer for the band Toto from 1992 to 2014.
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Ph.D. were a British duo best known for their UK top 10 hit "I Won't Let You Down" in April 1982, which had been a hit the previous year throughout Europe.
There & Back is the fourth studio solo album by guitarist Jeff Beck, released in June 1980 through Epic Records. The album reached No. 10 and 21 on the U.S. Billboard Jazz Albums and Billboard 200 charts respectively, and No. 36 on the Swedish albums chart.
"Rockestra Theme" is the fourth and final single on Wings' final studio album Back to the Egg.
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Ph.D. is the 1981 debut album by the band of the same name. It was later reissued with a different cover when "I Won't Let You Down" became a hit in several countries in early 1982. The original cover was designed by Mike Payne and was the first release of his "Electrograph" artwork.
Is It Safe? is the second album from Ph.D., released in 1983. It was their last album until their 2009 comeback Three. Is It Safe? was reissued by Voiceprint Records in 2010. Drummer Simon Philips had quit the band, which now consisted solely of Jim Diamond and Tony Hymas. The album's opening track, "I Didn't Know", failed to chart in Britain but was a hit across Europe.
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Write On is the first of two 1976 studio albums by the English rock/pop band, the Hollies, and their 16th UK studio album. Like the previous one, this album has mostly songs written by the group's songwriting team. The final track of the album is the only one not composed by them. This album was not issued in the US.
"Little Suzi's on the Up" is a song by British new wave group Ph.D. It was released as the band's first single, appearing on their self-titled debut. The music video for the song was notable for being the fifth music video shown during MTV's launch on 1 August 1981. It is sometimes misspelled by music video stations as Susie or Suzy. Suzi is the correct spelling.
Five Three One - Double Seven O Four is the 19th UK studio album by the English rock/pop group the Hollies. When rendered as digits, the album title is the band's name upside down in digital number view. The idea is credited to guitarist Terry Sylvester.
That somebody was Tony Hymas, Beck's longtime keyboardist. Hymas had written a bunch of tunes, many of which ended up on Who Else!, mixing unusual time signatures, offbeat rhythms, jazz and world beat flavors with rock. In turn, Beck introduced Hymas to a new style he wanted to explore: electronic dance music.
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