David Courtney (born David Alexander Cohen, 18 December 1949, Brighton, East Sussex) [1] is a British singer, songwriter and record producer. Courtney's first big break was as a songwriter with Adam Faith and Leo Sayer; Courtney co-wrote several hit songs with them (including "Giving it All Away", recorded by both Sayer and Roger Daltrey) and he co-produced Faith's 1974 album, I Survive. He released one album of his own on United Artists in 1974 entitled David Courtney's First Day which had some success on both sides of the Atlantic, and peaked at number 194 on the US Billboard 200. [2]
Courtney did not release any further material until 2005, when some of his unreleased material, including a 1980 studio album, was released on indie label The White Room. [3] As a producer, Courtney has also worked with musicians such as Roger Daltrey, Gene Pitney, Eric Clapton, David Gilmour and Jimmy Page. In September 2015, Courtney celebrated his 50th anniversary in music with the release of his Anthology album on Angel Air Records.
In 2002, Courtney was responsible for introducing the first Walk of Fame cultural attraction in the UK, located in Brighton. [4] In September 2015 Courtney joined forces with The National Football Museum and sports artist Paul Trevillion to announce the world's first Football Walk of Fame, which would be launched in Cathedral Square, Manchester.
Courtney was awarded Russia's Tsarskoselskaya Artistic Premium of 2016, as a composer and producer of the 2016 album Matinee, a collaboration between Courtney and Russian singer Marina Kapuro. Courtney is the first British composer to receive the award.
William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. is an American R&B and soul singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive. He was the founder and frontman of the pioneering Motown vocal group the Miracles, for which he was also chief songwriter and producer. He led the group from its 1955 origins, when they were called The Five Chimes, until 1972, when he retired from the group to focus on his role as Motown Records vice president. Robinson returned to the music industry as a solo artist the following year. He left Motown in 1999.
Roger Harry Daltrey is an English singer, musician and actor. He is co-founder and lead singer of rock band the Who.
A Quick One is the second studio album by the English rock band the Who, released on 9 December 1966. A version of the album with an altered track listing was released under the name Happy Jack on Decca Records in April 1967 in the United States, where the song "Happy Jack" was a top 40 hit.
Stephen Lawrence Winwood is an English musician and songwriter whose genres include blue-eyed soul, rhythm and blues, blues rock and pop rock. Though primarily a guitarist, keyboard player and vocalist, prominent for his distinctive soulful high tenor voice, Winwood plays other instruments proficiently, including drums, mandolin, bass and saxophone.
Terence Nelhams Wright, known as Adam Faith, was an English singer, actor, and financial journalist. As a British rock and roll teen idol, he scored consecutive No. 1 hits on the UK Singles Chart with "What Do You Want?" (1959) and "Poor Me" (1960). He became the first UK artist to lodge his initial seven hits in the top 5, and was ultimately one of the most charted acts of the 1960s. He was also one of the first UK acts to record original songs regularly.
David Allan Stewart is an English musician, songwriter and record producer, best known for Eurythmics, his successful professional partnership with Annie Lennox. Sometimes credited as David A. Stewart, he won Best British Producer at the 1986, 1987 and 1990 Brit Awards. Stewart was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2020 and the duo were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022. Outside of Eurythmics, Stewart has written and produced songs for artists such as Ringo Starr, Stevie Nicks, Mick Jagger and Tom Petty.
Gerard Hugh Sayer is an English-Australian singer and songwriter who has been active since the early 1970s. He has been an Australian citizen and resident since 2009.
Silverbird is the debut solo studio album by English singer-songwriter Leo Sayer. It was originally released in November 1973 by Chrysalis (UK), and Warner Bros. (US). It was co-produced by former British pop teen idol Adam Faith and David Courtney.
Just a Boy is the second album by English singer-songwriter, Leo Sayer, and was released in 1974. It features his interpretations of two songs written by Sayer and David Courtney for The Who's lead vocalist Roger Daltrey's debut album, Daltrey. Sayer's singles "One Man Band" and "Long Tall Glasses" both hit the charts in the U.K. and around the world. Leo Sayer was now popular in Europe and made many promotional appearances there. He headlined in Paris at The Theatre D’ Champs Elysees, the theatre known as the home of his then-hero, mime artist Marcel Marceau.
Odds & Sods is an album of studio outtakes by British rock band the Who. It was released by Track Records in the UK and Track/MCA in the US in October 1974. Ten of the recordings on the original eleven-song album were previously unreleased. The album reached No. 10 on the UK charts and No. 15 in the US.
David Justin Hayward is an English musician. He was the guitarist and frontman of the rock band the Moody Blues from 1966 until that group's dissolution in 2018. He became the group's principal vocalist and its most prolific songwriter over the 1967–1974 period, and composed several international hit singles for the band.
William Morris Nicholls Jr is an English singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and musical director. He was born into a musical family, his father Billy Nicholls (Sr.) being a double bassist and big band singer, performing with such bands as The Oscar Rabin Romany Band, Alan Green with his boys, the RAF band The Squadronaires and later performed on radio with Will Hay with Royal Command Performances. Nicholls first gained fame in the 1960s while still a teenager with his Pet Sounds-influenced album, Would You Believe, originally released on Immediate Records.
Daltrey is the debut solo studio album by the English rock singer Roger Daltrey, lead vocalist of the Who. It was released on 20 April 1973 by Track Records in the United Kingdom and MCA Records in the United States. Daltrey was the third member of the group to make a solo album. The bulk of the record was written by David Courtney and Leo Sayer. It took six weeks to record during January and February 1973. Sessions took place at Daltrey's Barn Studio, Burwash, East Sussex, where the backing tracks were laid down; vocals, overdubs, and mixing was completed at the Beatles' Apple Studios at 3 Savile Row, and at Nova Sound Studios.
Parting Should Be Painless is the fifth studio album by English singer Roger Daltrey, released in February 1984, on the label Atlantic, in the United States, and on WEA in Germany, and Japan. The album was Daltrey's first solo album since the initial break-up of rock band the Who, and the first by any member of the band since the break-up. "Walking in My Sleep", "Parting Would Be Painless", and "Would a Stranger Do" were all released as singles. Two of those singles failed to chart, while "Walking in My Sleep" was a success, peaking at No. 4 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.
Can't Wait to See the Movie is the seventh solo studio album by English singer, songwriter and actor Roger Daltrey, the lead vocalist for the Who. It was released in June 1987 by Atlantic Records, and was primarily produced by Alan Shacklock, in association with David Foster, Chas Sanford and Jimmy Scott. Among the songs Daltrey is credited as co-writer on two tracks "Balance on Wires" and "Take Me Home". David Foster co-wrote the track "The Price of Love", which was also featured in the 1987 movie The Secret of My Success, starring Michael J. Fox.
Frank Turner Simes is an American musician, singer, guitarist, songwriter, composer and record producer. Simes is the musical director for Roger Daltrey, and has recorded and performed with Mick Jagger, Don Henley, and Stevie Nicks.
Ralph Randolph Johnson is an American singer, songwriter, musician and producer. Johnson is a member and percussionist of the funk/soul/disco band Earth, Wind & Fire.
Ray Singer is a British record producer and owner of Singer Records. Singer was instrumental in launching the careers of Peter Sarstedt, David Sylvian, Japan, and Ana Silvera.
Steve McEwan is a multi Grammy award-winning British songwriter, artist, and musician. His songs have been recorded by country music artists including Chris Stapleton, Kenny Chesney, Carrie Underwood, Faith Hill, and Keith Urban. Outside of country, he has also written with rock and pop stars such as Kylie Minogue, Roger Daltrey, David Archuleta, James Morrison, James Blunt, Jackson Browne, James Bay, and James Arthur as well as rapper Eminem. His song "Cry" with Jon Batiste won best American Roots song and Best Performance at the 2022 Grammys and he also won overall Best Album for "We Are". In 2024 he won the Grammy for Best Song For Social Change for "Refugee" with the artist K'naan.
"Giving It All Away" is the debut solo single by Roger Daltrey, the lead vocalist of the Who. The song was written by the then-unknown Leo Sayer with David Courtney. Adam Faith and David Courtney produced the track.