ALAN HAWKSHAW (1937-2021)
Composer
who wrote the theme tunes for
Channel 4 News and Grange Hill,
and the music to accompany the
Countdown clock.
For five decades
Alan Hawkshaw, who has died aged
84, was a hard-working musician
and composer, writing the themes
for Grange Hill and Channel 4
News, as well as the tense music
to accompany the Countdown clock.
But few people outside the music
business knew his name. "I
like it that way," he said
in 2018, "I would have hated
being a celebrity and I like
being in the background."
For much of the time Hawkshaw
wrote and recorded library music
for the publisher Keith Prowse
Music (KPM). These albums were
not for commercial release but
would be circulated within the
industry, grouped according to
mood or genre.
Film-makers, TV
directors and advertisers could
license what they wanted for
their projects, which was
invariably cheaper, quicker and
easier than hiring a composer and
recording the results. When Clint
Eastwood filmed Pale Rider in
1985, he had no idea that the
music in one sequence was being
used for Channel 4 News. This
rather spoilt the dramatic effect
for British audiences.
Hawkshaw's close
friend in much of this work was
Brian Bennett, the drummer with
the Shadows, Cliff Richard's
backing band in the 1960s, who
had success in their own right.
In recent years Bennett and
Hawkshaw had been part of the KPM
All-Stars, which played
occasional concerts in London
venues to a cult following.
Hawkshaw loved it, saying:
"There is nothing better
than playing to an audience who
are enjoying it. You get that
electricity that you dont
get from records."
As a result of his
connection with Bennett, Hawkshaw
was to hand whenever the Shadows
wanted some keyboards and, as
well as Cliff Richard, he worked
with Olivia Newton-John, who was
produced by two members of the
Shadows. "I was
Olivias musical director
and arranger," he recalled.
"My favourite was I
Honestly Love You [1974]. It
was a great song, a ballad
written for an album not a
single, but it was issued as a
single and became No 1 in
America. I got £30 for doing it,
which was the going rate, but I
also got an award for best
arrangement of the year."
A tune that
Hawkshaw had written in the 60s, Chicken
Man, became the theme music
for the children's BBC television
soap Grange Hill (1978-89), and
the same music was used for the
Thames Television comedy quiz,
Give Us a Clue, in 1979. In 1971,
Hawkshaw wrote the theme for
BBC's Dave Allen at Large, neatly
called Blarneys Stoned,
and, later, the theme for ITV's
The New Statesman (1987-94).
His music was used
in hundreds of commercials, most
notably the long-running adverts
for Cadbury's Milk Tray.
Born in Leeds,
Alan was the son of Walter
Hawkshaw, a machine-minder at a
print works and a piano player in
local pubs, and Lillian (nee
Palmer). He attended Bentley Lane
school in Meanwood, Leeds, and
worked in printing until he was
conscripted, serving with the RAF
in the UK and Cyprus. Returning
to his day job, he also played
the piano for semi-professional
dance bands.
After a few years,
Hawkshaw settled in London, which
was where the work was, making
albums for Keith Prowse and
playing the piano or Hammond
organ on sessions, supplementing
the sound for groups such as the
Hollies and playing in the
orchestra for the soundtrack to
the 1967 film Bonnie and Clyde.
Anxious to give something back,
he established the Alan Hawkshaw
Foundation in 1983, which, with
the Performing Right Society, has
supported underprivileged music
students at the Leeds
Conservatoire and the National
Film and Television School. He
received a fellowship from Leeds
and in 2021 the British Empire
Medal.
After a brief
early marriage, Hawkshaw married
Christiane Bieberbach in 1968 and
they had two children, Kirsty and
Sheldon. Christiane, his children
and five grandchildren survive
him.
William Alan
Hawkshaw, musician and composer,
born 27 March 1937; died 16
October 2021.
Edited version of
an obituary which appeared in The
Guardian newspaper and reproduced
here with due acknowledgement.
© 2021
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