Born 19 November 1945
Origin Workington, Cumberland, England
Genres Pop, rock
Occupation(s) Songwriter, record producer, musician
Instruments Bass guitar, keyboards, guitar
Alan Tarney (born 19 November 1945) is an English songwriter, record producer and bass guitarist. He was born in Northside, Workington, Cumberland, England, but spent his teenage years in Adelaide, Australia, where he met his songwriting and musical partner Trevor Spencer.
Tarney was part of the influx of British migrants who settled in Adelaide during the height of the 1960s pop music boom. His first major group in Australia was James Taylor Move, a four-piece outfit regarded as one of Australia’s first psychedelic rock bands; the original line-up in 1967 comprised Tarney on bass, his longtime collaborator Trevor Spencer on drums, Kevin Peek on lead guitar and Robert (R.J.) Taylor on vocals. Both The James Taylor Move and their rising-star contemporaries The Twilights were formed by various members of two earlier Adelaide bands, Johnny Broome and the Handels, and The Hurricanes.
James Taylor Move’s (JTM) early concerts were in support of The Twilights, who soon moved to Melbourne. JTM built up a solid following in Adelaide and in early 1967 they won the South Australian final of the Hoadley’s Battle of the Sounds. They headed to Melbourne in July for the national finals, and although they were defeated by The Groop they decided to remain there.
Securing a deal with Festival Records they released their debut single “And I Hear The Fire Sing” / “Magic Eyes” in August 1967.
Peek left the band in May 1968, and was replaced by two new members, John Pugh and organist Lance Dixon. Lead singer Robert Taylor left the following month, and he was replaced by the 18-year-old blues/soul singer Wendy Saddington. This second line-up lasted only a few more months and made no commercial recordings before their split at the end of 1968.
Tarney and Spencer were next reunited with Kevin Peek in The Kevin Peek Trio (1968–69). They moved back to the UK in 1969, where they recruited an old Adelaide friend Terry Britten (ex Twilights) to join the group, which was then renamed Quartet (1969–70). Quartet recorded one album with Decca Records which remains unreleased, but two singles were issued on Decca: “Joseph” / “Mama Where Did You Fail” (F13072, 1970) and “Now” / “Will My Lady Come” (F12974, 1970).
After the demise of Quartet, the four members became session musicians and songwriters, recording and writing for many top UK acts including Cliff Richard, Ray Martin Hoskins, GTO Records/The Springfield Revival and Olivia Newton-John. Around this time Tarney also joined The Shadows and was a member from 1973 to 1977. In 1975 he was one half of Tarney/Spencer Band along with Trevor Spencer. They signed a 10-album deal with A&M Records, but met with little success and after three album releases, the group disbanded and discontinued their contract with agreement by the record label.
In 1979, Tarney began the biggest period of his career when he wrote and arranged the Cliff Richard No. 1, “We Don’t Talk Anymore”. This led to him becoming Richard’s record producer of his next two albums, I’m No Hero (1980) and Wired for Sound (1981). At this time he also wrote and produced Barbara Dickson and Leo Sayer – his distinctive sound being heard on the hit singles “January February” and “More Than I Can Say”.
He produced David Cassidy’s comeback 1985 album Romance, which included the top ten hit “The Last Kiss” co-written by Raymond Hoskins and David Cassidy. The song had previously been written for Cliff Richard for his 1981 album Wired for Sound. The Richard version however, contained different lyrics and was titled Young Love.
He returned again to write and produce for the Cliff Richard albums Always Guaranteed (1987) and Stronger (1989).
Personal life
Tarney currently lives in Richmond, London. He has a daughter, Mia, a professional artist painter; and a son, Oliver, who works in the film industry.
Selected discography
With The Tarney/Spencer Band
Albums:
1974 “Something out of a dream.Musical Rock Show Joe Brown & Introducing Ray Hoskins as Sparrow producer Alan Tarney Brian Eno.Polydor MGM Curb
1976 Tarney and Spencer (Bradley’s)
1978 Three’s a Crowd (A&M)
1979 Run for Your Life (A&M)
UICY-90680: A&M 60s & 70s Single Box [Japanese Import] – features two tracks by the Tarney/Spencer band. 5-CD box set
CD reissues
2003 Tarney and Spencer (Castle Communications plc), UK with four bonus tracks
1993 Run for Your Life (Polydor), German. 1,500 copies
19?? Three’s a Crowd, Canada
19?? Run for Your Life, Canada
2009 Three’s a Crowd (Tone Arm, Digipak), Sweden with four bonus tracks
2009 Run for Your Life (TONE TA 0004, Digipak), Sweden with four bonus tracks
Writer/Co-writer
All chart placings refer to UK Singles Chart only unless indicated otherwise.
Singles:
“Living in Harmony” by Cliff Richard (1972, No. 12)
“Hey Mr. Dream Maker” by Cliff Richard (1976, No. 31)
“Rock and Roll Hall of Fame” by John Farnham (1977)
“Green Light” by Cliff Richard (1979, No. 57)
“We Don’t Talk Anymore” by Cliff Richard (1979, No. 1, US No. 7)
Producer
All chart placings refer to UK Singles Chart and UK Albums Chart only unless indicated otherwise.
Singles:
“January February” by Barbara Dickson (1980, No. 11)
“Dreaming” by Cliff Richard (1980, No. 8, US No. 10)
“More Than I Can Say” by Leo Sayer (1980, No. 2, US No. 2)
“Pilot of the Airwaves” by Charlie Dore (1980, No. 13)
“A Little in Love” by Cliff Richard (1981, No. 15, US No. 20)
“Wired for Sound” by Cliff Richard (1981, No. 4)
“Annie Get Your Gun” by Squeeze (1982, No. 43)
“You Don’t Need Someone New” by The Lotus Eaters (1983, No. 53)
“The Love Parade”, The Dream Academy (1985, No. 68, US No. 40)
“The Last Kiss” by David Cassidy (1985, No. 6)
“Take on Me” by a-ha (1985, No. 2)
“The Sun Always Shines on TV” by a-ha (1985, No. 1)
“Train of Thought” by a-ha (1986, No. 8)
“Hunting High and Low” by a-ha (1986, No. 5)
“I’ve Been Losing You” by a-ha (1986, No. 8)
“Cry Wolf” by a-ha (1986, No. 5)
“Manhattan Skyline” by a-ha (1987, No. 13)
“My Pretty One” by Cliff Richard (1987, No. 6)
“Some People” by Cliff Richard (1987, No. 3)
“Stay on These Roads” by a-ha (1988, No. 5)
“Touchy! ” by a-ha (1988, No. 11)
“You Are the One” by a-ha (1988, No. 13)
“Lean On You” by Cliff Richard (1989, No. 17)
“Stronger Than That” by Cliff Richard (1990, No. 14)
“You’re in a Bad Way” by Saint Etienne (1993, No. 12)
“Disco 2000″ (7” remix) by Pulp (1995, No. 7)
“Somewhere Over the Rainbow”/”What a Wonderful World” medley by Cliff Richard (2001, No. 11)
“Let Me Be the One” by Cliff Richard (2002, No. 29)
Albums:
Living in a Fantasy by Leo Sayer (1980, No. 15)
The Barbara Dickson Album by Barbara Dickson (1980, No. 8)
I’m No Hero by Cliff Richard (1980, No. 4)
You Know it’s Me by Barbara Dickson (1981, No. 39)
Wired for Sound by Cliff Richard (1981, No. 4)
Romance by David Cassidy (1985, No. 20)
Hunting High and Low by a-ha (1985, No. 2)
Scoundrel Days by a-ha (1986, No. 2)
Always Guaranteed by Cliff Richard (1987, No. 5)
Fortune and Men’s Eyes by Jennifer Hall (1987)
Stay on These Roads by a-ha (1988, No. 2)
Stronger by Cliff Richard (1989, No. 7)
Wanted by Cliff Richard (2001, No. 11)
3 songs on Cast In Steel by a-ha (2015, No. 8): “Door Ajar”, “Shadow Endeavors”, “Goodbye Thompson”
Studio session musician for:
The Hollies 1983 Album “What Goes Around” (guitar and keyboards)
Olivia Newton-John
The Real Thing
Bonnie Tyler
Cilla Black
Cliff Richard
The Drifters
The New Seekers
Bow Wow Wow
Squeeze
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Photo Comments: Photo supplied by Jennifer Phillips – used with permission.
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BIOGRAPHICAL PROFILE
Alan Tarney
Alan Tarney (born 19 November 1945) is an English songwriter, record producer and bass guitarist. He was born in Northside, Workington, Cumberland, England, but spent his teenage years in Adelaide, Australia, where he met his songwriting and musical partner Trevor Spencer.
Musician
Tarney was part of the influx of British migrants who settled in Adelaide during the height of the 1960s pop music boom. His first major group in Australia was James Taylor Move, a four-piece outfit regarded as one of Australia’s first psychedelic rock bands; the original line-up in 1967 comprised Tarney on bass, his longtime collaborator Trevor Spencer on drums, Kevin Peek on lead guitar and Robert (R.J.) Taylor on vocals. Both The James Taylor Move and their rising-star contemporaries The Twilights were formed by various members of two earlier Adelaide bands, Johnny Broome and the Handels, and The Hurricanes.
James Taylor Move’s (JTM) early concerts were in support of The Twilights, who soon moved to Melbourne. JTM built up a solid following in Adelaide and in early 1967 they won the South Australian final of the Hoadley’s Battle of the Sounds. They headed to Melbourne in July for the national finals, and although they were defeated by The Groop they decided to remain there.
Securing a deal with Festival Records they released their debut single “And I Hear The Fire Sing” / “Magic Eyes” in August 1967. The A-side was apparently considered too radical for local radio, but the B-side was picked up, received plenty of airplay in the southern states and became a Top 40 hit in Melbourne. In October, Festival released their second and final single, “Baby Jane”, backed by the raga-influenced “Still I Can Go On”.
Peek left the band in May 1968, and was replaced by two new members, John Pugh and organist Lance Dixon. Lead singer Robert Taylor left the following month, and he was replaced by the 18-year-old blues/soul singer Wendy Saddington. This second line-up lasted only a few more months and made no commercial recordings before their split at the end of 1968.
Tarney and Spencer were next reunited with Kevin Peek in The Kevin Peek Trio (1968–69). They moved back to the UK in 1969, where they recruited an old Adelaide friend Terry Britten (ex Twilights) to join the group, which was then renamed Quartet (1969–70). Quartet recorded one album with Decca Records which remains unreleased, but two singles were issued on Decca: “Joseph” / “Mama Where Did You Fail” (F13072, 1970) and “Now” / “Will My Lady Come” (F12974, 1970).
After the demise of Quartet, the four members became session musicians and songwriters, recording and writing for many top UK acts including Cliff Richard, Ray Martin Hoskins, GTO Records/The Springfield Revival and Olivia Newton-John. Around this time Tarney also joined The Shadows and was a member from 1973 to 1977. In 1975 he was one half of Tarney/Spencer Band along with Trevor Spencer. They signed a 10-album deal with A&M Records, but met with little success and after three album releases, the group disbanded and discontinued their contract with agreement by the record label.
In 1979, Tarney began the biggest period of his career when he wrote and arranged the Cliff Richard No. 1, “We Don’t Talk Anymore”. This led to him becoming Richard’s record producer of his next two albums, I’m No Hero (1980) and Wired for Sound (1981). At this time he also wrote and produced Barbara Dickson and Leo Sayer – his distinctive sound being heard on the hit singles “January February” and “More Than I Can Say”.
Tarney went on to bigger success in the mid-1980s when he teamed up with Norwegian pop band A-ha. Producing the second version (after Tony Mansfield) of their first single “Take on Me” (1984), the song went on to become a worldwide hit. He worked on the band’s biggest selling first three albums, being a co-Producer of Hunting High and Low (1985), and Producer of Scoundrel Days (1986) and Stay on These Roads (1988). He renewed his working relationship with the band in the production of their album release Cast in Steel (2015).
He produced David Cassidy’s comeback 1985 album Romance, which included the top ten hit “The Last Kiss” co-written by Raymond Hoskins and David Cassidy.[11] The song had previously been written for Cliff Richard for his 1981 album Wired for Sound. The Richard version however, contained different lyrics and was titled Young Love.
He returned again to write and produce for the Cliff Richard albums Always Guaranteed (1987) and Stronger (1989).
Alan Tarney wrote two numbers for the Sky album Cadmium (1983) – “Return to Me” and “A Girl in Winter” – at the request of long-time associate, and Sky member, Kevin Peek.
Tarney’s other production credits include:The Hollies, Bow Wow Wow, The Dream Academy’s “Life in a Northern Town”, Squeeze, Matthew Sweet, Voice of the Beehive, the Diana, Princess of Wales: Tribute album and Pulp’s hit single “Disco 2000”.
Personal life
Tarney currently lives in Richmond, London. He has a daughter, Mia, a professional artist painter; and a son, Oliver, who works in the film industry.
Selected discography
With The Tarney/Spencer Band
Albums:
1974 “Something out of a dream.Musical Rock Show Joe Brown & Introducing Ray Hoskins as Sparrow producer Alan Tarney Brian Eno.Polydor MGM Curb
1976 Tarney and Spencer (Bradley’s)
1978 Three’s a Crowd (A&M)
1979 Run for Your Life (A&M)
UICY-90680: A&M 60s & 70s Single Box [Japanese Import] – features two tracks by the Tarney/Spencer band. 5-CD box set
CD reissues
2003 Tarney and Spencer (Castle Communications plc), UK with four bonus tracks
1993 Run for Your Life (Polydor), German. 1,500 copies
19?? Three’s a Crowd, Canada
19?? Run for Your Life, Canada
2009 Three’s a Crowd (Tone Arm, Digipak), Sweden with four bonus tracks
2009 Run for Your Life (TONE TA 0004, Digipak), Sweden with four bonus tracks
Producer
Note that all chart placings refer to UK Singles Chart and UK Albums Chart only.
Singles:
“We Don’t Talk Anymore” by Cliff Richard (1979, No. 1)
“January February” by Barbara Dickson (1980, No. 11)
“Dreamin'” by Cliff Richard (1980, No. 8)
“More Than I Can Say” by Leo Sayer (1980, No. 2)
“Pilot Of The Airwaves” by Charlie Dore (1980, No. 13)
“A Little in Love” by Cliff Richard (1981, No. 15)
“Wired for Sound” by Cliff Richard (1981, No. 4)
“Annie Get Your Gun” by Squeeze (1982, No. 43)
“You Don’t Need Someone New” by The Lotus Eaters (1983, No. 53)
“The Last Kiss” by David Cassidy (1985, No. 6)
“Take on Me” by a-ha (1985, No. 2)
“The Sun Always Shines on TV” by a-ha (1985, No. 1)
“Train of Thought” by a-ha (1986, No. 8)
“Hunting High and Low” by a-ha (1986, No. 5)
“I’ve Been Losing You” by a-ha (1986, No. 8)
“Cry Wolf” by a-ha (1986, No. 5)
“Manhattan Skyline” by a-ha (1987, No. 13)
“My Pretty One” by Cliff Richard (1987, No. 6)
“Some People” by Cliff Richard (1987, No. 3)
“Stay on These Roads” by a-ha (1988, No. 5)
“Touchy! ” by a-ha (1988, No. 11)
“You Are the One” by a-ha (1988, No. 13)
“Lean on You” by Cliff Richard (1989, No. 17)
“Stronger Than That” by Cliff Richard (1990, No. 14)
“You’re in a Bad Way” by Saint Etienne (1993, No. 12)
“Disco 2000″ (7” remix) by Pulp (1995, No. 7)
“Somewhere Over the Rainbow”/”What a Wonderful World” medley by Cliff Richard (2001, No. 11)
“Let Me Be the One” by Cliff Richard (2002, No. 29)
Albums:
Living in a Fantasy by Leo Sayer (1980, No. 15)
The Barbara Dickson Album by Barbara Dickson (1980, No. 8)
I’m No Hero by Cliff Richard (1980, No. 4)
You Know it’s Me by Barbara Dickson (1981, No. 39)
Wired for Sound by Cliff Richard (1981, No. 4)
Romance by David Cassidy (1985, No. 20)
Hunting High and Low by a-ha (1985, No. 2)
Scoundrel Days by a-ha (1986, No. 2)
Always Guaranteed by Cliff Richard (1987, No. 5)
Fortune and Men’s Eyes by Jennifer Hall (1987)
Stay on These Roads by a-ha (1988, No. 2)
Stronger by Cliff Richard (1989, No. 7)
Wanted by Cliff Richard (2001, No. 11)
3 songs on Cast In Steel by a-ha (2015, No. 8): “Door Ajar”, “Shadow Endeavors”, “Goodbye Thompson”
Studio session musician for:
The Hollies 1983 Album “What Goes Around” (guitar and keyboards)
Olivia Newton-John
The Real Thing
Bonnie Tyler
Cilla Black
Cliff Richard
The Drifters
The New Seekers
Bow Wow Wow
Squeeze
Groups include.
JOHNNY BROOME AND THE HANDELS – 1967
This group was most prominant around the Elizabeth area.
THE JAMES TAYLOR MOVE – 1967
This group could have been recognised as Adelaide’s first
super group. They were a regular fixture at Adelaides ‘BIG DADDIES’
Disco.
THE WEIGHT – 1968
KEVIN PEAK TRIO – 1968 TO 1969
In 1969 he moved back to England and after forming his first band he became a session guitarist for many top acts such as Cliff Richard and Olivia Newton John.
Around this time he also joined The Shadows and was a member from 1973 to 1977.
He performed backing all three artists in the Eurovision Song Contest three years running: 1973, 1974 and 1975.
In 1976 he was one half of Tarney-Spencer Band along with Trevor Spencer.
They signed a 10-album deal with A & M Records.
Alan and Trevor gigged regularly with Cliff throught the 1970’s (eg the “Cliff Live in Japan 1972” album).
Along with John Farrar, they also backed him live on Eurovision “Power to all our friends” in 1973. ( A little known fact that Alan T and John F are the only 2 Shadows to do 3 consecutive Eurovision song contests Cliff ’73; Livvy ’74; Shads ’75)
In 1976 Alan and Trevor made the “Tarney and Spencer” album on Bradleys records and 3 singles off it. This album is largely accoustic based material a lot of which was recycled to Cliff and Leo. Later they signed to A&M records with a 10 album contract.
In 1979 they recorded “Run for your life” album again with David Kershenbaum as producer. This last T/S band album has a much harder AOR sound with Alan on full throttle on lead guitar with plenty of blistering guitar solos.
Alan played bass guitar with The Shadows from 1973 to 1977 both in studio or live, covering 4 major albums “Rockin with curly leads”; “Specs appeal”; Live at Paris Olympia”; and “Tasty” with John Farrar. Alan played bass and piano for The Shadows during the BBC Eurovision song contest preliminary rounds and final round.
A major next big turning point was the “We dont talk anymore” session with Bruce producing which became Cliff’s greatest hit of his rejuvinated career. At this point Alan replaced Bruce as Cliff’s no 1 choice of producer for a while including 2 more big selling albums with Cliff “Always Guaranteed” and “Stronger” and more giant hits inc “Some people” etc.