Norman Newell

Newell was born at 34 Liddon Road in Plaistow, Essex (now part of Greater London) to a poor family. He was the son of Sydney Edward Newell, a boiler stoker and later foreman road builder, and his wife, Mary Louisa, née Burke. Sydney had served as a private in the labour corps during the First World War, and suffered from premature blindness, which resulted in Newell's mother having to support the family on a low income. Newell's early life was marred by illness, with scarlet fever forcing him to miss his eleven-plus examination. He aspired to be an actor, but expected to work for London Transport. Despite doing well in poetry and English at his Plaistow secondary school, he left at the age of 14, and took a job at the offices of the local bus garage in Upton Park. == Music producer ==

Newell joined EMI's Columbia label as a staff producer in 1949, and was head of the label for its most successful years. During this period, he produced records by Petula Clark, the French male voice choir Les Compagnons de la chanson, Josef Locke, Ronnie Ronalde, The Beverley Sisters, Dorothy Squires and the bandleader Victor Silvester. He also discovered the singer Steve Conway, who recorded Newell's "My Thanks To You" (with music by Noel Gay). In 1953, Newell moved to the new Philips record label, and produced their first release by a British artist, Johnny Brandon. Newell asked Geoff Love to arrange the song, and this marked the start of their professional relationship, in which Love's albums as Manuel and his Music of the Mountains would be produced by Newell. Following six months working at MGM in America, Newell came back to EMI in 1954, whereupon he recorded the comedians Norman Wisdom and Joyce Grenfell. Although Newell "did not understand" rock 'n' roll, he produced albums of the television shows Drumbeat and 6.5 Special. He used Trevor Stanford as a rehearsal pianist, and began recording with him in 1957, under the name Russ Conway, the surname being a tribute to Steve Conway, who had died in 1952. Newell went freelance in 1965, and was then put under contract with EMI, where he produced the top selling single of 1965, "Tears", by comedian Ken Dodd. == Lyricist ==

Newell was a much sought-after lyricist, sometimes writing under the pen-name David West, and responsible for co-writing songs that included "Portrait of My Love" (music by Cyril Ornadel), a UK Singles Chart hit for Matt Monro. In addition, he provided the English lyrics for "More" (the theme from the film Mondo Cane). Newell also wrote the English lyrics of Shirley Bassey's 1961 No. 1 hit "Reach for the Stars", (composed by Nini Oliviero and Riz Ortolani) and Bassey's "This Is My Life" ("La vita", written by Antonio Amurri and Bruno Canfora). Commenting on the latter, Bassey said that "Norman knows more about me than I do." "Monday Morning Again" ("Le Lundi au Soleil", by Claude François) and "Never, Never, Never" ("Grande grande grande"), which was a hit for Bassey in 1973. With the composer Philip Green, he co-wrote the United Kingdom's 1963 Eurovision Song Contest entry, "Say Wonderful Things", recorded by Ronnie Carroll. The song was later recorded in the United States by Patti Page. He wrote the English lyrics to the German song "Sailor", a number one UK hit for Petula Clark His numerous contacts in the music publishing industry in the United Kingdom assisted EMI in securing the rights for British recordings of cast albums for many American shows opening in London. == Later career ==

Newell continued working as a producer into the 1980s, including on Shirley Bassey's Gold selling album I Am What I Am, recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra. He also wrote the English lyrics for the 1983 Julio Iglesias recording of "Hey", which featured in the Platinum selling album Julio. He also produced several cast recordings of West End musicals for First Night Records: Seven Brides For Seven Brothers – Original London Cast (1986), Annie Get Your Gun – 1986 London Cast (starring Suzi Quatro and Eric Flynn), Kiss Me, Kate – 1987 Royal Shakespeare Company Cast (starring Paul Jones, Nichola McAuliffe and Fiona Hendley), and South Pacific – 1988 London Cast (starring Gemma Craven and Emile Belcourt). George Martin said of Newell that he "always wanted to be a Stephen Sondheim," but noted that "his main strength came from his ability to handle big showbiz entertainers." Newell retired in 1990. However, he continued to write lyrics, and his final works were with Les Reed. ==Honours==

During his career, Norman Newell won a Grammy, an Emmy and three Ivor Novello Awards for his contribution to the entertainment industry, as well as six British Music Industry Awards. == Personal life and death ==

Newell, who was gay, lived in Rustington, West Sussex. After a series of debilitating strokes, he was moved to a local nursing home. He died on 1 December 2004, aged 85. ==References==