Alan Hawkshaw is a British composer and performer from Leeds, West Yorkshire, particularly of themes for movies and television programmes. Hawkshaw worked extensively for the KPM production music company in the 1960s and 1970s, composing and recording many stock tracks that have been used extensively in film and TV.

As such, he is the composer of a number of familiar theme tunes including Channel 4 News, Grange Hill and Countdown. In addition, he is an arranger and pianist, and in the United States scored a number 1 single on the Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart with "Here Comes That Sound Again" in 1979.

He is the father of dance artist Kirsty Hawkshaw, who is a member of dance group Opus III.

Career

Hawkshaw was also featured playing with David Bowie on the Bowie at the Beeb album, in a performance recorded for the "John Peel in Top Gear" show on May 13, 1968, in which he played a solo on "In The Heat Of The Morning".

In the 1970s, he played in The Shadows; he worked for Olivia Newton-John, Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg as a musical director, arranger and pianist and was a keyboard player for Cliff Richard. One of this best-known compositions is "Blarney Stoned" (originally recorded for KPM in 1969 under the title "Studio 69") which was used as the theme tune for Dave Allen's television shows The Dave Allen Show and Dave Allen At Large. He composed all the music for the Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World series. Hawkshaw also composed 'Best Endeavours', which has been the theme for Channel 4 News since 1982, and Chicken Man, which was used as the theme for Grange Hill from its start in 1978 until 1989, and revived for the final series of Grange Hill in 2008. Another recording of Chicken Man was used contemporaneously with the original Grange Hill version for the ITV quiz show Give Us A Clue. The Countdown "Chimes" jingle used on Channel 4's Countdown game show was also composed by Hawkshaw. He also performed the music The Night Rider (the theme for Cadbury's Milk Tray adverts.)

In the United States, he also scored a number 1 single on the Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart with "Here Comes That Sound Again", as part of Love De-Luxe With Hawkshaw's Discophonia in 1979.

Also in 1979 he released a disco album under the moniker "Bizarre" which was essentially a solo project with the help of executive producer Barry Mason. It was released in the UK on Polydor Records (cat. no. 2383 553) in 1979 - tracks: Get Up/Don't Move/Hot Hollywood Nights/You Make My Life So Beautiful/Let Me Fill Your World With Love/Take The Money And Run

Instruments (career)

;Piano

Discography

;Emile Ford and The Checkmates

The Mohawks

Track listing

Tracks 4, 5, 9 and 11 also appeared on Hawkshaw's album, Mo'Hawk.

Samples

References

External links

Category:British composers Category:British session musicians Category:British television composers Category:English Latter Day Saints Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people Category:People from Leeds