Look up hammond in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Hammond may refer to:

People[link]

• Hammond (surname)

Places[link]

Canada[link]

• Hammond River, a small river in New Brunswick
• Upper Hammonds Plains, Nova Scotia
• Hammond, Ontario, Canada, now Clarence-Rockland, Ontario.
• Port Hammond, British Columbia, also known as Hammond or Hammond's Landing

United States of America[link]

• Hammond, Fresno, California
• Hammond, Tulare County, California
• Hammond, Georgia, now Sandy Springs, Georgia
• Hammond, Illinois
• Hammond, Indiana, the largest U.S. city named Hammond
  • Hammond Circus Train Wreck
• Hammond, Louisiana
• Hammond, Maine
• Hammond, Minnesota
• Hammond Township, Minnesota
• Hammond, Montana
• Hammond (town), New York
  • Hammond (village), New York, in the town of Hammond
• Hammond, Oregon
• Hammond (town), Wisconsin
  • Hammond, Wisconsin, a village within the town of Hammond
• Hammond Castle, a castle located in Gloucester, Massachusetts

Other[link]

• Hammond Glacier, in Antarctica
• Stoke Hammond, a village in north Buckinghamshire, England
• Electoral district of Hammond, a state electoral district in South Australia

Other[link]

• Hammond organ, a musical instrument
• Hammond Map or "Hammond World Atlas Corporation", a subsidiary of the Langenscheidt Publishing Group
• Hammond's Postulate, a scientific hypothesis useful for understanding the thermodynamics of reactions
• The Hammond Pros from Hammond, Indiana, a team which played in the National Football League from 1920 to 1926
• Hammond School (disambiguation), various
• Hammond, High School (disambiguation)

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Richard Hammond
Hammond in May 2006.
Born	Richard Mark Hammond (1969-12-19) 19 December 1969 (age 42)[1] Solihull, Warwickshire, England
Residence	Weston under Penyard, Herefordshire, England
Other names	Hamster
Education	Solihull School Ripon Grammar School
Alma mater	Harrogate College of Art and Technology
Occupation	Broadcaster, journalist, author, media personality, talk and game show host, voice-over artist
Years active	1998, 2002–present
Employer	BBC, The Daily Mirror (prev. ITV & Sky)
Known for	Presenting: Brainiac: Science Abuse Crufts Should I Worry About...? The Gunpowder Plot: Exploding The Legend Richard Hammond's 5 O'Clock Show Top Gear Petrolheads Richard Hammond Meets Evel Knievel Total Wipeout Richard Hammond's Blast Lab Richard Hammond's Engineering Connections Richard Hammond's Invisible Worlds
Home town	Solihull, West Midlands, England
Height	5 feet 7 inches (1.70 m)[2]
Spouse	Amanda Etheridge (m. 2002) «start: (2002-05-04)»"Marriage: Amanda Etheridge to Richard Hammond" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Richard_Hammond)
Children	2
Parents	Eileen and Alan Hammond

Richard Mark Hammond (born 19 December 1969) is an English broadcaster, writer, and journalist most noted for co-hosting the car programme Top Gear with Jeremy Clarkson and James May, as well as presenting series 1–4 of Brainiac: Science Abuse on Sky 1. Since 2009, Hammond has co-hosted Total Wipeout with Amanda Byram on BBC One which has since been cancelled.

Hammond is currently presenting Planet Earth Live alongside Julia Bradbury.

Early life[link]

Hammond was born in Solihull and is the grandson of workers in the Birmingham automobile industry.^[3][4] In the mid-1980s Hammond moved with his family (mother Eileen, father Alan, and younger brothers Andrew, writer of the 'Crypt' Series, and Nicholas) to the North Yorkshire cathedral city of Ripon where his father ran a probate business in the market square. Originally a pupil of Solihull School, a fee-paying boys' independent school, he moved to Ripon Grammar School, and from 1987 to 1989 attended Harrogate College of Art and Technology. After his graduation he worked for several radio stations, including Radio Cleveland, Radio York, Radio Cumbria, Radio Leeds, Radio Newcastle and Radio Lancashire, before auditioning for Top Gear.^[5]

Top Gear[link]

Hammond became a presenter on Top Gear in 2002, when the show began in its present format. He is sometimes referred to as "Hamster" by fans and his co-presenters on Top Gear due to his name and comparatively small stature.^[6] His nickname was further reinforced when on three separate occasions in series 7, Hammond ate cardboard,^[7] mimicking hamster-like behaviour. A running gag is Hammond's supposed use of teeth whitener.^[8] In a series 7 episode, co-presenter Jeremy Clarkson claimed to have found a pack of teeth whiteners in a Marcos TSO GT2 that Hammond had tested. Hammond objected, claiming it was a set-up. In a series 10 episode that featured the Peel P50, Clarkson was seen supposedly talking to Hammond on the phone about him considering a tooth whitening treatment costing £4000. Later, during a series 13 episode that featured the presenters in their office searching for car insurance prices, a teeth whitening kit was pictured on his desk. It was staged to appear that he was caught looking at a website on teeth whiteners on Richard Hammond's 5 O'Clock Show.

In the first episode of series 9 broadcast on 28 January 2007, having recovered from his high speed crash Hammond returned to a hero's welcome, complete with dancing girls, aeroplane style stairs and fireworks. The show also contained images of the crash, which had made international headlines, with Hammond talking through the events of the day after which the audience broke into spontaneous applause. Hammond then requested that the crash never be mentioned on the show again, though all three Top Gear presenters have since referred to it in jokes during the news segment of the programme. He told his colleagues, "The only difference between me now, and before the crash, is that I like celery now and I didn't before".^[9]

During the third episode of series sixteen, Hammond suggested that no one would ever want to own a Mexican car, since cars are supposed to reflect national characteristics and so a Mexican car would be a "lazy, feckless, flatulent, overweight oaf." Hammond finished with the remark "I'm sorry, but can you imagine waking up and remembering you're Mexican?!"^[10] Following complaints, the BBC defended the broadcast of this segment on the grounds that such national stereotyping was a "robust part" of traditional British humour.^[11]

Brainiac: Science Abuse[link]

In 2003, Hammond became the first presenter of Brainiac: Science Abuse; he was joined by Jon Tickle with Charlotte Hudson joining in series 2.^[12] After the fourth series it was announced that Hammond was no longer going to present the Sky1 show after he signed an exclusive deal with the BBC. Vic Reeves took his place as main presenter.^[13]

Other television work[link]

Early in his career, as well as his radio work, Hammond presented a number of daytime lifestyle shows and motoring programmes such as Motor Week on Men & Motors.

He presented the Crufts dog show in 2005, the 2004 and 2005 British Parking Awards, and has appeared on School's Out, a quiz show on BBC One where celebrities answer questions about things they learned at school. He has also presented The Gunpowder Plot: Exploding The Legend.^[14] Along with his work on Top Gear, he presented Should I Worry About...? on BBC One, Time Commanders on BBC Two and the first four series of Brainiac: Science Abuse on Sky One. He was also a team captain on the BBC Two quiz show, Petrolheads, in which a memorable part was one where Hammond was tricked into smashing his classic Ferrari while trying to parallel park blindfolded in another car.

From 3 January 2006 until 10 February 2006, Hammond was the eponymous star of Richard Hammond's 5 O'Clock Show with his co-star Mel Giedroyc of Light Lunch fame.^[15] The programme, which discussed a wide range of topics, was shown every weekday on ITV between 17:00 and 18:00.^[15]

In July 2005, Hammond was voted number one in a Heat magazine poll of top "weird celebrity crushes". Also in 2005 he was voted one of the top 10 British TV talents.^[16]

He presented Richard Hammond and the Holy Grail in 2006. During the special, he travelled to various locations around the world, including the Vatican Secret Archives, exploring the history of the Holy Grail.^[17]

In one episode of Top Gear, fellow presenter James May was mocked by both Hammond and Clarkson for being named the celebrity with the worst hairstyle, while Hammond was named the celebrity with the best.

As part of Red Nose Day 2007, Hammond stood for nomination via a public telephone vote, along with Andy Hamilton and Kelvin MacKenzie, to be a one-off co-presenter of BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour on 16 March 2007.^[18] However, he was defeated by Andy Hamilton.

In April 2007, Hammond presented a one off special on BBC Radio 2 for Good Friday followed by another in August 2007 for the Bank Holiday. He is scheduled to present more Bank Holiday specials for the station.

Hammond recorded an interview with the famed American stuntman Evel Knievel, which aired on 23 December 2007 on BBC One, and was Knievel's last interview before his death on 30 November 2007.^[19]

In September 2008, Hammond presented the first episode of a new series; Richard Hammond's Engineering Connections on the National Geographic Channel.^[20] In this show, Hammond discovers how the inventions of the past, along with assistance from nature, help designers today. Episodes include the building of the Airbus A380, Taipei 101 and the Keck Observatory.^[20] Series 2 of Richard Hammond's Engineering Connections began in May 2010 and has included the building of the Wembley Stadium and the Sydney Opera House.

Hammond also filmed an advertisement for Morrisons supermarkets in 2008,^[21] and joined the cast of TV show Ashes To Ashes for a special insert on the 2008 Children in Need special.

While in New Zealand for Top Gear Live 2009, Hammond filmed several television commercials for Telecom New Zealand's new XT UTMS mobile network. Telecom claimed that the new network was "faster in more places", compared to its competitors and its existing CDMA network. After the network repeatedly failed in late 2009 and early 2010, Hammond became the butt of a joke when he did not return to New Zealand for Top Gear Live 2010. His fellow Top Gear co-hosts said he was too embarrassed to come back to New Zealand, and in a supposed live feed back to Hammond, the feed suddenly drops out as the "XT Network had crashed".^[22] Hammond was later given the right of reply to his colleagues during an interview with Marcus Lush on RadioLIVE's breakfast show in New Zealand.^[23]

Hammond is currently hosting the UK version of the US series Wipeout, called Total Wipeout. It takes place in Argentina, and is co-presented by Hammond and Amanda Byram. Hammond presents and does the voiceover for the clips in a London studio, and Byram is filmed at the obstacle course in Buenos Aires.^[24]

Hammond also presented a science-themed game show for children, Richard Hammond's Blast Lab which aired on BBC Two and CBBC.^[25]

In March 2010, Hammond presented a 3 episode series called Richard Hammond's Invisible Worlds, which looked at things too fast for the naked eye to see, things that are beyond the visible spectrum (e.g. ultraviolet and infra-red light), as well as microscopic things.

One of Hammond's lesser known television roles was as presenter of the BBC2 'gameshow' Time Commanders, a sophisticated warfare simulator which used a modified version of Creative Assembly's Rome: Total War game engine.^[26]

Since February 2011, Hammond has presented a online technology series "Richard Hammond's Tech Head".^[27]

In July 2011, Hammond presented a two-part natural science documentary Richard Hammond's Journey To The Centre Of The Planet, focused on Earth geology and plate tectonics.^[28][29]

Hammond will also host the upcoming BBC America programme Richard Hammond's Crash Course.^[30]

Personal life[link]

Hammond has been married to Amanda Etheridge (mostly known as Mindy)^[31] since May 2002; the couple have two daughters.^[3] The family lives in a mock castle in Herefordshire and also has an apartment in London. Hammond also plays the bass guitar, on which he accompanied the other Top Gear presenters when they performed alongside Justin Hawkins on Top Gear of the Pops for Comic Relief in 2007. Hammond likes to ride his bicycle in cities, for which he is mocked mercilessly by fellow presenter Jeremy Clarkson.^[32]

Hammond is a fan of Porsche 911s and claims the Pagani Zonda to be the ultimate supercar. He once owned a 1982 Porsche 911 SC (sold in the mid-2000s),^[33][34] and later purchased a 2006 Porsche 911 (997) Carrera S.^[35] In 2004, Hammond purchased a Porsche 928 for the purpose of daily driving.^[36] Much unlike Clarkson and May, he also has an interest in American muscle cars. Hammond has owned a 1969 Dodge Charger R/T,^[36] a 1967 Ford Mustang GT 390,^[37] and a 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT-8 (which was purchased in the United States on a Series 12 episode of Top Gear).^[38]

Hammond had also owned a Morgan AeroMax, in which he was involved in a car accident on 9 August 2009. He also owns a Jaguar E-Type^[39] and is also a fan of monster trucks, having attended Truckfest '07.

An interview with The Sunday Times in February 2008 reported Hammond as having moved briefly from Gloucestershire to Buckinghamshire, then back again because he missed the country life.^[40]

Hammond is a keen motorcyclist^[41] and Land Rover Defender fan. He spent over £70,000 rebuilding his 110 "Buster" in 2008.^{[citation needed]}

During the news segment of Top Gear's 2010 USA Road Trip special, Hammond openly expressed his dislike of the band Genesis. This fact was later exploited by his co-presenters in two special episodes: during the Middle East Special, when they installed a secret second stereo unit in his Fiat Barchetta that only plays the band's Live over Europe 2007 concert; in the India Special, Clarkson played the same song used in the previous special through the megaphone mounted in his Jaguar XJS, despite Hammond driving a different car (a Mini Cooper Sport).

In October it was reported he had spent over £2 million buying Bollitree Castle which is situated near Weston under Penyard, Ross-on-Wye. It has been rumoured he has also bought a large house in the small town of Wantage, Oxfordshire^{[citation needed]}.^[42][43]

On Top Gear in 2007, Hammond went to Africa on an 'Epic Road Trip' across Botswana. While there he found a 1963 Opel Kadett, in which he drove across Botswana. Hammond named it Oliver. On Top Gear a week after the special was aired, Hammond announced during the news, that he had shipped Oliver back to the UK, where it was restored by a team from Practical Classics magazine. Oliver features on Hammond's children's science television show Richard Hammond's Blast Lab and in another episode of Top Gear as a kind of "Hill-holder" in the trailer truck challenge (after it acquired the personal plate "OLI V3R"). Oliver is also mentioned in Hammond's second autobiography As You Do.^{[citation needed]}

In 2010, Hammond was the President of the 31st Herefordshire Country Fair held at Hampton Court in Hope under Dinmore. His involvement caused unprecedented attendance with "nearly 15,000 people" drawn to the event to meet the presenter.^[45]

In 2010, Hammond gained a private pilot licence PPL(H) in an R44 helicopter.

During season 18 of Top Gear it was revealed that he owns a Fiat 500 TwinAir.

Charity work[link]

Richard Hammond is a Vice-President of UK children's brain injury charity The Children's Trust, Tadworth.^[46]

[edit] Vampire dragster crash

During filming of a Top Gear segment at the former RAF Elvington airbase near York on 20 September 2006, Hammond was injured in the crash of the jet-powered car he was piloting.^{[47][48][49]:1} Hammond was travelling at 288 mph (463 km/h) at the time of the crash.^[50]

His vehicle, a dragster called Vampire, was theoretically capable of travelling at speeds of up to 370 mph (595 km/h).^[48] The vehicle was the same car that in 2000, piloted by Colin Fallows, set the British land speed record at 300.3 mph (483.3 km/h).^[49]:3[51] The Vampire was powered by a single Bristol-Siddeley Orpheus afterburning turbojet engine producing 10000 hp (7.5 MW).^[48][50]

Some accounts suggested that the accident occurred during an attempt to break the British land speed record,^[47][52] but the Health and Safety Executive report on the crash found that a proposal to try to officially break the record was vetoed in advance by Top Gear executive producer Andy Wilman, due to the risks and complexities of such a venture.^[49]:4 (The report stated: "Runs were to be carried out in only one direction along a pre-set course on the Elvington runway. Vampire’s speed was to be recorded using GPS satellite telemetry. The intention was to record the maximum speed, not to measure an average speed over a measured course, and for [Hammond] to describe how it felt.")^[49]:1

Hammond was completing a seventh and final run to collect extra footage for the programme when his front-right tyre failed,^[49]:8[53] and, according to witness and first responder Dave Ogden, "one of the parachutes had deployed but it went on to the grass and spun over and over before coming to a rest about 100 yards from us."^[54] The emergency crew quickly arrived at the car, finding it inverted and partially embedded in the grass.^[52] During the roll, Hammond's helmet had embedded itself into the ground, flipping the visor up and forcing dirt into his mouth and left eye, damaging the eye. Rescuers felt a pulse and heard the unconscious Hammond breathing before the car was turned upright.^[52] Hammond was cut free with hydraulic shears, and placed on a backboard.^[49]:9 "He was regaining consciousness at that point and said he had some lower back pain".^[52] He was then transported by the Yorkshire Air Ambulance to the neurological unit of the Leeds General Infirmary.^{[47][49]:9[55]} Hammond's family visited him at the hospital along with Top Gear co-presenters James May and Jeremy Clarkson.^[54][55] Clarkson wished Hammond well, saying "Both James and I are looking forward to getting our 'Hamster' back", referring to Hammond by his nickname.^[47][54]

The Health & Safety Executive report stated that "Hammond's instantaneous reaction to the tyre blow out seems to have been that of a competent high performance car driver, namely to brake the car and to try to steer into the skid. Immediately afterwards he also seems to have followed his training and to have pulled back on the main parachute release lever, thus shutting down the jet engine and also closing the jet and afterburner fuel levers. The main parachute did not have time to deploy before the car ran off the runway."^[49]:13 The HSE notes that, based on the findings of the North Yorkshire Police (who investigated the crash), "the accident may not have been recoverable", even if Hammond's efforts to react were as fast as "humanly possible".^[49]:13

The crash was shown on an episode of Top Gear on 28 January 2007; this was the first episode of the new series, which had been postponed pending Hammond's recovery. Hammond requested at the end of the episode that his fellow presenters never mention the crash again, a request which has been generally observed by both Hammond and the other presenters, although occasional oblique references have been made. On The Edge: My Story, which contains first hand accounts from both Hammond and his wife about the crash, immediate aftermath, and his recovery was published later that year.

In February 2008 Hammond gave an interview to The Sunday Times newspaper in which he described the effects of his brain injuries and the progression of his recovery.^[56] He reported suffering loss of memory, depression, and difficulties with emotional experiences, for which he was consulting a psychiatrist.^[56] He also talked about his recovery in a 2010 television programme where he interviewed Sir Stirling Moss and they discussed the brain injuries they had both received as a result of car crashes.^[57]

After the car crash the BBC website Have Your Say received more than 10,000 messages of good wishes and sympathy for Richard Hammond from people around the world.

Works[link]

TV shows[link]

Books[link]

Car books[link]

• Hammond, Richard (13 October 2005). What Not To Drive. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. pp. 276 pages. ISBN 978-0-297-84800-4. 
• Hammond, Richard (5 October 2006). Richard Hammond's Car Confidential. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. pp. 144 pages. ISBN 978-0-297-84445-7. 
• Hammond, Richard (28 May 2009). A Short History of Caravans in the UK. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. pp. 144 pages. ISBN 978-0-297-84446-4. 
• Hammond, Richard (20 May 2010). Richard Hammond's Caravan Confidential. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. pp. 144 pages. ISBN 978-0-7538-2671-3. 

Children's books[link]

• Hammond, Richard (29 June 2006). Can You Feel the Force?: Putting the Fizz Back into Physics. Dorling Kindersley Publishers. pp. 96 pages. ISBN 978-1-4053-1543-2. 
• Hammond, Richard (2 June 2008). Car Science (Hardback). Dorling Kindersley Publishers. pp. 96 pages. ISBN 978-1-4053-3200-2. 
• Hammond, Richard (1 September 2008). Car Science (Paperback). Dorling Kindersley Publishers. pp. 96 pages. ISBN 978-0-7566-4026-2. 

Biographies[link]

• Hammond, Richard (20 September 2007). On The Edge: My Story (Hardback). Weidenfeld & Nicolson. pp. 308 pages. ISBN 978-0-297-85327-5. 
• Hammond, Richard (29 May 2008). On The Edge: My Story (Paperback). Phoenix. pp. 308 pages. ISBN 978-0-7538-2404-7. 
• Hammond, Richard (7 August 2008). On The Edge: My Story (Abridged). Phoenix. pp. 256 pages. ISBN 978-0-7538-2330-9. 
• Hammond, Richard (18 September 2008). As You Do: Adventures with Evel, Oliver and the Vice-President of Botswana (Hardback). Orion Publishing Co. pp. 268 pages. ISBN 978-0-297-85520-0. 
• Hammond, Richard (28 May 2009). As You Do: Adventures with Evel, Oliver and the Vice-President of Botswana (Paperback). Orion Publishing Co. pp. 314 pages. ISBN 978-0-7538-2562-4. 
• Hammond, Richard (1 October 2009). Or Is That Just Me? (Hardback). Phoenix. pp. 256 pages. ISBN 978-0-297-85521-7. 
• Hammond, Richard (20 May 2010). Or Is That Just Me? (Paperback). Phoenix. pp. 352 pages. ISBN 978-0-7538-2562-4. 

DVDs[link]

1. Top Gear Interactive Challenge Quiz (2007, 2|Entertain).
2. Top Gear Interactive Stunt Challenge Quiz (2008, 2|Entertain).
3. Top Gear Uncovered: The DVD Special (2009, 2|Entertain).
4. Richard Hammond's Engineering Connections: Series One (2009, Nat Geo DVD).
5. Richard Hammond's Invisible Worlds (2010, 2|Entertain).
6. Top Gear: Apocalypse (With James May) (2010, 2|Enertain).
7. Richard Hammond's Engineering Connections: Series Two (2010, Nat Geo DVD).
8. Hammond Meets Moss (2010, Acorn Media UK).
9. Richard Hammond's Journey To The Centre Of The Planet (2011, 2|Entertain).
10. Top Gear: At The Movies (With James May) (2011, 2|Entertain).
11. Richard Hammond's Engineering Connections: Series Three (2011, Nat Geo DVD).

Television advertisements[link]

1. Morrisons (2008)
2. Morrisons (Christmas 2008)
3. Morrisons (2009)
4. Morrisons (Christmas 2009)
5. Top Gear Turbo Challenge Trading Cards Test Set (2009)
6. Top Gear Turbo Challenge Trading Cards (2010)
7. Top Gear Interactive Challenge DVD (2007)
8. Top Gear Interactive Stunt Challenge DVD (2009)
9. Top Gear Uncovered DVD (2009)
10. Top Gear [Re-Runs On Dave] (2009)
11. Telecom XT network NZ (2009)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Richard Hammond

• Official website
• Richard Hammond on Twitter
• Richard Hammond at the Internet Movie Database
• Donations to Yorkshire Air Ambulance double as a result of their life-saving rescue of Richard Hammond
• Richard Hammond on Top Gear
• Q&A – The Guardian – 2009-1-3. Hammond questions about himself. Retrieved 2009-6-29.

Albert Hammond, Jr.
Albert Hammond Jr. playing a show in Paris (2006)
Background information
Birth name	Albert Louis Hammond[1]
Born	(1980-04-09) April 9, 1980 (age 32) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Genres	Indie rock, garage rock, post-punk revival, alternative rock
Instruments	Guitar, vocals, melodica
Years active	1999–present
Labels	New Line, Rough Trade, Scratchie, Black Seal
Associated acts	The Strokes
Notable instruments
Fender Stratocaster Gibson Les Paul Jr.

Albert Louis Hammond, Jr. (born April 9, 1980) is an American musician and member of the garage rock band The Strokes, in which he primarily plays guitar, but also plays keyboards live. He is also a solo musician. His father, Albert Hammond, whose career was primarily in the 1960s and 1970s, had even greater success on the singles charts as a songwriter and occasional singer. He released his debut album Yours To Keep in 2006 and followed up with ¿Cómo Te Llama? in 2008. The Beach Boys, Buddy Holly, Frank Black, Guided By Voices, John Lennon, Matthew Sweet and The Velvet Underground are often cited as his major influences.^[2][3]

Life and career[link]

Hammond was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of British-Gibraltarian singer/songwriter/musician Albert Hammond and Argentine former model and beauty pageant winner Claudia Fernández.^[4] Hammond Jr. was sent to the elite boarding school Institut Le Rosey in Switzerland at the age of 13. While there, he met Julian Casablancas, who would go on to be a fellow band member.^[5]

In 1998, Hammond met up with Casablancas in New York City and together they formed The Strokes with Casablancas' former schoolmates Nikolai Fraiture, Nick Valensi, and Fabrizio Moretti.

His trademark is wearing formal three-piece suits, and has been said by bandmate Julian Casablancas to be the most influential on the band's style. Hammond is usually seen playing a 1985 '70s reissue Olympic White Fender Stratocaster or Gibson Les Paul Jr. that is sometimes used by bandmate Nick Valensi. On the majority of The Strokes' songs he plays rhythm guitar, and solos are played by Valensi. The songs in which Hammond does play solos are "Last Nite", "Trying Your Luck", "Take It or Leave It", "Under Control", "The End Has No End", "Ize of the World", and "Vision of Division". His solos tend to focus largely on more emotional, "bluesy"-type melodical work, and the guitar tends to have a cleaner, softer tone in comparison to Valensi's (with a notable exception found in "Vision of Division"). He often holds his guitar in a high horizontal position, similar to Buddy Holly, which he says is so that he can dance better.

Hammond is set to release his own line of men's suits which he will co-design along with stylist Ilaria Urbinati. The suits will at first only be available at the soon-to-open Confederacy store in Los Angeles which Urbinati co-owns with actor/DJ Danny Masterson. Speaking about the designing endeavor Hammond, Jr. told New York magazine, "I want to make suits that I'm going to have for myself. They're for the person who needs his one suit for a wedding. He'd rather get something like this than go to Men's Wearhouse, pay the same amount, and look like an out-of-date parent." Prices for his line start at $1,250 for the Urbinati-designed trench coat and the $2,000+ price range for his suits. Hammond told NME that the suits will be available in three styles with a new design every season and that he's aiming to keep the line classic.

He previously dated British supermodel Agyness Deyn.

Musical setup[link]

Albert's main guitar is a Fender Stratocaster Arctic White 1985 Reissue of a 1972. He owns three white Stratocasters, a Gibson Les Paul special single cutaway, a Rickenbacker 325, and a Gretsch hollowbody. His amplifier is a Fender Hot Rod DeVille 2x12. His pedal board is made up of an old version of the MXR Micro Amp, a V1 Jekyll and Hyde Ultimate Overdrive and Distortion, and a BOSS TU-2 tuner. In later shows he adds another Micro Amp, and Jekyll and Hyde, and a Boss Digital Delay. He now uses a Mad Professor Deep Blue Delay pedal instead of the Boss Digital Delay.

Songwriting and solo work[link]

This section is in a list format that may be better presented using prose. You can help by converting this section to prose, if appropriate. Editing help is available. (September 2009)

Vocalist Julian Casablancas is the primary songwriter in The Strokes. Hammond co-wrote the track "Automatic Stop" with Casablancas for the group's second album, Room on Fire. He has also been credited with writing three mostly instrumental songs ("Swiss Beats", "Holland", and "By The Way") for the band's 2001 tour video entitled In Transit. These songs were reworked for his later solo album and have different titles ("Everyone Gets A Star", "Bright Young Thing", "In Transit"). He wrote "Elephant Song" when he was required to record a song for his Sound 101 class during his freshman year and used the school's recording equipment. The song was played at a few shows before the release of The Strokes' album. They later re-recorded the song as a special giveaway for fan club members.

In October 2005, Hammond and Ben Kweller released a version of "Wait" on This Bird Has Flown – A 40th Anniversary Tribute to the Beatles' Rubber Soul.

Hammond released a solo album entitled Yours To Keep in the U.K. through Rough Trade Records on October 9, 2006 and in North America through New Line Records/Scratchie Records on March 6, 2007. Produced by Thin Lizard Dawn vocalist Lattimer and recorded at the Electric Lady Studios in New York City, the album features several musical guests, such as Sean Lennon, Ben Kweller, The Strokes' manager Ryan Gentles, Jody Porter of Fountains of Wayne, Chris Feinstein, Mikki James, Sammy James, Jr. (The Mooney Suzuki) and The Strokes' lead singer, Casablancas. Bassist Josh Lattanzi and drummer Matt Romano serve as the backing band, with Hammond on guitar and vocals. The first single taken from the album, "101", was released exclusively through iTunes on September 4, 2006. The music video to "In Transit" was directed by Joaquin Phoenix.

Hammond has said to have been "waiting to make a record like this for years".^[6] Early support from his bandmates in the Strokes was only evident after Casablancas' role playing bass and back-up vocals on the track "Scared", though all of the members (with the exclusion of Nick Valensi, who was busy taking care of his newborn children) attended his shows in and around New York.

"101" was the follow-up single to "Everyone Gets A Star". The music video debuted online in March 2007.^[7] This will be available in general music stores, unlike "Everyone Gets A Star" which was only available through UK iTunes Music Store. It was released on November 27, 2006.

In November 2006, Hammond was announced to be joining Incubus on tour during their North American tour for their new album Light Grenades.

On 16 March 2007 at the South by Southwest festival, Hammond performed a twelve song set including covers of Frank Black's "Old Black Dawning" and Guided By Voices' "Postal Blowfish".^[8] Hammond also regularly covered The Cars' "Don't Cha Stop" in live performances.

The Yours To Keep album was released in North America on March 6, 2007; he also supported Bloc Party on their world tour before making stops at Montreal's Metropolis and Toronto's Kool Haus. After this, Hammond headlined two North American tours along with a European tour. The North American tour featured his friends, The Mooney Suzuki.

Hammond announced that "In Transit" will be his next solo single, featuring a cover of Frank Black's "Old Black Dawning" as the b-side. It was recorded live from the Bowery Ballroom.

On 29 August 2007, Hammond announced on MySpace that he was going back into the studio to record his second album in October 2007 for five weeks.

On 20 March 2008, Hammond posted a blog entry on MySpace in which he revealed the title of his second album, ¿Cómo Te Llama?. Furthermore, he wrote that it contained 13 songs with a total length of 46 minutes and 30 seconds. He also said he hoped to be touring with the new album until the end of 2008. The album was released on July 7, 2008.^[9]

Albert has also produced the new track "123 Stop" by New York band The Postelles.

On 27 May 2008, Hammond released "GfC", the first single off ¿Cómo Te Llama?, on iTunes in the US. The song has already been played extensively live on his 2007 tour. A non-album song entitled "& So it Goes" was released as a B-side along with the single.

On 29 May 2008, Hammond was Myspace's featured artist and exclusively premiered his new album ¿Cómo Te Llama? uploading all the tracks of the album on his official Myspace page.

On 8 July 2008, Hammond played a small show at the Virgin Megastore, Union Square, in New York City to celebrate the release of his new album. A noted absence from Hammond's band was recording bassist Josh Latzanni. Steve Schiltz of the band Longwave, who toured with Hammond on his first album was also missing. Although Hammond was supposed to play only 2 or 3 songs, he ended up playing almost 10, with a selection that included both new and old tracks.

On 11 July 2008, Hammond began his worldwide tour in support of ¿Cómo Te Llama? with a sold-out show at the landmark venue Spaceland in the Silverlake neighborhood of Los Angeles, CA with a capacity of only 260 people. This was his only west coast appearance.

On 23 August 2008, Hammond's website officially announced that Hammond would be the support act of the British band Coldplay during their European Tour, which kicked off on September 1 in Strasbourg, France.

Discography[link]

The Strokes[link]

Main article: The Strokes discography

Studio albums[link]

Singles[link]

See also[link]

• List of Gibraltarians
• Music of Gibraltar

References[link]

• Spin Magazine feature, October 2003, retrieved 25 March 2007
• Star Magazine web feature, 28 March 2007

External links[link]

• Albert Hammond, Jr. official website

Albert Hammond OBE (born 18 May 1944) is an English singer, songwriter and record producer from Gibraltar.

Birth and early success[link]

Hammond was born in London, England,^[1] where his family had been evacuated to from Gibraltar during World War II. His family returned to Gibraltar shortly after his birth, and there he grew up.^[1] In 1960, he started in music with Gibraltarian band 'The Diamond Boys', which had no real commercial success, but played a part in Spain's introduction to popular music. The Diamond Boys performed at the first nightclubs in Madrid to stage modern bands alongside Spanish rock and roll pioneers such as Miguel Ríos. In 1966 Hammond co-founded the British vocal group The Family Dogg, scoring a UK Top 10 hit with "A Way of Life" in 1969.^[1][2]

Main career[link]

He also wrote songs for others with frequent collaborator Mike Hazlewood. These include "Little Arrows" for Leapy Lee, "Make Me An Island" (1969) (which Hammond himself re-recorded in 1979, in a Spanish disco-style version), and "You're Such a Good Looking Woman" (1970) for Joe Dolan, "Gimme Dat Ding" for The Pipkins in 1970 (itself a cover from the Freddie and the Dreamers album, Oliver in the Overworld), "Good Morning Freedom" for Blue Mink, "Freedom Come, Freedom Go" for The Fortunes in 1971 and "The Air That I Breathe" which was a hit for The Hollies in 1974.^[1] In 1971. Hammond also sang on Michael Chapman's fourth album, Wrecked Again, and worked briefly with The Magic Lanterns on recordings of his and Hazlewood's songs and other material.^[3]

He then moved to the United States, where he continued his professional career as a musician. He is known for his hits of the 1970s, released on Columbia subsidiary Mums Records:

1. "Down by the River" — US 91 (1972)
2. "It Never Rains in Southern California" — US 5 (1972)
3. "The Free Electric Band" (the only single of his to chart in the UK)^[2] — UK 19, US 48 (1973)
4. "Half a Million Miles from Home" — US 87 (1973)
5. "If You Gotta Break Another Heart" — US 63 (1973)
6. "The Peacemaker" — US 80, South Africa 1 (1973)
7. "Down by the River" — US 91 (1973)
8. "I Don't Wanna Die in an Air Disaster" — US 0 (1974)
9. "I'm a Train" — US 31 (1974)
10. "99 Miles from L.A." — US 91 (1975)

Written with Carole Bayer Sager, "When I Need You" was first recorded by Hammond on his 1976 album When I Need You. Produced by Richard Perry, Leo Sayer's version made #1 on the UK Singles Chart for two weeks in February 1977, after three of his earlier singles had stalled at #2. A hit worldwide, it reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for a week in May 1977. Leapy Lee released a version of "When I Need You" on his first recording since 1970.^[4]

Hammond had success as a singer-songwriter with his Spanish recordings. His releases on Epic Records allowed him to successfully tour every region of Latin America. It was during this period that he met Manuel Montoya, CBS Mexico executive, who later became his personal manager in 1985, leading to the Grammy Award winning production of Lani Hall, "Es Facil Amar", producer and writer of "Cantaré, Cantarás" (the Latin American equivalent of "We Are The World"), and collaborations with Roberto Livi on recordings by Raphael, Eydie Gorme and others.

With Hal David, Hammond co-wrote "To All The Girls I've Loved Before", a hit in 1984 for Julio Iglesias and Willie Nelson. Hammond collaborated with Diane Warren on "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now", a transatlantic #1 in 1987 for Starship, and "I Don't Wanna Live Without Your Love", a hit for Chicago that peaked at #3 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1988. Hammond also co-wrote "One Moment in Time", the theme song to the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, as performed by Whitney Houston.

In 1991, Hammond co-wrote "When You Tell Me That You Love Me", which was sung by Diana Ross. In 2005, Diana Ross performed the song again, this time in conjunction with Westlife.

He wrote several hits for Tina Turner, including "I Don't Wanna Lose You", "Be Tender With Me Baby", "Way of the World", and "Love Thing". Turner also recorded the original version of Hammond/Warren's "Don't Turn Around", a UK #1 for Aswad in 1988 and a hit for Ace of Base five years later.

In 2005 he released his first album in many years, Revolution of the Heart (where Todd Sharpville was his music director), and the single "This Side of Midnight".

Present day[link]

In 2008, Hammond met Kasaan Steigen of the Los Angeles based Trigger Management who became his personal manager, during which time Hammond collaborated with British singer Duffy and others. Duffy's resulting album, Endlessly, co-written and co-produced by Hammond, was released in November 2010.^[5]

In 2010, Hammond also worked on Legend, a new recording of duets of his greatest hits, featuring such artists as Elena Paparizou and Bonnie Tyler. It was released on Sony Spain on 23 November that year.^[6][7]

His son, Albert Hammond, Jr., is a successful solo musician and also a member of The Strokes.

Awards and accolades[link]

In 1987, Hammond's composition with Diane Warren "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" (recorded by Starship) was nominated for an Oscar, Golden Globe and Grammy. In 1988, Hammond won an Emmy Award for the song "One Moment in Time", a song he wrote along with John Bettis.

In 2000, he received an OBE.^[1] On the 19 June 2008, Hammond was inducted in the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Hammond was immortalised in song by Half Man Half Biscuit in their 1986 track "Albert Hammond Bootleg".

Other songwriting credits[link]

• "When You Tell Me That You Love Me"
• "It Isn't, It Wasn't, It Ain't Never Gonna Be"
• "Through the Storm" — a duet with Aretha Franklin and Elton John
• "Careless Heart" — written with Roy Orbison and Diane Warren
• "Once in a Lifetime" — written with Antonia Armato and Dennis Morgan
• "Just Walk Away"
• "Moonlight Lady"
• "Smokey Factory Blues" — written by Hammond and Hazelwood, and recorded by Johnny Cash on his John R. Cash album. Also recorded by Steppenwolf on the Slow Flux album
• "Room in Your Heart" — written with Richard Darbyshire and Marcus Vere (Living in a Box)
• "I Don't Wanna Lose You" — written with Graham Lyle
• "Way of the World" — also written with Graham Lyle
• "Love Thing" — written with Holly Knight
• "Creep" — credited by Radiohead as having co-written with Hazlewood
• "I Need to Be in Love" — written with Richard Carpenter and John Bettis for The Carpenters and first recorded on their album, A Kind of Hush.

Discography[link]

• 1972 — It Never Rains in Southern California
• 1973 — The Free Electric Band
• 1974 — Albert Hammond
• 1975 — 99 Miles from L.A.
• 1976 — Canta Sus Grandes Éxitos en Español e Inglés
• 1976 — My Spanish Album
• 1977 — Mi Album de Recuerdos
• 1977 — When I Need You
• 1978 — Albert Louis Hammond
• 1978 — Greatest Hits
• 1979 — Al Otro Lado del Sol
• 1981 — Comprenderte
• 1981 — Your World and My World
• 1982 — Somewhere in America
• 1986 — Hammond and West (Dutch edition)
• 1987 — Hammond and West (German edition)
• 1988 — The Very Best Of (CBS)
• 1989 — Best of Me
• 1991 — Songsmith
• 1992 — Exitos
• 1995 — Greatest Hits
• 1996 — It Never Rains in Southern California (Golden Classics album)
• 1996 — Coplas & Songs
• 1997 — El Nuevo Mundo de los Gnomos (soundtrack) (Various artists)
• 1998 — Todas Sus Grabaciones en Espanol para Discos (Epic) (1975–1978)
• 1999 — It Never Rains in Southern California
• 1999 — The Very Best Of (Sony)
• 2004 — It Never Rains in Southern California / The Free Electric Band
• 2005 — Revolution of the Heart
• 2010 — Legend

See also[link]

• List of Gibraltarians
• Music of Gibraltar
• Inductees of the Songwriters Hall of Fame

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• A Profile on Albert Hammond
• Albert Hammond - 5 Minute Interview with John Matthew Hall of The Independent