The Story Of Alan Hawkshaw!

[Videoskooter]

Maybe his name is not as familiar as the ones from Cerrone and Costandinos, but the man has made great contributions to their sound and is a legendary composer and musician. Discover the man and his soundz:

Vulture interviews...

[needlefingers]

There was no mention of Here Comes That Sound by Love Deluxe.

That was a monster hit, and had a remake just a few years ago.

http://www.discomusic.com/records-more/1819_0_2_0_C/

[Videoskooter]

Yep, I noticed that too, a pity!

Needle, can you do me a favour?

Can you go to the "Honey, I shrunk...."-thread and listen to the Alan Hawkshaw entry there. It's the same vid but mashed up with a Discogroove and I don't recognize it!!!! Thx!

[needlefingers]

Nice, but I don't know the song. And I also do not have the Love DeLuxe lp.
I only have a bootleg re-issue of the long version of Here Comes That Sound.

It may be one of the songs on the flipside. Or something all together different.

Anybody else?

[Disco Funk]

Thanks for the link to the video. The track 'The Champ' was a hip hop samplers favourite back in the day. It was a generic remake of Lowell Fulsom's The Tramp, although I think it was more based on the Otis Redding version. I still think they say 'Tramp' in the Mohawks studio recording, but they changed the title to avoid being sued. I didn't think Hawkshaw played all that great in the video. It sounded like he hadn't played anything for a number of years.

Disco Funk

[totouk]

I didn't know anything about him before other than him playing on some of the disco albums and Love DeLuxe. It was quite an eye opener to read.

toto

[SandraDee]

The interview doesn't seem to mention that Alan composed the theme music to Channel 4's 'Countdown'!:icon_eek: Obviously not a classic piece of music but it must've earned him alot of pennies over the years.:icon_confused:

[darrens]

Nice, but I don't know the song. And I also do not have the Love DeLuxe lp.
I only have a bootleg re-issue of the long version of Here Comes That Sound.

It may be one of the songs on the flipside. Or something all together different.

Anybody else?

I have the LP - and very good it is too. Here's my review of it, including the artwork:
http://www.discomusic.com/records-more/3559_0_2_0_C/

And I can confirm that the track in the youtube video is not on this LP.

[LazyDisco]

He also did great job with Miquel Brown, on her "symphony of love" album 1978 ...

[Videoskooter]

And I can confirm that the track in the youtube video is not on this LP.

Thx Darrens for clearing that up! Anyone who knows the track???? Is it a Hawkshaw track?????

JohnLeslieFedup, I know you're a member here :icon_lol: Help us buddy! Log in!

JLF-Version: (So you don't have to search for it in the other thread)

[ol'skinflint]

Nice, but I don't know the song. And I also do not have the Love DeLuxe lp.
I only have a bootleg re-issue of the long version of Here Comes That Sound.

It may be one of the songs on the flipside. Or something all together different.

Anybody else?

I didn't know anyone "boot legged" disco records.

[needlefingers]

I didn't know anyone "boot legged" disco records.

Come to New York City. Or check on ebay. There's plenty of boot legged records.

[Videoskooter]

Well the mystery is solved! I've recieved the info by the man behind that clip and this is what JLFU says about it:

"That Hawkshaw tune doesn't really exist in that format, it's one of my creations. The original tune is a never commercially released tune by him called "Man Of Means" and has a very mellow stripped down sound to it. I added a whole new percussion section and some synths to it and called it "VD".

In it's original format the only place it's ever made public was in the adult flick "Maraschino Cherry" from 1978 (co starred Wade Nichols aka Dennis Parker). My version is edited down by a few minutes in that videoclip I made."

[Videoskooter]

For the people who want to see this artfilm:

[discokicks]

I just happened upon some youtube offerings off an album featuring Alan Hawkshaw and Brian Bennett released in 1974. The cuts that I've heard are quite funky and dancey with a nice melodic touch to them as well (hmmm...doesn't that sound familiar...).

Brian Bennett was the drummer for Cliff Richard and the Shadows back in the early 60s and later on has been creating quite a catalogue of movie themes. It's really interesting to hear what happens when you combine his talent for rhythm with Hawkshaw's passion for synthesizer.



I haven't been able to actually locate this album anywhere but it sounds like something worth searching for to add to a disco library. I think some members here will find this very worthwhile.

[Disco Funk]

If you do find the LP, you're probably going to have to pay an arm and a leg for it. Library records are hard to get because they were never released commercially. They just sold the music to anyone who needed background music for their films or commercials. Whatever vinyl was pressed was very limited, so I've been collecting them on compilation CDs. Not all of them feature funky music, so thankfully the compilations filter out the not-so-collectible sounds. Various companies and studios that put out library music included De Wolfe, KPM, Chappell, Telemusic, Montepasse, etc... Hawkshaw and Brian Bennett would work at one music company or another, so you'll see their credits on more than just one music library label.

Here are a few tracks from those library compilations









Disco Funk

[JussiK]

No mention of his "Bizarre" disco lp either. Even Discoqs does not list it. The 1978 album is musically nothing special an sich but it does have one of the most outré cover imagery ever on a disco record: a totally nude three legged woman squirming against a neon yellow plastic background, splashed with with blood red liquid.
Alan's contributions to the Bruton library music series contain some wicked no frills disco numbers - look out for the 1978 Speed Boat one as it's a full length dance track, not just a 2 minute snippet of groovy rhythm like most of the library cuts.

[SandraDee]

I really love those library tracks DF. The 2nd one sounds like Le Pamplemousse, the 3rd reminds me of Bob James & the last one is a bit Shakatak & a bit Deodato to my ears. :icon_razz: I love 70s/early 80s jazz-fusion (but definitely not modern smooth jazz)

[Disco Funk]

Glad you like them SD! I've been addicted to library music since I realized they were the source of a number of cool funk and soul tracks I had first discovered on vinyl bootlegs in the 90s. In many cases, the composer will create something that sounds like a hit of the day, which is cheaper for a producer to put in their movie than the actual track from the original artist. There's a lot of great experimental funky grooves to be found in the library department. If you look around the net you'll find blogs dedicated to the collection of these great pieces of work.

Here's some more random stuff, mainly the funkier grooves from the mid 70s period.









Disco Funk

[SandraDee]

It's interesting how there has long been a connection between disco/funk & film/tv music; this is proven by the many people who have worked within both genres such as Isaac Hayes, Quincy Jones, Lalo Schiffrin, Alec Costandinos, Deodato, Giorgio Moroder & Hans Zimmer.

[Disco Funk]

It's interesting how there has long been a connection between disco/funk & film/tv music; this is proven by the many people who have worked within both genres such as Isaac Hayes, Quincy Jones, Lalo Schiffrin, Alec Costandinos, Deodato, Giorgio Moroder & Hans Zimmer.

Yeah, mostly in the action or drama genres, though. Not too much funky music going on in romantic comedies! Nothing like getting a good fight scene going with some funky wah wah! :) Disco Funk