English musician, songwriter and record producer
Mike Moran
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Birth name
| Michael Moran
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Born
| (
1948-03-04
)
4 March 1948
(age 76)
Leeds
,
West Riding of Yorkshire
, England
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Genres
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Occupation(s)
| - Musician
- songwriter
- composer
- record producer
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Instrument(s)
| Keyboards
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Years active
| 1960s?present
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Labels
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Musical artist
Michael Moran
(born 4 March 1948) is an English musician, songwriter, composer and record producer.
Biography
[
edit
]
Moran studied at the
Royal College of Music
in London prior to becoming a
session musician
and a composer and arranger. His work in the latter field includes scoring music for such
HandMade Films
productions as
Time Bandits
(1981),
The Missionary
(1982) and
Water
(1985). His other film scores included
Bloodbath at the House of Death
(1984),
The Turnaround
(1995),
A Fox's Tale
(2008),
Blessed
(2008) and
A Thousand Kisses Deep
(2011), as well as arranging the score to
Death Wish 3
(1985), and his TV work includes providing music for
Strangers
(1978),
Harry's Game
(1982),
Taggart
(1985),
The Bombmaker
(2001), and
Sherlock: Case of Evil
(2002). He also played with the
Ian Gillan Band
.
"
Rock Bottom
", which he wrote in partnership with
Lynsey de Paul
, was the UK entry in the
Eurovision Song Contest 1977
, and put him in the spotlight for the first time. Although leading early on in the voting, the song eventually came second in the contest. Nevertheless, it went on to become a
Top 20
hit in many European countries including France, Germany,
Austria
and
Switzerland
, where it reached the top of their
singles chart
. It was more successful in
Continental Europe
than in the United Kingdom and was also covered by many local artists in a number of different languages.
[1]
De Paul and Moran went on to write a number of songs such as "
Let Your Body Go Downtown
", a UK Top 40 hit for the
Martyn Ford Orchestra
,
[2]
and the follow-up "Going to a Disco", as well as "Without You" and "Now and Then", which appeared on the de Paul albums
Tigers and Fireflies
(1979) and
Just a Little Time
(1994) respectively.
For many years Moran was the musical director for the UK
ITV
children's music series
Get It Together
, performing each week, accompanying the various studio guests and playing the
theme music
. He had another attempt at writing a UK Eurovision entry in 1990, when he wrote "That Old Feeling Again" for Stephen Lee Garden, which placed fifth out of the eight songs in the UK song selection competition.
Other songs co-written by Moran are "Snot Rap" (recorded by
Kenny Everett
), as well as "No Mean City" (the theme to the crime drama
Taggart
, sung by
Maggie Bell
), "It's Alright" (the theme to the crime drama
New Tricks
, sung by
Dennis Waterman
) and the music for the UK game series
Chain Letters
,
Lucky Ladders
,
The Krypton Factor
.
Moran has worked with
Ozzy Osbourne
,
Nicko McBrain
,
George Harrison
, and various members of
Queen
. He was co-producer, arranger, keyboards performer and co-author of all the tracks on the album
Barcelona
, the
classical crossover
collaboration between Queen frontman
Freddie Mercury
and opera singer
Montserrat Caballe
, released in 1988. He produced
The Queen Album
(1988),
Piaf
(1994) and
Essential Musicals
(2006) for
Elaine Paige
.
More recently, Moran appeared in
Dragons' Den
(series 7, episode 3) as the musical director of a
Dusty Springfield
musical, and also produced the
Tommy Fleming
album
The West's Awake
(2014).
Discography
[
edit
]
| This section
needs expansion
. You can help by
adding to it
.
(
February 2016
)
|
As sideman
[
edit
]
- With
Norma Tanega
- I Don't Think It Will Hurt If You Smile
(RCA, 1971)
- With
Oliver Nelson
- With
Chris Rea
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
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Participation
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Artists
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Songs
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- Note: Entries scored out signify where the United Kingdom did not compete
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Countries
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Artists
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Songs
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- "
Ahava Hi Shir Lishnayim
"
- "Beatles"
- "Boom Boom Boomerang"
- "Casanova"
- "
Ensename a cantar
"
- "
Frere Jacques
"
- "It's Nice to Be in Love Again"
- "Lapponia"
- "
Libera
"
- "
De mallemolen
"
- "
Mathima solfege
"
- "A Million in One, Two, Three"
- "
L'Oiseau et l'Enfant
"
- "
Une petite francaise
"
- "
Portugal no coracao
"
- "
Rock Bottom
"
- "Swiss Lady"
- "Telegram"
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International
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National
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Artists
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Other
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