Know them, know their songs

TO MAKE A SINGER, YOU NEED A song. To make a song, you need a songwriter. It is the songwriter’s lot in life to duck the limelight, picking up credits in the small print on the record sleeves, and, of course, a healthy share of the royalties. Scotland has produced a good share of songwriters in recent years: though these individuals may sometimes have gone unsung, their achievements have not.

Benny Gallagher and Graham Lyle grew up in Largs and headed for London together in the early 1960s where they were taken on by the Beatles’ Apple label. They worked as a partnership and, on leaving Apple, helped launch the band McGuinness Flint with songs such as When I’m Dead and Gone. They then launched a recording career of their own, as Gallagher and Lyle, though they are still best known for the songs which were taken up by others: Breakaway (Art Garfunkel), Stay Young (Don Williams) and A Heart in New York (Simon & Garfunkel and Garth Brooks).

In 1980, they went their separate ways. Gallagher to write (or co-write) for Bryan Ferry, Elkie Brooks and Status Quo, among others, while Lyle went on to co-write hits such as What’s Love Got to Do With It? for Tina Turner, and Just Good Friends, performed as a duet by Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder.

Those who know B A Robertson best as a performing artist might not realise that he is behind a range of classic songs recorded by others, including co-writing Mike & The Mechanics hit The Living Years and, for Cliff Richard, Wired for Sound and Carrie.

On the other hand, anyone conversant with the charts will know the songs of Scotsman John McLaughlin whose work includes Queen of My Heart for Westlife, When the Lights Go Out for 5ive, All I Want and Party People for 911. He has also co-written for Busted.

Former steelworker Scott MacAlister was recruited by the record industry after writing Don’t Let Go, a number three hit for Fame Academy’s David Sneddon. MacAlister, who was made redundant at Ravenscraig when he was 22, also co-wrote Sneddon’s next single, Best of Order, and is now being commissioned to write for Kylie and Gareth Gates. Meanwhile, the news that Sneddon himself has decided to renounce the limelight to concentrate on songwriting suggests there might be more to being an unsung hero than meets the eye.