Tony Hatch

The Burt Bacharach of Britain, Tony Hatch lacked the range of the Bacharach/David hit machine but did a splendid job of evoking swinging '60s suburbia for the large audience (mostly radio and mostly older) incapable of digesting the Animals or the Angry Young Them. Lofted into the charts by the winsome singer Petula Clark, who hit number one in America with "Downtown" and continued entertaining British audiences for decades, Hatch launched a cottage empire of writing and production for similar performers and released dozens of instrumental records under his own name (also in a similar fashion to Bacharach). While his instrumental side has been compiled several times, the Castle collection Call Me: The Songs of Tony Hatch marks the first time his productions have ever been authoritatively collected. Hatch's effervescent sound, pitched halfway between adult pop and teen pop, possessed the energy of rock & roll but lacked the confrontational nature of many beat groups. Being an entrepreneur and a hitmaker, he never considered meddling with a tested formula; thus, this collection includes many fabulous songs by Clark and Jackie Trent (Hatch's wife), but also a parade of soundalikes from (much) lesser ingénues -- Julie Grant, Sue Nichols, Mally Page, Yvonne Prenosilova, Ninette, Moya Moray, and Sandra Barry (only the latter ever recorded a hit or lingered in the British consciousness). Indeed, most of these vocalists are distinguishable from Clark or Trent only by the inferiority of their songs. After Hatch's production on the harmony gem "Sugar and Spice" by the Searchers became a hit, he also recorded similar harmony nuggets on a variety of groups, some of which rivaled the original ("Major to Minor" by the Settlers and "Run to Me" by the Montanas). The second disc includes a few songs of more interest, including a few rare outside productions -- "Joanna" for the godlike genius of Scott Walker and novelty songs for the "humorist" Benny Hill and the ultra-patriotic Bruce Forsyth. The first disc does earn extra points for its inclusion of the very weirdest Beatles tribute ever recorded, Tony Hatch and Cherry Children's singalong, "Yoko." ~ John Bush, All Music Guide