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Richard Anthony Hewson (born 17 November 1943) is an English producer, arranger, conductor and multi-instrumentalist, who created the studio group RAH Band[pronunciation?].
Richard Anthony Hewson | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Richard Anthony Hewson |
| Born | 17 November 1943 Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, England |
| Genres | Jazz-funk, synthpop, electronic |
| Occupation(s) | Record producer, arranger, conductor, multi-instrumentalist |
| Instrument | Various |
| Years active | 1966–present |
| Labels | DJM, RCA, various |
| Website | www |
Hewson began in the late 1960s as an arranger, and worked with musicians such as the Beatles ("I Me Mine" and "The Long and Winding Road"), the Bee Gees (Melody), James Taylor ("Carolina in My Mind"), Herbie Hancock, Clifford T. Ward, Supertramp, Pilot (Pilot), Diana Ross, Carly Simon, Art Garfunkel, Leo Sayer, Paul McCartney (Thrillington), Mary Hopkin ("Those Were The Days"), Al Stewart, Chris de Burgh, Fleetwood Mac and Chris Rea. He also arranged strings on several Cliff Richard albums, I'm Nearly Famous (1976),[1] Every Face Tells a Story (1977) and Green Light (1978).[2] Hewson also worked with the British band Jigsaw, including arrangements for their hit single, "Sky High".[3]
Apart from his own RAH Band project, in the 1980s he was a producer for Toyah Willcox, Five Star, and Shakin' Stevens. He was a co-producer and conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra on Cliff Richard's 1983 live album Dressed for the Occasion (which included the UK hit single "True Love Ways").[2] Later, he wrote music for television shows and advertising spots. His song "Pearly" was recorded by The Pearls.
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Hewson founded The RAH Band – of which he was the sole member and which took its name from his initials – in 1977, to release an instrumental called "The Crunch". The piece climbed to number 6 in the UK Singles Chart.[4] The song also peaked at number 16 in Australia.[5] Hewson played all the musical instruments himself. The arrangement did not use synthesisers, only conventional guitar and keyboards with pedal effects. He was later featured on Top of the Pops.[6] A number of jazz funk releases followed. The second big hit single for the RAH Band was in 1985 when the soul ballad, "Clouds Across the Moon", also reached number 6 in the UK chart.[4] Vocals were provided by Hewson's wife Liz, also known as "Dizzy Lizzy".
In July 2007, Hewson released a remixed "Clouds Across the Moon '07", which featured vocalist Emma Charles.[7]
The RAH band's releases were issued under a variety of record labels, including Good Earth Records, DJM, KR Records, TMT Records and RCA.[4]
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Albums
Studio albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [8] |
AUT [9] |
SWE [10] | ||
| The Orchestrah (as the Orchestrah) |
— | — | — | |
| Love Is (as the Richard Hewson Orchestra) |
|
— | — | — |
| Contemporary Themes (as Richard Hewson) |
|
— | — | — |
| The Crunch & Beyond (as RAH Band) |
|
— | 3 | — |
| RAH Band (as RAH Band) |
— | — | — | |
| Going Up (as RAH Band) |
|
— | — | — |
| Mystery (as RAH Band) |
60 | — | 42 | |
| Something About the Music (as RAH Band) |
|
— | — | — |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. | ||||
Compilation albums
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| Upper Cuts |
|
| Past, Present & Future |
|
| The Best of Rah Band |
|
| Greatest Hits |
|
| Perfumed Garden: The Best of Rah Band |
|
| 21st Century Remixes |
|
| The Very Best of the RAH Band |
|
| The Definitive Collection |
|
| 12 Inch Remixes |
|
| Unreleased Trax from the 70s to the 2000s |
|
| Producers Choice |
|
EPs
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| Love Without End (as the Richard Hewson Orchestra) |
|
| Satisfied E.P. (as RAH Band) |
|
| Chain'd (as RAH Band) |
|
Singles
(Unless stated, the main artist is RAH Band)
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [8][13][14] |
AUS [15] |
BEL (FL) [16] |
FRA [17] |
GER [18] |
IRE [19] |
IT [20] |
NL [21] |
SWE [22] | |||
| "Spicks and Specks" (as the Richard Hewson Orchestra; Portugal-only release) | 1971 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Melody (soundtrack) |
| "Love for Hire" (as the Richard Hewson Orchestra) | 1976 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Love Is |
| "Shark Bite" (as the Richard Hewson Orchestra) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single | |
| "Love Bite" (as the Richard Hewson Orchestra; US and the Netherlands-only release) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Love Is | |
| "The Crunch" | 1977 | 6 | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | The Crunch & Beyond |
| "What Shall We Do When the Disco's Over?" (as the Richard Hewson Orchestra) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles | |
| "Jiggery Pokery" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Is Anybody There?" | 1978 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | The Crunch & Beyond |
| "Tokyo Flyer" | 1980 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single |
| "Falcon" | 35 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | RAH Band | |
| "Slide" | 1981 | 50 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Downside Up" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Riding on a Fantasy" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Going Up | |
| "Winter Love" | 1982 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Perfumed Garden" | 45 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Tears and Rain" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Sam the Samba Man" | 1983 | 80 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Messages from the Stars" | 42 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Questions (What You Gonna Do)" | 109 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single | |
| "Are You Satisfied? (Funka Nova)" | 1985 | 70 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Mystery |
| "Clouds Across the Moon" | 6 | — | 6 | 28 | — | 5 | 19 | 8 | 9 | ||
| "Sorry Doesn't Make It Anymore" | 90 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "What'll Become of the Children?" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Past, Present & Future | |
| "The Crunch '85" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Sweet Forbidden" | 1986 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single |
| "Dream Street" (featuring Nadia Flasch) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Across the Bay" | 1987 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Morocko" (as Shock Taktix) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Run 4 the Sun" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "This Is Not Jazz"/"Time Beat Time" (as Shock Taktix) | 1988 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Nice Easy Money (Intruders in the House)" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Time Keeps Tearing Us Apart (The Homecoming)" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Silverbird" | 1989 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Looks Like I'm In Love Again" (as Key West featuring Erik) | 1993 | 46 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Let Your Love Shine" (as Key West & P. P. Arnold) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Let Your Love Shine" (as Key West & Debbie Sharp) | 1995 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Living for the Nightlife" | 1996 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Clouds Across the Moon" (Tiefschwarz remix; Germany-only release) | 1999 | — | — | — | — | 85 | — | — | — | — | |
| "Turn My Love Around" | 2008 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Living for the Nitelife" (featuring Susanna) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "No Way (To Treat Your Lover)" (featuring Susanna) | 2009 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Vapour Trails" (featuring Susanna) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Space Gypsy" | 2011 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Vapour Trails" (featuring Funmilayo) | 2014 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Gypsy Girl" | 2018 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Silly Questions" (featuring Nina Schofield) | 2019 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "One Day We'll Smile Again" (featuring Bella Hutton) | 2021 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. | |||||||||||
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