Editing Tony Hatch (section)

==Early life and early career==
Hatch was born in [[Pinner]], Middlesex. Encouraged by his musical abilities, his mother&nbsp;– also a pianist&nbsp;– enrolled him in the London Choir School in Wansunt Road, [[Bexley]], Kent when he was 10. Instead of continuing at the [[Royal Academy of Music]], he left school in 1955 and found a job with [[Robert Mellin|Robert Mellin Music]] in London's [[Denmark Street|Tin Pan Alley]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://variety.org/news/tony-hatch-variety-international-past-president-and-his-induction-into-the-songwriters-hall-of-fame/|title=Tony Hatch, Variety International Past President and his induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame|work=[[The Wall Street Journal]]|date=13 June 2015|access-date=30 July 2019}}</ref>

Not long after working as a tea boy, Hatch was writing songs (under the name '''Mark Anthony''') and entered the recording industry when he joined [[The Rank Organisation]]'s new subsidiary [[Top Rank Records]]; there he worked for future [[Decca Records]] [[A&R]] man [[Dick Rowe]]. While he served his [[National Service]], he became involved with the [[Band of the Coldstream Guards]].

On his return in 1959, Hatch began producing Top Rank artists such as [[Bert Weedon]], the then unknown [[Adam Faith]] ("Ah, Poor Little Baby"), [[Josh MacRae]] (together with MacRae's early recordings with Scottish folk trio the Reivers), [[Jackie Dennis]], [[Carry On (film series)|''Carry On'']] comedy actor [[Kenneth Connor]], and the Knightsbridge Strings, and started his own recording career with a cover version of [[Russ Conway]]'s piano instrumental "[[Side Saddle]]".  Although he used his real name Tony Hatch as a performer and producer, through about 1964 virtually all his compositions were credited to Mark Anthony.

In 1960, [[Garry Mills]]'s recording of the Mark Anthony composition "[[Look for a Star (song)|Look for a Star]]", featured in the film ''[[Circus of Horrors]]'', became a Top Ten hit in the UK for Top Rank. Four versions of the song charted simultaneously in the United States, including Mills's original and a version by "[[Garry Miles]]" (a recording alias of future member of [[the Crickets]], [[Buzz Cason]]). Top Rank, despite some worldwide success with artists such as [[Jack Scott (singer)|Jack Scott]] and [[the Fireballs]], ultimately failed because of an unusual distribution arrangement with EMI.

A swift succession of events ensued through 1961 that Top Rank was sold to EMI, briefly operated as a subsidiary, with hits by [[John Leyton]], and shuttered, with its artists transferred to other EMI labels. Hatch moved on to a part-time job with [[Pye Records]], where he assisted his new mentor, [[Alan A. Freeman]], with the recording of "Sailor", a number 1 hit for [[Petula Clark]].

As Mark Anthony, Hatch continued to write songs for Pye artists, including "Messing About on the River" for [[Josh MacRae]]. In 1963, [[Philadelphia]] teen idol [[Bobby Rydell]] hit the charts with "[[Forget Him (Bobby Rydell song)|Forget Him]]" written and produced by Hatch (still writing as Mark Anthony); Hatch produced, arranged and wrote for other American stars such as [[Chubby Checker]], [[Connie Francis]], [[Pat Boone]], [[Big Dee Irwin]] and [[Keely Smith]]. In 1963 he wrote (under the pseudonym of '''Fred Nightingale''') the [[The Searchers (band)|Searchers]]' hit "[[Sugar and Spice (The Searchers song)|Sugar and Spice]]". By mid-1964, Hatch finally began using his own name as a composer regularly, with Tony Hatch being the credited composer of many of [[Petula Clark]]'s biggest mid-1960s hits, including "[[Downtown (Petula Clark song)|Downtown]]", "[[I Know a Place]]", and "[[Sign of the Times (Petula Clark song)|Sign of the Times]]", among others. In February 1964, Hatch's composition "[[I Love the Little Things]]" won the BBC's ''[[United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1964|A Song for Europe]]'' contest, beating out the other five songs performed by [[Matt Monro]]; thus becoming the UK's entry in the ''[[Eurovision Song Contest 1964]]'', where it placed second.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://eurovision.tv/event/copenhagen-1964 | title=Copenhagen 1964 }}</ref> The single of the track failed to reach the UK singles chart.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/ | title=Official Singles Chart Top 100 &#124; Official Charts Company | website=[[Official Charts Company|Official Charts]] }}</ref>

In November 1965, Hatch performed with [[David Bowie]] (then known as Davy Jones) in the band the Lower Third, in an unsuccessful audition for the BBC's Talent Selection Group. The band were not picked up for broadcast, with one member of the judging panel commenting "I don’t think they'll get better with more rehearsals."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/oct/09/david-bowie-lower-third-bbc-verdict-documentary-the-first-five-years|work=[[The Guardian]]|title='Devoid of personality': BBC verdict on early Bowie audition unearthed|author=Snapes, Laura|date=9 October 2018|access-date=30 July 2019}}</ref>

Hatch produced many artists for Pye and other labels including [[The Searchers (band)|the Searchers]], [[David Bowie]], [[Mark Wynter]], [[The Settlers (band)|the Settlers]], [[The Viscounts (British band)|the Viscounts]], [[Julie Grant]], [[Gary Miller (singer)|Gary Miller]], [[Benny Hill]], [[Overlanders (group)|the Overlanders]], [[Roy Budd]], [[the Brook Brothers]], [[Jimmy Justice (musician)|Jimmy Justice]], [[the Montanas]], [[Miki & Griff]], [[Emile Ford]], [[Craig Douglas]], [[Bruce Forsyth]], [[Norman Vaughan (comedian)|Norman Vaughan]], [[Sue Nicholls]], [[the Breakaways]], [[Julie Budd]], [[Buddy Greco]], [[Sacha Distel]], [[Anne Shelton (singer)|Anne Shelton]], [[Sweet Sensation (band)|Sweet Sensation]], [[David Parton]], and [[Graduate (band)|Graduate]] among others.

Hatch's production of the Searchers' entire Pye catalogue was significant in that nearly every song was issued in true stereo. The only other UK chart acts with so much stereo were [[George Martin]] producing [[the Beatles]] and [[Ron Richards (producer)|Ron Richards]] producing [[the Hollies]] (although a handful of early Hollies albums were initially issued only in mono).

Hatch also recorded various lounge style albums with his orchestra; he also made solo piano recordings and some tracks as a vocalist.