Guy Fletcher (songwriter)

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For the Dire Straits musician see Guy Fletcher.

Guy Fletcher, OBE (born in St Albans, England), is a British songwriter who, in partnership with Doug Flett, wrote several hits for other artists.

[edit] History

Guy Fletcher worked as a session singer for record producer Joe Meek, and as a jazz trumpet player. After deciding to turn to songwriting, he met lyricist Doug Flett in 1966 and their long partnership resulted in writing songs for several international artists. They were the first British writers to have a song recorded by Elvis Presley, when "Fair's Movin' On" appeared on the B-side of his 1969 single "Clean Up Your Own Back Yard". The British branch of Elvis's fan club castigated the A-side as well below their hero's normal standards, and asked purchasers to register their disapproval by asking for "Fair's Movin' On" when requesting the record in shops.

Fletcher and Flett's first Top 10 success was with The Hollies' "I Can’t Tell The Bottom From The Top" (1970), and they also had hits with songs performed by Cliff Richard, "With The Eyes Of a Child", "Sing a Song of Freedom", "Baby You’re Dynamite" and "Power to All Our Friends", which was the UK entry for the Eurovision Song Contest in 1973, achieving third place.

Their greatest international success was with "Save Me", a Billboard #1 country song by Louise Mandrell. They also wrote hits for Ray Charles, Tom Jones, Helen Reddy, Joe Cocker, the Bay City Rollers and Frankie Valli, as well as discovering and nurturing the talent of singer-songwriter Chris de Burgh. In 1975 Fletcher, Al Hodge and John Hodkinson formed the soft-rock trio Rogue, who released several singles, including "Lay Me Down", "Lady Put The Light Out", "Too Much Too Soon", and "Borderline", and an album, before disbanding in 1979.

Fletcher has been a Performing Right Society director since 1998, and is creative director of Music Copyright Solutions PLC which he helped to found in 2001. He was Chairman of The British Academy of Composers and Songwriters where he led several campaigns against the erosion of composers’ rights. He has won many awards including an ASCAP award in the USA and an Ivor Novello Award in the UK, and has also written TV music, songs, commercials and music for the stage.