Gary Osborne
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Gary Osborne (born in London) is a English singer and songwriter (most notably a lyricist) from the United Kingdom.
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[edit] Career
Osborne was born in London and educated in Switzerland, and followed his father into the music industry at the age of fifteen.[1]
In his younger days Osborne was a staff A&R man for RCA Records with his own show on the BBC World Service. He went on to write and sing on hundreds of television jingles including Pepsi, Shredded Wheat and Abbey National.[1]
Osborne is best known for his lyrical work with Elton John throughout the album A Single Man, and on parts of the albums, 21 at 33, The Fox, Jump Up!, and Leather Jackets. The three single hits of the collaboration are "Part Time Love" from 1978, "Little Jeannie" from 1980 plus "Blue Eyes" from 1982.[1] The beginning and end of "Little Jeannie" accidentally plagiarised "When I Need You", and instead of suing Osborne, the latter's songwriter Albert Hammond collaborated with him on four songs on his 1982 album Somewhere in America.
Osborne also collaborated on Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds. His co-songwriting credit thus appears on "Forever Autumn" from Justin Hayward.
The song "I Am The Future", composed by Osborne and Lalo Schifrin, appeared in the soundtrack to the film, Class of 1984.
His song "The Last Place God Made", co-penned with Richard Kerr, appeared on World Falling Down, a 1992 album from Pete Cetera.
The song, "It's Not On", written by Jeff Wayne and Osborne, appeared on Justin Hayward's 1980 album, Night Flight.
Another hit with Osborne lyrics is "Amoureuse" by Kiki Dee.
He has also had songs recorded by artists as diverse as Alice Cooper, Cliff Richard, Wilson Pickett, Jennifer Warnes and The Righteous Brothers. His backing vocals credits include "Sugar Baby Love" and "Gonna Make You A Star".[1]
Osborne has recently been providing lyrics for the Lil' Chris's debut album, including the UK Top 3 single, "Checkin' It Out".
[edit] Connections
Osborne's father, Tony Osborne was a celebrated music director.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d British Academy of Composers and Songwriters retrieved May 2008
