Ross Hannaman

Ross Hannaman was a British singer in the 1960s.

She was born Rosalind Judith Hannaman and raised in London. Ross signed to EMI in 1967 to pursue a career in pop music. She was initially managed by Tim Rice, and he and Andrew Lloyd Webber wrote both of her singles and their subsequent b-sides. Her debut single, "Down Thru’ Summer," (b/w “I’ll Give All My Love To Southend”) was released in 1967. It received airplay on the offshore pirate radio station Radio London, made the station's Fab 40 chart, but did not feature in the official UK chart listings. Shortly after, her second single, “1969”, was released. Its b-side was a lush ballad entitled “Probably on Thursday." Like its predecessor, “1969” went nowhere on the charts and Hannaman's solo career ended. Both of the singles are very rare and highly sought after by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice collectors.

Ross was named "face" of the year in 1968 by the Evening Standard, and she then married EMI producer Mark Wirtz. They wrote songs using the aliases “Philwit and Bigsby”. Together and under the name “The Sweetshop,” Wirtz and Hannaman recorded the song "Barefoot and Tiptoe" as part of his unfinished recording “A Teenage Opera.” Wirtz and Hannaman divorced and she now lives in Vermont in the United States with her two children from her marriage to her current husband Robert Fritz.

Songs

• Down Thru’ Summer
• I’ll Give All My Love To Southend
• 1969 (The Sex Song)
• Probably Not On Thursday

Singles

• Down Thru’ Summer / I’ll Give All My Love To Southend (1967, Columbia DB8217)
• 1969 / Probably On Thursday (1967, Columbia DB8288)
• Barefoot and Tiptoe (Parlophone R5707) (Also appears on the RPM CD “A Teenage Opera”)

Re-Releases

• “Andrew Lloyd Webber: Now & Forever” 5-CD Box Set (2003) contains “Down Thru’ Summer” (although an edited version) and “I’ll Give All My Love To Southend” on Disc 5.

• “Go Girl: Dream Babes Volume Four” (2003) contains an edited version of “Down Thru’ Summer” (identical to the "Andrew Lloyd Webber: Now & Forever" release) as well as a mini-biography of Hannaman. It also includes a photo from a magazine article and a very rare color photo of Hannaman with Mark Wirtz.

• "That’s My Story” by Tim Rice & Friends (2006) contains both singles from 1967 as well as their b-sides.
  • This re-release contains "Down Thru' Summer" in its entirety, as it appears on the original vinyl single; when re-released on the other compilations listed, two unique lines were cut near the end of the song.

Sheet music

• Down Thru’ Summer (1967)

Song covers

• A French version of the song “I’ll Give All My Love To Southend,” titled “Je N'Aimerai Plus Jamais Personne” was recorded by the French singer Daniele Noel, and released on a 4-song EP single in 1967.
• A demo version of the song “Probably On Thursday” was recorded with a slightly different melody as well as some lyric changes in 1989 by Sarah Brightman, the wife of Andrew Lloyd Webber at the time, and was released in 2005 on the CD “Love Changes Everything (Sarah Brightman album),” a compilation of Brightman’s work with Lloyd Webber. The title is mis-printed on the album packaging as "Probably On A Thursday." Brightman never sings the word "a" during the song.

External links