Bob Heatlie

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Bob Heatlie
Born20 July 1946 Edit this on Wikidata
Died8 April 2023 Edit this on Wikidata (aged 76)
Partner(s)Éva Csepregi Edit this on Wikidata

Bob Heatlie (20 July 1946 – 8 April 2023) was a Scottish songwriter and record producer who collaborated with many music acts, both bands and solo artists. He also produced multiple musical scores for television entertainment series.[1]

Biography[edit]

Early life[edit]

Born in Craigmillar, in Edinburgh, Scotland, he started learning the saxophone from his father when he was six years old. He later played drums in his father's band.[2]

Hit songs[edit]

His most successful and prominent songs are "Japanese Boy" and "Merry Christmas Everyone", both substantial 1980s pop chart hits across Europe and beyond: the first being a 1981 novelty hit, recorded by Scottish singer Aneka and released by the German record label Hansa,[2] while the latter being a 1985-released Christmas hit, recorded by Welsh artist Shakin' Stevens. Merry Christmas Everyone reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart, and has since become an annual mainstay of radio airplay around the December holidays.[3]

Heatlie wrote the songs "Cry Just a Little Bit" (1983) and "Breaking Up My Heart" (1985) for Shakin' Stevens.[2] Heatlie wrote another track for Stevens titled "Woman (What Have You Done To Me)", included on the 1988 album, A Whole Lotta Shaky. The song's remixed version of the same song was featured in Stevens' 2009 release, The Epic Masters. Bob Heatlie then co-produced and remixed nine songs on Stevens' albums. The last single Heatlie worked on with Shakin' Stevens was "Radio", which was released in 1992 and featured Roger Taylor from Queen.[citation needed]

Later work[edit]

In later years, Heatlie concentrated on creating musical compositions for children's television. His career began with the 1986 children's animation, The Trap Door. He composed the music for the documentary series Worlds Apart and the television special The Curious Case of Santa Claus.[citation needed]

Personal life and death[edit]

One of Heatlie's partners was Hungarian singer Éva Csepregi, lead vocalist of the disco band Neoton Família. Heatlie produced her solo albums from 1985 to 1992, which gained popularity in the Soviet Union and across Asia. In 1992, Csepregi and Heatlie had a son, David.[1]

Heatlie died on April 8, 2023, at the age of 76.[1][4]

Songwriting credits[edit]

Solo[edit]

Gordon Campbell[edit]

  • Local Hero: "Why Don't You" (B-side to the single "Daydream Believer")
  • Anya – "Moscow Nights" (single, 1985)
  • Shakin' Stevens, "Radio" (single, 10 October 1992, UK No. 37)

For TV[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c "Gyászol Csepregi Éva, elhunyt a gyermeke édesapja" [Éva Csepregi mourns the death of her child's father: "It is incomprehensible that you are not with us"]. Blikk.hu (in Hungarian). 11 April 2023. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  2. ^ a b c Scougall, Murray (15 December 2020). "Shakin Stevens' Christmas song writer, Bob Heatlie: Snow wasn't falling all around me and children weren't playing, having fun... but I still knew it was a hit". The Sunday Post. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
  3. ^ Moore, Sam (21 December 2020). "Seasonably rich: here's how much musicians make from our favourite Christmas songs". NME. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
  4. ^ "Merry Christmas Everyone songwriter dies aged 76". BBC News. 17 April 2023. Retrieved 18 April 2023.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bob_Heatlie&oldid=1218396556"