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Tot Taylor

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Tot Taylor
Photograph by Peter Ashworth
Photograph by Peter Ashworth
Background information
BornCambridge
GenresMusic
Occupation(s)Songwriter
Composer
Record producer
Author
Art curator
Years active1973–present
WebsiteRiflemaker Gallery Official website

Tot Taylor is a Cambridge-born, London-based songwriter, composer, record producer and author. He was a songwriter, singer, performer and band member throughout the seventies, eighties and nineties[1] as well as composer of film soundtracks and theatre scores including stage-productions for the UK's National Theatre. In 2003 he founded the Riflemaker Gallery in London with the curator Virginia Damtsa, which featured feminist, audio and performative art for galleries and museums with Riflemaker-managed artists exhibiting in Tate Modern, MOMA, LACMA, Royal Academy, Pompidou Centre, Venice Biennale and at Frieze Art Fair.[2]

As an author, his debut novel, The Story of John Nightly, was published by Unbound/Penguin in 2017.[3] [4]

Early musical career

A song writer guitarist since the age of 10 and a pianist from 13[5], whilst still at school, Taylor’s first group, A Special Moment, were signed to Chris Blackwell’s Island label to record the single "Let’s Socialize",[6] though the record was never issued.[7] Taylor then formed the group, Advertising, with guitarist Simon Boswell, releasing two singles and one album, Jingles, on EMI.[8]

As a solo artist, Taylor then signed to Blackhill Enterprises (managers of Pink Floyd, Ian Dury and The Clash), releasing three singles and an album, Playtime, in 1981 for GTO/CBS Records under the name Tot Taylor and his Orchestra.[9] His second solo album, The Inside Story, and two singles, "The Girl with Everything" and "Poptown", were released in 1983 (this time simply under the name Tot Taylor).[10] He then released a further three albums over three years: Box-office Poison(1986), My Blue Period(1987) and Menswear Pt1(1988),[11] whilst also composing the song "Selling Out"[12] for the 1986 David Bowie-starring, Julien Temple-directed film, Absolute Beginners and compiling the soundtrack for the films Dance with a Stranger and Alan Bleasdale’s No Surrender.[13]

During this period, Taylor began a career as a songwriter for other artists and founded the independent record label, The Compact Organization, which issued the debut album for the Swedish singer Virna Lindt, Shiver, (produced and co-written by Taylor and Lindt).[14]

Teddy Johns

Under the pseudonym ‘Teddy Johns’, Taylor wrote all the original compositions on Mari Wilson’s debut album, Showpeople,[15] which was released on Taylor and Paul Kinder’s Compact Organization label and achieved a top 30 UK chart position.[16] The album produced a UK chart top ten hit in "Just What I Always Wanted", reaching no.8 in 1982, as well as two other singles, "Baby, It’s True" and "Beware Boyfriend".

Composing

Following his solo career, Taylor moved into theatre and film soundtrack scoring, relocating to Los Angeles, and working for the BBC as an arranger and composer. He composed a six-hour long piano score for the National Theatre’s eight-hour long production of the play Picasso’s Women.[17] [18] [19]The play was also staged in Edinburgh, toured the UK, and returned to London in 2018. Other theatre scores include productions of Shakespeare’s The Tempest for the AJTC Theatre Company, and Charles Thomas‘s ‘Blood Royal’.

Taylor has composed for film, television and video games, including Muela, Sparkhouse, The Grimleys, My Wonderful Life, Shatterer/Sicilian Connection and Batman: Dark Tomorrow. His compositions, production and compilation work have featured in the Tom Hardy-starring Kray twins film Legend, the Joaquin Phoenix film, Buffalo Soldiers Julien Temple’s Absolute Beginners, Dance With a Stranger, No Surrender and Mike Leigh's Career Girls.[20] [21],

For the BBC, Taylor composed and produced the soundtrack for the series, Early Travellers in North America.[22] [23] He was the music director for the BBC short films A Different Perspective (2001) on Paul McCartney and Michael Stipe, directed by Kevin Macdonald.

Instrumental work

Taylor has released two instrumental albums: Music for the Left Handed (with Mick Bass)[24] and ‘Waterland’.[25] He was the producer of a compilation album of modern interpretations of the music of Bach, entitled Bachology (EMI).[26]

In 2003, he co-founded with Virginia Damsta the gallery Riflemaker in Beak Street in Soho. The gallery was so-named because it was on the premises of a former gunmaker’s workshop.[27] The gallery has exhibited the work of William S. Burroughs, Juan Fontanive, Judy Chicago, Liliane Lijn, Wen Wu, Penelope Slinger, Chosil Kil and Leah Gordon.[28]

In 2006, Riflemaker exhibited the work of Yoko Ono in the exhibition ‘Riflemaker becomes Indica’ in which the gallery recreated the original Indica gallery of the mid-sixties at which Ono first exhibited her work ‘Apple’ (and during which she met John Lennon) and which was recreated for the Riflemaker show.[29] [30]

Selected discography

Advertising (band)

  • ‘‘Jingles’’ (1978) - album
  • ‘‘Lipstick’’ (1977) - single
  • ‘‘Stolen Love’ (1977) - single

Solo artist

  • ‘‘Playtime’’ (1981)
  • ‘‘The Inside Story’’ (1983)
  • ‘‘Box-office Poison’’ (1986)
  • ‘‘My Blue Period’’ (1987)
  • ‘‘Menswear’’ (1987)
  • ‘‘Music For The Left-Handed’’ (1990) - with Mick Bass
  • ‘‘Waterland’’ (1997)

Tot Taylor and the In-Group

  • ‘‘PopFolkJazz’’ (2000)

Writer, composer and producer

  • ‘‘Shiver’’ (1984) by Virna Lindt (co-written/produced by Taylor)
  • ‘‘Play/Record’’ (1985) by Virna Lindt (co-written/produced by Taylor)
  • ‘‘Suburbia Suite’’ by The Sound Barrier (writer/producer)
  • ‘‘St Marks Place’’ (1993) by World of leather (producer/co-writer)
  • ‘‘Maria Callous’’ (1996) by Gretchen Hofner
  • ‘‘Jesus Christ Superstore’’ (1995) by World of Leather (producer/co-writer)
  • ‘‘Bachology’’ (1995) (producer)

Stage

  • ‘‘Picasso’s Women’’ (National Theatre) (composer)
  • ‘‘The Tempest’’ (AJTC Theatre) (composer)
  • ‘‘Blood Royal’’ (King‘s Head Theatre) (composer)

Film and TV

  • ‘‘Shatterer’’ (1987) (composer)
  • ‘‘Macbeth’’ (1998)
  • ‘‘The Early Travellers’’ (1999) (composer/producer)

Teddy Johns

  • ‘‘Showpeople’’ (1983) by Mari Wilson (writer and arranger as ‘Teddy Johns’)

Video Games

Author

Taylor is the author of several books and monographs on artists and the visual arts including ‘Me as Him’ about the artists Gavin Turk and Andy Warhol, Analog (trends in Sound & Picture) and Indica, the story of the famous 1960s art space. .[31] His debut novel, the 900-page The Story of John Nightly was published by Unbound/Penguin Random House in the UK in 2017.[32] [33] [34]

References

  1. ^ All Music: Credits: Tot Taylor
  2. ^ Penguin: Author biography
  3. ^ Penguin Books: Tot Taylor: The Story of John Nightly
  4. ^ Google Books: ‘The Story of John Nightly’
  5. ^ Music Works interview: Tot Taylor
  6. ^ Last FM musical biographies
  7. ^ M Magazine interviews: Tot Taylor
  8. ^ Advertising discography
  9. ^ Tot Taylor discography: ‘Playtime’
  10. ^ All Music discography: ‘The Inside Story’
  11. ^ All Music: Tot Taylor discography
  12. ^ IMDB credits: ‘Absolute Beginners’
  13. ^ All Music credits: ‘Absolute Beginners’
  14. ^ All Music credits: Virna Lindt: ‘Shiver’
  15. ^ Mari Wilson: ‘Showpeople’
  16. ^ Official UK Charts data: Mari Wilson: ‘Showpeople’
  17. ^ Penguin Books: Biography
  18. ^ m Magazine interview: Tot Taylor
  19. ^ Edinburgh festival News: ‘Picasso’s Women’
  20. ^ IMDB; Tot Taylor filmography
  21. ^ ‘The Shaterrer’ credits
  22. ^ IMDB: Early Travellers
  23. ^ All Music credits: ‘The Early Travellers’
  24. ^ iTunes: ‘Music for the Left handed’
  25. ^ Amazon: ‘Waterland’
  26. ^ Discogs credits: ‘Bachology’
  27. ^ Riflemaker Gallery
  28. ^ The Independent: Leah Gordon
  29. ^ The Independent: ‘Where John met Yoko: The gallery that broke the mould‘
  30. ^ The Independent: ‘John and Yoko: Love at first bite’
  31. ^ Amazon bibliography: Tot Taylor
  32. ^ Google Books: ‘The Story of John Nightly’
  33. ^ [1]
  34. ^ [ISBN 9978-1783523207 78-1613743379]
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