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Phil Thornalley

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Phil Thornalley
Birth namePhillip Carden Thornalley
Born (1960-01-05) 5 January 1960 (age 64)
OriginWorlington, Suffolk, England
Genres
Occupations
  • Songwriter
  • producer
Instruments
  • Bass guitar
  • guitar
  • vocals
  • drums
  • piano
Years active1978–present
Formerly of

Phillip Carden Thornalley (born 5 January 1960) is an English songwriter, musician, and producer who has worked in the music industry since 1978. He produced the album Pornography by The Cure and was later their bass player. He began releasing his own music in 1988 and briefly joined the band Johnny Hates Jazz. In later years he worked principally as a songwriter, and is perhaps best known for co-writing the song "Torn" (made famous by Natalie Imbruglia) and for writing two UK number one hits for Pixie Lott. Starting in the 2010s he released more solo music under his own name and as Astral Drive.[1][2]

Biography

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Thornalley was born in Worlington, Suffolk. He began working as a recording engineer in 1978 at RAK Studios in London for producers Mickie Most, Steve Lillywhite and Alex Sadkin.[2] His first major role as a producer was for the 1982 album Pornography by The Cure.[1][3] The following year, he produced the non-album Cure single "The Love Cats" and contributed a distinctive double bass performance on the song.[4] Since the Cure lacked an official bassist at the time, Thornalley joined the band for a short tour of the US and some television appearances, and in 1984 he appeared in videos for songs from the band's album The Top though he did not play on the studio recordings due to being involved with producing and mixing other artists. He also performed on the ensuing tour, and helped the Cure fill its vacant drummer position by recruiting two musicians with whom he had worked in previous studio sessions – temporary touring drummer Vince Ely, followed by Boris Williams who joined the band officially.[1]

After about 18 months with the Cure, Thornalley left the band and resumed working as a songwriter and producer.[5] He was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical in 1984 for Into the Gap by the Thompson Twins and released his first solo album, Swamp, in 1988.[2][6] Also in 1988, he joined the pop band Johnny Hates Jazz, which included his friend Mike Nocito, on lead vocals and various instruments,[7] and appeared on their 1991 album Tall Stories.[8] Just before the album was released, Thornalley and bandmate Calvin Hayes were involved in a serious car accident, and their inability to tour caused the album to stall. Thornalley left the band the following year.[1]

Since leaving Johnny Hates Jazz, Thornalley has focused mostly on songwriting and producing for other artists. In 1991, Thornalley co-wrote, with Scott Cutler and Anne Preven, the song "Torn" which later appeared on the 1995 debut album by American alternative rock band Ednaswap.[2] In 1997, Thornalley was hired to produce some songs for Natalie Imbruglia, and her cover of "Torn" became an international hit and is often listed as one of the best pop songs of its era.[9][10][11] Thornalley has also written hit songs for BBMak,[12] and in the early 2010s he wrote two UK number one singles – "Mama Do" and "Boys and Girls" – for Pixie Lott.[13][14] He has also served as an engineer or producer for a wide variety of artists including Duran Duran, XTC, Sting, Edwyn Collins, Prefab Sprout, Junior Giscombe, John Martyn, Ash, Kiki Dee, Kim Wilde, Wax, and Cyndi Lauper.[15]

In 2016, Thornalley joined the touring band for Bryan Adams as bassist and wrote songs for the albums Get Up and Shine a Light.[16] In 2018 he launched a solo project called Astral Drive and released three albums under that name.[17] In 2022 he returned to recording under his own name and released the album Now That I Have Your Attention.[18]

In 2022, Bass Player magazine listed Thornalley's performance on "The Love Cats" by The Cure as the 23rd bass line of all time, though it was the first time he had ever played an upright bass .[4] The National Portrait Gallery includes his portrait by photographer Julian Anderson where he is listed as "songwriter".[19]

Influences

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Thornalley's influences are Todd Rundgren, The Beatles, and Pink Floyd. Soul singer Reggie Sears has named Thornalley as his favourite singer and credits Thornalley's 1988 release Swamp as the main driving force for wanting to be a singer and musician.[20]

Personal life

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Thornalley's son Joseph is a producer who releases music under the name Vegyn.[21]

Selected work

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As writer/producer

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Singles
Albums
  • Phil Thornalley - Swamp
  • Natalie Imbruglia - Left of the Middle (No. 5 UK)
  • Bryan Adams - "Shine A Light" (co-writer "The Last Night On Earth" & "Talk To Me")
  • Bryan Adams - On a Day Like Today (co-writer "On a Day Like Today" & "How Do You Feel Tonight")
  • Bryan Adams - Room Service (co-writer "Not Romeo Not Juliet")
  • Bryan Adams - Bare Bones (co-writer "The Way You Make Me Feel")
  • Bryan Adams - Get Up (co-writer "That's Rock and Roll")
  • Bryan Adams - "Shine A Light" (co-writer "Talk to Me" & co-writer and producer "The Last Night on Earth")
  • Melanie C - Reason (writer "Do I","Positively Somewhere' and "Let's Love")
  • Melanie C - Northern Star (writer "Ga Ga" and "Be the One")
  • Astral Drive - Astral Drive (writer on all songs)
  • Astral Drive - Green (writer on all songs)
  • Astral Drive - Orange (writer on ten songs)
  • Phil Thornalley - Now That I Have Your Attention (writer on all songs)
  • Phil Thornalley - Holly Would (writer on all songs)

As producer only

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Singles
Albums

As mixer

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Albums as recording engineer and mixer only

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Album as assistant engineer

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Awards and nominations

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Awards

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  • ASCAP 'Song of the Year' 1998 for "Torn" (Natalie Imbruglia)
  • ASCAP 'Song of the Year' 2000 for "Back Here" (BBMak)

Nominations

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d Price, Simon (2023). Curepedia: An A-Z of The Cure. New York, NY: William Morrow. pp. 359–362. ISBN 978-0-06-306864-3.
  2. ^ a b c d Tingen, Paul (June 2010). "Phil Thornalley: Torn". Sound on Sound. Retrieved 6 July 2010.
  3. ^ Rees, Dafydd & Crampton, Luke (ed.) Rock movers & shakers, Volume 1991, Part 2 (1991), ISBN 978-0874366617, ("...the band going into RAK studios to record with new producer Phil Thornalley")
  4. ^ a b "Phil Thornalley recalls playing bass on the Cure's Love Cats: "I'm sure jazz players feel like crying whenever they hear that line!"". Guitarworld.com. 7 March 2022.
  5. ^ "The Cure – Interview". Rockerilla (original in Italian). September 1983. Retrieved 6 July 2010.(noting that Thornalley is a current member of the Cure)
  6. ^ Zivkovic, Ljubinko (1 November 2022). "Review: Phil Thornalley's album 'Now That I Have Your Attention'". Rockatnight.com. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  7. ^ Sutton, Michael (6 May 2013). "Johnny Hates Jazz – Music Biography, Credits and Discography". AllMusic. Retrieved 13 July 2013.
  8. ^ Lawn, Jim (6 March 1992). "'Tall Stories' from Johnny Hates Jazz". The Lennox Herald: 26.
  9. ^ Q Magazine (11 June 2013). "Torn No. 1 Best Pop Song". Q Magazine The Rock List. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  10. ^ Billboard Pop 100 (11 June 2013). "Torn No. 26 Billboard Pop Chart". Billboard. Retrieved 11 June 2013.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ "Blender Magazine - 500 Greatest Songs From 1980-2005 (Music Database :: Dave Tompkins)". www.cs.ubc.ca. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  12. ^ "Production notes". Music Week. 17 July 1999. Retrieved 6 July 2010.
  13. ^ "QUICKFIRE: Twelve years in waiting: Lott hitmaker reaches top". Music Week. 27 June 2009. Retrieved 6 July 2010.
  14. ^ Savage, Mark (5 June 2009). "Pop Pixie has a whole Lotta love". BBC News. Retrieved 6 July 2010.("For the last three years, she has been collaborating with some of the biggest hitmakers in the industry, including Red One (Lady GaGa's Just Dance), Phil Thornalley (Natalie Imbruglia's Torn) and Toby Gad (Beyonce's If I Were A Boy).")
  15. ^ "Phil Thornalley Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More". AllMusic. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  16. ^ "Phil Thornalley: I Want it to Sound Like This". tapeop.com. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  17. ^ "Hitmakers: Phil Thornalley on Torn | Interviews | Music Week". Musicweek.com. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  18. ^ "Album review: PHIL THORNALLEY – Now That I Have Your Attention". Getreadytorock.me.uk. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  19. ^ "Phil Thornalley - National Portrait Gallery". Npg.org.uk. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  20. ^ "Reggie Sears". Something for the Soul Radio Interview. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
  21. ^ "Cover story: Vegyn is exploring the subtle art of letting go". Crack Magazine. Retrieved 10 April 2024.
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