Richard Witts
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Richard "Dick" Witts (born in Cleethorpes,
Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...
) is an English
musicologist Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some m ...
, music historian, and ex leader of 1980s band
the Passage Passage, The Passage or Le Passage may refer to: Arts and entertainment Films * ''Passage'' (2008 film), a documentary about Arctic explorers * ''Passage'' (2009 film), a short movie about three sisters * ''The Passage'' (1979 film), starring ...
. He attended Clee Grammar School for Boys. He studied at the
Royal Manchester College of Music The Royal Manchester College of Music (RMCM) was a tertiary level conservatoire in Manchester, north-west England. It was founded in 1893 by the German-born conductor Sir Charles Hallé in 1893. In 1972, the Royal Manchester College of Music ...
and briefly at
Manchester University , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...
. During this time he was a member of the Hallé Orchestra as a percussionist. During the mid-1970s he wrote for the contemporary classical music magazine ''Contact''. At that time, he was also involved in starting a Manchester Musicians Collective (on the model of the recently established
London Musicians Collective The London Musicians Collective (LMC) is a cultural charity based in London, England devoted to the support and promotion of contemporary, experimental and improvised music. From its foundation in 1975 until its reorganization in 2009, the LMC or ...
). This led into contact with the growing punk scene and he formed the Passage, producing their recordings and singing on many of their releases. He presented television programme ''
Oxford Road Show ''Oxford Road Show'' is a music show that aired on BBC2 from 16 January 1981 to 29 March 1985. It was broadcast from the BBC's New Broadcasting House in Oxford Road, Manchester. The show featured live music, pop music news and competitions an ...
'' in the early 1980s for the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
from Oxford Road Studios,
Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
and was also a reporter for BBC Radio 3. Thirty of his radio interviews and contributions are housed in the
British Library Sound Archive The British Library Sound Archive, formerly the British Institute of Recorded Sound; also known as the National Sound Archive (NSA), in London, England is among the largest collections of recorded sound in the world, including music, spoken word a ...
. In 2003 he gave the Saul Seminar there on the history of music presentation in radio. During the late 1980s, he became involved in arts administration roles. He subsequently wrote a critical history of the Arts Council of Great Britain: ''Artist Unknown: An Alternative History of the Arts Council''. His first book, ''
Nico Naftiran Intertrade Company limited (NICO) is a Swiss-based subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC). NICO is a general contractor for the oil and gas industry. NIOC buys the vast majority of Iran's gasoline imports. NICO is a key pl ...
– the Lives and Lies of an Icon'', was a biographical study of the German singer and songwriter (Virgin Books, 1993). Witts now lives in
Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
and is a writer who has lectured at the
University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
,
Goldsmiths College Goldsmiths, University of London, officially the Goldsmiths' College, is a constituent research university of the University of London in England. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by the Wo ...
, London, the University of Surrey in Guildford and the
University of Sussex , mottoeng = Be Still and Know , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £14.4 million (2020) , budget = £319.6 million (2019–20) , chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar , vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil , ...
. He was appointed Research Fellow at the University of Edinburgh where he made a simple catalogue of the archive of Sir
Donald Francis Tovey Sir Donald Francis Tovey (17 July 187510 July 1940) was a British musical analyst, musicologist, writer on music, composer, conductor and pianist. He had been best known for his '' Essays in Musical Analysis'' and his editions of works by Bach ...
(1875–1940). In 2010, he was invited by
Edge Hill University Edge Hill University is a campus-based public university in Ormskirk, Lancashire, England, which opened in 1885 as Edge Hill College, the first non-denominational teacher training college for women in England, before admitting its first male stu ...
,
Ormskirk Ormskirk is a market town in the West Lancashire district of Lancashire, England, north of Liverpool, northwest of St Helens, southeast of Southport and southwest of Preston. Ormskirk is known for its gingerbread. Geography and administr ...
, to design an Honours course in music. His third book, a study of the music and history of ''
The Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City in 1964. The original line-up consisted of singer/guitarist Lou Reed, multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and drummer Angus MacLise. MacLise ...
'', was published by Equinox (UK) and the Indiana University Press (USA) in September 2006. He has also written chapters for the following academic books: '' Kraftwerk: Music Non-Stop''(Continuum, 2011), ''
Mark E. Smith Mark Edward Smith (5 March 1957 – 24 January 2018) was an English singer, who was the lead singer, lyricist and only constant member of the post-punk group the Fall. Smith formed the band after attending the June 1976 Sex Pistols gig at the ...
and the Fall: Art, Music and Politics'',''Mark E. Smith and The Fall: Art, Music and Politics'' (Ashgate, 2010), and the '' Cambridge Companion To Recorded Music'' (Cambridge University Press, 2009). Witts is mentioned in the book ''Audio Culture: Readings in Modern Music''. He is credited with sending a package containing some of Aphex Twin's music to
Karlheinz Stockhausen Karlheinz Stockhausen (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th-century classical music, 20th and early 21st-century ...
. He is currently researching a book on the history of British music from 1941 to 2000. Witts is consultant to the ensemble
Icebreaker An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters, and provide safe waterways for other boats and ships. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to smaller ...
.


References


External links


Official Site
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Witts, Richard Musicians from Manchester People from Cleethorpes Living people English television presenters English writers about music Academics of the University of Edinburgh Academics of the University of Surrey Academics of Goldsmiths, University of London Year of birth missing (living people) British post-punk musicians Place of birth missing (living people)