Bill Pritchard is a British singer-songwriter, instrumentalist (guitars, keyboards), musical arranger and producer. Despite being little known in his native country he has achieved considerable recognition in France and elsewhere.

Biography

Pritchard was born in

Lichfield Lichfield () is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated south-east of the county town of Stafford, north-east of Walsall, north-west of ...

, Staffordshire.Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 464 His eponymous debut album was released in 1987 on the Third Mind label, with a second following in 1988. He then signed to Belgian label

PIAS Recordings PIAS Recordings (formerly Play It Again Sam) is a Belgian record label founded in 1982 by Kenny Gates and Michel Lambot, In September 2024, the company was acquired by Universal Music Group. Play It Again Sam expanded along with other European i ...

, his first release for them a split album with

Daniel Darc Daniel Rozoum (20 May 1959 – 28 February 2013), known as Daniel Darc, was a French singer, who achieved success with his band Taxi Girl (together with Mirwais Ahmadzaï) between 1978 and 1986, and also as a solo artist. After Taxi Girl was di ...

. In 1989 he released ''Three Months, Three Weeks and Two Days'', produced by

Étienne Daho Étienne Daho (; ; born 14 January 1956) is a French singer-songwriter. He has released a number of synth-driven and rock- surf influenced pop hit singles since 1981. Career Daho was born in Oran, French Algeria. He sings in a low, whispery vo ...

, which was popular in the US after exposure from

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

for the single "Tommy & Co", which featured backing vocals from

Françoise Hardy Françoise Madeleine Hardy (; 17 January 1944 – 11 June 2024) was a French singer-songwriter, actress, and author. She was known for singing melancholic, sentimental ballads. Hardy rose to prominence in the early 1960s as a leading figure in F ...

.Sutton, Michael
Bill Pritchard Biography
,

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, retrieved 15 January 2011 His 1991 album ''Jolie'' was produced by

Ian Broudie Ian Zachary Broudie (born 4 August 1958) is an English musician and singer-songwriter from Liverpool. After emerging from the post-punk scene in Liverpool in the late 1970s as a member of Big in Japan, Broudie went on to produce albums (somet ...

, and gave him a breakthrough in Japan and Canada. In 1995 he formed the band Beatitude, releasing the single "Baby in Brylcreem". He made his first come-back in 2005 with the album "By Paris, by taxi, by accident" produced and performed by French producer Thomas Deligny and released by Universal/AZ. Bill did a tour in France that did end up at the Olympia as opening band of Daniel Darc's concert. Bill has recently signed a record deal with Tapete Records and will be releasing a new album called "A Trip To The Coast" in the spring of 2014, produced by longtime collaborator Tim Bradshaw.

Discography

Albums

* ''Bill Pritchard'' (1987), Third Mind * ''Half A Million'' (1988), Third Mind * ''Parce Que'' (1988), PIAS – concept album with

* ''Three Months, Three Weeks & Two Days'' (1989), PIAS * ''Jolie'' (1991), PIAS * ''Happiness And Other Crimes'' (1998), Ncompass – reissued in 2009 with bonus CD * ''By Paris, By Taxi, By Accident'' (2005), AZ/Universal Music * ''Trip To the Coast'' (2014), Tapete Records * ''Mother Town Hall'' (2016), Tapete Records * ''Midland Lullabies'' (2019), Tapete Records * ''Rendez-vous Streets – Pritchard et Lo'' (2019), Water Music * ''Sings Poems by Patrick Woodcock'' (2023), Tapete Records

Compilation albums

*''Death of Bill Posters'' (1988), Third Mind – compilation of ''Bill Pritchard'' and ''Half A Million''

Singles

* "Pas de Plaisanterie" (1988), Third Mind * "Tommy & Co" (1989), PIAS * "Invisible State" (1989), PIAS * "Invisible State" EP (1989), I.R.S. * "Romance Sans Parole" (1989), PIAS * "In The Summer" (1991), PIAS * "Number Five" (1991), PIAS * "I'm In Love Forever" (1991), PIAS * "Sweethearts" (1991), Fnac * "Baby in Brylcreem" (1995), Tora! – with Beatitude * "Every Loser In London" (1998), Ncompass * "By Paris, by taxi, by accident" (2005), Universal *"Trentham" (2014) Tapete Records *"Yeah Yeah Girl" (2014) Tapete Records

Compilation appearances

* ''Future Tense'' (1986), Third Mind: "Grey Parade", "Cecile", "The Invisible State", "Springtime In Prague" * ''Un printemps 89'' (1989), Les Inrockuptibles: "Sometimes" (with Étienne Daho) * ''I'm Your Fan: The Songs Of Leonard Cohen'' (1991), Atlantic: " I'm Your Man" * ''L'équipe à Jojo'' (The songs of

Joe Dassin Joseph Ira Dassin (; November 5, 1938 – August 20, 1980) was an American–French singer-songwriter. In his career spanning sixteen years (1964–1980), he enjoyed numerous successes in France and the French-speaking world, as well as singing ...

) (1993), Le Village Vert: " La Fleur Aux Dents" * ''The Great Lawnmower Conspiracy'' (1997), Ncompass * ''A Tribute to Polnareff'' (tribute to

Michel Polnareff Michel Polnareff (born 3 July 1944) is a French singer-songwriter who rose to prominence in the 1960s. He is noted for integrating rock and pop elements into his early work. He wrote pop hits such as "La Poupée qui fait non" and "Love Me, Ple ...

) (1999), XIII Bis/EMI: "Je Suis Un Homme"

Guest appearances

* Concorde Music Club – ''Stereo-Fictions'' (2002), Soyuz: vocals on "In The Past" * Concorde Music Club – ''Alternative-Fictions'' (remix album of ''Stereo-Fictions'') (2003), Soyuz/Twin Fizz: vocals on "In The Past"

Production

* Stan Cuesta – ''The Interior Journey'' (1993), Music Production

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pritchard, Bill Year of birth missing (living people) Living people English male singer-songwriters English singer-songwriters Musicians from Staffordshire People from Lichfield Third Mind Records artists