Christopher Frederick Andrews (born 15 October 1942) is a British-German singer-songwriter and producer whose musical career started in the late 1950s. His biggest hits as a solo artist include "To Whom It Concerns", "

Yesterday Man "Yesterday Man" is a song written by Chris Andrews and was his first single as a solo singer, released on 17 September 1965. It climbed to No. 3 in the UK Singles Chart, and No. 1 in Ireland, New Zealand, Germany and Austria. In England it sold 2 ...

" (a UK no. 3) and "

Pretty Belinda "Pretty Belinda" is a song written and recorded by Chris Andrews, which he released as a single in July 1969. Commercial success The single did not enter the UK singles charts but it reached the No. 1 spot in Austria and peaked at No. 3 in G ...

". Between 1965 and 1970, across five countries, thirteen of his songs reached number one. Andrews wrote for many artists, notably fifteen songs for

Sandie Shaw Sandra Ann Goodrich (born 26 February 1947), known by her stage name Sandie Shaw, is a retired English pop singer. One of the most successful British female singers of the 1960s, she had three UK number one singles with "(There's) Always Some ...

, including " As Long as You're Happy Baby", " Don't Run Away", "

Girl Don't Come "Girl Don't Come" is a song, written by Chris Andrews that was a No. 3 UK hit in the UK Singles Chart for Sandie Shaw in 1964–65. Background The track was recorded at Pye Recording Studios in Marble Arch in a session whose personnel included ...

", " I'll Stop At Nothing", " Long Live Love", " Message Understood", " Nothing Comes Easy", "

Run Run(s) or RUN may refer to: Places * Run (island), one of the Banda Islands in Indonesia * Run (stream), a stream in the Dutch province of North Brabant People * Run (rapper), Joseph Simmons, now known as "Reverend Run", from the hip-hop group ...

", " Show Me", " Think It All Over", "

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * The current day and calendar date ** Today is between and , subject to the local time zone * Now, the time that is perceived directly, present * The current, present era Arts, entertainment and m ...

", " Tomorrow" and " You've Not Changed".

Career

Early career and songwriting

When Andrews was in his mid teens, he had formed his own group, Chris Ravel and the Ravers.Larkin C ''Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music'', (Muze UK Ltd, 1997) p13 One of the records made by the Ravers, which according to Andrews probably only sold around five copies, is said to have been purchased by

Bill Wyman William George Wyman ( né Perks; born 24 October 1936) is an English musician who was the bass guitarist with the rock band the Rolling Stones from 1962 to 1993. Wyman was part of the band's first stable lineup and performed on their first 19 ...

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

. On 14 March 1959, he made his British television debut, performing on the '' Oh, Boy!'' show. He would later return in April to perform a cover of

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is a British singer and actor. He has total sales of over 21.5 million singles in the United Kingdom and, as of 2012, was the third-top-selling artist in UK Singles Chart histo ...

's, "

Move It "Move It" is a song written by Ian Samwell and recorded by Cliff Richard and the Drifters (the English band that would later become the Shadows). Originally intended as the B-side to "Schoolboy Crush", it was released as Richard's debut single ...

". For

Adam Faith Terence Nelhams Wright (23 June 1940 – 8 March 2003), known as Adam Faith, was an English singer, actor, and financial journalist. As a British rock and roll teen idol, he scored consecutive No. 1 hits on the UK singles chart with " What ...

, Andrews wrote "The First Time" ( UK no. 5, 1963) and "We Are in Love" (no. 11, 1964). A string of

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014, a British compilation album s ...

for

followed, including three Top Tens — "

" (no. 3, 1964/65), " I'll Stop at Nothing" (no. 4, 1965) and " Message Understood" (no. 6, 1965) — and " Long Live Love", which in 1965 remained at number one for three weeks in the UK. "Girl Don't Come" was covered by

Cher Cher ( ; born Cheryl Sarkisian, May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Goddess of Pop", she is known for her Androgyny, androgynous contralto voice, Music an ...

on her debut album, '' All I Really Want to Do''. As a songwriter, Andrews has also written "I'll Remember Tonight" for

The Mamas & the Papas The Mamas & the Papas were an American folk rock vocal group that recorded and performed from 1965 to 1968, with a brief reunion in 1971. The group was a defining force in the music scene of the counterculture of the 1960s. Formed in New York C ...

, "Our Love Has Gone" for

The Fortunes The Fortunes are an English harmony beat music, beat group. Formed in Birmingham, the Fortunes first came to prominence and international acclaim in 1965, when "You've Got Your Troubles" broke into the US, Canadian, and UK Top 40, Top 10s. Aft ...

and " Heart of Stone" for

Suzi Quatro Susan Kay Quatro (born June 3, 1950) is an American singer, bass guitarist, songwriter, and actress. In the 1970s, she scored a string of singles that found success in Europe and Australia, with both "Can the Can" (1973) and "Devil Gate Drive" ...

Solo career

Also in 1965, Andrews as a solo artist, reached no. 3 in the UK with the single "

", which peaked in Germany at number one for four weeks; followed up with a no. 13 hit in the UK "To Whom It Concerns". The

instrumental An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...

section of this song was used as the theme for

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

's long-running TV programme, '' The Late Late Show'', until 1999, and a re-arranged version returned as the show's theme music in September 2009. As well as obtaining a high placing in the UK

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphics, graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can repres ...

, "Yesterday Man" climbed to number one in Ireland and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a

gold disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

. Later releases by Andrews were not as successful, but his own hits are seen as early examples of bluebeat influenced white pop music. Although his chart appearances dwindled in Britain by 1966, his chart topping success continued in mainland Europe for a number of years, particularly in Germany, and Andrews often recorded in foreign

languages Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing. Human language is ch ...

. It is possible that Chris Andrews' huge success in Germany was connected to the fact that his two UK hits, at least, were rhythmically redolent of

Oom-pah Oom-pah, Oompah, Ooumpah or Umpapa is an onomatopoeic term describing the rhythmic sound of a deep brass instrument in combination with the response of other instruments or registers in a band, a form of background ostinato. The oom-pah soun ...

music (although not intentionally so; see above), thus making them more acceptable to older German audiences who would not have liked many of the other Anglophone songs which became hits there. Oldienacht-Chris Andrews-9355

In South Africa, his later single releases proved particularly popular, with "

" (1969) and the 1970 45s "Carol OK" and "Brown Eyes" all topping the charts there. "Yo Yo" reached no. 7 at the end of 1970. Throughout the 70s and 80s, Andrews worked mainly as a record producer. Those same four songs all went to number one in

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

, where surprisingly, Andrews had the most number one singles in any country. Between 2009 and 2013, he released three songs in collaboration with Tobee. These include "Pretty Belinda – Schlauchboot" (2009), "Pretty Belinda – Skilift" (2010) and " White Christmas" (2013). "Pretty Belinda – Schlauchboot" went to 58 on German charts, marking the first time he was on any music chart since 1970 with "Yo Yo". Andrews remains active in his career as a singer-songwriter, working primarily in Germany, continental Europe and in the United Kingdom.

Personal life

Andrews was born Christopher Frederick Andrews in

Romford Romford is a large List of places in London, town in east London, east London, England, located northeast of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Havering, the town is one of the major Metropolitan centres of London, metropolitan centr ...

, Essex, England. He learned how to play the piano at age five, and switched from blues music to rock and roll at the age of twelve. Inspired by

Lonnie Donegan Anthony James "Lonnie" Donegan (29 April 1931 – 3 November 2002) was a British skiffle singer, songwriter and musician, referred to as the " King of Skiffle", who influenced 1960s British pop and rock musicians. Born in Scotland and brought ...

, he also learned how to play the guitar. He lives with his second wife Alexandra, who is also his manager, in

Selm Selm () is a town in the district of Unna, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated approximately 20 kilometers north of Dortmund and 25 kilometers west of Hamm. Geography The town belongs to the southern part of the Münsterland ...

, Germany, and

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest of the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, seventh largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. The capital of the island, Palma, Majorca, Palma, i ...

. Because of the

Brexit Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU). Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February ...

vote, Andrews also obtained German citizenship in 2016.

Songwriting credits

*"To Whom It Concerns" – Keith *"Groovy Baby 1969 *" As Long as You're Happy Baby" –

*"Come Closer" – Adam Faith *" Don't Run Away" – Sandie Shaw *"The First Time" – Adam Faith *"

" – Sandie Shaw *" Heart of Stone" –

*"Here's Another Day" – Adam Faith *" How Can You Tell" – Sandie Shaw *"If Ever You Need Me" - Sandie Shaw *"I'll Remember Tonight" –

*" I'll Stop at Nothing" – Sandie Shaw *" Long Live Love" – Sandie Shaw *" Message Understood" – Sandie Shaw *" Nothing Comes Easy" – Sandie Shaw *"Nothing Less than Brilliant" – Sandie Shaw *"Our Love Has Gone" – The Fortunes *"

" – Sandie Shaw *" Show Me" – Sandie Shaw *" Think It All Over" – Sandie Shaw *" Think Sometimes About Me" – Sandie Shaw *"

" – Sandie Shaw *" Tomorrow" – Sandie Shaw *"

We Are in Love ''We Are in Love'' is an album by American artist Harry Connick Jr., released in 1990. The multi-platinum album features Connick on piano & vocal, Russell Malone on guitar, Shannon Powell on drums, Benjamin Jonah Wolfe on double bass, and Branf ...

" – Adam Faith *"You Don't Love Me" – The Roulettes *" You've Not Changed" – Sandie Shaw

Discography

Albums

* ''Sings Chris Andrews'' (1970)

Extended play's

* Ton jour de chance (1965) * ''Yesterday Man'' (1965) * ''Lady, Oh Lady'' (1966) * ''Merci cherie'' (1966) * ''Stop That Girl'' (1966) * ''Is Anybody Listening'' (1967) * ''That's What She Said'' (1967)

Singles

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Andrews, Chris 1942 births Living people People from Romford Singers from the London Borough of Havering English male singer-songwriters English singer-songwriters English record producers English expatriates in Germany 20th-century German male singers Decca Records artists Atco Records artists Vogue Schallplatten artists