Douglas Jackson Flett (13 October 1935 – 15 July 2019) was an Australian songwriter based in the UK, best known for his collaborations with longtime songwriting partner,

Guy Fletcher Guy Edward Fletcher (born 24 May 1960) is an English musician, best known for his position as one of the two keyboard players in the rock band Dire Straits from 1984 until the group's dissolution, and his subsequent work with Dire Straits fron ...

. Collectively, the duo have also been known as Fletcher & Flett. Since the mid-1960s, they wrote and composed hit songs for many artists.

Career

Before moving to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in the early 1960s, Flett had worked in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

as a TV cameraman and in advertising. While in London, he was introduced to

in 1965 by

Shadows A shadow is a dark area on a surface where light from a light source is blocked by an object. In contrast, shade occupies the three-dimensional volume behind an object with light in front of it. The cross-section of a shadow is a two-dimensiona ...

drummer

Tony Meehan Daniel Joseph Anthony Meehan (2 March 1943 – 28 November 2005) was a founder member of the British group the Drifters with Jet Harris, Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch, which evolved into the Shadows. He played drums on early Cliff Richard and ...

through a phone call, and the two met up. Since then, the duo wrote many songs for a wide number of artists including

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential musicians in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Gen ...

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 ...

and

Frankie Valli Francesco Stephen Castelluccio (born May 3, 1934), better known by his stage name Frankie Valli, is an American singer and occasional actor, best known as the frontman (lead singer) of The Four Seasons (band), the Four Seasons. He is known for ...

. In 2016, they were each 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 ...

for their song " Just Pretend" due to sales of the Elvis Presley &

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, England. The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable recording contracts and important engagemen ...

compilation album ''

The Wonder of You "The Wonder of You" is a song written by Baker Knight. It was originally recorded by Vince Edwards in 1958, but this recording has never been released. In an interview with a DJ from Chattanooga, Tennessee, Ray Peterson told the story of how Ba ...

''; the song features twice on the album, including a duet version with

Helene Fischer Helene Fischer (German: eˈleːnə ˈfɪʃɐ born 5 August 1984) is a German '' schlager'' singer. Since her debut in 2005, she has won numerous awards, including 17 Echo awards, four "''Die Krone der Volksmusik''" awards, and three Bambi awar ...

. It was announced that Flett had died on 15 July 2019 after a long illness. His daughter is the journalist and broadcaster

Kathryn Flett Kathryn Alexandra Flett (born 1 April 1964) is a British TV critic, author, and star of the BBC's '' Grumpy Old Women'' series. Early life Daughter of songwriter Douglas J. Flett and Patricia (née Jenkins), she was educated at Notting Hill ...

.''The International Who's Who of Women 2002'' p. 179, ed. Elizabeth Sleeman.

References

External links

* 1935 births 2019 deaths Australian male songwriters Australian lyricists Australian emigrants to England English people of Australian descent {{songwriter-stub