Gerald Roland Shury (11 August 1944General Register Office; United Kingdom; Volume: 17; Page: 0919 – 24 May 1978)England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), page 7395 was a British songwriter, arranger, and record producer who worked in the late 1960s and 1970s. Shury was born in

Berkhamsted Berkhamsted ( ) is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, in the River Bulbourne, Bulbourne valley, north-west of London. The town is a Civil parishes in England, civil parish with a town council within the borough of Dacorum which ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

, England, though some sources state

Brixton Brixton is an area of South London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th century ...

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 ...

. He started his career in the late 1960s initially as an arranger and went on to work with

Barry Blue Barry Blue (born Barry Ian Green; 4 December 1950) is an English singer, producer, and songwriter. As an artist, he is best known for his hit songs "Dancin' (on a Saturday Night)" and "Do You Wanna Dance" (both 1973). Blue has also been a pr ...

Lynsey de Paul Lynsey de Paul (born Lyndsey Monckton Rubin; 11 June 1948 – 1 October 2014) was an English singer-songwriter and record producer. After initially writing hits for others, she had her own chart hits in the UK and Europe in the 1970s, starting ...

Ron Roker Ronald Ernest Alfred Roker (born 23 January 1941) is an English songwriter, singer and record producer. Roker has written UK chart hits for Jackie Lee, The Fortunes, Barry Blue, Tina Charles, Polly Brown, The Pearls, The Real Thing and Swe ...

The Bee Gees ''The'' is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the ...

Biddu Biddu Appaiah (born 8 February 1945) is a British-Indian singer-songwriter, composer, and music producer who composed and produced many worldwide hit records during a career spanning five decades. Considered one of the pioneers of disco, Euro ...

and

The Rubettes The Rubettes are an English pop/glam rock band put together in 1974 after the release of " Sugar Baby Love", a recording assembled of studio session musicians in 1973 by the songwriting team of Wayne Bickerton, the then head of A&R at Polydor ...

, before becoming involved in the

British soul British soul, Brit soul, or (in a US context) the British soul invasion, is soul music performed by British artists. Soul has been a major influence on British popular music since the 1960s, and American soul was extremely popular among some yo ...

, funk and disco scene of the 1970s. After flirting with

glam rock Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was primarily defined by the flamboyant clothing, makeup, and hairstyles of its musicians, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists d ...

by co-writing the UK top 10 single "Do You Wanna Dance" with Barry Blue and Ron Roker, he moved to writing in a more soul/funk/disco vein with songs such as " Guilty", a UK number 10 hit for

The Pearls The Pearls were an English 1970s girl group, girl human voice, vocal duet (music), duo from Liverpool, England, featuring Lyn Cornell and Ann Simmons (née O'Brien). They released a total of 12 single (music), singles, the most successful being ...

in 1974, as well as "Dance Little Lady Dance", which was a hit for Tina Charles, reaching number 6 on the UK Singles Chart. Another song Shury co-penned is " Up in a Puff of Smoke" originally recorded by

Polly Brown Polly Brown ( Polly Browne; born 18 April 1947) is an English singer from Birmingham. A member of Pickettywitch and Sweet Dreams - and with each group lead singer on a Top Ten hit, respectively " That Same Old Feeling" and " Honey Honey" - Br ...

and covered by

the Rubinoos The Rubinoos are an American power pop band that formed in 1970 in Berkeley, California, Berkeley, California. They are perhaps best known for their single (music), singles "I Think We're Alone Now" (1977, a cover of the hit by Tommy James & th ...

. It reached number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 43 on the UK Singles Chart in 1974. He also co-wrote "

Devil's Gun "Devil's Gun" is a 1977 song by C. J. & Company from the Devil's Gun (album), album of the same name. "Devil's Gun" was written by Barry Blue, Barry Green (also known as Barry Blue), Ron Roker, and Gerry Shury and produced by Mike Theodore and Denn ...

", an American hit for C. J. & Company, which was the first record played when

Studio 54 Studio 54 is a Broadway theatre, Broadway theater and former nightclub at 254 West 54th Street (Manhattan), 54th Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, New York, U.S. Opened as the Gallo Opera House in 1927, it served ...

opened on April 26, 1977. Together with Chris Rae and Ron Roker, he also wrote "Do You Believe in Love at First Sight" for

Dionne Warwick Marie Dionne Warwick ( ; born Marie Dionne Warrick; December 12, 1940) is an American singer, actress, and television host. During her career, Warwick has won many awards, including six Grammy Awards. She has been inducted into the Hollywood Wa ...

. Shury provided music for the 1972 film '' Hunted''. Shury died in a car crash in 1978 aged 33. According to Ron Roker, he was returning to London late at night after visiting a club in

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

when he fell asleep at the wheel of his car, which crashed, killing him instantly. "'We never found another Gerry Shury': the late genius of British soul", ''Glitter Suits & Platform Boots''
Retrieved 8 November 2019

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shury, Gerry 1944 births 1978 deaths People from Brixton People from Berkhamsted British male songwriters British record producers British music arrangers Road incident deaths in England