Gordon Albert Lorenz (4 March 1943 – 5 June 2011) was an English songwriter and record producer, who made his fame by writing the 1980 UK Christmas number one hit " There's No-one Quite Like Grandma" for St Winifred's School

Choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which s ...

. After the song's release, Lorenz became one of the most prolific record producers in the music industry, producing over 750 albums selling eight million records.

Biography

Born in

Childwall Childwall () is a suburb and ward of Liverpool, England, located to the southeast of the city. It is bordered by Belle Vale, Bowring Park, Broadgreen, Gateacre, Mossley Hill, and Wavertree. In 2019, the population was 13,640. Overview The ...

, an affluent suburb of

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

, his parents were both members of the

Salvation Army Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its ...

. He was a pupil of Evered Avenue school in Walton Liverpool from 1956 to 1959 after passing the 13+ exam. To improve projection of his voice, his parents sent him to drama school, where he was first introduced to show business. After leaving drama school he became a travelling evangelist, travelling the United Kingdom in support of various Salvation Army endeavours. After his father died, he approached his mother nervously and told her that he wanted to become a full-time musician. After struggling for a while, he was offered a job by

Border Television ITV Border, previously Border Television and commonly referred to as simply Border, is the Channel 3 service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the England/Scotland border region, covering most of Cumbria, Dumfries and Galloway, the Sc ...

to write fill-in music between their various day time shows, where he was introduced to the recording studio: "I always liked working in studios. They don't have any windows, they're always very quiet, deliberately conducive to concentration and work."

Writer/producer

In 1980, Lorenz wrote "There's No One Quite Like Grandma" to tie in with the

Queen Mother A queen mother is a former queen, often a queen dowager, who is the mother of the reigning monarch. The term has been used in English since the early 1560s. It arises in hereditary monarchies in Europe and is also used to describe a number of ...

's 80th birthday, and sent it to EMI. Having initially turned it down, the managing director rang him and said he decided to put it out because he said he could not get ''grandma, we love you'' out of his mind: "If it's caught in my mind chances are that it will with the public, and we'll put it out for Christmas". It was one of the last Christmas singles to sell one million copies, won an

Ivor Novello Award The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and composing. They have been presented annually in London by the Ivors Academy (formerly the BASCA) since 1956, and over 1,000 statuettes have been aw ...

for highest selling record of 1980 – beating

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers awar ...

's " Woman in Love" and

The Police The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For most of their history the line-up consisted of primary songwriter Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussion). The Poli ...

's "

Don't Stand So Close to Me "Don't Stand So Close to Me" is a hit song by the rock band The Police, released in September 1980 as the lead single from their third album ''Zenyatta Mondatta''. It concerns a teacher who has a sexual relationship with a student, which in tu ...

". Subsequently employed full-time by EMI, Lorenz became one of the most prolific record producers in the music industry, producing over 800 albums (believed to be a world record), selling 8 million records, earning 17 platinum, gold and silver discs featuring some of the biggest international artists. After being asked by

Unicef UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid t ...

to help raise funds for children in Africa suffering from HIV and Aids, he produced ''The Best Gospel Album in the World... Ever,'' which featured the

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, that performs and produces primarily classic works. The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable ...

Philharmonia Orchestra The Philharmonia Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It was founded in 1945 by Walter Legge, a classical music record producer for EMI. Among the conductors who worked with the orchestra in its early years were Richard Strauss, ...

Royal Choral Society The Royal Choral Society (RCS) is an amateur choir, based in London. History Formed soon after the opening of the Royal Albert Hall in 1871, the choir gave its first performance as the Royal Albert Hall Choral Society on 8 May 1872 – the choir' ...

and Howells Girls Choir. For EMI's MFP division, he also produced a five-LP series hosted by Derek Batey, ''Your 100 Favourite Hymns,'' that was highly successful in the 1980s. In 2008 the North Wales Daily Post claimed that the series was "still the biggest-selling religious recordings in history". In 2002, Lorenz wrote the song "Rejoice Rejoice" for the Queen's Golden Jubilee, sung by a 1,000 strong choir conducted by Sir

David Willcocks Sir David Valentine Willcocks, (30 December 1919 – 17 September 2015) was a British choral conductor, organist, composer and music administrator. He was particularly well known for his association with the Choir of King's College, Cambridge ...

outside Buckingham Palace as the Queen left in her coach for a Thanksgiving service at

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglicanism, Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London ...

. Lorenz also produced some albums for the children's TV series ''

Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends ''Thomas & Friends'' (originally known as ''Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends'' and later ''Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures!'') is a British children's television series that aired across 24 series from 1984 to 2021. Based on ''The ...

'' and '' Budgie the Little Helicopter.'' He also wrote all the songs except for the theme song and the narration segments as well as providing the singing voice of Chuck. Approached by music manager Jonathan Shalit, Lorenz was asked to produce two songs for a 12-year-old

Charlotte Church Charlotte Maria Church (born Charlotte Maria Reed, 21 February 1986) is a Welsh singer-songwriter, actress, television presenter and political activist from Cardiff. Church rose to fame in childhood as a classical singer before branching in ...

, and introduce her to the recording studio. Lorenz recorded and produced her first two recordings, including the recording of "

Pie Jesu "Pie Jesu" ( ; original Latin: "Pie Iesu" ) is a text from the final couplet of the hymn " Dies irae", and is often included in musical settings of the Requiem Mass as a motet. The phrase means "pious Jesus" in the vocative. Popular settings The se ...

". Lorenz was a member of the British Academy of Composers and Authors, The Good Turns Society and The Music Publishers Association. He was also a vice-president of the Morriston Orpheus Choir and Llandudno Town Brass Band.

Death

He died on 5 June 2011 at his home in

Llandudno Llandudno (, ) is a seaside resort, town and community (Wales), community in Conwy County Borough, Wales, located on the Creuddyn peninsula, which protrudes into the Irish Sea. In the 2011 UK census, the community – which includes Gogarth, Pe ...

, Wales.

Artists Lorenz produced for

Choirs

BBC Concert Orchestra The BBC Concert Orchestra is a British concert orchestra based in London, one of the British Broadcasting Corporation's five radio orchestras. With around fifty players, it is the only one of the five BBC orchestras which is not a full-scale symp ...

City of London Sinfonia City of London Sinfonia (CLS) is an English chamber orchestra based in London. CLS performs regularly across the city of London in venues from East London clubs to traditional Central London concert halls. CLS is orchestra-in-residence at Oper ...

*Choir of

York Minster The Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, commonly known as York Minster, is the cathedral of York, North Yorkshire, England, and is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe. The minster is the seat of the Archb ...

*Choir of Exeter *Choir of Guildford *Choir of St George's Chapel Windsor Castle *Bridgend Male Choir Treorchy Male Choir

References

External links

GordonLorenz.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lorenz, Gordon 1943 births 2011 deaths Deaths in Wales English Salvationists English male songwriters English record producers Ivor Novello Award winners Musicians from Liverpool Atomic Kitten