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 "There's No One Quite Like Grandma" is a song by the Stockport-based primary school choir St Winifred's School Choir, released as a single in November 1980. It was number-one on the UK Singles Chart from 21 December 1980 to 3 January 1981. The s ...

" for St Winifred's School

Choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

. 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, in Merseyside, 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. ...

, an affluent suburb of

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, his parents were both members of the

Salvation Army The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestantism, Protestant Christian church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. It is aligned with the Wesleyan-Holiness movement. The organisation reports a worldwide m ...

. 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 and Dumfries and Galloway, the ...

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 monarch, reigning monarch. The term has been used in English since the early 1560s. It arises in hereditary monarchy, hereditary monarchies in Europe and is also ...

's 80th birthday, and sent it to

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

. 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 Welsh entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and Musical composition, composing. They have been presented annually in London by the The Ivors Academy, Ivors Academy, formerly called the Britis ...

for highest selling record of 1980 – beating

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

's "

Woman in Love "Woman in Love" is a song performed by Barbra Streisand and taken from her 1980 album '' Guilty''. The song was written by Barry and Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees, who received the 1980 Ivor Novello award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically. ...

" and

The Police The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. Within a few months of their first gig, the line-up settled as Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar, primary songwriter), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussi ...

's "

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

". 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 the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

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, England. The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable recording contracts and important engagemen ...

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 Classics, EMI. Among the conductors who worked with the orchestra in its early years were Rich ...

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 Derek Batey (8 August 1928 – 17 February 2013) was a British television presenter and television executive. Batey was born in Brampton, Cumberland, and educated at the White House School, Brampton. After appearing in clubs as a ventriloqui ...

, ''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, Cambridg ...

outside

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a royal official residence, residence in London, and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and r ...

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

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle, is an Anglican cathedral in London, England, the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London in the Church of Engl ...

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

Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends ''Thomas & Friends'' is a British children's television series which aired from 9 October 1984 to 20 January 2021. Based on ''The Railway Series'' books by Wilbert Awdry and his son Christopher, the series was developed for television by Brit ...

'' and ''

Budgie the Little Helicopter ''Budgie the Little Helicopter'' is a British animated television series, relating to a fictional helicopter and his friends, based on a series of children's books. The characters were based on the books by Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York. The ...

.'' 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 British singer-songwriter, actress, and television presenter from Cardiff, Wales. As a child, Church was a popular classical singer with a less-successful attempt to mov ...

, 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 '' Lacrimosa'', a hymn in the sequence " Dies irae," where it is the final (nineteenth) couplet. The couplet is often included in musical settings of the Requiem Mass as a motet. The ph ...

". 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 The Morriston Orpheus Choir (), based in Morriston, near Swansea, Wales, is a male voice choir, one of the best-known in the UK. History The choir was formed on April 23, 1935, by Ivor E. Sims and in its early days concentrated primarily on compet ...

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 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 UK census, the community � ...

, 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 sym ...

City of London Sinfonia City of London Sinfonia (CLS) is an English chamber orchestra based in London. CLS is orchestra-in-residence at Opera Holland Park since 2004 and holds a residency at St Paul's Cathedral. CLS also performs regularly across the city of London i ...

*Choir of

York Minster York Minster, formally the Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, is an Anglicanism, Anglican cathedral in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. The minster is the seat of the archbishop of York, the second-highest of ...

*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 20th-century English male musicians English Salvationists English male songwriters English record producers Ivor Novello Award winners Musicians from Liverpool Atomic Kitten 20th-century English male writers 20th-century English songwriters