Mike Hazlewood (died 6 May 2001)Mike Hazelwood – Credits
AllMusic (6 May 2001). Retrieved 4 January 2013. was a British singer-songwriter and composer. He variously worked with

Albert Hammond Albert Louis Hammond Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 18 May 1944) is a Gibraltarians, Gibraltarian singer, songwriter and record producer. A prolific songwriter, he also collaborated with other songwriters such as Mike Hazlewood, John B ...

T-Bone Burnett Joseph Henry "T Bone" Burnett III (born January 14, 1948) is an American record producer, guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He was a guitarist in Bob Dylan's band during the 1970s. Burnett has won several Grammy Awards for his work on film sou ...

Van Dyke Parks Van Dyke Parks (born January 3, 1943) is an American multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, arranger, record producer, singer, and former Warner Bros. Records executive whose work encompasses orchestral pop, elaborate recording experiments, Ame ...

and

Harry Nilsson Harry Edward Nilsson III (June 15, 1941 – January 15, 1994), sometimes credited as Nilsson, was an American singer-songwriter who reached the peak of his success in the early 1970s. His work is characterized by pioneering vocal overdub experi ...

Biography

Educated at Hazelwick School, in

Crawley Crawley () is a town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in West Sussex, England. It is south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Crawley covers an area of and had a populat ...

, West Sussex, Hazlewood began his career as a DJ at the radio station

Radio Luxembourg Radio Luxembourg was a multilingual commercial broadcaster in Luxembourg. It is known in most non-English languages as RTL (for Radio Television Luxembourg). The English-language service of Radio Luxembourg began in 1933 as one of the earlies ...

in the early 1960s. In 1966, he founded the group

the Family Dogg The Family Dogg were a British vocal group, noted for their harmony vocals. They are best known for their debut album, '' A Way of Life'', and the subsequent single of the same name. Career The idea was born when the Anglo-American singers of ...

with

and Steve Rowland. In addition, he often wrote songs in collaboration with Hammond such as "Green Green Trees", " Little Arrows" for Leapy Lee, and " Gimme Dat Ding" for

the Pipkins The Pipkins were a short-lived English novelty duo, best known for their hit single " Gimme Dat Ding" (written by Albert Hammond and Mike Hazlewood), which reached No. 6 on the UK Singles Charts, No. 7 in Canada ( ''RPM'' Top Singles), and ...

. Hammond and Hazlewood wrote " The Air That I Breathe" which was originally released by Hammond in 1972, and then on

Phil Everly Phillip Everly (January 19, 1939 – January 3, 2014) was an American musician, who was one half of the duo The Everly Brothers alongside his older brother Don. Early life Phil was born in Chicago in 1939 to Isaac Milford "Ike" Everly, Jr. (190 ...

's 1973 solo album ''Star Spangled Springer''. The song was subsequently a huge hit for

the Hollies The Hollies are an English rock and pop band formed in Manchester in 1962. One of the leading British groups of the 1960s and into the mid-1970s, they are known for their distinctive three-part vocal harmony style. Singer Allan Clarke and ...

. Hazlewood's collaboration with Hammond resulted in co-written songs for the latter such as " It Never Rains in Southern California" and " The Free Electric Band". Hazlewood also recorded a single with Hammond under the moniker 'Hammond-Hazlewood' called 'Hey Love let me in'. Hazlewood and Hammond also wrote the international hit song " Make Me an Island" for the Irish singer

Joe Dolan Joseph Francis Robert Dolan (16 October 1939 – 26 December 2007) was an Irish singer, entertainer and recording artist. Chiefly known in Ireland for his association with Irish showband, showbands and for his innovative style and high tenor s ...

in 1969, as well as his follow-up singles, "

Teresa Teresa (also Theresa, Therese; ) is a feminine given name. It originates in the Iberian Peninsula in late antiquity. Its derivation is uncertain, it may be derived from Classical Greek, Greek θερίζω (''therízō'') "to harvest or rea ...

" and " You're Such a Good Looking Woman". The latter became a signature hit for Dolan, topping the Irish charts twice, in 1970 and 1997 when he re-recorded it with Dustin the Turkey. Hazlewood also wrote the song "Southern Lady", which was recorded by

Rita Coolidge Rita Coolidge (born May 1, 1945) is an American recording artist. During the 1970s and 1980s, her songs were on ''Billboard'' magazine's pop, country, adult contemporary, and jazz charts, and she won two Grammy Awards with fellow musician and th ...

. During the late 1980s, Hazlewood held the theatrical rights to

Mervyn Peake Mervyn Laurence Peake (9 July 1911 – 17 November 1968) was a British writer, artist, poet, and illustrator. He is best known for what are usually referred to as the '' Gormenghast'' books. The four works were part of what Peake conceived ...

's novel '' Mr. Pye'', and completed a musical theatre version of the book in collaboration with Howard Lee Sloan, the American-born pianist and composer. Hazlewood and Hammond are also credited as co-writers of the 1992

Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon-on-Thames, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band members are Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Gre ...

song, " Creep". Due to similarities to "The Air That I Breathe", Radiohead was successfully sued for

plagiarism Plagiarism is the representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 ''Random House Dictionary of the English Language, Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close ...

. "Creep" used a chord progression taken from "The Air That I Breathe" in its verse, and a melody from the latter in the bridge following the second chorus.English, Tim (2007). ''Sounds Like Teen Spirit: Stolen Melodies, Ripped-Off Riffs, and the Secret History of Rock and Roll'', p.149. . On 6 May 2001, Hazlewood died aged 59 from a heart attack, during his holiday in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

, Italy.The Dead Rock Stars Club 2001
Thedeadrockstarsclub.com. Retrieved 4 January 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hazlewood, Mike 1941 births 2001 deaths Deaths in Tuscany People educated at Hazelwick School English male singer-songwriters English male composers British soft rock musicians People from Cuckfield 20th-century English singers 20th-century English male singers