Mike Redway (born December 1939 in

Hunslet Hunslet () is an inner-city area in south Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is southeast of the Leeds city centre, city centre and has an industrial past. It is situated in the Hunslet and Riverside (ward), Hunslet and Riverside ward of Lee ...

) is the stage name for Michael Richard Reddyhoff an English singer, songwriter and record producer. He began his career in the late 1950s as a backing vocalist for

Embassy Records Embassy Records was a UK budget record label that produced cover versions of current hit songs, which were sold exclusively in Woolworths shops at a lower price than the original recordings. The original label was active between 1954 and 1965, a ...

Life and career

Redway was the son of a pub landlord and a baker. He was educated at All Saints School and began singing at a young age – touring the local

working men's clubs Working men's clubs are British private social clubs first created in the 19th century in industrial areas, particularly the North of England, English Midlands, Midlands, Scotland, Northern Ireland and South Wales Valleys, to provide recreati ...

alongside his brother. In 1959, he was signed onto

as a backing vocalist. Having worked as a backing vocalist, Mike recorded his first single for Embassy in 1962 alongside

Ray Pilgrim Ray Pilgrim (born 1936 in London, England), also known as Bobby Stevens, was one of the most prolific big band singers, radio broadcasters, recording and session singers in Britain in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Biography Music career He ...

, and recorded a further 28 singles on the Embassy label in this period. During the sixties he was asked to understudy

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...

on a

Tony Hatch Anthony Peter Hatch (born 30 June 1939) is an English composer for musical theatre and television. He is also a songwriter, pianist, arranger and producer. Early life and early career Hatch was born in Pinner, Middlesex. Encouraged by his mu ...

produced record, which was never released commercially. In 1967 Mike was approached by

Burt Bacharach Burt Freeman Bacharach ( ; May 12, 1928 – February 8, 2023) was an American composer, songwriter, record producer, and pianist who is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential figures of 20th-century popular music. Start ...

to perform the vocal on the song ''Have No Fear, James Bond is Here'' - which was used for the credit-roll of the 1967 spoof film '' Casino Royale''. He also achieved No. 1 chart success in Germany with the single ''Du Kannst Nicht Immer Siebszehn'' ("You can't always be seventeen") which he co-wrote with

Ralph Siegel Ralph Siegel (born 30 September 1945) is a German record producer and songwriter. Siegel is one of the most notable figures at the Eurovision Song Contest, in which he has participated with 24 songs so far, among them the 1982 winner song Ein ...

, and which was sung by Chris Roberts. He also produced

Terry Wogan Sir Michael Terence Wogan (; 3 August 1938 – 31 January 2016) was an Irish radio and television broadcaster who worked for the BBC in Britain for most of his career. Between 1993 and his semi-retirement in 2009, his BBC Radio 2 weekday brea ...

's hit ''

The Floral Dance "The Floral Dance" is a Cornish song describing the annual Furry Dance in Helston, Cornwall, UK. The music and lyrics were written in 1911 by Kate Emily Barkley ("Katie") Moss (1881–1947) who was a professional violinist, pianist and concert ...

'', which reached No. 21 in April 1978. Mike has also competed to represent the United Kingdom at the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

on two occasions. In 1975 he co-penned the song ''The House Runs On Sunshine'' with

Brian Bennett Brian Laurence Bennett (born 9 February 1940) is an English drummer, pianist, composer and producer of popular music. He is best known as the drummer of the UK rock and roll group the Shadows. He is the father of musician and Shadows band memb ...

for

The Shadows The Shadows (originally known as the Drifters between 1958 and 1959) were an English instrumental rock group, who dominated the British popular music charts in the pre-Beatles era from the late 1950s to the early 1960s. They served as the bac ...

. At the Song For Europe final held on 15 February the song finished third. Ten years later he made another attempt to represent the UK with his own entry ''So Do I'' with

Fiona Kennedy Fiona Kennedy Clark (born 2 July 1955), OBE, DL is a Scottish singer, actress and broadcaster, and the daughter of Scottish and Gaelic singers Calum Kennedy and Anne Gillies. As a child she appeared with her parents as they performed as a fami ...

, however the song finished joint last in the national final. Mike also composed the music to the children's television show ''

Charlie Chalk ''Charlie Chalk'' is a British stop motion animation series produced in 1987 in the United Kingdom by Woodland Animations, who also produced the children's television programmes ''Postman Pat'', '' Gran'', and '' Bertha''. Reception to the show ...

'', which was produced by Woodland Animation and featured the voice of Michael Williams. The theme music to the show, which was penned by Redway was performed by his close friend

Ken Barrie Leslie Hulme (9 January 1933 – 29 July 2016), known professionally as Ken Barrie, was an English voice actor and singer. He was best known for voicing the titular character and several other characters in the children's television series ''Pos ...

, whom he had met at Embassy in the early sixties. In 1973 Mike formed his own production company ''Redrock Music Ltd'', known for producing radio advertisements and jingles. In 1981, he released the single, "Rock and Roll You're Beautiful" / "Guiding Star" which was released on Go Ahead Records GA 0112. He also released "Morris Minor" / "Happy Birthday to You" on Button Records BTN 101 and " Wedding Bells" / "I'm Yours" on

Crystal A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, macros ...

CR 7032 in the same year. In 2016 he wrote the music for the musical comedy ''Seriously Dead''. For its second year of touring the show was renamed ''Right Place Wrong Time'' In 2019 Mike was the driving force behind the launch of a website offering ready- made jingles to the advertising, TV and Media markets called
Redrock Production Music
'' He also wrote all the original songs used in Paul Dunn's 2019 touring adaptation of

Catherine Cookson Dame Catherine Ann Cookson (''née'' McMullen; 20 June 1906 – 11 June 1998), was a British writer. She is in the top 20 of the most widely read British novelists, with sales topping 100 million, while she retained a relatively low profile in ...

's ''

The Cinder Path ''The Cinder Path'' is a 1978 novel by British author Catherine Cookson. In 1994, it was adapted into a film directed by Simon Langton. Plot introduction In the English countryside of the early 20th century, the working-class protagonist mu ...

'', produced by Leah Bell. Mike was also a regular contributor to many recording sessions with the

BBC Radio Orchestra The BBC Radio Orchestra was a broadcasting orchestra based in London, maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation from 1964 until 1991. The BBC Radio Orchestra was formed in 1964 as a large, flexible studio orchestra on the Nelson Riddle ...

and music director Neil Richardson.

Discography

Albums

* ''

Jesus Christ Superstar ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' is a sung-through rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Loosely based on the Life of Jesus in the New Testament, Gospels' accounts of Passion of Jesus, the Passion, the work interprets ...

– The Highlights'' (1972) * ''Those Beautiful Ballad Years'' (1989) * ''Specifics 19 – Tiny Tots'' (1993) * ''Charlie Chalk – Music from the TV Series'' (1994) * ''These Are A Few of My Favourite Hymns'' (1995) *''The Next Time (2009)'' *''Moonlight and Love Songs (2010)'' *''The Embassy Years Vol.1 (2011)'' *''The Embassy Years Vol.2 (2011)'' *''Old Sweet Songs (2013)''

Film, Radio and TV work

Music

* '' Casino Royale'' – performer "Have No Fear, James Bond is Here" (1967) * '' The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie'' – performer "Somebody's Crying" (1969) * ''

'' – series composer (1987) * "Those Beautiful Ballad Years" - BBC Radio 2 series hosted by Mike 1988-1992

Acting

* ''Don't Ask Us – We're New Here'' – series regular (1969) * ''

Spitting Image ''Spitting Image'' is a British satirical television puppet show, created by Peter Fluck, Roger Law and Martin Lambie-Nairn. First broadcast in 1984, the series was produced by 'Spitting Image Productions' for Central Independent Television ...

'' – voice 1 episode (1985)

References

External links

Bio at radiocafe

*Latest website (2019)
www.redrock.creators.co.uk

Mike Redway at discogs
* ike Redway at imdb {{DEFAULTSORT:Redway, Mike 1939 births Living people People from Hunslet English male singers English male songwriters English television composers English male voice actors Crystal (record label) artists