Peter Van Hooke (born 6 April 1950) is an English rock drummer and producer with over 350 credits to his name. He was the drummer for the English band Mike + The Mechanics (from 1985 to 1995) and also drummed for

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan "Van" Morrison (born 31 August 1945) is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician whose recording career started in the 1960s. Morrison's albums have performed well in the UK and Ireland, with more than 40 reaching the UK ...

's band, Headstone, and Ezio. During the 1980s, he co-produced (along with

Rod Argent Rodney Terence Argent (born 14 June 1945) is an English musician. In a career spanning more than 50 years, Argent came to prominence in the mid-1960s as the keyboardist, founder and leader of the rock band the Zombies, and went on to form the ba ...

) many of Tanita Tikaram's hits.

Education and early life

Van Hooke grew up in

Stanmore Stanmore is part of the London Borough of Harrow in Greater London. It is centred northwest of Charing Cross, lies on the outskirts of the London urban area and includes Stanmore Hill, one of the List of highest points in London, highest point ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

, England and attended Mill Hill School. His schoolmate Chaz Jankel (later of the Blockheads) lived close by, and the two formed The Call of The Wild. This band became the Ric Parnell Independence, featuring the son of bandleader Jack Parnell as vocalist.

Recording career

Van Hooke played drums on Van Morrison's albums from 1978's ''

Wavelength In physics and mathematics, wavelength or spatial period of a wave or periodic function is the distance over which the wave's shape repeats. In other words, it is the distance between consecutive corresponding points of the same ''phase (waves ...

'', '' Into the Music'' (1979), ''

Common One ''Common One'' is the twelfth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in 1980. The album was recorded over a nine-day period at Super Bear Studios, near Nice, on the French Riviera. Its title is in the lyrics of t ...

'' (1980), '' Beautiful Vision'' (1982), '' Inarticulate Speech of the Heart'' (1983), the live album, '' Live at the Grand Opera House Belfast'' recorded in 1983 and released in 1984, and '' The Philosopher's Stone'' (1998). For some years, he also was the drummer in Morrison's touring band which sometimes included two simultaneous drummers. He can also be heard on

Louis Clark Louis Clark (27 February 1947 – 13 February 2021) was an English music arranger and keyboard player. He trained at Leeds College of Music. He is best known for his work with Electric Light Orchestra and ''Hooked on Classics''. Clark started o ...

's album ''(per-spek-tiv) n.'' (1979) and Chris de Burgh's albums '' Into the Light'' (1986) and '' Flying Colours'' (1988). He was also in demand as a session drummer in the 70s and 80s, and was one of the first UK drummers to own a set of Syndrums, initially coming to prominence on the Marshall Hain hit "Dancing in the City". He joined

Stackridge Stackridge were a British progressive rock/folk rock group which had their greatest success in the early 1970s. History Classic period Stackridge Lemon were formed from the remains of a previous band, Grytpype Thynne, by Andy Davis and James ...

in time to play on their 1976 album '' Mr. Mick'', though the band broke up not long after.

Live from Abbey Road. (Creating and co-producing the television series.)

Live from Abbey Road'' was aired on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

between 2006 and 2009 in the United Kingdom. Since season 2 the series has been licensed for broadcast in 27 countries around the world. The idea was to capture the sound created during the production of a record, and to film the process without an audience, typical of the atmosphere in a recording studio.

Music Productions

He co-produced his former Mike + the Mechanics bandmate

Paul Carrack Paul Melvyn Carrack (born 22 April 1951) is an English singer, musician, songwriter and composer who has recorded as both a solo artist and as a member of several popular bands. The BBC dubbed Carrack "The Man with the Golden Voice", while '' ...

's album ''A Different Hat'' (2010), on which Carrack performed with 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 ...

. He also co-produced with Rod Argent Soraya's debut album '' On Nights Like This'' (Titled in Spanish: "En Esta Noche") in 1995 and her second album '' Wall Of Smiles'' (Titled in Spanish: "Torre De Marfil") in 1997.

Personal life

Van Hooke is married and has three sons.

Collaborations

With Joshua Kadison * '' Painted Desert Serenade'' (Capitol Records, 1993) With

Sally Oldfield Sally Patricia Oldfield (born 3 August 1947) is an English singer-songwriter. She is the sister of composers Mike and Terry Oldfield. Early life Born in Dublin, Ireland, Oldfield was raised in the Roman Catholic faith of her mother, Maureen ...

* ''Strange Day in Berlin'' (Bronze, 1983) With Jennifer Rush * '' Wings of Desire'' (Columbia Records, 1989)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Van Hooke, Peter 1950 births Living people People from Stanmore English rock drummers British male drummers English record producers Van Morrison English session musicians English people of Dutch descent Mike + The Mechanics members Stackridge members