Victor Emerson (1949 – 13 October 2018) was an English musician, songwriter and keyboardist. He was a founder member of the bands Mandalaband and

Sad Café Sad Café are an English rock music, rock band formed in Manchester in 1976, who achieved their peak of popularity in the late 1970s and early 1980s. They are best known for the UK top 40 singles "Every Day Hurts", "Strange Little Girl", "My Oh ...

. He was co-writer of the latter's 1979 No. 3 UK

hit single A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single, or simply hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record'' ...

" Every Day Hurts" and the 1980 No. 14 hit " My Oh My". He was also a member of the rock band

10cc 10cc are an English rock music, rock band formed in Stockport, southeast of Manchester, in 1972. The group initially consisted of four musicians, Graham Gouldman, Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme, who had written and recorded togethe ...

from 1981 to 1983.

Early life and career

Emerson was born in

Prestwich Prestwich ( ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, Greater Manchester, England, north of Manchester, north of Salford and south of Bury. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, Prestwich was the seat of the ...

, which at the time was in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

but is now in the

Metropolitan Borough of Bury The Metropolitan Borough of Bury is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester in England. It is north of Manchester, to the east of Bolton and west of Rochdale. The borough is centred around the town of Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury but also ...

, in

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

. He was the son of tailor Ben Emerson, and wife Myra. At age four, he had his first piano lessons and attended the

Bury Grammar School Bury Grammar School is a 3–18 private day school for boys in Bury, Greater Manchester, England, that has existed since c.1570. It is now part of a group of schools for preschool, junior, senior and sixth form studies. Since 2017, when Bu ...

. In the early 1960s, he bought a

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created ...

for use at home, then became a cinema organist in

Stockport Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt, Rivers Goyt and River Tame, Greater Manchester, Tame merge to create the River Mersey he ...

after he left school. In the 1960s, Emerson worked on the cabaret circuit, playing keyboards, then became a

session musician A session musician (also known as studio musician or backing musician) is a musician hired to perform in a recording session or a live performance. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a reco ...

at Camel Studios, where he met drummer Tony Cresswell, guitarist Ashley Mulford and bass player John Stimpson, all later to become members of Sad Café. The

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

at the studios, David Rohl, was working on an album called ''Mandalaband'' and asked Emerson to play keyboards on the album. This was when Mandalaband was formed, with Emerson becoming a member. After the split of Mandalaband in 1976, Emerson moved into a flat with John Stimpson in Manchester, and they looked to form a new band. Needing a singer, they met

Paul Young Paul Antony Young (born 17 January 1956) is an English musician, singer and songwriter. Formerly the frontman of the short-lived bands Kat Kool & the Kool Cats, Streetband and Q-Tips, he became a teen idol with his solo success in the 1980s. H ...

of the band Gyro, and this was when

was formed. The band had a No. 3 hit single in the UK with " Every Day Hurts", which was written by Emerson, Stimpson and Young, and produced by

Eric Stewart Eric Michael Stewart (born 20 January 1945) is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer, best known as a founding member of the rock groups the Mindbenders with whom he played from 1963 to 1968, and likewise of ...

. In 1981, Emerson became a member of

. He toured with the band and played on the albums ''

Ten Out of 10 ''Ten Out of 10'' is the eighth studio album by 10cc. It was released in two different versions, with the original edition coming in November 1981 and the US version coming in June 1982 respectively. Overview After two albums from 10cc as a si ...

'' and '' Windows in the Jungle'', as well as on Stewart's second solo album, '' Frooty Rooties''. In 1985, a year after he left Sad Café, Emerson moved to Paris, France. While living there, he worked on various albums of local artists such as on

Alain Bashung Alain Bashung (born Alain Claude Baschung, ; 1 December 1947 – 14 March 2009) was a French singer, songwriter and actor. Credited with reviving the French chanson in "a time of French musical turmoil", he is often regarded as the most importan ...

's '' Passé le Rio Grande'' and ''

Novice A novice is a person who has entered a religious order and is under probation, before taking vows. A ''novice'' can also refer to a person (or animal e.g. racehorse) who is entering a profession with no prior experience. Religion Buddhism ...

'',

Zazie Isabelle Marie Anne de Truchis de Varennes (born 18 April 1964), better known by her stage name Zazie, is a French pop singer and songwriter. Her greatest hits include " Je suis un homme", " À ma place" and "Speed". She co-produces all her alb ...

's ''

Zen Zen (; from Chinese: ''Chán''; in Korean: ''Sŏn'', and Vietnamese: ''Thiền'') is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty by blending Indian Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Yogacara and Madhyamaka phil ...

'' and

Emma Shapplin Emma Shapplin is a French soprano. Biography Emma Shapplin was born Crystêle Madeleine Joliton Interview video with Emma Shapplin for the Russian TV channel TVC. on 19 May 1974, in the Paris suburb of Savigny-le-Temple) Vocal career When she ...

's ''

Carmine Meo ''Carmine Meo'' is the debut album by French soprano Emma Shapplin, released in 7 December 1997. The album brought Shapplin worldwide attention, selling over two million copies and being certified multi-platinum. Track listing Bonus track ...

''. After

's death in 2000, Emerson contributed on several tracks for the 2011 posthumous Paul Young album, ''Chronicles''.

Death

Emerson died in Paris aged 69 on 13 October 2018, of

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Emerson, Vic 1949 births 2018 deaths 20th-century English male musicians British soft rock musicians Deaths from pancreatic cancer in France English emigrants to France English male songwriters English rock keyboardists English session musicians Musicians from Lancashire People from Prestwich RCA Records artists 10cc members