Richard Anthony Hewson

Richard Anthony Hewson (born 17 November 1943, Stockton-on-Tees, Teesside)^[1] is an English producer, arranger, conductor and multi-instrumentalist, who is best recognised for his studio group The RAH Band.

Career

Hewson began in the late 1960s as an arranger, and has worked with musicians such as The Beatles ("Across the Universe", "I Me Mine" and "The Long and Winding Road"), The Bee Gees (Melody), James Taylor ("Carolina in My Mind"), Herbie Hancock, Clifford T. Ward, Supertramp, Pilot (Pilot), Diana Ross, Carly Simon, Art Garfunkel, Leo Sayer, Paul McCartney (Thrillington), Mary Hopkin ("Those Were The Days"), Al Stewart, Chris de Burgh, Fleetwood Mac and Chris Rea.^[2] He also arranged strings on several Cliff Richard albums, I'm Nearly Famous (1976),^[3] Every Face Tells a Story (1977) and Green Light (1978).^[4] Hewson also worked with the British band Jigsaw, including arrangements for their hit single, "Sky High".^[5]

Apart from his own RAH Band project, he was a producer in the 1980s for Toyah Willcox, Five Star, and Shakin' Stevens. He was conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra and co-producer on Cliff Richard's 1983 live album Dressed for the Occasion (including the hit "True Love Ways").^[4] In recent years, he has written music for television shows and advertising spots.^[2] His song "Pearly" was recorded by The Pearls.

The RAH Band

Hewson founded The RAH Band – of which he was the sole member and which took its name from his initials – in 1977 – to release an instrumental called "The Crunch". The piece climbed to number 6 in the UK Singles Chart.^[6] Hewson played all the musical instruments himself. The arrangement involved the use of no synthesisers, only conventional guitar and keyboards with pedal effects. He was later featured on Top of the Pops.^[7] A number of jazz funk releases followed. The second big hit single for the RAH Band was in 1985, when the soul ballad "Clouds Across the Moon", also reached number 6 in the UK chart.^[6] Vocals were provided by his wife Liz, also known as "Dizzy' Lizzy".^[2]

In July 2007, Hewson released a remixed "Clouds Across the Moon '07", now featuring vocalist Emma Charles.^[8]

The RAH band's releases were issued under a variety of record labels, including Good Earth Records, DJM, KR Records, TMT Records and RCA.^[6]

Discography

Singles

• "Love For Hire" (1976) (as Richard Hewson Orchestra)^[9]
• "The Crunch" (1977) – UK No. 6^[10]
• "Jiggery Pokery" / "Porride" (1977)^[11]
• "Is Anybody There (Vampire Vamp)" (1978)^[12]
• "Electric Fling" (1978)^[13]
• "Tokyo Flyer" (1979)^[14]
• "Falcon" (1980) – UK No. 35^[15]
• "Slide" (1981) – UK No. 50^[16]
• "Downside Up" (1981)^[17]
• "Rock Me Down To Rio" / "Riding on a Fantasy" (1981)^[18]
• "Perfumed Garden" (1982) – UK No. 45^[19]
• "Tears & Rain" / "Hunger 4 Your Jungle Love" (1982)^[20]
• "Sam The Samba Man" (1983)^[21]
• "Messages from the Stars" (1983) – UK No. 42^[22]
• "Questions (What'cha Gonna Do?)" (1983)^[23]
• "Rising Star" / "Winter Love '84" (1984)^[13]
• "Sam The Samba Man '84" / "Dream Street" (1984)
• "Are You Satisfied? (Funka Nova)" (1984) – UK No. 70^[24]
• "Clouds Across the Moon" (1985) – UK No. 6^[25]
• "Sorry Doesn't Make it Anymore" (1985)^[26]
• "What'll Become of the Children?" (1985)^[27]
• "The Crunch '85" (1985)^[28]
• "Sweet Forbidden" (1986)^[29]
• "Across The Bay" (1987)^[30]
• "Run 4 The Sun" (1987)^[31]
• "A Woman's Life" (1987)^[32]
• "Nice Easy Money" (1988)^[33]
• "Time Keeps Tearing Us Apart" (1988)^[34]
• "Looks Like I'm in Love Again" (1993) (as Key West featuring Erik) – UK No. 46^[35]
• "Living for the Nightlife" (1996)^[36]
• "Clouds Across The Moon (Tiefschwarz Remix) (1999)
• "The Crunch-Eye in the Sky" (2005)^[37]
• "Clouds Across the Moon '07" (2007)
• "Living for the Nitelife" (2008, only available as online download) (as The Rah Band featuring Susanna)^[38]
• "Turn My Love Around" (2008)^[39]
• "No Way (To Treat Your Lover)" (2009)^[39]
• "Vapour Trails" (2010)^[40][6]
• "Nothing In This World" (2015)^[41][42]

Albums

• The Orchestrah (1974)
• Love Is (Richard Hewson Orchestra) (1976)
• The Crunch & Beyond (1978)
• The RAH Band (1981)
• Going Up (1983)
• Upper Cuts (1984)
• Mystery (1985)
• Past, Present & Future (1985)
• Something About The Music (1987)
• The Best of Rah Band' (1995)
• RAH Band remixed by Richard Hewson (2004)
• The Very Best of... (2005)
• 12 Inch Remixes (2009)^[6][43]

See also

• List of performances on Top of the Pops

References

External links

• RAH Band – official site
• Richard Hewson discography at Discogs
• RAH Band discography at Discogs