Bill Martin (musician)
| Bill Martin MBE | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | William Wylie MacPherson |
| Born |
9 November 1938 Govan, Glasgow, Scotland |
| Genres | Pop music |
| Occupation(s) | Songwriter, music publisher, impresario |
| Years active | 1960s-present |
| Website | http://www.billmartinsongwriter.com/ |
Bill Martin MBE (born William Wylie MacPherson, 9 November 1938,Govan, Glasgow, Scotland) is a Scottish songwriter, music publisher and impresario. He has been presented with three Ivor Novello Awards, including one as Songwriter of the Year.
Bill Martin was born William Wylie MacPherson to Ian and Letitia (Letty) and has an older brother, Ian. They lived in Taransay Road, Govan, near the Fairfield shipyard. Martin was educated at Govan High School, 3 years ahead of Sir Alex Ferguson and in 2011 they were both inducted into the inaugural Govan High Hall of Fame. After WW2, many of the Glasgow tenements were pulled down and the Macpherson family moved to Priesthill, a new housing scheme on the south side of Glasgow. Having tried, and failed to build a career in the shipyards, Bill completed his apprenticeship as a marine engineer. Although he'd actually written his first song at 10 years of age, it was during his apprenticeship that he heard Bobby Darin's song "Dream Lover" which convinced him that his future lay in songwriting. In 1960, Bill and his new bride, Margaret (Mags) went to South Africa for two years and on their return, he determined to make songwriting his primary focus. He spent hours in Denmark Street or "Tin Pan Alley" as it's better known and finally, in 1963, he had his first song released on record in 1963, with "Kiss Me Now" by Tommy Quickly. Unfortunately, the song was released on November 22nd, 1963, the day that President Kennedy was assassinated, and light-hearted songs were not the order of the day. In 1964 he entered into a writing partnership with Tommy Scott. As Scott & Martin he had success with such acts as the Irish trio The Bachelors, Twinkle, the Irish folk band The Dubliners, Van Morrison, and Serge Gainsbourg.
In 1965, he met Phil Coulter and the two became established as a successful songwriting team that lasted more than ten years (Martin for the lyrics, Coulter for the melody). They had records with such (mostly UK) acts as comedian and baritone Ken Dodd, American R&B artist Geno Washington, Los Bravos, Dave Dee & Co, The Troggs, Mireille Mathieu, George Harrison, Dick Emery, Tony Blackburn, Cliff Richard, Sandie Shaw, and Elvis Presley.
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