Wayne Bickerton
| Wayne Bickerton | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Arthur Ronald Bickerton |
| Born |
11 July 1941 Rhyl, Denbighshire, Wales |
| Origin | Kirkdale, Liverpool, England |
| Died | 29 November 2015 (aged 74) Hertfordshire, England |
| Occupation(s) | Songwriter, record producer, music business executive, musician |
| Labels | State Records (founder) |
| Associated acts |
Pete Best Four The Rubettes |
| Notable instruments | |
| Bass guitar | |
Wayne Bickerton (born Arthur Ronald Bickerton, 11 July 1941 – 29 November 2015) was a British musician, songwriter, record producer and music business executive. He became well known, with Tony Waddington, as writer and producer of a series of UK chart hits in the 1970s for The Rubettes, and as a leading figure in SESAC – one of the three major American performing rights organisations.
Born in Rhyl, North Wales, and named after his father, Bickerton grew up in Kirkdale, Liverpool. He first came to prominence in 1963 when, after spells with the Bobby Bell Rockers, Steve & the Syndicate, Lee Curtis & the All Stars and The Remo Four, he became bassist and singer with the Pete Best Four (later the Pete Best Combo), at the same time as childhood friend Tony Waddington became the group's guitarist. As well as sharing most of the singing, Bickerton and Waddington became songwriters for the group, which toured mainly in Germany and the US, before they left in 1966.
Bickerton then became a record producer at Deram Records, responsible for albums by Giles, Giles & Fripp (the forerunner to King Crimson) and World of Oz; he also worked with Petula Clark and Tom Jones. He later joined Polydor Records, becoming A&R chief and producing the band Mongrel. At the same time, he and Waddington continued writing songs together. One of the most successful was "Nothing But A Heartache", recorded by American girl singing group The Flirtations, which reached No. 34 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1969, No. 31 on the Canadian RPM Magazine charts, and is now regarded as a northern soul classic. It was later covered by Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes.
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