Introduction
Andrew grew up in Hinckley, Leicestershire and has always had a love of music which goes back to watching his father perform as a bass guitarist in a number of well known Midlands bands in the 1960s, 70s and 80s.
After leaving College, Andrew initially worked as a disc-jockey at hotels including DeVere, Best Western, Britannia and The Queens Moat House providing entertainment for their corporate clients which included: Cooper and Lybrand and The News Corporations Sun Newspaper. In the early 1990s the karaoke craze swept the UK and as part of the 'Karaoke Crew' they provided karaoke nights to a number of entertainment venues including the Superbowls operated by 'Northern Leisure'.
In 1993 with fellow musician Mark Walker of Eclipse Entertainment they formed a 'disco duo' called 'The Smartease', their name derived from the free and easy style. The duo were popular with audiences mainly due to their unique style of dressing up to impersonate the original artist of the songs they performed in a comedy style and singing the latest chart hits of the time. The duo soon began to perform at entertainment venues with capacity crowds including 'Turners Musical Merry-Go-Round' in Northampton.
After leaving College, Andrew initially worked as a disc-jockey at hotels including DeVere, Best Western, Britannia and The Queens Moat House providing entertainment for their corporate clients which included: Cooper and Lybrand and The News Corporations Sun Newspaper. In the early 1990s the karaoke craze swept the UK and as part of the 'Karaoke Crew' they provided karaoke nights to a number of entertainment venues including the Superbowls operated by 'Northern Leisure'.
In 1993 with fellow musician Mark Walker of Eclipse Entertainment they formed a 'disco duo' called 'The Smartease', their name derived from the free and easy style. The duo were popular with audiences mainly due to their unique style of dressing up to impersonate the original artist of the songs they performed in a comedy style and singing the latest chart hits of the time. The duo soon began to perform at entertainment venues with capacity crowds including 'Turners Musical Merry-Go-Round' in Northampton.
The Smartease
In 1994 the duo entered the Trevor George Entertainment Showcase at the Riviera International Centre in Torquay, Devon and as a result of their performance and subsequent review in 'The Stage' magazine they were contracted by the Bourne Leisure Group who were looking for to offer a summer season at one of Europe's largest holiday parks Haven Devon Cliffs in Exmouth.
This was a new experimental entertainment concept entitled 'Chaos' based on the Chris Evans TV show 'Don't Forget Your Toothbrush' with a mixture of music, stand up comedy, gameshows and party dances and with three stages in the room the audience were never quite sure what was about to happen next!.
During this time the duo supported and worked with a number of artists including; 1981 Eurovision Winners Bucks Fizz (The Fizz) and 1976 Eurovision winners The Brotherhood on Man as well as supporting, The Nolans, The Drifters, Sheila Furguson (The Three Degrees), The Barron Knights and Candlewick Green
This was a new experimental entertainment concept entitled 'Chaos' based on the Chris Evans TV show 'Don't Forget Your Toothbrush' with a mixture of music, stand up comedy, gameshows and party dances and with three stages in the room the audience were never quite sure what was about to happen next!.
During this time the duo supported and worked with a number of artists including; 1981 Eurovision Winners Bucks Fizz (The Fizz) and 1976 Eurovision winners The Brotherhood on Man as well as supporting, The Nolans, The Drifters, Sheila Furguson (The Three Degrees), The Barron Knights and Candlewick Green
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Music Promotion
In the summer of 1995 through an associate Des Dyer from the band Jigsaw, Andrew began to promote a re-recording of their 1970s hit 'Sky-high' on behalf of Pitstop Promotions. Des Dyer and Steve Fearn performed a music comedy duo 'Fingers n Fumbs' on the same local music circuit and when Des went to work on Mike Stock's (Stock, Aitken & Waterman) 'Love This Records' record label the re-working of the song was released by Newton and charted on subsequent occasions during 1995 charting on the UK's Official Singles Chart at No 78, 56 and 76.
After a couple of years performing as the Smartease and promoting records on behalf of record companies Andrew's next project was a male vocal trio, although they had no official name and the project was short lived they recorded a number of tracks including a further re-working of the Jigsaw hit 'Sky-high' and a cover of The Real Things 'You To Me Are Everything'.
As music streaming services started to become the main media preference for consuming music Andrew concentrated his efforts on becoming a Playlist Curator, Andrew has an extensive knowledge of all music genres and his playlists attracted a large numbers of followers.
Odessa Mama Records /DWP Records Australia
Andrew established a social media presents to promote his curator playlists and it was one social media post in particular that grabbed the attention of record producer David Wilks of DWP records on the opposite side of the globe in Australia. Andrew wanted to create pop music to promote through his blog and David knew he had just the right track.
In April 2021, the single 'When I'm With You' was released. An original song written by David Wilks of DWP Records / Odessa Mama Records, Australia, the label home of Tamahau and dance act The Disco Pirates, the release was in a classic 'Stock, Aitken and Waterman' (PWL) 80's pop style. The influence of PWL, Kylie, Jason etc. was huge in Australia and swept out around the world during the 1980s. 'When I'm With You' was very popular with DJ's at the 2022 Sakgra Remix reaching the Top 11 in the Digital DJ Pool Download Chart.
The follow up single 'Everyone Wins' also an original track written by David Wilks in more of a classic 80s funk jam style was released in July 2021.
Crazy Dog Records
In early 2022, Andrew started to collaborate with David 'Buzz' Buswell who was looking to establish a new independent record label. David had recently had success as the co-writer of the Heritage Chart Number One 'Fallout' by 80s band Tight Fit.
Andrew's first single released with the new Crazy Dog Records was a cover of the Bucks Fizz track 'Every Dream Has Broken' written by Andy Hill, the original song by Bucks Fizz was never released as a single. Andrew's version was produced by Dave Buswell and remixes by Sakis Gravvanis were released in September 2022.
In a break with the hi-NRG pop sound, Crazy Dog Records announced the follow up would be retro style ballad; 'I Need Your Love', a double AA side with 'If You're Right'. 'I Need Your Love’ was a totally original song written by David ‘Buzz’ Buswell. A festive video was released to accompanied the song. The second track on the double AA side release was ‘If You're Right’, a wonderful song originally recorded by Barbara Dickson in the 1980s as the follow up to the massive number one ‘I Know Him So Well’. The song had also been recorded previously by Lulu, Alan Garrity and the fabulous Cheryl Baker. Both tracks were produced and mixed by David ‘Buzz’ Buswell.
In the summer of 1995 through an associate Des Dyer from the band Jigsaw, Andrew began to promote a re-recording of their 1970s hit 'Sky-high' on behalf of Pitstop Promotions. Des Dyer and Steve Fearn performed a music comedy duo 'Fingers n Fumbs' on the same local music circuit and when Des went to work on Mike Stock's (Stock, Aitken & Waterman) 'Love This Records' record label the re-working of the song was released by Newton and charted on subsequent occasions during 1995 charting on the UK's Official Singles Chart at No 78, 56 and 76.
After a couple of years performing as the Smartease and promoting records on behalf of record companies Andrew's next project was a male vocal trio, although they had no official name and the project was short lived they recorded a number of tracks including a further re-working of the Jigsaw hit 'Sky-high' and a cover of The Real Things 'You To Me Are Everything'.
As music streaming services started to become the main media preference for consuming music Andrew concentrated his efforts on becoming a Playlist Curator, Andrew has an extensive knowledge of all music genres and his playlists attracted a large numbers of followers.
Odessa Mama Records /DWP Records Australia
Andrew established a social media presents to promote his curator playlists and it was one social media post in particular that grabbed the attention of record producer David Wilks of DWP records on the opposite side of the globe in Australia. Andrew wanted to create pop music to promote through his blog and David knew he had just the right track.
In April 2021, the single 'When I'm With You' was released. An original song written by David Wilks of DWP Records / Odessa Mama Records, Australia, the label home of Tamahau and dance act The Disco Pirates, the release was in a classic 'Stock, Aitken and Waterman' (PWL) 80's pop style. The influence of PWL, Kylie, Jason etc. was huge in Australia and swept out around the world during the 1980s. 'When I'm With You' was very popular with DJ's at the 2022 Sakgra Remix reaching the Top 11 in the Digital DJ Pool Download Chart.
The follow up single 'Everyone Wins' also an original track written by David Wilks in more of a classic 80s funk jam style was released in July 2021.
Crazy Dog Records
In early 2022, Andrew started to collaborate with David 'Buzz' Buswell who was looking to establish a new independent record label. David had recently had success as the co-writer of the Heritage Chart Number One 'Fallout' by 80s band Tight Fit.
Andrew's first single released with the new Crazy Dog Records was a cover of the Bucks Fizz track 'Every Dream Has Broken' written by Andy Hill, the original song by Bucks Fizz was never released as a single. Andrew's version was produced by Dave Buswell and remixes by Sakis Gravvanis were released in September 2022.
In a break with the hi-NRG pop sound, Crazy Dog Records announced the follow up would be retro style ballad; 'I Need Your Love', a double AA side with 'If You're Right'. 'I Need Your Love’ was a totally original song written by David ‘Buzz’ Buswell. A festive video was released to accompanied the song. The second track on the double AA side release was ‘If You're Right’, a wonderful song originally recorded by Barbara Dickson in the 1980s as the follow up to the massive number one ‘I Know Him So Well’. The song had also been recorded previously by Lulu, Alan Garrity and the fabulous Cheryl Baker. Both tracks were produced and mixed by David ‘Buzz’ Buswell.
Andrew embarked on a huge marketing campaign across the UK to promote the single and appeared as a guest on a number of radio and online tv channels. In an unusual step, it was also announced there would be a further new double AA single 'Love Fire' and 'Vital Signs' released on 10th March 2023.
The high energy pop belter ‘Love Fire’ was originally released by Jigsaw in 1976, written by Des Dyer and Clive Scott as the follow up to the massive UK and Billboard Top 10 hit ‘Skyhigh’ it reached the Billboard Top 30 in the U.S.
Scott and Dyer have written and had their songs recorded by; Boyzone, Nicki French, Bad Boys Inc. and Saint Etienne. Des also working with legendary songwriter and producer Mike Stock and Matt Aitken (Stock, Aitken and Waterman) who had massive hits with Robson and Jerome as well as previously competing to represent the United Kingdom at Eurovision.
‘Love Fire’ has long been a favourite of Andrew’s who is a massive fan of Jigsaw, this reworking of the track has been arranged and produced by music supremo Dave ‘Buzz’ Buswell.
The second track is ‘Vital Signs’, co-written by international legendary songwriter Gordan Pogoda who is responsible for some of the biggest songs from some of the very best movies and TV series including Hannah Montana, CSI: Miami, Will & Grace, Sex and the City, ER, Bridesmaids and Little Miss Sunshine as well writing songs for UK artists Steps, Sonia, Tight Fit and Nicki French.
Gordon heard Andrew’s music and knew he had just the right track and Andrew was completely honoured to be gifted such an amazing pop masterpiece.
The music is written and produced by Sakis Gravvanis (Sakgra) who re-mixed Andrew’s previous singles ‘`When I’m With You’ and ‘Every Dream Has Broken’.
Andrew is currently recording his debut album 'Broken Dreams' which is expected to be released in June 2023, the release to coincide with a number of appearances at festivals and a further single also to be taken from the album.
The high energy pop belter ‘Love Fire’ was originally released by Jigsaw in 1976, written by Des Dyer and Clive Scott as the follow up to the massive UK and Billboard Top 10 hit ‘Skyhigh’ it reached the Billboard Top 30 in the U.S.
Scott and Dyer have written and had their songs recorded by; Boyzone, Nicki French, Bad Boys Inc. and Saint Etienne. Des also working with legendary songwriter and producer Mike Stock and Matt Aitken (Stock, Aitken and Waterman) who had massive hits with Robson and Jerome as well as previously competing to represent the United Kingdom at Eurovision.
‘Love Fire’ has long been a favourite of Andrew’s who is a massive fan of Jigsaw, this reworking of the track has been arranged and produced by music supremo Dave ‘Buzz’ Buswell.
The second track is ‘Vital Signs’, co-written by international legendary songwriter Gordan Pogoda who is responsible for some of the biggest songs from some of the very best movies and TV series including Hannah Montana, CSI: Miami, Will & Grace, Sex and the City, ER, Bridesmaids and Little Miss Sunshine as well writing songs for UK artists Steps, Sonia, Tight Fit and Nicki French.
Gordon heard Andrew’s music and knew he had just the right track and Andrew was completely honoured to be gifted such an amazing pop masterpiece.
The music is written and produced by Sakis Gravvanis (Sakgra) who re-mixed Andrew’s previous singles ‘`When I’m With You’ and ‘Every Dream Has Broken’.
Andrew is currently recording his debut album 'Broken Dreams' which is expected to be released in June 2023, the release to coincide with a number of appearances at festivals and a further single also to be taken from the album.
