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Mike Moran
Mike Moran
Birth name	Michael Moran
Born	4 March 1948 (age 76); Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, England
Genres	Pop; rock; classical;
Occupations	Musician; songwriter; composer; record producer;
Instrument	Keyboards
Years active	1960s–present
Labels	Music for Pleasure; Power Exchange Records & Tapes; Polydor; Mercury; Themes International Music;

Michael Moran (born 4 March 1948) is an English musician, songwriter, composer and record producer.

Biography

Moran studied at the Royal College of Music in London prior to becoming a session musician and a composer and arranger.^[1] His work in the latter field includes scoring music for such HandMade Films productions as Time Bandits (1981), The Missionary (1982) and Water (1985). His other film scores included Bloodbath at the House of Death (1984), The Turnaround (1995), A Fox's Tale (2008), Blessed (2008) and A Thousand Kisses Deep (2011), as well as arranging the score to Death Wish 3 (1985), and his TV work includes providing music for Strangers (1978), Harry's Game (1982), Taggart (1985), The Bombmaker (2001), and Sherlock: Case of Evil (2002). He also played with the Ian Gillan Band.^[2]

"Rock Bottom", which he wrote in partnership with Lynsey de Paul, was the UK entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1977, and put him in the spotlight for the first time. Although leading early on in the voting, the song eventually came second in the contest. Nevertheless, it went on to become a Top 20 hit in many European countries including France, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, where it reached the top of their singles chart. It was more successful in Continental Europe than in the United Kingdom and was also covered by many local artists in a number of different languages.^[3]

De Paul and Moran continued there successful songwriting partnership, notably writing "Let Your Body Go Downtown", a UK Top 40 hit for the Martyn Ford Orchestra,^[4] and the follow-up single "Going to a Disco", as well as the songs "Without You" and "Now and Then", which appeared on the de Paul albums Tigers and Fireflies (1979) and Just a Little Time (1994) respectively.^[5]^[6]

For many years. Moran was the musical director for the UK ITV children's music series Get It Together, performing each week, accompanying the various studio guests and playing the theme music. He had another attempt at writing a UK Eurovision entry in 1990, when he wrote "That Old Feeling Again" for Stephen Lee Garden, which placed fifth out of the eight songs in the UK song selection competition.

Other songs co-written by Moran are "Snot Rap" (recorded by Kenny Everett), as well as "No Mean City" (the theme to the crime drama Taggart, sung by Maggie Bell), "It's Alright" (the theme to the crime drama New Tricks, sung by Dennis Waterman) and the music for the UK game series Chain Letters, Lucky Ladders, The Krypton Factor.

Moran has worked with Ozzy Osbourne, Nicko McBrain, George Harrison, and various members of Queen. He was co-producer, arranger, keyboard player, and co-author of all the tracks on the album Barcelona, the classical crossover collaboration of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury and opera singer Montserrat Caballé, released in 1988. He produced The Queen Album (1988), Piaf (1994) and Essential Musicals (2006) for Elaine Paige.^[5]^[6]

More recently, Moran appeared in Dragons' Den (series 7, episode 3) as the musical director of a Dusty Springfield musical, and also produced the Tommy Fleming album The West's Awake (2014).

Discography

As sideman

With Norma Tanega

I Don't Think It Will Hurt If You Smile (RCA, 1971)

With Oliver Nelson

Oliver Edward Nelson in London with Oily Rags (Flying Dutchman, 1974)

With Chris Rea

One Fine Day (Rhino Entertainment, 2019)

References

^ "Michael Moran". Rcm.ac.uk.
^ "Mike MORAN - composer, arranger, songwriter, record producer". Smatalent.com. 26 August 2015.
^ "Cover versions of Rock Bottom by Lynsey De Paul & Mike Moran". Secondhandsongs.com. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 208. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
^ ^a ^b "Mike Moran". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
^ ^a ^b "Mike Moran Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More". AllMusic.

External links

Michael Moran at AllMusic
Michael Moran at IMDb

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Brotherhood of Man with "Save Your Kisses for Me"	UK in the Eurovision Song Contest 1977 (with Lynsey de Paul)	Succeeded by Co-Co with "The Bad Old Days"