Born: March 13th, 1928, Dukinfield, England (United Kingdom)
Died: October 1st, 2007, Saint Peter Port, Guernsey (United Kingdom)
Nationality: British
In due course, the short impression below will be replaced with a more extensive career overview
BIOGRAPHY
Ronnie Hazlehurst did not finish secondary school and worked in a cotton factory, while earning some extra money by playing the trumpet in a jazz combo. Later, he gave up his factory job and became a freelance musician. In 1961, he was appointed staff arranger at the BBC. In 1968, he took over from Harry Rabinowitz as musical director of BBC’s Light Entertainment department. He composed and arranged the music to countless television programmes, including Are You Being Served?, Blankety Blank, Yes, Minister, and The Last Of The Summer Wine.
EUROVISION SONG CONTEST
No other British conductor took part in the Eurovision Song Contest more often than Ronnie Hazlehurst. He was musical director of three editions of the festival which were held in the UK (1974, 1977, 1982). In 1977, he conducted the entries of the UK (famously wearing a bowler hat and using a rolled-up umbrella instead of a baton) and West Germany. After that, Hazlehurst returned to the contest as the conductor of the United Kingdom entry on six more occasions (1982, 1987 to 1989, 1991, 1992). Four of Hazlehurst’s seven participations resulted in a second place on the scoreboard for the British entry.
It should be pointed out, though, that the 1989 entry, 'Why Do I Always Get It Wrong', was performed without live orchestral accompaniment; why Hazlehurst stood up in front of the orchestra in spite of that, remains a mystery.
EUROVISION INVOLVEMENT YEAR BY YEAR
Musical director – no entries conducted
1977 London (1)
Country – West Germany
Song title – "Telegram"
Rendition – Silver Convention (Ronda Heath / Penny McLean / Ramona Wolf)
Lyrics – Michael Kunze
Composition – Sylvester Levay
Studio arrangement – Sylvester Levay
Live orchestration – Sylvester Levay
Conductor – Ronnie Hazlehurst (MD)
Score – 8th place (55 votes)
1977 London (2)
Country – United Kingdom
Song title – "Rock Bottom"
Rendition – Mike Moran & Lynsey de Paul
Lyrics – Mike Moran / Lynsey de Paul
Composition – Mike Moran / Lynsey de Paul
Studio arrangement – Mike Moran / Lynsey de Paul
Live orchestration – Mike Moran
Conductor – Ronnie Hazlehurst (MD)
Score – 2nd place (121 votes)
Country – United Kingdom
Song title – "One Step Further"
Rendition – Bardo (Stephen Fischer & Sally Ann Triplett)
Lyrics – Simon Jefferis
Composition – Simon Jefferis
Studio arrangement – Andy Hill
Live orchestration – Nick Ingman
Conductor – Ronnie Hazlehurst (MD)
Score – 7th place (76 votes)
Country – United Kingdom
Song title – "Only The Light"
Rendition – Rikki (Richard Peebles)
Lyrics – Richard Peebles
Composition – Richard Peebles
Studio arrangement – Richard Peebles / Robin Rankin
Live orchestration – Richard Peebles / Robin Rankin
Conductor – Ronnie Hazlehurst
Score – 13th place (47 votes)
Country – United Kingdom
Song title – "Go"
Rendition – Scott Fitzgerald
Lyrics – Julie Forsyth
Composition – Julie Forsyth
Studio arrangement – Julie Forsyth / Martin Pursey
Live orchestration – Graham de Wilde
Conductor – Ronnie Hazlehurst
Score – 2nd place (136 votes)
Country – United Kingdom -
Song title – "Why Do I Always Get It Wrong?"
Rendition – Live Report (Ray Caruana / Maggie Jay / Brian Hodgson / John Beeby / Mike Bell / Richard Marcangelo)
Lyrics – John Beeby / Brian Hodgson
Composition – John Beeby / Brian Hodgson
Studio arrangement – John Beeby / Brian Hodgson
Live orchestration – none
"Conductor" – Ronnie Hazlehurst
Score – 2nd place (130 votes)
Country – United Kingdom
Song title – "A Message To Your Heart"
Rendition – Samantha Janus
Lyrics – Paul Curtis
Composition – Paul Curtis
Studio arrangement – Stewart Mackintosh
Live orchestration – Stewart Mackintosh
Conductor – Ronnie Hazlehurst
Score – 10th place (47 votes)
Country – United Kingdom
Song title – "One Step Out Of Time"
Rendition – Michael Ball
Lyrics – Paul Davies / Tony Ryan / Victor Stratton
Composition – Paul Davies / Tony Ryan / Victor Stratton
Studio arrangement – Mike Smith
Live orchestration – David Arch
Conductor – Ronnie Hazlehurst
Score – 2nd place (137 votes)
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