Norrie Paramor

Norrie Paramor (15 May 1914 - 9 September 1979) is best known as a record producer, but was also a composer, arranger, and orchestral conductor. Although the term "producer" was not in frequent circulation at the time Paramor started producing records (the usual term being "Artiste and Repertoire Manager" or "A&R Man"), he effectively commenced this role in 1952 when he became "Recording Director" for EMI's Columbia Records. Paramor produced hit singles for Cliff Richard, The Shadows, and Frank Ifield among others, scoring 26 number ones, according to the Guinness Book Of British Hit Singles. Until George Martin produced "Candle In The Wind 97" for Elton John, Paramor and Martin jointly held the record for having produced the most number one hit singles, despite Paramor's death 18 years earlier. Paramor recorded one of the biggest selling albums from Capitol Records' "Capitol of the World" import series: In London in Love, which featured the floating voice of the soprano Patricia Clark, who was used in many subsequent selling albums. This became his trademark orchestral signature sound. Paramor also composed music for several films, including Serious Charge, The Young Ones (film), Expresso Bongo and The Frightened City. In 1968, he was the Musical Director for the Eurovision Song Contest, staged at the Royal Albert Hall, the first to be broadcast in colour. He also conducted the UK entry, Congratulations, performed by Cliff Richard. His style is seen by some as being old-fashioned; however, the raw rock'n'roll of early Cliff Richard or Shadows numbers belies this myth, and Paramor was as at home with an economic production featuring three guitars and a small drum kit as he was with a large orchestra. Paramor died of cancer on 9 September 1979. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.