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Learn more about my songs, stories and albums, as well as a little about me. My songs are available both in CD and MP3 downloadable format from:-

http://www.charliehorsepublishing.co.uk

You can hear more of my songs here in association with Sapphire Music UK

Biographical notes of Tony Brown,
Songwriter and children’s storywriter

Tony was born in Sydenham, south-east London in 1949 and after spending his early years in Ladywell a couple of miles away from where he was born his family moved to Dartford in 1959 and he represented his school in the football team at left back.

Tony (pictured right) played left-back for the Downs School in Dartford c1961 where they went undefeated throughout the season.

He formed a pop group with his friends around 1963 calling themselves ‘The Accelerators’. Andy Maxted was lead singer, Richard (Twang) Lang was on bass guitar, Dick Bullock played guitar and Tony played the drums. He bought his first drum kit from Alan Billington’s Music Shop in Welling. They later had the use of a coal shed. Literally! ….

"We used to practice at my mates house", Tony recalls “and his family lived in a mock Tudor detached house at Green Street Green, Dartford and although we were relegated to a small brick out-building – 6 x 6 square with five of us in – with my drum kit we had wonderful times." Their manager had arranged to enter them into the Pop Music competition at the Hammersmith Palais but the day before, the manager’s wife suffered injuries in a motorcycle accident and ‘The Accelerators’ were cancelled out. Nothing else materialised for them and they continued to just “bash around.” Another music place at Dartford was ‘Jennings’. Not so much music shop, more an electronics shop – with amplifiers and vox guitars. To give it its correct name it was Jennings Musical Industries [see: http://www.coololdstuff.com/instruments1.html]

The Pirate radio stations – later called Free radio stations:

Originally brought up on Radio Luxembourg, Radio Caroline was Tony’s favourite station and as he recalls, “we listened - seemingly forever – to the pirates – and brilliant stuff it was too. Roger Day (now (in 2008) with Southern Counties Radio and Radio Kent), Dave Cash, Johnny Walker, Keith Skues, Simon Dee and many more.

When the government of the day did its worst and made them illegal, along with numerous storms in the North Sea it was only a few years later that they succumbed to the inevitable. Then he tuned into Radio Veronica (a Dutch Free Radio station that had been around for years) and then a few years later came along R.N.I. Radio Northsea (Nordsea to be precise) International.

[see: http://www.arar93.dsl.pipex.com/mds975/Content/pirateradio.html]

Tony says: "Oh boy! Was I fortunate to have lived through the 60’s – and a teenager at that! (mind you, we had no money to speak of)."

He left Erith Technical College in 1965 and got a job as a solicitor’s clerk in London, just off Oxford Street.

After a year or so he left them and worked in the Copyright Claims Department at the Performing Rights Society, dealing with the various television series.

"Lunch times were my favourite times," recalls Tony, "when I would walk down to Tottenham Court Road through to Shaftesbury Avenue and Denmark Street. Now there was a street – the music instrument heart of U.K. and also the music publishing heart of the UK."

If you had a few hours to spare you would be guaranteed to see famous pop and rock stars by the dozen – themselves often on the scrounge to borrow instruments and amplification. He says he regularly saw group members of The Kinks, The Who, Dave Clark 5, The Rolling Stones – and probably many more but without recognising them at the time.

Many of the record companies had their offices in central London and he often visited Polydor Records, in his lunch hour, especially as one of his long-time and all-time heroes Raymond Froggatt launched his first album with them – The Voice and Writing of Raymond Froggatt.

[see: http://www.raymond-froggatt.com/]

"Nice times."

Deke Arlon, The Offbeats And Their Recordings With Joe Meek

During the late 1970’s and 1980’s I worked with Brian Tyrrell who had the Kent Road Studios and among artists recorded there was Philip Goodhand-Tait [see: http://www.phillipgoodhand-tait.com/]

Philip G-T later started the UK’s first video software distribution company VCL which was bought out by Richard Branson’s Virgin Video. Brian had played in the early 1960’s Beat group, The Offbeats who were fronted by Deke Arlon [see: http://www.dekearlon.com/ ] (Deke later became managing-director of April Music at age 23, then M.D. of Yorkshire Television. He also co-produced The Learning Tree children’s TV series. He managed Sheena Easton and Elaine Page and produced and directed the first two years of the Brit Awards – amongst a million and one other things.)

The Offbeats were recording with Joe Meek, one of the first independent record producers in his now famous premises at 304 Holloway Road. Brian recalls the "singing booth" in a converted bathroom – with the bath still in it! Joe Meek was without doubt a great one for pioneering new sounds and new sound production methods. Two of the Offbeats’ records can be found on the Joe Meek compilation double album “The Joe Meek Story – The Pye Years” re-issued in UK in 1991on CD, When lead singer Ricky Wayne left the Offbeats he was replaced by Deke Arlon

Early Baptism In The Book Industry

Tony cut his teeth in the 'book industry' when he volunteered to co-write the annual handbooks for his local football club, learning the original way of cutting and pasting using real scissors and glue.

The pinnacle of all the hard work involved in 15 years of researching his football club’s 100-and-more-years history, was the creation of a collection of facts, photographs and memorabilia which was used in the Club’s History which came to fruition in 1995.

Published in 1995 by the Dartford Football Club (1992) Ltd, the history spanned from pre-1888 up to the club’s demise in 1992. It contained over 400 pages with photographs and illustrations.

Since that time Tony has immersed himself in children’s book writing and song writing – some songs that embellish the storytelling and some songs aimed at the New Country / M.O.R. easy listening / pop crossover market.

Charlie the Hobby Horse Hero series and Fred the Heavy Horse Hero series were both conceived by Tony around 2003. Other projects have been started and these stories for children always involve animals and birds and life on an old fashioned Suffolk farm at the end of the 1950’s.

Favourite Singers and Groups:

Dire Straits and Mark Knopfler, Raymond Froggatt, Don Williams, Carlene Carter, Alison Krauss, Vince Gill, Alan Jackson, Enya, Ashley Hutchings, Brad Paisley, Josh Groban, Pretty Things, Rolling Stones, Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Titch, Gerry & the Pacemakers, The Byrds, Dave Clark 5, Idle Race, Jeff Lynne, ELO, Justin Hayward and The Yardbirds

Favourite guitarists, Hartley (H) Cain, [see: http://www.hartley-cain.com/ ] Albert Lee, Justin Hayward, Allan Taylor (Guitarist, Singer and Songwriter)

Favourite record producers: Tony Clarke, Tony Visconti, (both of Moody Blues and Justin Hayward fame), my name-sake Tony Brown (U.S.A. Vince Gill’s producer)

Greatest influences: All of the above but Raymond Froggatt as a singer/songwriter has to be my tops.

Personal Thanks From Tony Brown

Thanks to: Tony Frost. Thanks mate for all the hard work, effort and determination you have put in to my songs and also the children’s story audiobooks that you are narrating. You are putting so much effort and skill into the music software you’re working with and the ever increasing knowledge of computer. He is so creative and produces very thought provoking work.

Thanks to: Tony Dunt of Dynamic Web Concepts for building the websites and keeping the websites running and giving lots of encouragement and important advice.

Thanks to: Chris of Verbo Computers [see: http://www.verbo.co.uk/] for keeping our computers going through thick and thin.

Thanks to: Kelly Dorman (USA) for her outstanding artwork that she supplies for my CD covers, publicity, and the forthcoming games board design.
[see: http://www.charliehorsepublishing.co.uk/illustrators/kellydorman/index.php]

Thanks to: Brian Tyrrell for his friendship which spans over 35 years. His guidance in studio engineering and recording has been great and he has kept alive the possibility of us 'doing something special' with our music and his technical ability.

Thanks to: Janet Capon-Brown (my partner) for helping so much when I give her a new story to proof read! She sticks at it and generally makes me do at least 12 re-writes on every story. Love you lots.

Thanks to: Hugh Marley for his invaluable assistance in filming and editing the pop/dance Video "Blow Away, Blow Away" and supplying the Special lighting and Sony Z1 camera

Thanks to: Julia Young for choreographing the pop/dance "Blow Away, Blow Away" with children from her Academy of Performing Art [Showtime Fancy Dress Incorporating Julia Young's School of Dance]

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My music has been my life, inspiration and often my salvation.

I began writing and playing music at the age of eleven. This was mainly Country and Western music enjoying my peers, Johnny Cash, Jim Reeves and Don Williams.

I had the great honour of playing in the first Edinburgh Country Music Festival way back in 1980, along with Boxcar Willie and Skeeter Davis to name but a few.

My repertoire is endless ranging from Country to Classical encompassing Middle of the Road, R&B, Rock, New Age, World Music, Jazz and Soul. My mentors at this time in my life are the great Terry Callier, Josh Groban, Marti Pellow, Michael Bublé and James Asher.

I record my own backing tracks enjoying this side of the business together with the entertaining.

Since becoming a Christian my joy includes writing and singing Christian music as did the great Elvis Presley, "How Great Thou Art" being a firm favourite of mine.

In April 2005, I had the supreme fortune of winning first prize in The International Song Of Peace competition in Tipperary with an up-tempo gospel song that I wrote called Save Us Now and am hoping to return to Ireland again soon.

In March 2006, I had the great thrill of performing at a school for the blind in St. Augustine, Florida and intend to do more work in the States.

Just recently, my involvement with Tony Brown and his exciting The Adventures of Charlie the Hobby Horse Hero, and The Adventures of Fred the Heavy Horse Hero, children’s audio book project, has not only been something very different, but has also broadened my musical horizons.

I have been writing songs over the past 20 (?) years or so and here is my discography

Save Us Now - This song won Tony the coveted Tipperary Song of Peace Contest in 2005

 Critique Report (PDF) [right-click save us to download]

A Brother’s Tribute

All out of Love

Break Down your Wall

Can You Hear me Out There

Come on You Royals

Don’t Worry About It

Everlasting Lord

Glide

Halls of Dreams

Head in the Clouds

I know I’ll never feel this way again

It’s Christmas

O Lord Jesus, take me in

One Sweet angel

Rich Bitch

Somebody to Love

Sweet Feeling

What is love

You’ve done it again

Can you spare a dime?

My Instruments include:-

CASIO WK3500 Electric Keyboard

YAMAHA Pacific – acoustic guitar

OVATION Acoustic Guitar

Other Musical Equipment include:-

ROLAND XV5080 128 Voice Synthesizer Module with SRX Expansion Boards

BOSS Dr. Rhythm DR-660 Drum machine

STAGG Gold Diaphragm Condenser microphone (modelled on A.K.G.)

My Recording Equipment includes:-

CARILLON AC-1 Music computer

TASCAM FW 1884 8 CHANNEL MIXER DESK

ROLAND MC-50 Micro Composer

ADOBE - Audition music software

SONY Sound Forge audio V7 music software

Speaker Systems:

CELESTION 7 - passive

ALTEC LANCING 2.1 system

Creative Inspire T6060 5.1 system

Speech Recognition System Software:

Microsoft Narrator – when using the Carillon Music Computer

Jaws – when using Windows XP

T.F. March 2007