Alan Parker

b. 1944, Matlock, Derbyshire, England. At one time a member of Blue Mink, Alan Parker decided early in his career that more fruitful rewards lay outside of the celebrity pop star circuit. As a session guitarist in the 60s, Parker played on material by Cat Stevens, Joe Cocker, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Sonny And Cher, the Dave Clark Five and the Walker Brothers (including ‘The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore’) among many others. In 1969 he formed Blue Mink with fellow ‘session elite’ singers Roger Cook and Madeline Bell. They had their most notable success with ‘Melting Pot’, but the group soon broke up as the individual members returned to lucrative playing and writing projects. In the 70s Parker was one of the studio musicians supplying the Bay City Rollers with their chart fodder, and he was also a member of CCS, whose version of Led Zeppelin’s ‘Whole Lotta Love’ became the theme tune to Top Of The Pops. He also scored a Top 5 hit in 1972 as a member of the Congregation, with ‘Softly Whispering I Love You’. Together with former Blue Mink colleague Herbie Flowers he worked on the sessions for David Bowie’s Diamond Dogs in 1974. However, by now Parker was also spending much of his time working on television theme music, including that for Take My Wife and Angels, as well as commercials, notably the famed ‘Beanz Meanz Heinz’ jingle. He also wrote over 40 albums worth of ‘library music’ for television. In the early 80s he began writing music for films, including Jaws 3-D. In the mid-90s he returned to television work, composing the theme music to BBC television show, Rhodes.