Charles Blackwell

From the twist to the disco boogie, Charles Blackwell had his finger in the pie, or more accurately, the studio control knobs in his mitts. His track record of hits as a producer would be impressive on any terms, but the fact that at the age of 22 he was already averaging one new hit a week on the British Top Ten made him something of a phenomenon. He rated only a medium for longevity, however, going well beyond the status of a quickie fad artist but seemingly unable to get much attention with projects in his more mature years. From Françoise Hardy to David Hasselhoff is a descent, yes, but along the way there was the 1979 Boogie Down album, the sole project the producer released under his own name, or rather under half his own name. The Butterfly release was credited to simply Blackwell, although in his homeland at least one of the involved record labels fleshed that out to Charles Blackwell in order to capitalize on his considerable past success in the U.K. market. These triumphs began in the early '60s, following several years of experience as an arranger for the acknowledged studio genius Joe Meek, which helped launch Blackwell's career: he worked with a series of superb female vocalists including Jackie DeShannon and Brigitte Bardot, as well as Françoise Hardy. Likewise, Blackwell's inspiration to have British crooners nudge American country & western singers off the charts by recording cover versions of country hits. Beginning in his days as an arranger, Blackwell experienced an amount of artistic freedom that seems to have vanished from the hit-making machinery. He recalled that the original arrangements he created from demo recordings or sheet music were never altered in content or style unless there was some kind of budgetary problem. His skill as an orchestrator naturally led to maintaining ensembles such as the Charles Blackwell Orchestra -- allowing the artists he produced the benefit of seasoned orchestral accompaniment. By the late '70s, it was public taste, not budgets, that cut into the work for studio veterans whose names lined Blackwell's phone book. Perhaps they were better off not having to play on tracks such as "Move Your Ass Gringo," one of several favorites from the Boogie Down album (like much '70s music, now the subject of adoration by certain cults). The nadir of Blackwell's career included a seemingly endless and inevitably failed attempt to place pretty boy TV cop David Hasselhoff on the pop charts. Charles Blackwell died on August 16, 2024, at the age of 84.
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