Birth name Philip Thornalley | Years active 1978–present Name Phil Thornalley | |
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Born 5 January 1960 (age 64) ( 1960-01-05 ) Instruments Bass guitar, guitar, vocals, drums Role Songwriter · philthornalley.com Siblings Mike Thornalley, Tony Nocito Thornalley Albums Concert: The Cure Live, Japanese Whispers, Turn Back the Clock, The Very Best of Johnny H, The Top | ||
Occupation(s) Songwriter, producer | ||
Phil Thornalley - She's Alright
Johnny Hates Jazz: Let Me Change Your Mind Tonight (1991)
Philip Thornalley (born 5 January 1960) is an English songwriter-producer who has worked in the music industry since 1978. He is perhaps best known for co-writing (with Scott Cutler and Anne Preven) the Ednaswap song "Torn" (made famous by Natalie Imbruglia's cover version) and the number one hits "Mama Do", "Boys and Girls" and "Cry Me Out" for Pixie Lott. He also produced The Cure's 1982 album Pornography and was later their bass player for eighteen months.
Contents
- Phil Thornalley Shes Alright
- Johnny Hates Jazz Let Me Change Your Mind Tonight 1991
- Biography
- Influences
- As writerproducer
- As producer only
- As mixer
- Awards
- Nominations
- References
Biography
Thornalley was born in Worlington, near Mildenhall, Suffolk, England.
He began working as a recording engineer in 1978, at RAK Studios in St. John's Wood, London for producers Mickie Most, Steve Lillywhite and Alex Sadkin.
Thornalley became the producer for The Cure on their fourth album, Pornography. After Simon Gallup parted ways with the band in 1982, he was The Cure's bassist for eighteen months. He produced their 1983 single The Love Cats and their first live album, Concert. However, he quit to resume working as a songwriter and producer.
He was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical in 1984 for Into the Gap by the Thompson Twins and released his only solo album (Swamp). in 1988.
Thornalley co-produced Johnny Hates Jazz's debut album Turn Back the Clock in 1988. When the band's lead singer Clark Datchler quit later that year, Thornalley replaced him as frontman. The band released one more album, Tall Stories, in 1991 before breaking up the next year.
Thornalley has worked primarily as songwriter and record producer for other artists. In 1991, he co-wrote "Torn" (with Scott Cutler and Anne Preven), which later appeared on Ednaswap's 1995 debut album. Subsequently, he was asked to produce some songs for Natalie Imbruglia, and "Torn" was re-recorded alongside four other songs Thornalley wrote on Imbruglia's 1997 seven million selling debut album Left of the Middle, and became a worldwide hit single. In 2012, the single was covered by One Direction on their live concert DVD Up All Night: The Live Tour.
Other artists Thornalley has worked with include Bryan Adams, BBMak, Eliza Doolittle, Stephanie Kirkham and Pixie Lott.
In 2010, he wrote three UK number ones: "Mama Do", "Boys and Girls" and "Cry Me Out" for Pixie Lott, and in 2012 the top ten hit "Kiss the Stars".
In 2016 Thornalley resumed touring as temporary bass player with Bryan Adams on his "Get Up" Tour playing shows in the US, UK and Canada.
Influences
Thornalley's influences are Todd Rundgren, The Beatles and Pink Floyd. Soul and R&B singer Reggie Sears has named Thornalley as his favourite singer and credits Thornalley's 1988 release Swamp as the main driving force for wanting to be a singer and musician.