John Ratcliff | |
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| Background information | |
| Born | 13.09 |
| Origin | England |
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| Years active | 1973-present |
| Labels | EMI Music Publishing EMI Records. Warner Bros\Atlantic |
John Ratcliff (13 September) is an English record producer, musician, composer, actor, public speaker and journalist. He discovered, supported, recorded and managed the Norwegian synth-pop group a-Ha.[1] Between 1983 and 1985 he rented a flat in Dartmouth Road, Sydenham for the band to live in as it was 200 yards from his recording studio called Rendezvous. Sometimes the band members would take a 75 yard shortcut across the adjacent warehouse roof to get into the studio, until Mags went through a roof![2]
Over that two year period the band recorded nearly forty songs, many of which ended up on their next three albums. The most notable of these being a demo of Take On Me which embodied the distinctive a-ha sound that would later propel the band to worldwide success.[3]
Soon the band signed a management deal with his and Terry Slater's management company,[4] giving Pål, Morten and Mags a 25% share each of the profits.
A year before a-ha took off John had an huge airplay hit with a song called Kerry Girl. The record achieved No 1 in the Independent Charts and led to a Nationwide tour of radio stations. But instead of talking about his own record John spent most of his radio time talking about a ‘Norwegian group’ that he had just discovered who were going to be ‘The Next Beatles’.
He is noted for re-producing 8 of the 10 tracks on a-Ha's debut album Hunting High And Low in 1985 at Eel Pie Studios near Richmond-upon-Thames. This first album has by far outsold any later releases (10).The most notable track being their worldwide hit "Take On Me".
Ratcliff has also worked with Dexy's Midnight Runners and many artists and bands from around the World.
He is currently a musical director, composer and performer and will be playing and singing around the UK and Europe on his first tour for several decades later this year 2024/25. He has also written several articles for the major newspapers and had a weekly column called ‘Ratcliff’s World’ that can be read on his home page at johnratcliff.com
PS. Prior to discovering’a-ha’….As an actor John appeared in TV shows, commercials and on stage in the West End. In ‘Grange Hill’ on the BBC he played the part of ‘Doug’ a PE teacher and outward bound instructor.He also represented England as a schoolboy, at Athletics and Rugby. At the age of 45 he won the World Double Decathlon Athletics championships and broke the World record.