Albert Hammond scored a big hit single as an artist with “It Never Rains In Southern California”, which went to no. 5 in 1972. He also fathered a talented son. Albert Hammond Jr. is one of The Strokes, as well as a solo artist in his own right.
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But you might not realize just how successful Hammond’s songs have been. Other artists have taken songs he wrote or co-wrote into the stratosphere. Here are six pop smashes that Hammond helped to create.
“The Air That I Breathe” by The Hollies
The first few songs on this list were all first recorded by Albert Hammond. He wrote “The Air That I Breathe” with Mike Hazlewood, and included it on his debut album. Two years later, The Hollies, with their gorgeous vocal harmonies, took the song all the way to the Top 10 on both sides of the Atlantic. Hammond and Hazlewood were later awarded songwriting credits on Radiohead’s “Creep” after the band admitted they fashioned the bridge to their breakthrough song out of the melody of “The Air That I Breathe”.
“When I Need You” by Leo Sayer
Hammond wrote this one with Carole Bayer Sager, who was a very popular tunesmith for others in the 70s and 80s. He also took the first crack at recording the song in 1976. A year later, Sayer, who was looking to make an American breakthrough, was convinced to add some cover songs that might make him better suited to that market. He chose “When I Need You” as one of them. The tender song about missing someone while you’re on the road topped the US charts in 1977.
“To All The Girls I’ve Loved Before” by Julio Iglesias and Willie Nelson
As was the case with Carole Bayer Sager, Hal David, who joined up with Albert Hammond to write this track, gained notoriety for writing with Burt Bacharach. Because the duet version became so popular, it’s almost hard to imagine Hammond doing this one solo, which he did in 1975. Willie Nelson showed his pop crossover chops with this one. And Julio Iglesias, already a megastar in Latin America, made his first big dent in the States with the nostalgic ballad.
“Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” by Starship
Hammond apparently came up with the idea for this song because he had been waiting forever for a divorce to go through on his first marriage. Wanting to marry his second wife, he felt that the couple couldn’t be stopped by this delay. Diane Warren teamed up to write the song with him. Starship, the most pop-friendly of Jefferson Starship’s many incarnations, turned this into a no. 1, with help from its inclusion in the romantic comedy Mannequin.
“One Moment In Time” by Whitney Houston
Hammond was tasked with writing a song to be used to promote the 1988 Summer Olympics. He imagined a melody full of pomp and drama, a la what Elvis Presley might have brought to the stage as a Vegas showstopper. John Bettis pitched in on the lyrics. Finding a voice that could bring that kind of potent emotion to life without overselling it was the trick. Houston was the perfect choice. “One Moment In Time” went all the way to no. 5 in 1988.
“Don’t Turn Around” by Ace Of Base
In this case, Albert Hammond’s song, written with Diane Warren, received a boost from an act that found something in the song that had been previously hidden. Tina Turner did the first version of “Don’t Turn Around” in 1986. Bonnie Tyler took a shot at it, and Aswad turned it into a reggae song. But the Swedish 90s pop sensations Ace Of Base unlocked the song’s potential by adding a few minor keys to the mix. That turned it into an icy declaration of independence from a lover left behind.
Photo by Tony Russell/Redferns
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