Norrie Paramor

Norrie Paramor was born on May 15, 1914 in London, England as Norman William Paramor.

English pianist, orchestrator, arranger and band leader of the 1930's and 40's. As musical director for EMI/Columbia from 1952, Paramor produced albums in varied genres, from swing to rock n' roll, to 'easy listening' music.

He is best known for his work with Cliff Richard and the Shadows, both together and separately, steering their early career and producing and arranging most of their material from the late 1950s to the early 1970s.

Although the term "producer" was not in circulation at the time Paramor started producing records (the usual term being Artiste and Repertoire Manager, or A&R man), he effectively began this role in 1952 when he became Recording Director for EMI's Columbia Records.

In 1958, a demo tape by Cliff Richard And The Drifters arrived on his desk. With no rock 'n' roller currently on his books, he contracted Richard, intending to play it safe with a US cover version with the Jones band, until he was persuaded to stick with the Drifters (soon renamed the Shadows) and push a group original ('Move It') as the a-side. Partly through newspaper publicity engineered by Paramor, 'Move It' was a huge hit, and a subsequent policy was instigated of Richard recording singles of untried numbers - among them, at Paramor's insistence, Lionel Bart's 'Living Doll'.

The lyricist Tim Rice was Paramor's assistant producer for a time in the early 1960s.

In 1962, Paramor was the subject of a scathing critique by David Frost on the satirical British television programme That Was the Week that Was for, the programme claimed, taking undeserved songwriting credits and royalties on other people's work and making popular music more bland and "ordinary".

He is known for his work on Maroc 7 (1967), My Lover, My Son (1970) and Two and Two Make Six (1962). He was married to Joan Margaret Jean Gerrard and Gloria Brent.

In 1968, he was the musical director for the Eurovision Song Contest, staged at the Royal Albert Hall, the first to be broadcast in color. He also conducted the UK entry, "Congratulations", performed by Cliff Richard.

From 1972-78 Paramor was the Director of the BBC Midland Radio Orchestra, but he continued to dabble in independent production for acts such as the Excaliburs, and his publishing company was still finding material for Cliff Richard in the 70s.

In 1977, Paramor and his orchestra recorded with the Shadows for a final time, on the track "Return to the Alamo".

His death of an unspecified cancer on 9 September 1979 came a fortnight after his protege Cliff Richard had returned to the top of the UK Singles Chart with "We Don't Talk Anymore", his first number one single in more than ten years. Paramor and Richard had worked together professionally from 1958 to 1972.