Albert Hammond - Main Career

Main Career

He also wrote songs for others with frequent collaborator Mike Hazlewood. These include "Little Arrows" for Leapy Lee, "Make Me An Island" (1969) (which Hammond himself re-recorded in 1979, in a Spanish disco-style version), and "You're Such a Good Looking Woman" (1970) for Joe Dolan, "Gimme Dat Ding" for The Pipkins in 1970 (itself a cover from the Freddie and the Dreamers album, Oliver in the Overworld), "Good Morning Freedom" for Blue Mink, "Freedom Come, Freedom Go" for The Fortunes in 1971 and "The Air That I Breathe" which was a hit for The Hollies in 1974. In 1971. Hammond also sang on Michael Chapman's fourth album, Wrecked Again, and worked briefly with The Magic Lanterns on recordings of his and Hazlewood's songs and other material.

He then moved to the United States, where he continued his professional career as a musician. He is known for his hits of the 1970s, released on Columbia subsidiary Mums Records:

1. "Down by the River" — US 91 (1972)
2. "It Never Rains in Southern California" — US 5 (1972)
3. "The Free Electric Band" (the only single of his to chart in the UK) — UK 19, US 48 (1973)
4. "Half a Million Miles from Home" — US 87 (1973)
5. "If You Gotta Break Another Heart" — US 63 (1973)
6. "The Peacemaker" — US 80, South Africa 1 (1973)
7. "Down by the River" — US 91 (1973)
8. "I Don't Wanna Die in an Air Disaster" — US 0 (1974)
9. "I'm a Train" — US 31 (1974)
10. "99 Miles from L.A." — US 91 (1975)

Written with Carole Bayer Sager, "When I Need You" was first recorded by Hammond on his 1976 album When I Need You. Produced by Richard Perry, Leo Sayer's version made #1 on the UK Singles Chart for two weeks in February 1977, after three of his earlier singles had stalled at #2. A hit worldwide, it reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for a week in May 1977. Leapy Lee released a version of "When I Need You" on his first recording since 1970.

Hammond had success as a singer-songwriter with his Spanish recordings. His releases on Epic Records allowed him to successfully tour every region of Latin America. It was during this period that he met Manuel Montoya, CBS Mexico executive, who later became his personal manager in 1985, leading to the Grammy Award winning production of Lani Hall, "Es Facil Amar", producer and writer of "Cantaré, Cantarás" (the Latin American equivalent of "We Are The World"), and collaborations with Roberto Livi on recordings by Raphael, Eydie Gorme and others.

With Hal David, Hammond co-wrote "To All The Girls I've Loved Before", a hit in 1984 for Julio Iglesias and Willie Nelson. Hammond collaborated with Diane Warren on "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now", a transatlantic #1 in 1987 for Starship, and "I Don't Wanna Live Without Your Love", a hit for Chicago that peaked at #3 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1988. Hammond also co-wrote "One Moment in Time", the theme song to the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, as performed by Whitney Houston.

In 1991, Hammond co-wrote "When You Tell Me That You Love Me", which was sung by Diana Ross. In 2005, Diana Ross performed the song again, this time in conjunction with Westlife.

He wrote several hits for Tina Turner, including "I Don't Wanna Lose You", "Be Tender With Me Baby", "Way of the World", and "Love Thing". Turner also recorded the original version of Hammond/Warren's "Don't Turn Around", a UK #1 for Aswad in 1988 and a hit for Ace of Base five years later.

In 2005 he released his first album in many years, Revolution of the Heart (where Todd Sharpville was his music director), and the single "This Side of Midnight".