Jackie Trent - Career

Career

Trent's first stage appearance was as a ten-year-old ingenue in the pantomime Babes In The Wood, but her primary interest was a career in pop music. Her first single, "Pick Up the Pieces," was released in 1962, but it was not until two record labels and three years later that she scored her first hit, "Where Are You Now" which was featured in the popular TV series The Inspector Rose Mysteries and was written by Tony Hatch, who at that time was involved in a successful professional collaboration with Petula Clark. "Where Are You Now" reached number one in the UK Singles Chart in May 1965, topping the chart for one week.

With Clark's 1966 hit, "I Couldn't Live Without Your Love" inspired by the ongoing affair between Trent and Hatch, they went public with their relationship. A year later, they were married in Kensington, London.

Although she recorded several singles and albums, both as a solo artist and in tandem with her husband, Trent was more successful as a songwriter rather than a singer. In addition to their compositions for Clark, over the years she and Hatch wrote a wealth of material for other artists, including Frank Sinatra, Jack Jones, Nancy Wilson, Des O'Connor, Val Doonican, Shirley Bassey, Vikki Carr, and Dean Martin.

In the late 1960s, Trent returned to the stage with a UK tour of the musical Nell with Hermione Baddeley. In 1970 Trent recorded the Les Vandyke composed, "I'll Be Near You". In March that year she appeared on the cover of the British music magazine, NME.

The 1970s saw Hatch and Trent diversify into the world of musical theatre. The first of their projects, The Card, based on Arnold Bennett's novel, with book by Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall, ran in London's West End with Jim Dale and Millicent Martin in the starring roles. (Coincidentally, Clark had starred in the 1952 film version with Alec Guinness). An original cast album was released in 1975. A rewritten version of the show, starring Peter Duncan and Hayley Mills, played the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre in the 1990s and spawned a new cast album. The second Hatch/Trent musical was Rock Nativity, with book and lyrics by David Wood. Initiated and produced by Cameron Mackintosh, it first played in Newcastle upon Tyne. An updated version of the show toured nationally in 1976, and was broadcast nationally by Scottish TV. A full-length concert version was also recorded at the Cork Opera House for transmission by RTÉ.

In 1972 the couple wrote the song "We'll Be With You", a celebration of Trent's home town football club Stoke City reaching the final of the Football League Cup. It was released under the name The Potters (the club's nickname), and reached number 34 on the UK chart. Stoke beat Chelsea F.C. 2-1 in the final. The track is still played at Stoke's home games to this day.

In August 1978, Trent appeared on the BBC Television programme, Seaside Special. Later the same year, the couple left the UK for a four-year residency in Dublin, where they hosted their own TV series Words And Music and It's A Musical World, before moving to Australia in 1982. It was while down under that the couple wrote what might be their most famous composition, the theme tune for the TV soap, Neighbours.

Trent and Hatch separated in 1995, and divorced in 2002.

Following the couple's initial separation, Trent made a successful return to the British stage, touring the country in the musical High Society. After spending several years in semi-retirement, she toured Australia with a series of concerts in April and May 2004.

On 24 November 2005, Trent married Colin Gregory.

In 2008, Trent collaborated with the record producer, Ted Carfrae, to work on her latest album entitled Trentquility.

Appeared as guest on BBC Radio 4 'The Reunion' August 2012