Some people are born with music in their souls, and Patrick is one of them. His
interest in music began in his childhood and by his teens he was
already performing, singing harmonies and playing guitar at local
venues in the Midlands.
Having moved to Manchester in the mid
sixties to study Art and Design at Manchester College of Art, Patrick
became lead singer with a 12-piece band at the city’s famous Belle Vue
Park Centre singing the Top Twenty Hits of each week to a packed crowd
on Friday and Saturday nights. He shared the theatre’s revolving stage with top acts such as Billy Fury and PJ Proby. Off stage, he worked with musicians Hotlegs, who later became 10CC and promoters Harvey Lisberg and Kennedy Street Enterprises.
It
wasn’t long before Patrick’s talent was spotted and he was given his
own solo performances with backing musicians where he could sing his
own songs – and some of his favourites by Tim Hardin, Neil Diamond and
Antonio Carlos Jobim.
Once he was in the spotlight on his own, talent scouts came from London to see Patrick’s show and he was soon signed up to RCA records as a solo
recording artist.
His growing career drew him to London, and Patrick moved to Kings Road, Chelsea, the heart of ‘Swinging Sixties’ London. He
began writing his own music full time and had song-writing contracts
with Francis Day & Hunter, Leeds Music and Sunbury Music.
He
was first managed by Paul Hollingdale, former presenter of Radio 2’s
Breakfast Show and later by Mel Collins, manager of Cat Stevens and The
Zombies. Patrick wrote the songs for his first RCA single ‘How Wrong I Was To Leave Her’, the ‘B’ side became a hit in France, recorded as 'Le Rêve De Ma Vie' by singer John William.
Patrick
regularly sang on BBC Radio 2’s Night Ride show and had what he
describes as the ‘privilege’ of recording in some of the best studios
of the time – Air Studio, Phillips, Olympic, the BBC’s Paris and Aeolian Hall Studios, RG Jones and the infamous Abbey Road Studios.
At the same time as writing songs, Patrick enjoyed success penning and performing music and jingles for TV and radio adverts.
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