R.I.P.: Scott English, Songwriter and Record Producer

Scott English

American songwriter and record producer Scott English died Friday.  He was 81.

He is best known as the co-writer of "Brandy" with Richard Kerr.  The song became a No. 1 hit for Barry Manilow in 1974, under the revised title of "Mandy".

English was born in Brooklyn, he released his first single, "4,000 Miles Away," in 1960 on Dot Records. In 1964, English had a regional doo-wop hit called "High on a Hill", written by Frank Cariola and A. Mangravito.  "High on a Hill" has consistently been voted an all-time top song on oldies radio stations in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. It also reached No. 3 in popularity on the San Francisco Bay Area radio charts.

With Larry Weiss, he wrote "Bend Me, Shape Me", which became a hit for the Chicago-based band The American Breed, reaching No. 5 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1968; it was also a hit in the UK for Amen Corner. This song had been recorded a year earlier by The Outsiders as an album track on The Outsiders In (1967).  (Weiss also wrote the Glen Campbell hit 'Rhinestone Cowboy'.)


English and Weiss also penned "Help Me Girl" (1966), which was a hit by two groups in late 1966: Eric Burdon and the Animals and The Outsiders, Lynne Randell's "Ciao Baby" (1967) and Jeff Beck's hit "Hi Ho Silver Lining" on which English was also producer.

He produced the song "West Virginia" by The Elves in 1969 (a band later known as Elf) which featured Ronnie James Dio on bass and vocals. He later produced Thin Lizzy's eponymous debut album Thin Lizzy (1971).