Alan A. Freeman

Alan A. Freeman is most well-known for being Petula Clark's producer from 1949 until 1963, when he was taken over by Tony Hatch. It may have been Hatch who made Petula an international recording star, but Freeman had nurtured her musically since she was 17.

Related Topics:
Petula Clark - 1949 - 1963 - Tony Hatch

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Alan's dream had always been to have a record label and make his own records with it. In 1949 he was working for the Eddie Kazner music publishing company as a song plugger, when he inherited some money, so began to go ahead with his project. His friend, Joe "Mr Piano" Henderson knew the young Petula whose father Leslie was keen to launch her as a recording artist. Joe introduced Alan to Leslie, who invested some money of his own (or Petula's) in the new label.

Related Topics:
Eddie Kazner - Song plugger - Joe "Mr Piano" Henderson

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The label, Polygon Records was a brave attempt of Alan's to gain a footing in the British record market, at a time when it was dominated by Decca and HMV (EMI). The earliest recordings were actually made for the Australian market as Alan had a contact there, and he wanted to test the water. By 1950, Polygon was up and running and during its lifetime over 180 records were made over five years, all of them produced by Alan, including over 50 titles by Petula.

Related Topics:
Polygon Records - Decca - HMV - EMI - Australian - 1950

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By 1955, the time had come for a change. The label had been a small success, gathering a few chart hits (the biggest of which was The Little Shoemaker by Petula, reaching #7), but no runaway success. Alan was approached by New Zealand businessman Hilton Nixon who had a similar dream to Alan's. Hilton wanted to establish Nixa Records but had run into problems with distribution. And so it was that Polygon was swallowed up by Nixa and became Pye Nixa Records. Alan continued to produce records, but shared responsibilites with several others. In 1959 the company had dropped the 'Nixa' part and evolved into simply Pye Records.

Related Topics:
1955 - The Little Shoemaker - New Zealand - Hilton Nixon - Nixa Records - Pye Nixa Records - 1959 - Pye Records

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Petula was still recording for Pye, but with little success. Alan found a song that was to relaunch her British career. The song was Sailor, and written by David West, aka Norman Newell. It made #1 in February 1961.

Related Topics:
Norman Newell - 1961

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Petula started having her records produced by Tony Hatch, and became a world-famous singer. But she never forgot the man who gave her the chance to start recording, and on the occasion of Alan's 50th birthday in the late 1970s, she rang him up from Australia to wish him happy birthday.

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Alan is thought to have died sometime in the 1980s. He was survived by his sister Pat.

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