Terry Dempsey (songwriter)

Terry Dempsey (8 March 1941 – 10 February 2019)[1] was a South African songwriter whose songs were made famous by a number of artists.

Terry Dempsey
Born(1941-03-08)8 March 1941
England
OriginSouth Africa
Died10 February 2019(2019-02-10) (aged 77)
Vaal Marina, South Africa
Occupation(s)Songwriter
Associated acts

Early life

Born in England, he moved to South Africa in 1968 and formed two record labels, Storm and MAP.[2] He wrote the song "Daydreamer", which he took to Tokyo Music Festival in 1974 where it was picked up by Artie Wayne and recorded by David Cassidy. This recording spent three weeks at the top of the UK singles chart in October and November 1973.[3]

He also wrote "Love Is a Beautiful Song", performed by Dave Mills, which reached number 1 in South Africa, Canada and Australia[4] as well as "Le Mal Aimé" recorded by Claude François, which reached number 1 in France. Two other songs written by him reached Number 1 in South Africa – "Spider Spider" by Tidal Wave and "Kentucky Blues" sung by Lauren Copley.[2] His song "Home" recorded by Dave Mills won a SARIE award in 1971 for Song of the Year.[5]

He also wrote theme songs for South African TV shows, including Twist Grip, TopSport, DriveTime, as well as the Comrades Marathon and television series' The Power of Persuasion and Wings Over Africa.[4]

In 1988 he joined the board of the National Organisation of Rights In Music (later called the Southern African Music Rights Organisation) for a period of three years before being elected as chairman for a further two years.[6]

In 1999 he produced and wrote the film score for the South African feature film Heel Against the Head.[4]

Writing credits

Some of his writing credits include:

SongPerformed by
Spider, SpiderTidal Wave[2]
She's a GypsyCliff Richard[2]
We grew up on Rock 'n RollThe New Seekers[2]
SmileyPetula Clark[2]
Time after timeEngelbert Humperdinck[2]
Dancing heart to heartRoddy[2]
VickyLance James[2]
Flower of LifeLauren Copley[2]
Kentucky BluesLauren Copley
You've got all of meClout

Death

He was killed when he was struck by the blades of a gyrocopter when it made an emergency landing at the Vaal Marina during a family ash scattering.[7][4]

References
  1. "Obituary: Terry Dempsey". Prowrite. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
  2. Chivers, G; Jasiukowicz, T (1994). History of Contemporary Music of South Africa Part 1. Toga Publishing. pp. 28–29. ISBN 0-620-18121-4.
  3. "David Cassidy". Official UK Charts Company. Retrieved 26 May 2012.
  4. Otto, Hanti (February 12, 2019). "Dempsey kon nie skroef vryspring". Retrieved February 19, 2019.
  5. "New Faces in SA 1970 SARIE Awards". Billboard Magazine. November 6, 1971. p. 49.
  6. "SAMRO SENDS ITS DEEPEST CONDOLENCES TO TERRY DEMPSEY'S FAMILY, FRIENDS AND MUSIC INDUSTRY". SAMRO. Retrieved February 19, 2019.
  7. Petersen, Tammy (February 10, 2019). "Elderly man killed by gyrocopter blades during emergency landing". News24. Retrieved February 19, 2019.
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