Bio
Biography
RICHARD NILES’ career as a composer, songwriter, arranger, and producer spans pop, rock and jazz, film, TV, theatre, radio, and commercials. Records featuring his work have sold over 250 million copies collaborating with some of the world’s most acclaimed artists.
Here you can explore Richard's music, books, podcasts, YouTube channel, and his teaching.
Below is a purple timeline of Richard's life in music from 1969 to the present day.
Credits
1969 Band PURE WINGS with violinist Gerry Field
1971-75 Berklee College of Music – Studies with Gary
Burton, Herb Pomeroy, Michael Gibbs, and Pat
Metheny, graduating BMus (Composition)
1975 Signed as composer to Essex Music
1976 Staff Arranger at EMI Music Publishing
Arranged “12 Great International Hits”
Polish Radio & TV Orchestra.
Arranged “Alpha Omega’ for producer
Cat Stevens - Arranged for Cat Stevens,
David Essex,
Gloria Jones, and Maxine
Nightingale.
1977 Musical Director - The David Essex Show,
arranged for Twiggy, Kate Bush.
Musical Director – It’s Friday – Leo Sayer,
arranged for The Real Thing, Denny Laine.
1978 ‘Discovered’ Sarah Brightman dancing
with
Hot Gossip
Recommended her to Producer Steve
Rowland for the hit I Lost My Heart To A
Starship
Trooper, arranged by Niles.
Produced,
co-wrote album Somethin’ Else for
Graham Dee
Co-produced/arranged
Standard Time for Wings guitarist Laurence
Juber.
Co-wrote Sunset on Sunset for Tina Turner.
1979 Co-produced American Garage
for
The Pat
Metheny Group.
Arranged The
Mitchell/Coe Mysteries/Exiled
ft. Miles Away - Colin Blunstone
1980 Co-wrote songs
with Spike Milligan for
Songs From A Chicken’s Laundry
1981 Co-writer, arranger Heart
Control – Leslie
McKeown.
Producer/Arranger The Disco Sound of Music
ft. Sara Brightman and Sharon Campbell
Composer/producer 1981 – The Richard Niles
Quintet ft. Mitch Dalton, Peter Van Hooke,
Dill Katz, Chris Hunter.
Produced and arranged Hubbard’s Cubbard ft.
Guy Barker, Chris Hunter
1982 Arranger Life & Rhymes - Gilbert O’Sullivan -
prod. Randy Edleman.
Arranger Randy Edleman On Time
In the same year he p
Producer 24 Hours from Tulsa for Claire
Hammil.
Arranger Life In The Slim Lane Judy Mazel.
Producer, arranger, composer It’s About Time -
Morrissey-Mullen, ft. Jim Mullen, Dick Morrisey
Producer/arranger Thumbs Up - Jim Mullen
ft. Guy Barker and Chris Hunter.
Co-producer/arranger/Co-writer The Warriors
- Bluey Maunick ft. Guy Barker and Chris
Hunter.
Arranger Date Stamp - ABC, The Lexicon of
Love, Producer Trevor Horn.
1983 Producer, arranger, composer It’s About Time
Morrissey-MullenJim Mullen, Dick
Morrisey
1985 Arranger Grace Jones - Slave to the Rhythm,
Producer Trevor Horn.
Producer Dusty Springfield - Just Like
Butterflies
Arranger Why Does It Have to Be This
Way? - Anne Pigalle, Prod. Trevor Horn
Arranger Famous People - Bill Sharpe
1986 Arranger The Foolish Thing to Do Heaven
17
feat. Jimmy Ruffin
Arranger Americanos - Holly Johnson
Arranger Sex Me, Talk
Me – Berlin
Ordinary Day - Curiosity Killed The Cat
1987 Arranger Breaking Away - Jaki Graham
Arranger Could It Be I’m Falling in Love -
Jaki Graham & David Grant
Arranger Watching The Wildlife - Frankie
Goes
to Hollywood Prod. Trevor Horn
Arranger Like Giving Love - Five Star
Arranger Take Me Home – Roger Daltrey
Prod. Alan Shacklock
Arranger There When I Needed You - Sheena
Easton
Arranger When Smokey Sings – ABC
prod. Bernard Edwards
Arranger It’s Better to Travel
by Swing Out Sister, ft. #1 Breakout
1988 Composer Ear Trumpet –
Orchestral piece for
Guy Barker
Arranger Like Giving Love - Five Star
Arranger Rules – Anita Baker
Arranger Homelands -Ellis Beggs & Howard
Arranger Spy In The House of Love – Was Not
Was
Arranger Left to My Own Devices - Pet Shop
Boys
Producer/Arranger Prove To Me – Perri –
ft. in the Spike Lee
film Do The Right Thing
Composer The Strike, film for Channel 4
(winner, Golden Rose of Montreaux,
Honorable Mention for music
1989 ‘Discovered’ Clive Griffin -
Produced/Arranged/co-wrote 1st album
Step By Step.
Arranger Sowing the Seeds of Love, Advice for
The Young at Heart – Tears For Fears
ArrangerArranger album Rich and Poor –
Randy
Crawford
Arranger Rules – Anita Baker
Producer/Arranger Sleepwalking – Workshy
Musical Director, bandleader Don’t Miss Wax
(Channel 4) ft. Ruby
Wax
BANDZILLA performed every show and for
guests Meat
Loaf, Pee Wee Herman
Formed Lifetime Records with Graeme Perkins
Blue Movies Richard Niles’ BANDZILLA
1990 Co-writer/Arranger Inside Out – Clive Griffin
Arranger The Hit Collection – Gloria Gaynor
Producer/Arranger/Co-Writer album Tell Me
Where You’re Going – Silje Nergaard
Producer/Arranger/Co-Writer Tell Me Where
You’re Going – Silje Nergaard & Pat Metheny
(#1 in Japan)
Producer/Arranger/Co-Writer album
Silje – Silje
Nergaard
Producer/Arranger/Co-Writer Where You Are –
Morten Harkett & Silje Nergaard
Producer/Arranger Glade
Jul - Silje Nergaard
1991 Producer/Arranger
Overture to Performance -
Pet Shop Boys used on their Performance
World Tour. Released on EP DJ
Culture
Arranger World in Union – Kiri Te Kanawa –
theme for the Olympics
Lyricist/Co-Producer - the Taiga Symphony –
singer Valeria & Moscow State
Symphony
1992 Producer/Arranger/Co-Writer
album
Cow on the Highway – Silje Nergaard
Producer – Wild Thing – The Troggs ft. Oliver
Reed
Producer/Arranger/Co-Writer End Of
The Line – Osny Melo.
Arranger I’m On My Way – Betty Boo
Producer/Arranger The Michael Ruff Band
ft. Nils Landgren
Arranger album - Through The Years –
Cilla Black ft. duets with Barry Manilow, Cliff
Richard, and Dusty Springfield.
1993 Arranger Go West - Pet
Shop Boys
Producer/Arranger/Lyricist
album The Art of
Romance Mayumi ft. Silje, Richard Darbyshire
and Pat Kane
Arranger Wishing I
Was Lucky, Angel Eyes for
Wet Wet Wet
Arranger Dangerous Game– Kylie Minogue
Producer/Arranger/Co-Writer album
Showtime – Hue & Cry
Arranger Hold Back The River – Wet Wet Wet
1994 BBC Broadcaster, host and writer of many
series for Radio 2.
Musical Director, bandleader Michael Ball
(Carlton TV) ft. Michael
Ball.
Richard Niles’ BANDZILLA, guest stars James
Brown, Joe Cocker, and Montserrat Caballe
1995 Producer/Arranger If Love Were All, Can You
Forgive Her?
PET SHOP BOYS album Yesterday When I
Was Mad.
Arranger Holding Back The Tears, Sunday To
Saturday – Take That
Producer, Co-Songwriter Happy Birthday
to the World, singer Valeria ft. Moscow State
Symphony, Uri Gellar
1996 Arranger Whatever You Want, Do Something –
Tina Turner
Arranger Thunder, Holding On
– E17
Arranger Forever – Damage
Arranger Living on a Dream - Right Said Fred
Arranger It’s a Man’s World, Walkin’ in
Memphis - Cher.
1997 Arranger Like Giving Love,
When I Remember -
Five
Arranger album Much Afraid – Jars of Clay
Co-Producer/Arranger – Somewhere -
PET SHOP BOYS
Conducted European concerts for Ray Charles
with BANDZILLA.
1998 Arranger album Where We Belong – Boyzone
Arranger Seventh Son
Arranger Donna Lewis
Arranger What a Fool Believes – Peter Cox
Producer/Arranger Still
in Love With You -
Tony Momrelle (of Incognito)
1999 Richard Niles album, Santa Rita
ft. Hamish Stuart, Mark
Egan, Danny Gottlieb
Conducted Ray Charles, ft. BANDZILLA, Clyde
Auditorium, BBC Radio 2
BOYZONE I Love the Way You Love Me, You
Needed Me, When the Going Gets Tough.
Arranger WESTLIFE album Coast to Coast.
2000 Richard Niles, Club Deranged, ft. Kid Creole,
Mark Egan, Danny Gottlieb.
Arranger Heather Small, Proud
Arranger Samantha Mumba, Lately
Arranger Ronan Keating, If I Don’t Tell You
Now (film, Boys & Girls)
Arranger Mariah Carey & BOYZONE, Against All
Odds.
Arranger Stephen Gately, I Believe (film Billy
Eliot)
Producer/Arranger JIM MULLEN, album Burns
Arranger Joe Cocker, See. A Chance, Soul
Rising
Producer/Arranger Kate Dimbleby, album
Good Vibrations
Arranger Westlife, I don’t Wanna Fight
(film Maybe Baby)
2001 The Christmas Carol: The
Movie (lyricist)
Kate Winslet "What If" Arranger
Producer, Joe Venuti &
Tony Romano, Never
Before, Never Again, re-issue
Editor of Book: "Never
Before, Never Again
JOE VENUTI"
2002 Arranger PET SHOP BOYS Email
Arranger O Town All
or Nothing
2003 Arranger Jane Monheit concert BBC Radio 2,
BBC Big Band
Arranger/Conductor/Guitarist Michael
McDonald BBC Radio 2 concert,
the Mermaid Theatre
Arranger Kylie Minogue World Tour (Better The
Devil You Know)
2004 Richard Niles & Friends concerts inc. Pizza
Express Jazz Club
ft. Kim Chandler
Arranger Kylie MinogueShowgirl Tour (The
Locomotion)
2005 KATALYST concerts ft. Kat Gang
2006 Arranger Kylie Minogue Homecoming Tour
Arranger Westlife Tour, Uptown Girl
Producer/Arranger/Composer Kat Gang,
album Laughing at Lonely
2007 Arranger David Newton album, Portrait of
a Lady.
Producer/Arranger Alexander Shulgin, album
Tryptich ft. Richard Niles
Quintet, Bob James,
John Patitucci, Bob Mintzer, Billy Cobham
Arranger The Feeling album, Join With Us
2008 Arranger The Feeling single, Is It Christmas?
Producer/Arranger/Composer Younee,
album True To You
2009 Arranger Marti Pellow album, God’s Apology
Book: The Pat Metheny Interviews
2010 Producer/Arranger Elley’s Band, album
2011 Co-Producer/Arranger, Paul McCartney,
Blue Sway (McCartney II)
Producer/Arranger The Swingle Singers
Judge, International White Nights of
St. Petersburg
Music Festival
Arranger, The Hurley Burly Show ft. Miss
Polly Rae (Garrick Theatre, London)
Arranger/Bandleader/Songwriter
Jessie Buckley,
(The Pizza Express Jazz Club,
London)
2012 Composer/Arranger/Producer, The Pranker,
ft. Ross Lee, Channel 4
Bandleader The Richard Niles Septet,
(The Pizza Express Jazz Club, London)
2013 Arranger Paul Carrack album Rain or Shine
Arranger PET SHOP BOYS, BBC Concert
Orchestra, I
wouldn’t Normally Do This Kind
Of Thing
Producer/Songwriter Elaine Gibbs
ft. BANDZILLA, Last Vegas
2014 Arranger PET SHOP BOYS, BBC PROMS
Orchestra, Overture to Performance
Book: The Invisible Artist
2015 Arranger Paul Carrack album Soul Shadows
Arranger/Guitarist The Wrecking Crew
All Stars, Catalina Jazz
Club
Book: From Dreaming
to Gigging
2016 Richard Niles’ BANDZILLA, album,
BANDZILLA RISES!!! ft. Randy Brecker,
Leo Sayer
2017 Book: Songwriting – The 11-Point Plan
2019 Producer/Co-Writer,
ALEXANDER NILES, album,
Alex Plays Alex ft. Claire Martin, Blake Aaron,
Martin Taylor
Arranger/Conductor Peter
Connelly’s
TOMB RAIDER ft. Tina Guo, Julie Elven
2020 Book: Adventures In Arranging
Composer/Producer “2020”
ft. Chris Hansley, Ian
Palmer
Richard Niles podcast & YouTube channel
2021 Book: Piano Grooves
Book: What Is Melody?
Book: How To Be An Employable Musician
2022 Video Course: Arrange Like a Pro
with Richard Niles
2023 Producer/Composer/Guitarist
Richard Niles,
album NILES SMILES
2024 Producer/Composer, Adventures for Cello
and Piano Dennis Karmazyn, Clive Dunstall,
Mark Egan, Ian Palmer