Geoff Morrow

• Name — Geoff Morrow • Birth Name — Geoffrey Stanton Morrow • Born — 16 May 1942 • Birthplace — London, England • Years Active — 1964–present • Occupation — Songwriter, producer • Past Member Of — * Arnold, Martin and Morrow • Butterscotch

Morrow started out as a songwriter with Chris Arnold in the mid 1960s. In 1965, they met with singer David Martin, as they wanted him to record the demo for a song they had written for Billy Fury, "In Thoughts of You". Martin recorded the demo, and gave advice on changing some of the lyrics. The single was released with Martin's newer lyrics, and was Morrow and Arnold's first big songwriting success, as the song was taken to the top ten of the UK Singles Chart in 1965. This led to Morrow and Arnold adding Martin in as a third songwriting partner, which began the Arnold, Martin, and Morrow partnership. All three songwriters composed "Annabella", which was originally recorded in the UK by Dave Dee without chart success, but which reached the US charts via a cover version by Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds in 1971. In 1970, the three decided to write and release their own record. The song, "Don't You Know (She Said Hello)", was released in January 1970 under the name Butterscotch, and featured Martin on vocals, Morrow on piano, and Arnold on guitar (fellow songwriter and producer Phil Wainman played the drums on the record). The song was a hit in the UK and Ireland, where it peaked at number 17 and 18, respectively. The trio released more singles, and an album, under the Butterschotch name, but none of them ever charted or had any commercial success, leaving Butterscotch as a one-hit wonder. The Arnold, Martin and Morrow team wrote four songs for Elvis Presley between 1969 and 1973. One, "Let's Be Friends", made the title track of a 1970 budget compilation album. They went on to compose and produce a number of more or less successful songs throughout the early to mid-1970s, including "There's a Whole Lot of Loving" which provided Guys 'n' Dolls with a UK #2 hit in 1974; they also wrote and/or produced the group's follow-up hits. Although the Guys 'n' Dolls hits all appeared on Peter Shelley's Magnet label, in about 1975 the team started their own record label named AMMO and several releases on that label achieved moderate success in the UK. The team also wrote "Can't Smile Without You", originally recorded by Martin, made famous by Barry Manilow. In 2005, Morrow asked Elvis impersonator Gordon Hendricks to record a song he, Arnold and Martin had written for Presley, "Where Would I Be", but never gave to him as he died in 1977. He gave the recording to Hendricks as he "thought Gordon could just recapture the spirit of that song."

Morrow established Geoff Morrow Music. One record company was sold to RCA and the other to EMI. In 1990, he bought the Manchester Opera House and Palace Theatre, Manchester for £6 million, and would produce numerous shows held there. He was also a major shareholder of the Caesars Palace cabaret in Luton, and was appointed director in January 1993. As of 2015, he is currently chairman for Gate Ventures. Morrow is also a director at "Send Me Back", a clothing business, "Theatre Experience", a sports leisure business, and Generation Films.

Morrow wrote "Shouting for the Gunners", a top 40 hit for the Arsenal football team, in 1993. Morrow was the screenwriter for the 1999 film Don't Go Breaking My Heart. In 2017, he was composer and lyricist to the musical A Legendary Romance, produced by Laurence Myers, which successfully "tried out" in New Hampshire between 3 and 20 August.

Morrow is married with six children.