3 days Ago
An award-winning song writer and record producer from Brighton went from forming a band in school to working with Paul McCartney. David Courtney, born and bred in the city, is a Grammy-nominee who has sold more than 35 million records. David's first big break was as a songwriter with Adam Faith and Leo Sayer, having co-written several hit songs with them which include the hit single "Giving It All Way.
" David's work ended up taking him around the world, but it all started in Brighton. While attending Patcham Fawcett School, David, like many teenagers, decided to form a band with a few of his classmates. The band, The Urchins, were to be highly successful and David was the drummer.
The Urchins (Image: David Courtney) The teenagers were flown to Germany for gigs and even secured a residency at a prestigious London club. He said: "We landed up becoming a regular at Bag O'Nails when we were 16. "Every night the audience was made up of the likes of Paul McCartney and the Rolling Stones.
" Little did David know, the musicians he admired and performed for at the club would later become collaborators in his own career. As a producer, David worked with musicians such as Roger Daltrey, Gene Pitney, Eric Clapton, David Gilmour and Jimmy Page. Driven by his passion for music, David wanted to use his musical background further and began scouting for talented musicians to work with.
He said: "I had the idea of wanting to go into the other side of the industry and actually look for talent." David chose to scout musical talent in Brighton, confident that his connections would help make things happen if he were to discover a star, and he did. He said: "I put an advert in the Argus, I was essentially doing what Simon Cowell was doing now back then.
Teenager Gerard (Leo) Sayer, who lived in Shoreham at the time, attended the audition with this band Patches. Speaking on finding Leo, David said: "Hearing Leo's voice, I knew I found something special." David says he knew the pair had found something special.
(Image: David Courtney) David signed the band and arranged for them to have an audience at Air Studios and Air Records, which at the time was owned by George Martin, the Beatles’ producer. "The team at Air heard the band’s music and offered them a contract. "However, I had a long-standing association with Adam Faith, and I went to him for advice when I was offered the contract.
"He listened and then put up the money, so we started looking for a studio, and Adam's friend Roger Daltrey had one outside his property in a barn conversion. David Courtney and Adam Faith (Graham Hughes) "It was an 8-track studio, which was quite something at the time." Then, Roger asked whether David and Adam would produce his new debut solo album.
David said: "When Roger asked us to write the album for him, I was living in my flat on Wycombe Terrace in Brighton. "The piano was at the back, and we would write songs together. "The night before, I’d come up with melodies and present what I had written and nine times out of ten, the melodies would fit perfectly into the songs.
"It was one of those moments when something inside of you is screaming that you're writing something special. "The words just flow out of your mouth." From there, David went on on to collaborate with more legendary artists like Paul McCartney, which further solidified his reputation in the music industry.
On Paul McCartney, David said: "I first got to work with him when we did an album with Adam Faith called I Survive. "When you're producing a record, you typically make a wish list, and being a big Beatles fan, I included Paul McCartney. "Adam was able to just pick up the phone and make that happen.
David Courtney has sold more than 35 million records. (Image: Billie-Jo Becker) "On one project, Paul had turned to me and said let's work on this song together. "I found myself sitting at the piano with Paul McCartney, and I thought, I need to pinch myself.
"He was an absolute pleasure to work with and when I released the album, he was supportive and encouraging." All of David's stories have been documented in his autobiography 'Giving It All Away' which was released in 2024. David is now living just outside of Brighton, and has released a new EP, A Different Universe.
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