Miles Tredinnick
Encyclopedia
Miles Tredinnick, also known as Riff Regan, (born Warrington
Warrington
Warrington is a town, borough and unitary authority area of Cheshire, England. It stands on the banks of the River Mersey, which is tidal to the west of the weir at Howley. It lies 16 miles east of Liverpool, 19 miles west of Manchester and 8 miles south of St Helens...

 18 February 1955) is a rock musician, songwriter and a stage and screen writer. In the 1970s, he was the lead singer with the British rock band London
London (band)
London were a four piece punk band formed in London in 1976 and were best known for their wild stage act. The original line-up was Riff Regan , Steve Voice , Jon Moss and Dave Wight . They were managed by Simon Napier-Bell and recorded two singles, a 4 track EP and an album for MCA Records in 1977...

. Afterwards he went on to write comedy plays for the stage. He has also written scripts for Frankie Howerd
Frankie Howerd
Francis Alick "Frankie" Howerd OBE was an English comedian and comic actor whose career, described by fellow comedian Barry Cryer as "a series of comebacks", spanned six decades.-Early career:...

, including the television special Superfrank!
Superfrank!
Superfrank! was a one-hour television special starring English comedian Frankie Howerd OBE. The special show marked his return to television performance after an absence of five years.The show was made by Channel 4 and HTV...

and the stage comedy Up Pompeii!
Up Pompeii!
Up Pompeii! is a British television comedy series broadcast between 1969 and 1970, starring Frankie Howerd. The first series was written by Talbot Rothwell, a scriptwriter for the Carry On films, and the second series by Rothwell and Sid Colin. Two later specials were transmitted in 1975 and...


Rock musician

In 1976, with drummer Jon Moss
Jon Moss
Jon Moss is an English drummer best known as a member of the 1980s pop group Culture Club. He has also played with other bands, including London, The Nips and The Damned.-Early life:...

, guitarist Dave Wight (real name Colin Wight) and bassist Steve Voice, Tredinnick formed the punk band London
London (band)
London were a four piece punk band formed in London in 1976 and were best known for their wild stage act. The original line-up was Riff Regan , Steve Voice , Jon Moss and Dave Wight . They were managed by Simon Napier-Bell and recorded two singles, a 4 track EP and an album for MCA Records in 1977...

.He was the lead singer Riff Regan. The band came to the notice of Danny Morgan who was a talent scout for ex-Yardbirds and ex-Marc Bolan
Marc Bolan
Marc Bolan was an English singer-songwriter, guitarist and poet. He is best known as the founder, frontman, lead singer & guitarist for T. Rex, but also a successful solo artist...

 manager Simon Napier-Bell
Simon Napier-Bell
Simon Napier-Bell has undertaken many jobs in the music industry, including bandboy, manager, producer, songwriter, journalist and author and gourmet...

. He secured them a record deal with MCA Records
MCA Records
MCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003...

 and a nationwide tour supporting The Stranglers
The Stranglers
The Stranglers are an English punk/rock music group.Scoring some 23 UK top 40 singles and 17 UK top 40 albums to date in a career spanning five decades, the Stranglers are the longest-surviving and most "continuously successful" band to have originated in the UK punk scene of the mid to late 1970s...

. Their singles "Everyone’s A Winner", "Summer Of Love"/"Friday On My Mind" and "Animal Games" and their one and only album Animal Games
Animal Games
Animal Games was the one and only album recorded by the British punk band London. Recorded throughout 1977 at the IBC Studios in London, the album was actually released in February 1978 after the group had disbanded...

were all produced by Napier-Bell at the IBC Studios
IBC Studios
The IBC Recording Studios were recording studios in 35 Portland Place, London, England. After the Second World War it was the address of the leading independent studio in London and the British Isles...

 in London. Their recording of "Friday On My Mind
Friday on My Mind
"Friday on My Mind" is a 1966 song by Australian rock group The Easybeats. Written by band members George Young and Harry Vanda, the track became a worldwide hit, reaching #16 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in May 1967 in the US, #1 in Australia and #6 in the UK, as well as charting in several...

" was made in the same studio that The Easybeats
The Easybeats
The Easybeats were an Australian rock and roll band. They formed in Sydney in late 1964 and broke up at the end of 1969. They are regarded as the greatest Australian pop band of the 1960s, and were the first Australian rock and roll act to score an international pop hit with their 1966 single...

 had made the original.

Although London
London (band)
London were a four piece punk band formed in London in 1976 and were best known for their wild stage act. The original line-up was Riff Regan , Steve Voice , Jon Moss and Dave Wight . They were managed by Simon Napier-Bell and recorded two singles, a 4 track EP and an album for MCA Records in 1977...

 had a popular live stage act, ticket sales never transformed into record sales. This was despite flamboyant film director Mike Mansfield directing the video for "Everyone's A Winner". The highest UK chart position they reached was 52 for their EP Summer Of Love. Jon Moss was particularly impatient to have chart success and following a nationwide tour the band decided to call it a day. They broke up after a farewell gig at the Marquee Club
Marquee Club
The Marquee was a music club first located at 165 Oxford Street, London, England when it opened in 1958 with a range of jazz and skiffle acts.It was also the location of the first ever live performance by The Rolling Stones on 12 July 1962....

 in Wardour Street. Jon Moss joined The Damned and later formed Culture Club
Culture Club
Culture Club are a British rock band who were part of the 1980s New Romantic movement. The original band consisted of Boy George , Mikey Craig , Roy Hay and Jon Moss...

 with Boy George
Boy George
Boy George is a British singer-songwriter who was part of the English New Romantic movement which emerged in the early 1980s. He helped give androgyny an international stage with the success of Culture Club during the 1980s. His music is often classified as blue-eyed soul, which is influenced by...

; Colin Wight became a Professor in International Politics; Steve Voice formed The Original Vampires; Simon Napier-Bell went on to manage George Michael
George Michael
George Michael is a British musician, singer, songwriter and record producer who rose to fame in the 1980s when he formed the pop duo Wham! with his school friend, Andrew Ridgeley...

 and Wham!
WHAM!
Wham! were a short-lived British musical duo formed by George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley in the early 1980s. They were briefly known in the United States as Wham! UK due to a naming conflict with an American band....

.

Tredinnick, as Riff Regan, released four more singles on MCA Records; "All The Nice Boys And Girls In The World" (produced by Napier-Bell), "Japanese Girls" (produced by Andy Miller), "You Call Me Lucky" and "The Only One" (both produced by Liam Sternberg
Liam Sternberg
Liam Sternberg is an American songwriter and producer best known for writing the Bangles hit "Walk Like an Egyptian". Sternberg first got noticed as part of the late '70s "Akron scene" which launched Devo and The Waitresses...

) before recording his final record "Hard Hearts Don’t Cry" (produced by Andy Miller) on Epic Records
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...

 in 1981.

In 1997, Captain Oi! Records released a best of London
London (band)
London were a four piece punk band formed in London in 1976 and were best known for their wild stage act. The original line-up was Riff Regan , Steve Voice , Jon Moss and Dave Wight . They were managed by Simon Napier-Bell and recorded two singles, a 4 track EP and an album for MCA Records in 1977...

 CD called London The Punk Rock Collection
London The Punk Rock Collection
London The Punk Rock Collection is a CD containing all the MCA recordings of the 1970s punk band London. All the group's A & B sides are included as well as their entire 1978 Animal Games album. In addition there are biographical notes and color photographs of the band's record sleeves. The album...

. It contains all the band's MCA recordings.

Tredinnick also co-wrote the song "Hottest Woman In Town" with Andy Miller in 1982. Recorded at London’s Trident Studios
Trident Studios
Trident Studios was a British recording facility, originally located at 17 St. Anne's Court in London's Soho district. It was constructed in 1967 by Norman Sheffield a drummer of former 1960's group The Hunters and his Brother Barry....

 by ex-Ozzy Osbourne
Ozzy Osbourne
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne is an English vocalist, whose musical career has spanned over 40 years. Osbourne rose to prominence as lead singer of the pioneering English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, whose radically different, intentionally dark, harder sound helped spawn the heavy metal...

 and Ian Gillan
Ian Gillan
Ian Gillan is an English rock music vocalist and songwriter, best known as the lead singer and lyricist for Deep Purple. During his career Gillan also fronted his own band, had a year-long stint as the vocalist for Black Sabbath, and sang the role of Jesus in the original recording of Andrew Lloyd...

 lead guitarist Bernie Torme
Bernie Tormé
Bernie Tormé is a rock guitarist, singer, songwriter, record label and recording studio owner.-Early career:...

, it was released as a single and featured on the "Metal Killers" album.

In 2007 he reformed London
London (band)
London were a four piece punk band formed in London in 1976 and were best known for their wild stage act. The original line-up was Riff Regan , Steve Voice , Jon Moss and Dave Wight . They were managed by Simon Napier-Bell and recorded two singles, a 4 track EP and an album for MCA Records in 1977...

 with original bass player Steve Voice and new guitarist Hugh O'Donnell and new drummer Colin Watterston. The band played their first London gig in over 30 years at the 12 Bar Club
12 Bar Club
The 12 Bar Club is one of the smallest live music venues in London, England. It is located in Denmark Street, aka "Tin Pan Alley", just off Charing Cross Road and close to Soho....

 in Soho
Soho
Soho is an area of the City of Westminster and part of the West End of London. Long established as an entertainment district, for much of the 20th century Soho had a reputation for sex shops as well as night life and film industry. Since the early 1980s, the area has undergone considerable...

, London on Saturday 23rd February 2008. They are still performing in 2011.

Theatre and Television

Tredinnick's first stage play, Because Of Mr Darrow
Because Of Mr Darrow
Because of Mr Darrow is a comedy stage play by Miles Tredinnick. It was first produced in London in 1982 at the Finborough Arms Theatre in Earl's Court and later transferred to the Grove Theatre in Hammersmith. It was recorded as a radio play for the Royal Free Hospital, Hampstead's in-house...

,
was produced at the Finborough Theatre
Finborough Theatre
The Finborough Theatre is a fifty seat theatre in the Earls Court area of London, United Kingdom , which presents new British writing, UK and premieres of new plays, primarily from the English speaking world including North America, Canada, Scotland and Ireland, music theatre, and rarely seen...

 in London and his second comedy Laugh? I Nearly Went To Miami!
Laugh? I Nearly Went To Miami!
Laugh? I Nearly Went to Miami! is a stage comedy by Miles Tredinnick. It was first produced in Hampstead, London, in 1985 and published the following year by Samuel French Ltd. The original cast starred Russell Wootton and Jill Greenacre. It has been translated into many languages and is regularly...

had a successful fringe run at the Pentameters Theatre
Pentameters Theatre
The Pentameters Theatre was founded in 1968 and is still run by artistic director Leonie Scott-Matthews, a well known Hampstead resident. It is a 60-seat venue and is a fringe theatre in the London Borough of Camden, located above the Three Horseshoes public house in Hampstead...

 in Hampstead. The latter was later produced for the first Liverpool Festival of Comedy.

In translation, Laugh? I Nearly Went To Miami! has been produced in many cities including Vienna where its title was ...Und Morgen Fliegen Wir Nach Miami. British Director Cyril Frankel
Cyril Frankel
Cyril Frankel is a British film and television director, now retired. His career in television began in 1953 and he directed for over 30 TV programmes until 1990....

 directed with German translation by Adolf Opel.

In 1990, Tredinnick wrote the stage thriller Twist
Twist (stage play)
Twist is a 1995 comedy stage thriller by Miles Tredinnick. It was first produced at the Pentameters Theatre in London under the title Getting Away with Murder. Twist has a cast of three men and three women....

. This was translated into German by Ursula Grutzmacher-Tabori under the title Der Letzte Dreh and was later produced in London under the title Getting Away with Murder at the Pentameters Theatre
Pentameters Theatre
The Pentameters Theatre was founded in 1968 and is still run by artistic director Leonie Scott-Matthews, a well known Hampstead resident. It is a 60-seat venue and is a fringe theatre in the London Borough of Camden, located above the Three Horseshoes public house in Hampstead...

 in Hampstead. The play had its US debut in Taunton, Massachusetts in 2010

His next stage comedy was It's Now Or Never!
It's Now Or Never!
It's Now or Never! is a stage comedy written by Miles Tredinnick. It was published in 1991 by Warner Chappell Plays and first produced at the Queen's Theatre in Hornchurch, England in 1994. It starred Tony Roper and Peter Polycarpou and was produced by Rod Coton and Joe Scott-Parkinson in...

in 1994. Directed by Marina Calderone at the Queen’s Theatre, Hornchurch
Hornchurch
Hornchurch is a large suburban town in England, and part of the London Borough of Havering. Hornchurch is in North-East London .It is located east-northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the locally important district centres identified in the London Plan. It comprises a number of shopping...

, England, it starred Tony Roper
Tony Roper (actor)
Tony Roper is a Scottish actor, comedian, playwright and writer.His first major starring role was in Scotch and Wry. He wrote the classic comedy-drama The Steamie in 1988. He achieved even greater fame in Naked Video and in the spin off series Rab C Nesbitt, in which he played Rab's...

, Peter Polycarpou
Peter Polycarpou
Peter Polycarpou is a British stage and TV and film actor, best known for playing Chris Theodopolopoudos in the television comedy series Birds of a Feather.-Career:...

 and Leyton Sommers as Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....

. A German version, Jetzt Oder Nie, translated by Christian Wolffer has been successful as has a Dutch version translated by Martine Deboosere.

Topless
Topless (stage play)
Topless is a one woman stage play by Miles Tredinnick. It is set on an open-top sightseeing bus and features tour guide Sandie revealing her personal life whilst pointing out the London sights. The play, produced by The Big Bus Company, ran for two seasons in London, firstly in 1999 and then in...

, a one-woman play set on an open-top London sightseeing bus, followed in 1999. Produced by The Big Bus Company
The Big Bus Company
Big Bus Tours is a London-based open-top bus sightseeing company.The Big Bus Company is a family-owned company, founded by Richard, Eleanor and Desmond Maybury. It started in central London in June 1991 with 4 buses and now operates over 150 buses worldwide...

, this unique theatrical piece was actually performed, with audience, on top of a sightseeing bus driving through the streets of the West End of London. This was followed by Topless in Philadelphia
Topless in Philadelphia
Topless in Philadelphia is a one man comedy stage play by Miles Tredinnick. It is set on an open-top sightseeing bus and features tour guide Gus Clover revealing his disastrous personal life whilst pointing out the Philly sights....

(2009) featuring a male tour guide giving an open-top bus tour in America's most historical city.

Frankie Howerd

From 1985 to 1992 Tredinnick wrote regular stage and television scripts for Frankie Howerd
Frankie Howerd
Francis Alick "Frankie" Howerd OBE was an English comedian and comic actor whose career, described by fellow comedian Barry Cryer as "a series of comebacks", spanned six decades.-Early career:...

 including co-writing the hour long special, Superfrank!
Superfrank!
Superfrank! was a one-hour television special starring English comedian Frankie Howerd OBE. The special show marked his return to television performance after an absence of five years.The show was made by Channel 4 and HTV...

for Channel 4. He also wrote an updated stage version of Up Pompeii!
Up Pompeii!
Up Pompeii! is a British television comedy series broadcast between 1969 and 1970, starring Frankie Howerd. The first series was written by Talbot Rothwell, a scriptwriter for the Carry On films, and the second series by Rothwell and Sid Colin. Two later specials were transmitted in 1975 and...

although a proposed tour was put on the shelf when Howerd was offered a chance by Larry Gelbart
Larry Gelbart
Larry Simon Gelbart was an American television writer, playwright, screenwriter and author.-Early life:...

 to reprise his role as Pseudolus in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart....

at the Piccadilly Theatre In London's West End. The new play, now revised and updated, received its premiere in Chesterfield
Chesterfield
Chesterfield is a market town and a borough of Derbyshire, England. It lies north of Derby, on a confluence of the rivers Rother and Hipper. Its population is 70,260 , making it Derbyshire's largest town...

 in January 2011 before embarking on a UK tour. Produced and directed by Bruce James, it starred Damian Williams, host of Sky One's Are You Smarter Than A Ten Year Old?
Are You Smarter Than A 10 Year Old? (UK)
Are You Smarter Than a/Your 10 Year Old? was a British quiz show which aired on Sky1. There were two editions, one broadcast weekly in primetime, hosted by Noel Edmonds and a daily version, originally hosted by Dick and Dom, but later hosted by Damian Williams...

, as Lurcio the slave. A Kindle ebook version was published in 2011.

Television

In 1987/8 Tredinnick created and wrote the BBC1 comedy series Wyatt's Watchdogs
Wyatt's Watchdogs
Wyatt's Watchdogs was a 30 minute BBC1 situation comedy that starred Brian Wilde and Trevor Bannister. Created and written by Miles Tredinnick, the six episode series was transmitted in the autumn of 1988...

.

Produced and directed by Alan J W Bell, it starred Brian Wilde
Brian Wilde
Brian George Wilde was an English actor, best known for his roles in television comedy, including Mr Barrowclough in Porridge and "Foggy" Dewhurst in Last of the Summer Wine...

 and Trevor Bannister
Trevor Bannister
Trevor Gordon Bannister was an English actor best known for playing the womanising junior salesman Mr. Lucas in the sitcom Are You Being Served? from 1972 to 1979, and for his role as Toby Mulberry Smith in the longest-running sitcom Last of the Summer Wine, from 2003 until it ended its run in 2010...

. In 1992 he joined the Alomo/BBCTV show Birds of a Feather
Birds of a Feather
Birds of a Feather was a British sitcom that was broadcast on BBC1 from 1989 until 1998. Starring Pauline Quirke, Linda Robson and Lesley Joseph, it was created by Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran, who also wrote some of the episodes along with many other writers.The first episode sees sisters...

as a writer on series 4.

Other work

In 1986 Tredinnick started writing for the international Disney Magazine
Disney Magazine
Disney Magazine was an official Disney magazine that was published quarterly from December 1965 to April 2005.-History:The magazine began life as the Disney News on December 1, 1965. The first issue was 16 pages long, and the cover showed Walt Disney surrounded by several costumed characters in...

creating cartoon stories for Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy and other well-known Walt Disney characters.

His first novel Fripp
Fripp (novel)
Fripp is a comedy novel by Miles Tredinnick. It tells the story of a young private investigator, Twyford Fripp, taking on his very first case in attempting to track down the missing wife of a Rear Admiral. It was first published in 2001 and a Kindle ebook version was released in 2011...

, was published in 2001. A Kindle ebook version was published in 2011.

Records

  • Everyone's A Winner - London (1977 MCA Records)
  • Summer Of Love and Friday On My Mind - London (1977 MCA Records)
  • Animal Games - single. London (1977 MCA Records)
  • Punk Rock - Various Artists. (1977 Philips/Phonogram Records Brazil)
  • Animal Games - album. London (1978 MCA Records)
  • Meet the New Punk Wave - Various Artists. (1978 EMI Records Holland)
  • All The Nice Boys And Girls In The World - Riff Regan (1978 MCA Records)
  • Japanese Girls - Riff Regan (1978 MCA Records)
  • You Call Me Lucky - Riff Regan (1979 MCA Records)
  • Spring Sampler - Various Artists (1979 MCA Records)
  • The Only One - Riff Regan (1979 MCA Records)
  • Hard Hearts Don't Cry - Riff Regan (1981 CBS Epic Records)
  • Hottest Woman In Town - single. Berni Torme and The Hard. (1983 CM Records)
  • Metal Killers - Various Artists. (1983 Kastle Killer Records)
  • London The Punk Rock Collection - London (1997 Captain Oi! Records)
  • Get Out Of London - London (2010 Official bootleg live CD)

Television & radio shows

  • So It Goes (1977 Granada Television)
  • The Weekend Show (1979 ITV Television)
  • Superfrank! (1987 Channel 4 Television)
  • Wyatt's Watchdogs (1988 BBC Television)
  • Laugh? I Nearly Went To Miami! (1992 South Africa Radio)
  • Birds Of A Feather (1992 Alomo Productions and BBC Television)
  • It's Now or Never! (1993 South Africa Radio)
  • Topless - (1999 Carlton Television excerpt and report)
  • Topless - Live from London (2000 The Amy Lamé Show, BBC Radio London)
  • Generation X (2001 BBC Television)
  • Facing the Music with David and Carrie Grant (2005 BBC Television)
  • Don't Get Done, Get Dom (2006 BBC Television)

DVD, videos & film

  • Everyone's A Winner - Director Mike Mansfield (1977 MCA Records)
  • Animal Games - So It Goes (1977 Granada Television)
  • London Live At The Marquee - (1977 Italy)
  • You Call Me Lucky (1979 Westward Television)
  • Birds of a Feather (2011 Series 4 DVD on Network DVD
    Network DVD
    Network DVD is a DVD publishing company that specialises in classic British television. In particular, it has the rights to a number of well-known ITV programmes...

    )

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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