Brighton-born music industry legend David Courtney is holding a book launch in Hove this evening (Tuesday 18 June).
The 74-year-old singer, songwriter and record producer will speak about his life and work at Rockwater, on Hove seafront, in conversation with the author Lesley-Ann Jones.
The free event starts at 7pm as the Grammy-nominated composer promising that he will be “talking candidly about his extraordinary life and career in and outside music”.
Mr Courtney has worked with some of the most famous names in pop including Roger Daltrey, Jimmy Page, Sir Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, David Gilmour, Adam Faith and Gene Pitney.
He has been described as the man behind the success of Leo Sayer, from Shoreham, co-writing many of his hit songs.
And he also wrote hits for disco band Odyssey and pop duo Dollar, with Thereza Bazar and Brighton-born David Van Day performing them in the 1970s and 1980s.
Mr Courtney’s autobiography is called Giving It All Away – also the title of a song that he co-wrote and which was Roger Daltrey’s first solo single.
The book promises “a fascinating insight into the music industry” and some of the highs and lows of Mr Courtney’s personal life including a near-death experience in childhood.
With a mafia encounter and more, the book is said to “read like a film script, having seemingly crammed ten lives into one”.
He set up the Brighton Walk of Fame, inspired by the Hollywood equivalent, and with his autobiography now being published, he hopes to add book sales to his millions of record sales.
