Richard Stannard

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Richard Stannard, nicknamed Biff, is a British songwriter and producer, born in 1966. He works with Julian Gallagher and Ash Howes in the Brighton-based production team Biffco. His breakthrough came with the boy band East 17. Stannard got to know the singer and writer Tony Mortimer and put him in touch with the manager Tom Watkins. He was executive producer of the debut album Walthamstow from 1992 and produced two tracks of the follow-up Steam from 1994.

Music and breakthrough

After that he wrote and produced for a long list of pop acts. The team worked for, among others, Kylie Minogue, One Direction, Atomic Kitten, Ellie Goulding, Leona Lewis, Little Mix, Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Will Young. The rise of the Spice Girls, Five and East 17 in particular is largely credited to them. Since 2010 Stannard and Howes also worked as musical director and producer of the songs on the British TV programme The X Factor. In 2010 Stannard founded, with two business partners, the label Major Label, which was the first to sign the synth-pop duo Hurts.

Influence

In School of Rock Stannard appears as one of the writers of Wannabe, the first single by the Spice Girls from the summer of 1996, which the five singers wrote together with Matt Rowe and him. He is an example of the pop makers who work behind the scenes and shape other people's hits.

Listening

In School of Rock

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• Mixtape 13: From Cassette to Cloud^NL Reader