Richard Hartley

Richard Hartley's long and varied career as a musical arranger and composer has included just about everything, from playing piano in a r&b band in Paris to scoring strings for reggae records to arranging scores for experimental plays, TV and films. Hartley was brought in to help with musical auditions for the London production of Jesus Christ Superstar in 1972, where he first met director Jim Sharman and actor Richard O'Brien. While scoring Sharman's production of Sam Shepard's The Unseen Hand in 1973, Hartley was asked to work with O'Brien on his new rock musical, The Rocky Horror Show. Playing keyboards as one of the original four-piece show band, Hartley also arranged O'Brien's songs, expanding his work later for The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). As well as collaborating further with O'Brien on plays and films, notably on Shock Treatment (1981), Hartley scored films for director Joseph Losey, and went on to become one of England's most successful film composers.