Richard Hawley’s songs bring real heart and wisdom to new ITV detective drama Ridley. The series stars Line of Duty favourite Adrian Dunbar as retired DI Alex Ridley, but the twist in this tale of a grieving, lonely former police officer who is enticed back to help his successor is that Ridley also co-owns a jazz club – where he occasionally gets on stage.
But Sheffield singer Hawley admits he took quite some persuading to let Adrian Dunbar sing his songs in the new series. In our interview, he also explains that, like Ridley, his heart also belongs to a local music venue… the under-threat Leadmill in Sheffield.
Did you take any persuading to let them use your songs in Ridley?
Yeah, I basically said fuck off at first. I’ve got quite a cinematic head, if you know what I mean? With my songs, I imagine little films in my head. So I’m not a stranger to concept of quite simple idea becoming quite effective when it’s visualised. But I thought this singing detective sounded a bit naff.
How did they change your mind?
A mutual friend of ours, Jonny Owen, got in touch. He’d used my music in Three Kings, which is a beautiful film. He rang me while I was walking the dog and I think I said no again. I’m always wary of people by-passing the manager – I’ve been in situations where that has not worked out well, but Jonny is a friend of the family so I said ok. Adrian called a couple of days later and described why he needed the songs. He said things about my music that I’d never really thought of before and it was quite profound. He said: ‘You deal with male grief. And you’re the only one who does’. That was mindblowing.
Did you meet up?
Adrian came up to Sheffield for the doc fest and we got mightily pissed. He’d been taken to a crappy wine bar. I’d rather eat my own excrement than go somewhere like that, so I said, I have to show you the proper pubs of Sheffield. I took him to Fagan’s and the Grapes, these pubs I’ve been drinking in for nearly 40 years. And he talked about the songs from such a unique perspective. He wasn’t swimming in the shallow end, you know?
You haven’t seen the show yet – but have you heard his version of Coles Corner, As The Dawn Breaks and Open Up The Door yet?
He sent them to me. And he was proper bricking it. It was quite funny. I’m experienced enough in film and TV to know sometimes they have to edit them, but he’s done a great job. I wrote these songs for entirely different reasons but you have to be brave and surrender what you do to someone else. It can be really enlightening.
Posted from : https://www.bigissue.com/culture/richard-hawley-when-they-asked-to-use-my-songs-in-ridley-i-told-them-to-f-off/
