Biography 1980-today
For a shorter version of the biography, click here.
1980-81
Claudia, Albert’s new girlfriend, gives birth to Albert jr. (who took after his father and is now a member of the band The Strokes).
Having become so successful in the Latin market, Albert is asked to record another English album.
The album, titled Your World And My World, is produced by Jim Ed Norman and contains several songs that Albert wrote for his ex-wife. Never before did Albert, who came up with all the melodies, use so many different co-writers for one single album (which happens because the songs were written in several sessions over a period of a couple of years). Your World And My World is one of the few songs Albert wrote solely, the other ones were either written with Tom Snow (Memories, Anyone With Eyes, World Of Love and By The Night), Harold Payne (When I’m Gone), Eric Kaz (I Want You Back Here With Me), Steve Kipner (Experience and I’m A Camera) or Wendy Waldman (Take Me Sailing).
The musicians accompanying Albert on this record include long-time Toto drummer Jeff Porcaro and other famous sessions players such as Matt Andes (guitars) and Lee Sklair and Neil Stubenhaus (bass). Background vocals are provided, among others, by Jennifer Warnes, Nicolette Larson and, on Experience, Flo & Eddie (Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman, also known as The Turtles in the Sixties).
He goes on writing Spanish songs, mainly solely and without any help from lyricists.
Seven of those songs appear on another album in 1981, under the title of Comprenderte: Tengo Que Olvidar, Comprenderte, Ámame, No Te Vayas, Mi Corazón Se Moja, Soñar and Quiéreme. The three additional songs were written by Albert and Pedro José Herrero (Nada Le Importa Nada), co-producer Manuel de la Calva (Muchacha Solitaria) or Sergio Facheli (En Un Bolsillo De Mi Corazón).
This turns out to be Albert’s last Spanish album for a long time.
1982
Albert gets the offer to record another English album and starts writing some more English songs.
The album is titled Somewhere In America and is produced by Brooks Arthur. The track list consists mainly of songs written by Albert and Will Jennings (The Light At The End Of The Line, Oh, What A Time, Doe Was The Loving Kind and Somewhere In America), Gary Osborne (Shoot ‘em Up, Shoot ‘em Down, Before You Change The World and The Right Time) or Lauren Wood (Sweet Defector), but also includes two songs Albert didn’t write anything on: Rendezvous (written by Bruce Springsteen) and Hero On Parade (Elton John and Gary Osborne). Among the band members are much sougt-after session musicians, such as Richie Zito (guitars), Scott Chambers (bass), Bill Meeker (drums), Paulinho da Costa (percussion) and arranger James Newton-Howard (keyboards).
Albert, who wants to see his son grow up (which wasn’t the case with his two daughters), decides not to record and tour anymore and to confine himself to writing and producing for others.
1983-85
Latin superstar Julio Iglesias, who has known Albert since the late Sixties, asks Albert for help on his first album in the English language. Because of his involvement, Albert manages to have Julio do, among others, some songs of his: The Air That I Breathe (with the Beach Boys) and Moonlight Lady, and he even arranges for Julio to get together with Willie Nelson to record a duet version of To All The Girls I’ve Loved Before. He also comes up with the Jamaica part for the Bambou Medley (to which he also adds an English part), writes additional English lyrics for Me Va, Me Va and teaches Julio how to correctly pronounce all the lyrics.
The album, produced by Richard Perry and co-produced by Albert and titled 1100 Bel Air Place (named after the L.A. address where Julio and Albert stayed during production), is a big success and thus a perfect introduction for Iglesias in the English market. The duet with Willie Nelson, To All The Girls I’ve Loved Before, which was partly recorded at Nelson’s private studio in Austin/Texas, even goes to number one.
In 1984, Albert gets the producing job for a Spanish album of Lani Hall’s. It contains, among others, seven of Albert’s own compositions: Es Fácil Amar (originally written with Leo Sayer as Easy To Love), Si Me Amaras (with Carole Bayer Sager as When I Need You) and Fantasma are songs he recorded himself years earlier, but four more songs were newly written: the Lani Hall/Roberto Carlos duet De Repente El Amor (written with Anahi Van Zandwedhe), Amor Sin Mañana, Paginas Prohibidas (both with Anahi Van Zandwedhe and KC Porter) and the Lani Hall/José Feliciano duet Un Amor Así (with Sergio Facheli).
The album, titled Es facil amar, is released in 1985 and wins a Grammy for best Latin album.
The same year, Albert produces another hugely successful project with the recording of Cantaré, Cantarás, which is the equivalent to "USA for Africa/Band Aid". He is not only the writer of the song (with Juan Carlos Calderón and Anahi Van Zandweghe), but also engages several dozens major Latin artists to share vocals on this cut: Fernando Allende, Maria Conchita Alonso, Apollonia, Ramon Arcusa, Basilio, Braulio, Cantinflas, Irene Cara, Roberto Carlos, Nydia Caro, Vikki Carr, Veronica Castro, Charytin, Chiquetete, Claudia De Colombia, Gal Costa, Celia Cruz, Lupita D'Alessio, Guillermo Davila, Placido Domingo, Emmanuel, Sergio Facheli, Jose Feliciano, Vicente Fernandez, Miguel Gallardo, Lucho Gatica, Julio Iglesias, Antonio de Jesus, Jose Jose, Rocio Jurado, Lissette, Valeria Lynch, Cheech Marin, Sergio Mendes, Lucia Mendez, Menudo, Miami Sound Machine, Amanda Miguel, Ricardo Montalban, Palito Ortega, Pimpinela, Tony Renis, Danny Rivera, Jose Luis Rodriguez, Lalo Schifrin, Simone, Manoella Torres, Pedro Vargas, Diego Verdaguer and Yuri.
The single tops the charts in several Latin countries.
1986-1988
In 1986, Albert records a duets CD for the Dutch market of which Give A Little Love goes to number one in Holland and climbs the German charts as well.
But still Albert is at home in the songwriting mode: he writes many, many highly successful songs in the next five years. Hits include Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now (Starship in 1987), Don’t Turn Around (Aswad in 1988), I Don’t Wanna Live Without Your Love (Chicago in 1988), Give A Little Love (Ziggy Marley & The Melodymakers in 1986).
In 1987, Albert writes all of the songs for the José Luis Rodriguez album Señor corazón and also produces the recording. One year before, he already wrote and produced Don’t You Love Me Anymore for Joe Cocker.
But the biggest hit is yet to come: Albert gets the chance to write the theme song for the Olympic Games in Seoul/Korea 1988 and comes up with One Moment In Time, which is taken to the top of many charts worldwide by Whitney Houston.
1989-1995
Sony/Germany releases an album they asked Albert to do, called Best Of Me. It features mainly songwriter renditions of songs made popular by others, such as One Moment In Time, Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now, Through The Storm (a song previously made popular by Aretha Franklin & Elton John) and modernized versions of earlier hits: It never rains in Southern California, The Free Electric Band and The Air That I Breathe.
For a new album of hers (Foreign affair), Tina Turner records several songs written by Albert: Ask Me How I Feel, Be Tender With Me Baby, I Don’t Wanna Lose You and You Can’t Stop Me Loving You, which all become hits for her. Other songs by Albert are Love Thing and Way Of The World (both recorded by Tina Turner, in 1991), My Heart Is Failing Me (Riff) and Where Were You (Bonnie Tyler).
Around that time, he produces Neil Diamond’s recording of Don’t Turn Around (1991) and two more albums for Julio Iglesias (Starry night in 1990, Crazy in 1994) which again contain some of his own compositions, such as Love Has Been A Friend To Me, I Keep Telling Myself and When You Tell Me That You Love Me (a duet with Dolly Parton).
In 1993, Frank Sinatra records Summer Wind with Julio Iglesias for his first "Duets" album; Alberts produces the track together with Phil Ramone.
The following year, Albert meets with Chris de Burgh and writes three songs with him: Love’s Got A Hold On Me, I’m Not Crying Over You and de Burgh’s now-regular show closer, The Snows Of New York. Original songs of that time include Just Walk Away (Céline Dion), Crazy ‘bout You (Jennifer Rush), Entre Mis Recuerdos and Plantado En Mi Cabeza (both by Luz Casal, the first being an acoustic Spanish version of My Heart Is Failing Me) as well as Sensualité (Axelle Red), among others. Besides of this, Elton John records the thirty-year old Good Morning Freedom.
1996-1997
Albert puts out another Spanish album in 1996: Coplas & songs mainly consists of old Latin standards – as did his first Spanish solo album in 1976 already – and contains only one Hammond composition (Mi Andalucía).
He writes three songs for Axelle Red: A Tâtons, C’était and Rien Que D’Y Penser.
In 1997, Albert gets the chance to write the entire soundtrack for a Spanish children’s television program called El Nuevo Mundo De Los Gnomos (The new world of the gnomes). For this project, he himself records three songs: Mini Corazón and En Un Mundo Con Más Amor (both of which are duets with Marta Sánchez) and En Mi Mundo.
1998-2004
Among the Hammond songs recorded between around the turn of the millennium are Axelle Red’s Spanish versions of songs she recorded in French earlier, Con Solo Pensarlo, Era and Sensualidad, Chayanne’s Spanish version of Through The Eyes Of A Child, Soy Como Un Niño, Simply Red’s rendition of The Air That I Breathe and Luz Casal’s recording of Entre Mes Souvenirs (which is the French version of Entre Mis Recuerdos, a song she put out earlier).
Big names of cover artists include José Carreras (Quando Sento Che Me Ami, the Italian version of When You Tell Me That You Love Me) , Pete Yorn, who does his own version of Hammond’s breakthrough hit It Never Rains In Southern California for the movie “Stuck on you”, young opera singer Josh Groban (Alejate), Michael Ball (When You Tell Me That You Love Me) and Tina Turner (Something Special). One of the few new songs released in that time is I Get A Little Burned, which is to be found on an album of Randy Crawford’s.
2005
Albert Hammond just released a new album, Revolution Of The Heart.
