Terry Dempsey (8 March 1941 – 10 February 2019) was a South African songwriter whose songs were made famous by a number of artists.
6-664: Born in England, he moved to South Africa in 1978 and formed two record labels, Storm and MAP. He wrote the song " Daydreamer ", which he took to Tokyo Music Festival in 1974 where it was picked up by Artie Wayne and recorded by David Cassidy . Cassidy's recording spent three weeks at the top of the UK singles chart in October and November 1973. A French adaptation, "Le Mal Aimé", recorded by Claude François , reached number 1 in France. He also wrote "Love Is
12-552: A Beautiful Song", performed by Dave Mills , which reached number 1 in South Africa, Canada and Australia. Two other songs written by him reached Number 1 in South Africa – "Spider Spider" by Tidal Wave and "Kentucky Blues" sung by Lauren Copley. His song "Home" recorded by Dave Mills won a SARIE award in 1971 for Song of the Year. He also wrote theme songs for South African TV shows, including Twist Grip , TopSport , DriveTime, as well as
18-685: A version of this song called "Le mal aimé" which was a hit in France and Belgium . Singers of musical Belles belles belles covered the Claude François' song. The song's only chart appearances in the US were by C.C. & Company and Gino Cunico in 1976. C.C. & Company’s soul-flavored version (produced by Mike Theodore and Dennis Coffey ) entered the Hot 100 on January 3, 1976, and made it to #91 six weeks later. Cunico’s cover, on Arista Records , which hit No. 43 on
24-529: The UK Singles Chart , spending three weeks at the top of the chart in October and November 1973. The song was a double-A side with a cover version of Harry Nilsson 's " The Puppy Song ". The single was the 10th best selling single in the UK in 1973. The song also appears on David Cassidy's 1973 UK No.1 album Dreams Are Nuthin' More Than Wishes . Cilla Black recorded a version of this song in 1974. The French singer Claude François also recorded
30-685: The Comrades Marathon and television series' The Power of Persuasion and Wings Over Africa . In 1988 he joined the board of the National Organisation of Rights In Music (later called the Southern African Music Rights Organisation) for a period of three years before being elected as chairman for a further two years. In 1999 he produced and wrote the film score for the South African feature film Heel Against
36-583: The Head . Some of his writing credits include: He was killed when he was struck by the blades of a gyrocopter when it made an emergency landing at the Vaal Marina during a family ash scattering. Daydreamer (David Cassidy song) "Daydreamer" is a song by the American singer David Cassidy . Written by Terry Dempsey and produced by Rick Jarrard, "Daydreamer" was Cassidy's second and final No.1 single in
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