Bob Heatlie, the Scots songwriter who penned Shakin’ Stevens hit ‘Merry Christmas Everyone’ has died at the age of 76.
Bob also created ‘Japanese Boy’ for Edinburgh-born classical singer, Mary Sandeman, who topped the UK music charts dressed as Geisha girl ‘Aneka’ in 1981.
Heatlie once said of the song "That one got me the big house.”
Heatlie, who also hailed from the Scots capital, was just six when he learned to play the saxophone and began playing in his father’s band in and around Edinburgh in the 1950s.
In 1967, he married his wife Mary and they went on to have two sons, Bobby and Mike.
The marriage ended not long after the success of ‘Merry Christmas Everyone’. Later, he began a relationship with glamorous Hungarian singer Eva Csepregi, a member of the famous Neoton family who was among the country’s most popular bands in the 1970s and 80s. They had a son, David, a singer and drummer.
Musical commitments took him all over the world, including the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
And conditions were far from festive when Bob began composing his most popular work, the royalties from which amounted to a comfortable pension over the years.
Sitting in his Edinburgh garage-turned studio, he recalled: "I was wearing shorts and sweating like a pig as I was putting bells down on the demo.”
The song he wrote became a personal favourite of Prince William.
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He added: "I sat down to try to write a Christmas song because I knew if you could have a hit at that time of the year, then it would carry on forever.
“It didn’t take me long to write it, no more than a week, coming back and forth to it over a few days.
“I mean, I know it’s not a musical masterpiece, not Beethoven or anything, but it’s very catchy, isn’t it?”
The song was intended for release at Christmas 1984 but Band Aid’s massive charity single ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’ forced the record company to put it on hold for a year.
When it was released in 1985, ‘Merry Christmas Everyone’ knocked Whitney Houston off the top spot on December 25.
Bob had enjoyed earlier success with Scots singer Mary Sandeman, who embraced Far Eastern culture dressed as a Geisha girl for the 1981 No.1 hit ‘Japanese Boy’.
The day it topped the charts, Mary was appearing at the Edinburgh Fringe. She later said: "I was due to go out and celebrate with Bob and a couple of other guys who were involved.
“But we found Bob’s car wouldn’t start and we had to push it along an Edinburgh street while laughing our heads off and saying ‘It’s tough at the top, isn’t it?”
Bob’s popularity was evident from messages of support placed on a family member’s Facebook page.
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One wrote: "Sorry for your loss, Mike and Bobby. Glad I got to meet him. Such a talented writer of songs and a kind and generous person.”
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