Eric Norman Woolfson (18 March 1945 – 2 December 2009) was a Scottish songwriter, lyricist, vocalist, executive producer, pianist, and co-creator of the band The Alan Parsons Project, who sold over 50 million albums worldwide. Woolfson also pursued a career in musical theatre. Early life Woolfson was born into a Jewish family in the Charing Cross area of Glasgow, where his family owned the Elders furniture store. He was raised in the Pollokshields area on the south side of the city and educated at the High School of Glasgow. Woolfson's interest in music was inspired by an uncle, and he taught himself to play the piano. After leaving school he briefly flirted with becoming an accountant before moving to London to seek opportunities in the music industry. Early career Arriving in London in 1963, he found work as a session pianist. The then current record producer for the Rolling Stones, Andrew Loog Oldham, signed him as a songwriter. During the following years, Woolfson wrote songs for artists such as Marianne Faithfull, Frank Ifield, Joe Dassin, The Tremeloes, Marie (French singer), Marmalade, Dave Berry, Peter Noone, and The Poets. In due course Woolfson signed other publishing deals as more of his songs were adopted by leading recording artists, throughout Europe and America. He also signed a deal with Southern Music, where he worked alongside composers and lyricists such as Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. In 1971, with the assistance of Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley, Lol Creme and Graham Gouldman (who later became 10cc), a single was produced under the name of Eric Elder ("San Tokay" b/w "Sunflower") and issued on UK Philips 6006 081 and US Philips 40699. Woolfson then produced a single by Graham Gouldman ("Nowhere to Go" b/w "Growing Older") which was issued in 1972 on UK CBS 7739. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Woolfson was an independent record producer for several record companies, and worked with artists including Dave Berry, the Equals, the Tremeloes and, in 1973, Darren Burn. Despite his success, he found that earning a living as a songwriter was not easy and decided to try artist management. His move into management was instantly successful. His first two signings were Carl Douglas (whose record Kung Fu Fighting (1974) was one of the biggest selling hits of all time) and engineer/record producer Alan Parsons. The Alan Parsons Project In 1974, Woolfson met record producer