Hereward Kaye was born in Middlesbrough in 1953. After completing his formal education, he attended drama college and sang for a local blues band, before washing up in London (literally) and forming a band with Middlesbrough chum Tom Robinson, called Café Society. They were signed by Ray Davies to his Konk label, the first of the independent record companies. Café made two albums and toured the U.K. between 74 and 76. Then it did what bands do best broke up.

In 1980, E.M.I. signed Kaye as a solo artist and he recorded an album of original material and a single, working with Genesis Producer David Hentschel and some of the finest musicians of the day - and Chas n Dave...

He became involved with the theatre around this time and wrote a late night cabaret for the London Bubble called Hell Can Be Heaven, a show performed for five months in a circus tent, touring the parks and heaths of Greater London. As an actor, he toured Germany in the Rocky Horror Show, playing Dr. Scott.

Hereward was an original member of a theatre company formed by actor Robert Longden which created two new theatre venues for London: The Old Red Lion in Islington, and the Cornet in Battersea. Robert and Hereward wrote several shows together, one of which was Moby Dick In Venice America s greatest book set against a backdrop of Venice. Why? For the simple reason that someone gave them a free backdrop. Of Venice.

Hereward worked at the Liverpool Everyman as an actor and musician, appearing in the shows Return To The Forbidden Planet and You ll Never Walk Alone. He subsequently worked on Forbidden Planet again, this time as Musical Director and Arranger. He was employed in the same capacity on the shows From a Jack To a King and Cinderella Rockerfella, also at the Everyman. When Forbidden Planet transferred to the Tricycle in London, Hereward went with it for a third time, as Musical Director and actor.

For a year and a half Hereward worked as a Musical Director in the West End, in the Alan Bleasedale show Are You Lonesome Tonight? which won the 1986 Best Musical Award. For theatre company Eastern Angles he composed the score for Goodbye America which toured in 1990. He worked with Writer Willy Russell, developing Willy s songs for the film Dancing Through the Dark and arranging and producing his song Shirley Valentine . Sadly, it never made the final film. He did a concert with Russell at the Liverpool Playhouse and the two performed a duet from his Musical Blood Brothers.

For Tom Robinson Hereward was a Producer, session singer and songwriter. He also appeared as an actor in one of Robinson's videos. Tom and Hereward composed the score for Cramp writer John Godber s first (and last) musical, written for Hull Truck Theatre company. It premiered at the Edinburgh festival and did a national tour. He appeared as a guest of Frank Bough s on B.B.C.Breakfast T.V. and on Russell Harty to promote it.

In 1992 Hereward's musical with Robert Longden Moby Dick now mercifully minus the backdrop was brought into the West End by impresario Cameron Mackintosh, where it opened at the Piccadilly and ran for four months. Since then it has been staged in the U.S. Germany and Japan.

With Producer Sacha Brooks and Writers Stephen Clark and Steven Dexter Hereward has been developing a new show: Underworld. In 98 they staged workshop performances in New York and Seattle, where it was rewritten on a daily basis.

As a vocalist, he worked for Rick Wakeman as his lead singer, making one album: The Cost Of Living. In 86 Hereward joined The Flying Pickets and stayed with the band right up to October 1999, touring the world from Australia to Iceland to South Africa, though mainly working in Europe, performing eighty to a hundred concerts a year since 1985, recording four albums and appearing on T.V. in several different countries.

After twenty five years of living in or around London, Hereward came back to Middlesbrough in 1996 to buy the house in which he grew up. He lives here with his wife and son, as well as two foster children. The couple has two grown up sons also in the area, with whom Hereward has recently formed a band - Orchard Road . They aim to be performing around the region from April 2000 on Hereward has also recently finished turning Hell Can Be Heaven into a full length Musical.