Peter Solley

Peter Solley, 75, died peacefully on Nov 16^th, 2023, with the help of Vermont Act 39, after a short battle with oral cancer in his home in Brattleboro VT, with his wife Susan Tondreau and his daughter Hannah Solley from Dublin, Ireland present to witness the moment of passing. Peter was born in London, England, to Leslie Solley, a Member of Parliament and an attorney and his mother Jose Fisher, a journalist for the Daily Worker Newspaper. Growing up in a Socialist household, Peter was surrounded by famous figures from the McCarthy exodus for the USA such as Paul Robeson and many freedom fighters from newly decolonized Africa. Peter took to music at a young age, learning piano and violin and winning a scholarship to Trinity School of Music in London at the age of 13. Around this time, Solley discovered jazz, from New Orleans to East coast bebop and used the new formats into his writing and composing, moving from band to band, each time raising the bar to new heights and raising his own profile among the very senior group of musicians in London. When Solley joined Chris Farlowe and the Thunderbirds, he had reached the upper echelon of session musicians and he next found Spanish rock band Los Bravos. After living in Spain for a year Solley returned to London and joined the Crazy World of Arthur Brown enjoying a worldwide hit with the song Fire. After 2 tours of the USA with Cream and the Rolling Stones and all the madness that went along with those times, he returned to England with the newly acquired friendships of Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and many others. With his lifelong friend Keith Webb by his side, Peter joined world famous group Procol Harum and became one of the few keyboardists ever to play Whiter Shade of Pale on stage, When Procol Harum started to slow down their time on the road, Peter effortlessly slid into Jingle writing, eventually earning the accounts for British Airways, Coca Cola, Kellogg’s cereals, BMW cars and many other top accounts. From there Solley made the obvious move into record production, starting the new wave phenomenon form London. His first big success was “What I Like About You” by the Detroit band the Romantics, still one of the most played singles ever since on the radio and TV. He followed that with lots of hits recorded in Australia and in 1980 he moved his family over to Miami Beach to be closer to work and the music industry. After 20 years in the industry, playing and producing in South Florida, Solley and his wife Susan decided a change of scenery would be fitting so they set out to find a small summer house in Vermont. After much searching, they found the perfect house in Newfane, Vermont, and made the move permanent in the early 2000’s. They never regretted the move and fell in love with Vermont, its people, politics, mountains and greenery. Peter went as far as opening a gelato manufacturing plant and built the business from a small artisan affair to a viable commercial business, in 2018 he sold the business and this time retired as planned. Peter Solley leaves his wife Susan, one daughter Hannah from his first marriage, two grandchildren, one elder brother Stephen, sister-in-law Helen, 8 nephews and 1 niece. Countless lifelong friends and a life well lived. Although life is never taken for granted, it is a lot easier if it has been well lived as in this case. The Cremation Society of New Hampshire has been entrusted with arrangements. To view an online tribute, leave a message of condolence or for more information please visit www.csnh.com.      

Peter Solley 1948-2023