Richard "Dick" Witts (born in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, England) is an English musicologist, music historian, and ex leader of 1980s band [[artist:95927]], whose recordings were at times made by Witts alone. Witts had previously been a percussionist in the city's celebrated [[artist:Hallé Orchestra]], a unique background that undoubtedly informed the sound of The Passage. From Fall-esque beginnings on Object Music in 1978, the group would later refine their sound towards dance and electronica on later albums for Cherry Red. The Passage first came together in Manchester in March 1978, still as an extra-curricular activity, since Witts juggled a post as music and dance officer for Merseyside Arts Association with a stint co-presenting What's On for Granada TV. Although Witts landed the presenting job courtesy of Factory Records supremo Tony Wilson, it was never likely that the Passage would record for his label.

Today Witts is an academic, having published a history of the Arts Council in 1998, and lectures on modern music in London and Edinburgh. His first book, Nico – the Lives and Lies of an Icon, was a biographical study of the German singer and songwriter (Virgin Books, 1993). Witts now lives in Liverpool and is a writer who has lectured at the University of Edinburgh, Goldsmiths College, London, the University of Surrey in Guildford and the University of Sussex. He was appointed Research Fellow at the University of Edinburgh where he made a simple catalogue of the archive of Sir Donald Francis Tovey (1875–1940). In 2010, he was invited by Edge Hill University, Ormskirk, to design an Honours course in music.

His third book, a study of the music and history of The Velvet Underground, was published by Equinox (UK) and the Indiana University Press (USA) in September 2006. He has also written chapters for the following academic books: Kraftwerk: Music Non-Stop (Continuum, 2011), Mark E. Smith and the Fall: Art, Music and Politics (Ashgate, 2010), and the Cambridge Companion To Recorded Music (Cambridge University Press, 2009). Witts is mentioned in the book Audio Culture: Readings in Modern Music. He is credited with sending a package containing some of Aphex Twin's music to Karlheinz Stockhausen. He is currently researching a book on the history of British music from 1941 to 2000.