Screaming Lord Sutch

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Screaming Lord Sutch (behind Colin Dale, right Tony Dangerfield)

David Edward Sutch (born November 10, 1940 in Hampstead, Middlesex , England , † June 16, 1999 in Harrow , London ) was a British singer and politician.

Career

solo

Sutch grew up in a working class environment in north London. His father, a police reserve officer, was killed in a bomb attack. Together with his mother he lived in poor conditions in Kilburn and later in Harrow . His mother got by as a saleswoman and cleaning lady. Sutch left school in 1956 and took a job as a window cleaner. By Bill Haley's Rock Around the Clock he was motivated himself to become a musician. He made his first appearances in the Ace Cafe , a bar frequented by motorcyclists on London's Harrow Road. His singing style has been compared to that of Screamin 'Jay Hawkins . He adopted the stage name and fantasy title Screaming Lord Sutch, Third Earl of Harrow .

Screaming Lord Sutch And The Savages

Around 1960, Sutch attracted increasing attention with his appearances, for example at 2i's Coffee Bar in London: on the one hand, with his "wild man of Borneo look", consisting of his aunt's leopard skin jacket and a hat with buffalo horns, which made him stand out from the crowd Elvis Presley copies stood out; But above all through his unusual stage show , which he was one of the first to enrich with shock and horror elements . Props were axes, knives, skulls and a coffin that was carried onto the stage at the beginning of the concert. He emerged from this as a ghost figure, with a white make-up face and black and red rimmed eyes, in order to spit a green liquid into the audience. Sutch was also noticed as one of the first long-haired musicians, his hair is said to have been 18 inches (about 45 centimeters) long.

In 1961 music producer Joe Meek became aware of him and made his first records. Sutch got himself a permanent band, The Raving Savages ("Die raging savages"), consisting of Bernie Watson ( guitar ), Rick Brown ( bass ), Carlo Little ( drums ) and Nicky Hopkins , who later became the session keyboardist of the Rolling Stones should be. The line-up changed frequently, including Ritchie Blackmore , Matthew Fisher , Tony Dangerfield and Andy Wren at times. The ensemble later became known as Screaming Lord Sutch And The Savages . The records produced in Meek's home studio in Islington were often boycotted by the BBC , which, however, increased the band's visibility.

Sutch, who was looked after by manager Reg Calvert from 1962 to 1966 , expanded his stage shows and now also offered themed shows, so he and his band appeared in costumes as Stone Age people or Romans , and the stage decorations were adapted accordingly. Sutch renamed the band Lord Caesar Sutch & the Roman Empire especially for the latter show , sometimes driving up in a horse-drawn chariot . One of his most famous plays was Jack the Ripper (1963), which is about the serial killer of the same name . Steps and screams of a fleeing ripper victim can be heard on the recording. Jack the Ripper was often played on the radio and in nightclubs. Thomas Irschick , singer of the opening act The Spacemen , reports from a concert in 1966 in the New World where a criminal complaint was brought by the concert promoter after Lord Sutch set rags on the stage and damaged the promoter's loudspeakers with a knife. Despite his appearances in well-known clubs such as the Star Club in Hamburg, his later famous musicians such as Blackmore, Hopkins or Fisher and his relatively high level of awareness, commercial success failed to materialize. Sutch's albums didn't generate any significant sales. The 1970 LP Lord Sutch and Heavy Friends reached a chart position in the US, but was voted "Worst Record Ever" in a 1998 BBC poll - a title she also got in The Top 1000 Albums of All Time , although recognized musicians such as Jimmy Page , John Bonham , Jeff Beck , Noel Redding and Nicky Hopkins played on this record .

In the early 1990s Sutch made a comeback in the psychobilly scene , where he also performed at some festivals and the like. a. was seen with The Meteors . In the last few years before his death, he performed up to 250 performances a year across Europe.

Discography

Sutch released a large number of singles , especially in the 1960s , which contained both original compositions and covers of well-known rock standards. A long-playing record was made in the 1970s . Several "Best of" albums were released during his lifetime and after his death.

Singles (excerpt)

  • 1961: Good Golly Miss Molly / 'Til The Following Night - (HMV)
  • 1963: Jack The Ripper / Don't You Just Know It - (Decca)
  • 1963: I'm A Hog For You / Monster In Black Tights - (Decca)
  • 1964: She's Fallen In Love With A Monster / Bye Bye Baby - (Oriole)
  • 1964: Dracula's Daughter / Come Back Baby - (Oriole)
  • 1966: The Cheat / Black And Hairy - (CBS)
  • 1976: Jack The Ripper (new recording) / Dance And Jive - (Charly / Bellaphon)
  • 1976: Monster Ball / Rang-Tang-A-Lang - (SRT)
  • 1976: I Drink To Your Health Marie / I Drink To Your Health Marie (Instrumental) - (SRT)

Albums (excerpt)

  • 1970: Screaming Lord Sutch and Heavy Friends
  • 1980: Alive And Well (live)
  • 1992: Live Manifesto (live)

Pirate transmitter

see main article → Radio Sutch

1964 Sutch was involved in the operation of the pirate station "Radio Sutch".

Politician

Sutch turned to politics in 1963 when by - elections to the British House of Commons in Stratford-upon-Avon had become necessary as a result of the Profumo affair - initially only on the initiative of his manager Calvert, who saw an opportunity to increase Sutch's popularity. However, tireless participation in elections, largely with satirical election campaigns and absurd demands, remained a constant until Sutch's death.

National Teenage Party

As early as 1963, Sutch had founded the National Teenage Party (NTP), whose program contained numerous absurd demands, but also the lowering of the voting age to 18 years, the approval of commercial broadcasters and the liberalization of pub opening times - demands that have become a reality today .

Official Monster Raving Loony Party

see main article → Official Monster Raving Loony Party

Sutch lived partially in the US in the 1970s , but left the country in the early 1980s, disaffected by Ronald Reagan's politics . Back in England, he founded the Official Monster Raving Loony Party in 1983, following on from his NTP . The party demanded - alluding to the agricultural surpluses in the EC , some of which were extensively destroyed - the construction of a ski slope from the Butterberg and the breeding of food fish in wine lakes so that they could be caught when caught. He himself ran as a candidate in around 40 elections. He never had a chance to win a seat, but often achieved a surprisingly high percentage of the vote. After costing Margaret Thatcher several hundred votes in her constituency in 1983, the Conservative government increased the amount of money a candidate was required to deposit from £ 150 to £ 500. But Sutch did not let that dissuade him from his candidacy. Since the deposits expired after the lost elections, Sutch always had high capital requirements. He faced bankruptcy in 1995 when his bank insisted on repaying a £ 194,000 loan . Only after the intervention of a lender was the bank willing to continue to defer the loan so that Sutch could continue his political activities.

In the 1990s, the Heineken Brewery advertised Sutch as UK Prime Minister at 10 Downing Street . The advertising slogan read: " Only Heineken can do this ."

death

Sutch committed suicide by hanging in 1999 , two years after his mother suddenly died. His partner said he had suffered from depression for many years . His last entry in his diary is said to have read: “Depression, depression, depression is simply too much.” An obituary read: “A comedian with tragedy in his heart. The public saw the public face, a cheerful, open character, but in the seclusion of his chamber, his true sadness emerged. ”
A UK government spokesman stated that Sutch had made unique contributions to British politics over many years. Without him, the elections would never be the way they were.
David Edward Sutch was buried at his mother's side in Pinner Cemetery, London.

reception

Screaming Lord Sutch is considered to be one of the trailblazers for later shock rockers like Alice Cooper and Lizzy Borden .

Trivia

Sutch was never married. With the American model Thann Rendessy he had a son, Tristan Lord Gwynne Sutch, who was born in 1975.

In 1991 his autobiography Life as Sutch was published , in 2005 the biography The Man Who Was Screaming Lord Sutch .

Web links

Commons : Screaming Lord Sutch  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

References

  1. ↑ a b Nigel Fountain: Screaming Lord Sutch: Anarchic, irreverent performer ... The Guardian , June 19, 1999, accessed March 2, 2011 .
  2. ↑ a b Lord David Sutch and Peter Chippindale: Life as Sutch - The Official Autobiography of a Monster Raving Loony. HarperCollins, 1991, ISBN 0-207-17240-4 .
  3. ↑ Screaming Lord Sutch: Sutch's Life. Eye of the Goof blog ( December 20, 2007 memento in the Internet Archive ).
  4. ^ Dorothy Calvert: rock'n'roll entrepreneur and pirate radio pioneer. The Times, March 8, 2010 ( Memento of May 24, 2010 on the Internet Archive ).
  5. ^ Band history The Spacemen on Rockarchiv , accessed 3rd May 2020
  6. ↑ a b c Screaming Lord Sutch. Citizendium, accessed December 15, 2018.
  7. ↑ Entertainment Rock roots of political Loony. BBC News, June 17, 1999, accessed February 16, 2011 .
  8. ^ Iain MacFarlaine: David Edward "Screaming Lord Sutch" Sutch. Find A Grave, October 6, 2002, accessed February 16, 2011 .
  9. ↑ Screaming Lord Sutch found dead. BBC News, June 17, 1999, accessed January 26, 2011 .
  10. ^ Getty Images - Sutch Is Life
  11. ↑ Graham Sharpe: The Man Who Was Screaming Lord Sutch. Aurum Press Ltd., ISBN 1-85410-983-9
personal data
SURNAME Sutch, Screaming Lord
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Sutch, David Edward
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British musician and politician
DATE OF BIRTH November 10, 1940
PLACE OF BIRTH Middlesex
DATE OF DEATH June 16, 1999
Place of death London , England