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On this day, July 10, 1941, Ian Whitcomb was born.
Sat Jul 10, 2021: On this day, July 10, 1941, Ian Whitcomb was born.
There's a lot about the guy that I didn't know.
I didn't know he had died. I had forgotten that he was the artist who performed "Where Did Robinson Crusoe Go with Friday on Saturday Night?". I did not know that he had evolved into such a musicologist.
Ian Whitcomb
Whitcomb in 1990
Background information
Birth name: Ian Timothy Whitcomb
Born: 10 July 1941; Woking, Surrey, England
Died: 19 April 2020 (aged 78); Pasadena, California, U.S.
Website: http://www.picklehead.com/ian.html
Ian Timothy Whitcomb (10 July 1941 – 19 April 2020) was an English entertainer, singer-songwriter, record producer, writer, broadcaster and actor. As part of the British Invasion, his hit song "You Turn Me On" reached number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1965.
He wrote several books on popular music, beginning with After the Ball, published by Penguin Books (Britain) and Simon & Schuster (United States) in 1972. He accompanied his singing by playing the ukulele and, through his records, concerts, and film work, helped to stimulate the revival of interest in the instrument. His re-creation of the music played aboard the RMS Titanic in the film of that name won a Grammy Award in 1998 for package design and a nomination for Whitcomb's liner notes (Titanic: Music as Heard on the Fateful Voyage).
{snip}
Music and writing career
At Bryanston, a public school in Dorset, England, Whitcomb began writing comic and other songs. He started a skiffle group in 1957 and then a rock and roll band in 1959. After leaving school, he worked at Harrods and then as an assistant at film studios. With his younger brother Robin on drums, he formed a band, The Ragtime Suwanee Six, that played at parties in the Surrey area and was managed by Denny Cordell, later to produce records by Procol Harum and Joe Cocker. Robin went on to play tambourine on Sonny & Cher's hit "I Got You Babe" (1965).
Around 1963, while studying history at Trinity College, Dublin, Ian Whitcomb became a founding member and lead vocalist of Dublin's early rhythm and blues band, Bluesville. After some unreleased early recordings, Whitcomb travelled to Seattle, where he performed and was signed to record for Jerden Records. After returning to Dublin, he recorded "This Sporting Life", written by Brownie McGhee and previously recorded as a skiffle number by Chas McDevitt. Whitcomb's recording was then licensed to the Tower label, a subsidiary of Capitol Records, for release in the US. It reached number 100 for one week on the Billboard Hot 100.
Their next record release, again credited as Ian Whitcomb & Bluesville, "You Turn Me On", was largely improvised at the end of a recording session in Dublin. Released as a single on the Tower label, it reached Billboard's number 8 spot in July 1965 – the first Irish-produced record to reach the US charts – but was not released in Britain. During his summer vacation in 1965, Whitcomb went to America to appear on such television programs as Shindig, Hollywood A Go-Go and American Bandstand. Whitcomb played the Hollywood Bowl with The Beach Boys in 1965 and then toured with The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, and Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs.
"N-E-R-V-O-U-S!", Whitcomb's next release, was recorded in Hollywood and reached No. 59 in Billboard and No. 47 in Cash Box. He returned to Dublin for his history finals and received a BA degree. In 1966 he turned to early popular song: his version of a 1916 Al Jolson comedy number, "Where Did Robinson Crusoe Go with Friday on Saturday Night?" was a West Coast hit, reviving the ukulele before the emergence of Tiny Tim.
After making four albums for the Tower label, Whitcomb retired as a pop performer, later writing that he "wanted no part of the growing pretentiousness of rock with its mandatory drugs and wishy-washy spiritualism and its increasing loud and metallic guitar sounds." However, in 1969 he produced Mae West on her album called Great Balls of Fire for MGM Records. Whitcomb then returned to the UK and was commissioned by Penguin Books to write a history of pop music. This was After the Ball, published in 1972. He appeared on several BBC TV show and was an early presenter of the BBC TV show The Old Grey Whistle Test in 1971.
Whitcomb settled in California in the late 1970s. He starred in and wrote L.A.–My Home Town (BBC TV; 1976) and Tin Pan Alley (PBS; 1974). He wrote Tin Pan Alley, A Pictorial History (1919–1939) and a novel, Lotusland: A Story of Southern California, published in 1979. He also provided the music for a documentary film, Bugs Bunny: Superstar (UA), which was narrated by Orson Welles. For Play-Rite Music he cut 18 piano rolls that were included in an album, Pianomelt. His other albums reflected his research into the genres of ragtime, Tin Pan Alley, vaudeville, and music hall. These, beginning with Under the Ragtime Moon (1972), were released on several record labels including Warner Bros. Records, United Artists, and Decca Records. During that time he also wrote and produced singles for Warner Bros.' country division, most notably "Hands", a massage parlour story, and "A Friend of a Friend of Mine".
{snip}
Illness and death
Whitcomb died in Pasadena, California at a care facility on 19 April 2020, from complications of a stroke he had suffered in 2012. He was 78.
{snip}
Whitcomb in 1990
Background information
Birth name: Ian Timothy Whitcomb
Born: 10 July 1941; Woking, Surrey, England
Died: 19 April 2020 (aged 78); Pasadena, California, U.S.
Website: http://www.picklehead.com/ian.html
Ian Timothy Whitcomb (10 July 1941 – 19 April 2020) was an English entertainer, singer-songwriter, record producer, writer, broadcaster and actor. As part of the British Invasion, his hit song "You Turn Me On" reached number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1965.
He wrote several books on popular music, beginning with After the Ball, published by Penguin Books (Britain) and Simon & Schuster (United States) in 1972. He accompanied his singing by playing the ukulele and, through his records, concerts, and film work, helped to stimulate the revival of interest in the instrument. His re-creation of the music played aboard the RMS Titanic in the film of that name won a Grammy Award in 1998 for package design and a nomination for Whitcomb's liner notes (Titanic: Music as Heard on the Fateful Voyage).
{snip}
Music and writing career
At Bryanston, a public school in Dorset, England, Whitcomb began writing comic and other songs. He started a skiffle group in 1957 and then a rock and roll band in 1959. After leaving school, he worked at Harrods and then as an assistant at film studios. With his younger brother Robin on drums, he formed a band, The Ragtime Suwanee Six, that played at parties in the Surrey area and was managed by Denny Cordell, later to produce records by Procol Harum and Joe Cocker. Robin went on to play tambourine on Sonny & Cher's hit "I Got You Babe" (1965).
Around 1963, while studying history at Trinity College, Dublin, Ian Whitcomb became a founding member and lead vocalist of Dublin's early rhythm and blues band, Bluesville. After some unreleased early recordings, Whitcomb travelled to Seattle, where he performed and was signed to record for Jerden Records. After returning to Dublin, he recorded "This Sporting Life", written by Brownie McGhee and previously recorded as a skiffle number by Chas McDevitt. Whitcomb's recording was then licensed to the Tower label, a subsidiary of Capitol Records, for release in the US. It reached number 100 for one week on the Billboard Hot 100.
Their next record release, again credited as Ian Whitcomb & Bluesville, "You Turn Me On", was largely improvised at the end of a recording session in Dublin. Released as a single on the Tower label, it reached Billboard's number 8 spot in July 1965 – the first Irish-produced record to reach the US charts – but was not released in Britain. During his summer vacation in 1965, Whitcomb went to America to appear on such television programs as Shindig, Hollywood A Go-Go and American Bandstand. Whitcomb played the Hollywood Bowl with The Beach Boys in 1965 and then toured with The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, and Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs.
"N-E-R-V-O-U-S!", Whitcomb's next release, was recorded in Hollywood and reached No. 59 in Billboard and No. 47 in Cash Box. He returned to Dublin for his history finals and received a BA degree. In 1966 he turned to early popular song: his version of a 1916 Al Jolson comedy number, "Where Did Robinson Crusoe Go with Friday on Saturday Night?" was a West Coast hit, reviving the ukulele before the emergence of Tiny Tim.
After making four albums for the Tower label, Whitcomb retired as a pop performer, later writing that he "wanted no part of the growing pretentiousness of rock with its mandatory drugs and wishy-washy spiritualism and its increasing loud and metallic guitar sounds." However, in 1969 he produced Mae West on her album called Great Balls of Fire for MGM Records. Whitcomb then returned to the UK and was commissioned by Penguin Books to write a history of pop music. This was After the Ball, published in 1972. He appeared on several BBC TV show and was an early presenter of the BBC TV show The Old Grey Whistle Test in 1971.
Whitcomb settled in California in the late 1970s. He starred in and wrote L.A.–My Home Town (BBC TV; 1976) and Tin Pan Alley (PBS; 1974). He wrote Tin Pan Alley, A Pictorial History (1919–1939) and a novel, Lotusland: A Story of Southern California, published in 1979. He also provided the music for a documentary film, Bugs Bunny: Superstar (UA), which was narrated by Orson Welles. For Play-Rite Music he cut 18 piano rolls that were included in an album, Pianomelt. His other albums reflected his research into the genres of ragtime, Tin Pan Alley, vaudeville, and music hall. These, beginning with Under the Ragtime Moon (1972), were released on several record labels including Warner Bros. Records, United Artists, and Decca Records. During that time he also wrote and produced singles for Warner Bros.' country division, most notably "Hands", a massage parlour story, and "A Friend of a Friend of Mine".
{snip}
Illness and death
Whitcomb died in Pasadena, California at a care facility on 19 April 2020, from complications of a stroke he had suffered in 2012. He was 78.
{snip}
IAN WHITCOMB sings "You Turn Me On"
12,047 viewsSep 16, 2008
Regina Whitcomb
282 subscribers
sexy too
12,047 viewsSep 16, 2008
Regina Whitcomb
282 subscribers
sexy too
Ian Whitcomb singing "Nervous" on French TV, 1966-04-04
13,450 views May 2, 2012
meteorplum
31 subscribers
Ian Whitcomb sings "Nervous" on the French TV show "Douches Ecossaise", April 4th, 1966. Edited together from multiple takes of the song, this is more a music video than a "live" performance.
Also, did Mick Jagger copy Ian's lip and jaw movement?
13,450 views May 2, 2012
meteorplum
31 subscribers
Ian Whitcomb sings "Nervous" on the French TV show "Douches Ecossaise", April 4th, 1966. Edited together from multiple takes of the song, this is more a music video than a "live" performance.
Also, did Mick Jagger copy Ian's lip and jaw movement?
Ian Whitcomb - Where Did Robinson Crusoe Go
26,086 views Jan 10, 2008
ukie00
129 subscribers
Ian Whitcomb
26,086 views Jan 10, 2008
ukie00
129 subscribers
Ian Whitcomb