Peter Sarstedt

Peter Eardley Sarstedt[1] (10 December 1941 – 8 January 2017), briefly billed early in his career as Peter Lincoln, was a British singer-songwriter and instrumentalist. He was the brother of musicians Eden Kane and Clive Sarstedt.

Peter Sarstedt
Sarstedt in 1969
Background information
Birth namePeter Eardley Sarstedt
Also known asPeter Lincoln
Born(1941-12-10)10 December 1941
New Delhi, British India
OriginCroydon, London, England
Died8 January 2017(2017-01-08) (aged 75)
Sussex, England
Genres
Occupation(s)Singer-songwriter/ musician
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • guitar
Years active1967–2010
LabelsUnited Artists
Island Records
Angel Air
Singer Records
Warner
Associated acts

Although his music was classified as pop, it generally encompassed ballads derived from traditional folk music rather than traditional rock and roll. He was best known for writing and performing the song "Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)?", which topped the UK Singles Chart in 1969. Set to a "faux European waltz tune"[1] and described as "a romantic novel in song",[2] it won an Ivor Novello Award. The record remained Sarstedt's biggest hit, despite his releasing numerous successful albums and singles from the late 1960s onward.

He continued to tour throughout the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, mainly in 1960s revival-type shows, until his retirement in 2010 due to ill health.[3]

Early life

Sarstedt was born in New Delhi in 1941 as one of six siblings, to Albert and Coral Sarstedt, who were civil servants in the British administration.[4][5][1] Both of his parents had trained as classical musicians.[6]

Sarstedt attended Victoria Boys' School, a boarding school in Kurseong in the Darjeeling district of West Bengal, where his parents worked at a tea plantation.[1][7] Sarstedt later moved to Calcutta (now Kolkata); seven years after Indian independence from Britain, the family moved to England in 1954,[1][7] settling in south London just before the rock 'n' roll boom,[1][8] and the Sarstedt brothers started out performing skiffle.[1] in a group known as the Fabulous Five[9]

Sarstedt was a younger brother of the 1960s pop star Eden Kane, for whom he was backing singer and briefly played bass, and an elder brother of pop singer Robin Sarstedt.[10]

Career

Hit recordings

Sarstedt was best known for his 1969 UK number one single, released on the United Artists label, "Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)?", a portrait of a poor-born girl Marie-Claire who becomes a member of the European jet set.[3][11] The song topped the chart in 14 countries.[1] It was also awarded the 1970 Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically.[6][12] He later cited his first wife, Anita, as the inspiration for the song.[2]

His debut album in 1969 reached number eight on the British charts[9] and his follow-up single, "Frozen Orange Juice", reached number 10 in the UK in 1969.[13][14] However, subsequent releases failed to chart. Sarstedt recorded songs include "Beirut", "Take Off Your Clothes", and "I Am a Cathedral".[6]

Another selection from the album Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)?, from which his single of the same title had been released, was called "Overture." This instrumental, whose music Sarstedt had composed in collaboration with Ian Green and Ray Singer, was later used as the theme music for Keep America Beautiful's famous "Crying Indian" public service announcement, which starred Iron Eyes Cody.

Touring

In the 1980s and 1990s, Sarstedt frequently toured the southern UK as part of the "Solid Silver '60s" package tours,[15] having returned to England after several years residing in Denmark.[4][16] In the 1990s and 2000s, he continued to release new albums and tour. In 1997 he released the album England's Lane, which featured the follow-up to "Where Do You Go To", entitled "The Last of the Breed"[17] and in 2007 an album of new material called On Song.[18] He sang harmonies on "Don't Think Twice" and "The Last Thing on My Mind" on Canadian singer Peter Thompson's 2007 album, Taking a Dive (Heart First).

New interest was sparked in his music after "Where Do You Go To" was used in the 2007 Wes Anderson films Hotel Chevalier and The Darjeeling Limited.[3][1] In 2012 a compilation of songs called Highlights—the Demos was released.[19]

Later recordings and touring

Sarstedt's final album, released in 2013, was titled Restless Heart.[13] It was produced by Ray Singer and the single and accompanying video "Valentine," directed and produced by Lara Singer, was released on Singer Records.[20] A third instalment of "Where Do You Go To", continuing the story of Marie-Clair, to be titled "Farewell Marie-Clair", did not materialize.[21] Sarstedt last performed live in 2010.[22]

Personal life and death

Sarstedt married dentist Anita Atke in 1969 and moved to Denmark. The couple divorced five years later.[2] His second wife was Joanna Meill. From 2013 he lived in a retirement home in Sussex, England. He had progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), diagnosed in 2015, but originally misdiagnosed as dementia in 2013.[22] He died on 8 January 2017 at the age of 75.[3][23] He is survived by his wife and two adult children.[2]

Siblings

Sarstedt's brothers are

Discography

Singles
Year A-side B-side Label UK Chart US Chart Notes
1967 "In the Day of My Youth" "My Monkey Is a Junkie" Major Minor MM520 -- -- as "Peter Lincoln"[27]
1968 "I Must Go On" "Mary Jane" Island WIP-6028 -- -- [4][1]
"I Am a Cathedral" "Blagged" United Artists UP 2228 -- -- [4][1][6]
1969 "Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)?" "Morning Mountain" United Artists UP 2262
U.S.: World Pacific 77911		 1 70 [4][28]
"Frozen Orange Juice" "Arethusa Loser" United Artists UP 35021
U.S.: World Pacific 77919		 10 116 [4][13][28]
"As Though It Were a Movie" "Take Off Your Clothes" United Artists UP 35041 -- -- [4][29][6]
1970 "Without Darkness" "Step into the Candlelight" United Artists UP 35075 -- -- [4]
1971 "You're a Lady" "Useless" United Artists UP 35301 -- -- [30]
1972 "Every Word You Say" "What Makes One Man Feel" United Artists UP 35369 -- -- [31]
1975 "Tall Tree" "Mellowed Out" Warner Bros. K 16575 -- -- [30]
1978 "Beirut" "Hollywood Sign" Ariola/Hansa AHA 517 -- -- [6]
"You'll Never Be Alone Again" "Waitress in the Whiskey" Ariola/Hansa AHA 531 -- -- [30]
1979 "Mulberry Dawn" "I Am No Longer" Ariola/Hansa AHA 537 -- -- [30]
"The Far Pavilions" "Juli's Theme" Monarch MON 04 -- -- [30]
1981 "English Girls" / "Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)" "Frozen Orange Juice" Liberty BP 396 -- -- [30]
1982 "Love Among the Ruins" "Don Quixote" Peach River BBPR 2 -- -- [30]
1984 "Other People's Lives" "You'll Never Be Alone Again" Audiotrax ATX 4 -- -- [30]
1986 "Hemingway" "Don Quixote" Filmtrax FRAME 102 -- -- [30]
1987 "Suzanne" "Stress" Trax PTS 1 -- -- [30]

Albums

Sarstedt issued 15 albums in his 50-year-long career.[6][32][33]

Year Title Label UK Albums Chart Notes
1969 Peter Sarstedt United Artists ULP 1219 8 [28]
As Though It Were a Movie United Artists UAS 29037 -- [34]
1971 Every Word You Say Is Written Down United Artists UAS 29247 -- [35]
Another Day Passes By Evolution 2022 -- [36]
1973 Worlds Apart Together EMI SRZA8516 -- (credited to "The Sarstedt Brothers") [37]
1975 Tall Tree Warner K56129 -- [38]
1979 Ps... Ariola/Hansa AHAL8006 -- [39]
1981 Up Date Festival Records D 19106 -- [40]
1986 Colors: Asia Minor Music Maker CMMR923 -- (credited to Peter and Clive Sarstedt)[41]
1987 Never Say Goodbye TRAX PETER/_IMS/POLYGRAM -- [40]
1997 England's Lane Roundtower Music RTMD89 - BMG -- [42]
2004 Singer/Songwriter EMI 5762632 -- [43]
2006 On Song RMS Studios -- (credited to Peter Sarstedt with Clive Sarstedt on guitar)[44]
2008 The Lost Album Singer SING 204 -- [45]
2012 Highlights – the Demos -- [19]
2013 Restless Heart Singer -- [6][46]

See also

References
  1. Unterberger, Richie. "Peter Sarstedt". Allmusic. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  2. "Obituary: Peter Sarstedt, singer-songwriter who topped charts with Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)". scotsman.com/. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  3. "Singer-songwriter Peter Sarstedt dies aged 75". BBC News. 8 January 2017. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  4. "Peter Sarstedt". 45-rpm.org.uk. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  5. "Peter Sarstedt". British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors. Archived from the original on 3 March 2014. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
  6. "Singer-songwriter Peter Sarstedt dies aged 75". The Guardian. 8 January 2017. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
  7. "British-Indian singer-songwriter Peter Sarstedt dead at 75". Scroll. 9 January 2017. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  8. "The Sarstedt Brothers". www.petersarstedt.com.
  9. "Peter Sarstedt - British Singer-songwriter".
  10. "Peter Sarsedt Biography". Music Entertainment Network. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 2 October 2009.
  11. "Singer-songwriter Peter Sarstedt dies aged 75 after a long battle with illness". Mirror. 8 January 2017. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
  12. "The 15th Ivor Novello Awards". The Ivors. Archived from the original on 7 March 2017. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  13. "Peter Sarstedt, singer of Where Do You Go To My Lovely?, dies at 75". The Telegraph. 8 January 2017. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
  14. "Lyricszoo.com". Lyricszoo. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  15. Rock movers & shakers. Billboard Publications. 1989. p. 445. ISBN 9780823076086.
  16. "'Where Do You Go to My Lovely?' Singer Peter Sarstedt dead". KTVL. 8 January 2017. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  17. "Peter Sarstedt – England's Lane (CD)". Discogs.com. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  18. "On Song". www.allmusic.com.
  19. "Highlights - Demos". Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  20. Singer Records (12 June 2013). "Peter Sarstedt - Valentine (Official)". Retrieved 12 January 2017 – via YouTube.
  21. "Peter Sarstedt website". Petersarstedt.com. Archived from the original on 5 February 2006. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
  22. "Peter Sarstedt 'Where Do You Go To My Lovely' writer dies". Music News. 9 January 2017. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  23. "Peter Sarstedt dies". The Times. 9 January 2017. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  24. Bruce Eder. "Eden Kane | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  25. Clive Robin Sarstedt at AllMusic. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
  26. "Clive Sarstedt". www.petersarstedt.com.
  27. "Major Minor Records". www.irishrock.org.
  28. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 482. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  29. "As Though It Were a Movie". www.allmusic.com.
  30. "Peter Sarstedt – Discography". www.45cat.com.
  31. "Every Word You Say". www.allmusic.com.
  32. "Peter Sarstedt dead: Pop star behind one of the most iconic songs of the Sixties dies aged 75". Independent. 8 January 2017. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
  33. "Peter Sarstedt – Albums". petersarstedt.com. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
  34. "Peter Sarstedt/As Though It Were a Movie – Peter Sarstedt – Songs, Reviews, Credits – AllMusic". AllMusic.com. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
  35. "Peter Sarstedt — Every Word You Say (Is Written Down) — Listen, watch, download and discover music for free at Last.fm". last.fm. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
  36. (credited to Richard Sarstedt)Inc, Nielsen Business Media (18 March 1972). "Billboard". Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved 8 January 2017 – via Google Books.
  37. "Peter Sarstedt 4th ALBUM". petersarstedt.com. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
  38. "Tall Tree – Peter Sarstedt – Song Info – AllMusic". AllMusic.com. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
  39. "Peter Sarstedt 6th ALBUM". petersarstedt.com. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
  40. Gregory, Andy (1 January 2002). The International Who's Who in Popular Music 2002. Psychology Press. ISBN 9781857431612. Retrieved 8 January 2017 – via Google Books.
  41. "Asia Minor [Colors] – Peter Sarstedt – User Reviews – AllMusic". AllMusic.com. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
  42. "England's Lane – Peter Sarstedt – Songs, Reviews, Credits – AllMusic". AllMusic.com. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
  43. "Singer/Songwriter – Peter Sarstedt – Songs, Reviews, Credits – AllMusic". AllMusic.com. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
  44. "On Song – Peter Sarstedt – Songs, Reviews, Credits – AllMusic". AllMusic.com. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
  45. "The Lost Album – Peter Sarstedt – Songs, Reviews, Credits – AllMusic". AllMusic.com. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
  46. Ltd, XTS Internet Services. "Peter Sarstedt Singer Records – The Music stays the most important part of the equation". singerrecords.com. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
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