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Peter Eardley Sarstedt (10 December 1941 – 8 January 2017) was a British singer-songwriter and instrumentalist. He was the brother of singers Eden Kane, a teen idol and Clive Sarstedt, with both of whom he also recorded and performed as The Sarstedt Brothers. The Sarstedts had the distinction of being the only family from which three siblings separately attained chart success without any of them ever charting as a combined act.
Although his music was classified as pop, it generally encompassed ballads derived from traditional folk music rather than traditional rock and roll. He is 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" and described as "a romantic novel in song", it won an Ivor Novello Award. The record remained Sarstedt's biggest hit. He had one more hit single and one hit album but despite numerous releases never had chart success again.
He released the album England's Lane in 1997, which continued the story of the fictional Marie-Claire in the song "The Last of the Breed"; a planned third installment titled "Farewell Marie-Claire" did not materialise.
Sarstedt continued to tour mainly in 1960s revival-type shows, until his retirement in 2010 due to ill health.
After Indian independence from Britain in 1947, Sarstedt's parents managed a tea plantation in the Darjeeling district of West Bengal, where Sarstedt attended Victoria Boys' School, a boarding school in Kurseong. He later moved to Calcutta; in 1954, Sarstedt's father died and the family relocated to Britain, settling in south London just before the rock 'n' roll boom.
Sarstedt along with his two brothers Richard and Robin joined a skiffle group called "The Fabulous Five", before establishing a group in 1960 called "The Saints", with Richard as lead vocalist and Peter playing bass guitar, whilst Richard was the first of the brothers to also establish a solo career in his own right also in 1960 and changing his name to Eden Kane, and becoming a teen idol having a hit record with "Well I Ask You" the following year. Peter would follow his older brother establishing his music career in the late 1960s, whist his younger brother Robin known as Clive Sarstedt would have a hit record with "My Resistance is Low" in 1976.
The Sarstedts had the distinction of being the first family where three siblings all attained separate chart success.
Lovely followed his earlier single "I Am A Cathedral" which didn't attain chart success, and his debut self-titled vinyl LP album was released in 1969 and reached number eight on the British charts his follow-up single, "Frozen Orange Juice", reached number 10 in the UK in 1969. However, subsequent releases failed to chart. Sarstedt's recorded songs include "Beirut", "Take Off Your Clothes"
Another selection from the album Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)?, from which his single of the same title had been released, was an instrumental called "Overture". Sarstedt composed it in collaboration with Ian Green and Ray Singer and it was later used as the theme music for Keep America Beautiful's famous "Crying Indian" public service announcement, which starred Iron Eyes Cody.
In October 2002, Sarstedt appeared in an episode of the ITV programme After They Were Famous, together with Peter Wyngarde and Emlyn Hughes."After They Were Famous Updates on former celebrities", Wolverhampton Express and Star, Saturday 2 November 2002, p. 33
In 2006, Sarstedt released an album of new material called On Song. 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).
Early life
Sarstedt was born, as one of six, in 1941, to English expatriates Albert James Sarstedt, an accountant and civil servant and his second wife Cora (nee Byrne), in New Delhi in what was then British India. His ancestors were long resident in India; his ancestor Christian Ludwig Wilhelm Sarstedt, was born in 1841 in Hanover, Germany and migrated to India where he died in 1893. Both of his parents had trained as classical musicians.
Career
Hit recordings
Sarstedt was best known for writing and performing 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, from Naples who becomes a member of the European jet set. The song topped the chart in 14 countries. and was awarded the 1970 Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically. He later cited his first wife, Anita, as the inspiration for the song.
Touring
In the 1980s and 1990s, Sarstedt frequently toured the southern UK as part of the "Solid Silver '60s" package tours, having returned to England after several years residing in Denmark. 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".
Popular culture
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. In 2012 a compilation of songs called Highlights—the Demos was released.
Later years
Sarstedt's final album, was a compilation released in 2013, was titled Restless Heart. It was produced by Ray Singer and the single and accompanying video, "Valentine", directed and produced by Lara Singer, was released on Singer Records. A third installment of "Where Do You Go To", continuing the story of Marie-Claire, to be titled "Farewell Marie-Claire", did not materialize. Sarstedt last performed live in 2010.
Personal life and death
Sarstedt married Anita Atke, who was a dentist, in 1969 and moved to Denmark. The couple divorced five years later. 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. He died on 8 January 2017 at the age of 75. He is survived by his wife and two adult children.
Discography
Singles
1967 Major Minor MM520 -- -- as "Peter Lincoln" 1968 "I Must Go On" "Mary Jane" Island Records WIP-6028 -- -- United Artists UP 2228 53 -- 1969 "Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)?" "Morning Mountain" United Artists UP 2262
U.S.: World Pacific 779111 70 United Artists UP 35021
U.S.: World Pacific 7791910 116 "As Though It Were a Movie" "Take Off Your Clothes" United Artists UP 35041 -- -- 1970 "Without Darkness" "Step into the Candlelight" United Artists UP 35075 -- -- 1971 "You're a Lady" "Useless" United Artists UP 35301 -- -- 1972 "Every Word You Say" "What Makes One Man Feel" United Artists UP 35369 -- -- 1973 "Chinese Restaurant" "Beloved Illusions" Regal Zonophone RZ 3081 -- -- Credited to The Sarstedt Brothers 1975 "Tall Tree" "Mellowed Out" Warner Bros. K 16575 -- -- 1978 "Beirut" "Hollywood Sign" Ariola Records/Hansa Records AHA 517 -- -- "You'll Never Be Alone Again" "Waitress in the Whiskey" Ariola Records/Hansa Records AHA 531 -- -- 1979 "Mulberry Dawn" "I Am No Longer" Ariola Records/Hansa Records AHA 537 -- -- "The Far Pavilions" "Juli's Theme" Monarch MON 04 -- -- 1981 "English Girls" / "Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)" "Frozen Orange Juice" Liberty Records BP 396 -- -- 1982 "Love Among the Ruins" "Don Quixote" Peach River BBPR 2 -- -- 1984 "Other People's Lives" "You'll Never Be Alone Again" Audiotrax ATX 4 -- -- 1986 "Hemingway" "Don Quixote" Filmtrax FRAME 102 -- -- 1987 "Suzanne" "Stress" Trax PTS 1 -- --
Albums
Sarstedt issued 15 albums in his 50-year-long career.
1969 United Artists ULP 1219 8 United Artists UAS 29037 -- 1971 Every Word You Say Is Written Down United Artists UAS 29247 -- 1973 EMI Records SRZA8516 -- (credited to "The Sarstedt Brothers") 1975 Tall Tree Warner K56129 -- 1979 Ariola Records/Hansa Records AHAL8006 -- 1981 Up Date Festival Records D 19106 -- 1986 Music Maker CMMR923 -- (credited to Peter and Clive Sarstedt) 1987 Never Say Goodbye TRAX PETER/_IMS/POLYGRAM -- 1997 Roundtower Music RTMD89 - BMG -- 2004 Singer/Songwriter EMI Records 5762632 -- 2006 RMS Studios -- (credited to Peter Sarstedt with Clive Sarstedt on guitar) 2008 The Lost Album Singer SING 204 -- 2012 -- 2013 Restless Heart Singer --
See also
Notes
External links
Categories: 1941 Births, 2017 Deaths, British Male Singers, British Male Songwriters, Indian Emigrants To The United Kingdom, Indian People Of German Descent, British People Of German Descent, Ivor Novello Award Winners, Musicians From New Delhi, United Artists Records Artists, Island Records Artists, Singers From The London Borough Of Croydon, Musicians From The London Borough Of Croydon, People From Croydon, People From Darjeeling District, Singers From Kolkata, Neurological Disease Deaths In England, Deaths From Progressive Supranuclear Palsy
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