He committed suicide in '99 at age 58.īut for sheer nerve - he freely admitted he couldn't sing - he deserves to be pulled From the Vaults. Sutch's career was one of ruthless but often very funny self-promotion, schilling various products, bankruptcy and depression. The White Stripes and the Horrors have covered his Jack the Ripper. Oddly enough, his eccentricity and crazy charm meant his '91 compilation album came with photos of Sutch with a young Nicky Hopkins, Elvis, Jimi Hendrix and Noel Redding, and Keith Moon. Most of his stuff is rubbish: Jack the Ripper is not a million miles from Alley-Oop, and other songs almost parodies of rock'n'roll and pop songs with horror lyrics (Monster in Black is akin to Venus in Blue Jeans). Record Sales 2001 Estimated record sales from the concert album The Who & Special Guests: Live at the Royal Albert Hall with the English rock band. Many of his early songs (this one included) were produced by Joe Meek. Those who played in his revolving-door bands or on his singles included Ritchie Blackmore, Jimmy Page, Matthew Fisher (later in Procol Harum), Jeff Beck and others. Sort of an English Screaming Jay Hawkins with more music hall than voodoo. He sang of vampires, Dracula, monsters and people crawling out of coffins. He had 18" hair, wore bullhorns on his head, and was heavily into shock-horror rock. In the Stones' Get Off Of My Cloud, Sutch was the "guy all dressed up like Union Jack".īut back at the start of his singing career in 1960 he appeared at the famous 2i's coffee bar in London where Tommy Steele, Cliff Richard and Adam Faith had all been "discovered".īack then Sutch was a genuine wildman of British pop. He's in the opening scenes of The New Statesman standing against Alan B'stard (Rik Mayall). He is survived by his wife Iris and two daughters Giselle and Emma.In later years Screaming Lord Sutch was better known for being the founder of the Official Monster Raving Looney Party in Britain and standing in various electorates (from '63) in weird outfits. It would have been, at least, as interesting as any saga by, or about, his more celebrated colleagues. In his final years Little discussed the possibility of an autobiography. It began with "quiet reflection" at Pinner new cemetery and was followed by a concert at the Ace Cafe, on London's north circular A year later, Little organised "an evening of remembrance" to commemorate the third anniversary of Sutch's death. He played with Carl Perkins and BB King, and went on drumming into the 1980s.īy 1998 Little was attending Mick Jagger's birthday party in Paris. By the 1990s he was running two mobile hot-dog stands. From the 1970s Little made a reasonable living, delivering bread. Then there was Cyril Davies, Baldry's Hoochie-Coochie Men, Neil Christian and the Crusaders - particularly successful in Germany - Billie Davis, the Flowerpot Men and session work. On national service (1958-1960) Little was a Royal Fusiliers snare drummer-bugler.Īfter the army, Little joined what became Sutch's group, with breaks, across the 1960s. For possibly the first time in his life, Keith Moon began to engage with. He played with a a local band, the Rhythm Katz who mixed skiffle with the rock'n'roll that erupted in 1956. Can I Can I' Among Moon's early heroes was Screaming Lord Sutch and the. After hearing Lonnie Donegan, who launched the skiffle boom out of Barber's jazz band, Little, inspired, took up the drums. Then, in 1954, Chris Barber's band played Wembley town hall. His initial musical influences included the American crooner Frankie Laine, and the British swing of Ted Heath. Little's adolescence took place within that curious postwar, pre-teenager early 1950s culture. He was educated at Sudbury infants school and East Lane secondary school (now Wembley high school). "A bloke I taught to drum," he said, "Keith Moon, who joined the Who, is now dead, killed by booze and drugs."īorn in Sudbury, Middlesex, Little and his sister were briefly evacuated to Cardiff early in the war. Yet he was phlegmatic and had few regrets. But the previous evening, he had been operating a hot-dog stall outside. By 1999 Little was in the VIP enclosure on the second of two Stones Wembley concerts.
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