Peter Sarstedt

Peter Eardley Sarstedt (10 December 1941 – 8 January 2017), briefly billed early in his career as Peter Lincoln, was an English singer-songwriter, instrumentalist and activist.

He recorded a number of successful albums and singles, beginning in the 1960s. Although his music was classified as pop, it generally encompassed ballads derived from traditional folk music rather than rock and roll. He was best known for writing and performing the single "Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)?", which topped the UK Singles Chart in 1969 and won an Ivor Novello Award.

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Early life

Sarstedt, was born in Delhi, India, in what was then part of the British Raj, in 1941, where his parents, both themselves classically trained musicians, were civil servants in the British administration. He attended Victoria Boys' School in Kurseong, in the Darjeeling district of West Bengal, where his parents administered a large tea plantation. His family returned to the UK in 1954, settling in south London just before the rock 'n' roll boom, and the Sarstedt brothers started out performing skiffle music.

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

Career

Sarstedt was best known for his 1969 UK number-one single "Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)?", a portrait of a poor-born girl who becomes a member of the European jet-set. The song topped the chart in 14 countries. It was also awarded the 1970 Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically. Other Sarstedt songs include "Beirut", "Take Off Your Clothes", "I Am a Cathedral" and "Frozen Orange Juice" (UK No. 10 in 1969).

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 and in 2002 an album of new material called On Song. He sang harmonies on "Don't Think Twice" and "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. In 2012, a compilation of songs called Highlights – the Demos was released.

Sarstedt's final album, released in 2013, was entitled Restless Heart. It was produced by Ray Singer and the single and accompanying video clip "Valentine" was released on Singer Records and distributed by Proper/Finetunes. Sarstedt last toured in 2010.

Personal life

Sarstedt was married to Jill Wall, and from 2013 he lived in a retirement home in Sussex, England. He suffered from progressive supranuclear palsy, (PSP), diagnosed in 2015, originally diagnosed as dementia in 2013.

He died on 8 January 2017 at the age of 75.

Discography

Singles

• "In the Days of My Youth" / "My Monkey Is A Junkie" (Major Minor MM520, 1967) as "Peter Lincoln"
• "I Must Go On" / "Mary Jane" (Island WIP-6028, 1/1968)
• "I Am a Cathedral" / "Blagged" (1968)
• "Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)?" / "Morning Mountain" (UK No. 1, US #70) (1969)[12]
• "Frozen Orange Juice" / "Arethusa Loser" (UK No. 10, US #116) (1969)[12]
• "As Though It Were a Movie" / "Take Off Your Clothes" (1969)
• "Without Darkness" / "Step into the Candlelight" (1970)
• "You're a Lady" / "Useless" (1971)
• "Every Word You Say" / "What Makes One Man Feel" (1972)
• "Tall Tree" / "Mellowed Out" (1975)
• "Beirut" / "Hollywood Sign" (1978)
• "You'll Never Be Alone Again" / "Waitress in the Whiskey" (1978)
• "Mulberry Dawn" / "I Am No Longer" (1979)
• "The Far Pavilions" / "Juli's Theme" (1979)
• "English Girls" / "Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)" / "Frozen Orange Juice" (1981)
• "Love Among the Ruins" / "Don Quixote" (1982)
• "Other People's Lives" / "You'll Never Be Alone Again" (1984)
• "Hemingway" / "Don Quixote" (1986)
• "Suzanne" / "Stress" (1987)

Albums

• Peter Sarstedt (UK #8) (1969)

1. "I Am a Cathedral"
2. "Sons of Cain Are Abel"
3. "No More Lollipops"
4. "Stay Within Myself"
5. "You Are My Life"
6. "Sayonara"
7. "Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)?"
8. "Blagged!"
9. "My Daddy Is a Millionaire"
10. "Once Upon an Everyday"
11. "Time Was Leading Us Home"
12. "Many-Coloured, Semi-Precious Plastic Easter Eggs"
13. "Time, Love, Hope, Life"

• As Though It Were a Movie (1969)

1. "Overture"
2. "As Though It Were a Movie"
3. "Open a Tin"
4. "Step into the Candlelight"
5. "Take Off Your Clothes"
6. "Letter to a Friend"
7. "Overture"
8. "Boulevard"
9. "Sunshine is Expensive"
10. "Artist"
11. "Friendship Song (Hey, Nena)"
12. "Juan"
13. "I'm a Good Boy"
14. "National Anthem/Doors Close at 10:45 pm"

• Every Word You Say Is Written Down (1971)

1. "Every Word You Say"
2. "Down on the Flesh"
3. "You're a Lady"
4. "Lay Down my Alibi"
5. "Let the Music Flow"
6. "Taxi Driver"
7. "Nexus"
8. "Mind of Man"
9. "What Makes One Man Feel"
10. "Slow"
11. "Stand Outside Ourselves"
12. "Politics is Showbusiness"
13. "Rain"

• Another Day Passes By (1971) (credited to Richard Sarstedt)

1. "Go Back in Time"
2. "Rain"
3. "Another Day"
4. "Open a Tin"
5. "Charlie"
6. "Elizabeth Bay"
7. "Time,Love, Hope, Life"
8. "I Am No Longer"
9. "Fast Women and Slow Horses"
10. "Found My Love Today"
11. "Jack and Jill"

• Worlds Apart Together (1973) (credited to "The Sarstedt Brothers")

1. "A Way Leading Out"
2. "Kurseong"
3. "Mohommedan Girl"
4. "Here Are in London Town"
5. "All Together Now"
6. "The Genuine Romanoff"
7. "You're Just an Image"
8. "Searching for the Truth/Love, Love, Love"
9. "Sea Wall"
10. "Glory, Glory"
11. "Catch the Next Train"
12. "Worlds Apart Together "

• Tall Tree (1975)

1. "Cruel Sea"
2. "Pone & Carter"
3. "Valentine"
4. "This Place is Corrupt"
5. "America Baby"
6. "Kocholine"
7. "Mellowed Out"
8. "Tall Tree"
9. "Employee"
10. "Don't Bury Your Love"
11. "Joe Valdez"
12. "Reincarnation"

• Ps... (1979)

1. "You'll Never Be Alone Again"
2. "Hollywood Sign"
3. "Mulberry Dawn"
4. "Beirut"
5. "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight"
6. "I Am No Longer"
7. "Another Day"
8. "Muscle Twitch"
9. "Waitress in the Whiskey"
10. "St. Louis Blues"

• Update (1982)

1. "Where Do You Go My Lovely "
2. "Frozen Orange Juice"
3. "Mulberry Dawn"
4. "I Am a Catherdral"
5. "Mellowed Out"
6. "English Girls"
7. "Eternal Days"
8. "Take Off Your Clothes"
9. "Boulevard"
10. "Tall Tree"
11. "Southern Belle"
12. "Beirut"

• Colors: Asia Minor (1986) (credited to Peter and Clive Sarstedt)

1. "Dream Pilot"
2. "Teradactyl Walk"
3. "Glider"
4. "India"
5. "The River"
6. "Corigador"
7. "Vaguely Connected"

• Never Say Goodbye (1987)

1. "Suzanne"
2. "Katerina"
3. "Nothing Personal"
4. "Friends"
5. "Roma"
6. "Hemingway"
7. "I Camera"
8. "Don Quixote"
9. "Stress"
10. "Why would Anybody"

• England's Lane (1997)

1. "England's Lane"
2. "British Museum"
3. "You Crazy Fool"
4. "The Horses"
5. "Biarritz"
6. "All Together Now"
7. "Castles in Spain"
8. "I Need Her"
9. "Spanish Made Easy"
10. "Empty Pages"
11. "The Last of the Breed"

• On Song (2006) (credited to Peter Sarstedt with Clive Sarstedt on guitar)

1. "Scherazade"
2. "The Silken Thread"
3. "The Tango Anglais"
4. "Desperado"
5. "Save the Rhino"
6. "Amnesty"
7. "One Day"
8. "Strategy Chatterji"
9. "Chelsea"
10. "In That Once Tremendous War"
11. "Memsahib"
12. "I Set You Free From Loving Me"
13. "Come On, All You Foreigners"

• The Lost Album (2008)

1. "A Way Leading Out"
2. "I Need Her"
3. "Rain"
4. "Margueritte"
5. "Weaver, Weave Me a Coat"
6. "Jethro"
7. "Another Day"
8. "John Coltrane"
9. "Plain Chick"
10. "Muscle Twitch"
11. "It's a Road"
12. "Walk Down Real Streets"
13. "Hollywood Sign"
14. "Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)"

• Restless Heart (2013)

1. "Valentine"
2. "Castles in Spain"
3. "Restless Heart"
4. "Mulberry Dawn"
5. "Warm Woman"
6. "Don't Go To India"
7. "I Lost My Heart Down The Road"
8. "Anna"
9. "We Were Never Happier"
10. "Bird In A Gilded Cage"
11. "Noone Breaks This Heart"
12. "Empty Pages"
13. "(Seems Like We Only Met)To Say Goodbye"

Siblings

Sarstedt's brothers are:

• Richard Graham Sarstedt (born New Delhi, India, 29 March 1940) who also topped the UK Singles Chart himself in 1961, with "Well I Ask You", under the stage name Eden Kane.
• Robin Sarstedt (born Clive Robin Sarstedt, 21 January 1944, Ajmer, Rajasthan, India, the youngest brother), who made his recording debut as "Wes Sands" (recorded by Joe Meek), and then continued as "Clive Sands". He had a hit in 1976 (as "Robin Sarstedt") with "My Resistance is Low".