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http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/crispian-st-peters-pop-singer-whose-sixties-hits-included-the-pied-piper-1995948.html

Crispian St Peters: Pop singer whose Sixties hits included 'The Pied Piper'
Thursday, 10 June 2010
'Where it's at': St Peters, right, on stage in 1965


A respected singer-songwriter whose most enduring recordings were penned by others, Crispian St Peters remains an enigma of mid-1960s pop music. He scored two Top Ten entries in 1966; the second of these, "The Pied Piper", was also a huge success in North America. Moreover, an attendant album, Follow Me, elicited covers of St Peters compositions by such disparate artists as Ken Dodd, Darrell Glenn and, most spectacularly, Marty Kristian – whose "I'll Give You Love" (which St Peters also produced) was a hit in Australia.

Such distant triumphs had not belonged even to speculation when Peter Smith left Swanley Secondary Modern, Kent in 1954 to be an assistant cinema projectionist. The younger of musical parents' two sons, he was already an accomplished guitarist, making his own instruments for use on stage with The Hard Travellers, a skiffle outfit whose repertoire contained Smith originals.

Some of these survived when, after two years' National Service in the army he fronted Beat Formula Three, who were discovered in late 1963 by David Nicolson, an EMI publicist. He offered Smith – singled out as the trio's X-factor – his services as manager, and suggested a stage alias, Crispin Blacke, in keeping with a saturnine image similar to that of Dave Berry. This was dropped when, after much debate, Nicolson settled on Crispian St Peters and deducted five years from his client's age.

Thus packaged, St Peters was signed to Decca on a lease contract in 1965. This commenced inauspiciously with two flops, "At This Moment" and, despite heavy plugging on pirate radio, "No No No". Then Nicolson stumbled upon a sounder vehicle for a chart breakthrough in "You Were On My Mind", a US million-seller by We Five. In a frantic effort to find the cash to get a version by an initially disinclined St Peters on disc before We Five's left the runway in Britain, Nicolson decided to share his stake in Crispian with Ken Pitt, best recalled nowadays for managing Manfred Mann and David Bowie.

Nicolson's judgement about "You Were On My Mind" proved correct, and who could not empathise with the team's disappointment when its passage to No 1 was blocked only by The Overlanders' cover of the Beatles' "Michelle", just as St. Peters touched the ceiling of his domestic impact with a scream-rent slot in April 1966's New Musical Express Poll-winners Concert?

Conspicuously absent from this event was PJ Proby, fallen from grace after the famous trouser-splitting incident during a national tour. Briefly, St Peters was prime candidate to fill the void. The strategy backfired, however, when he was described as "the Cassius Clay Of Showbusiness" after his widely reported comments – a misconstruing of flippant remarks – about how he was going to be bigger than both Elvis Presley and The Beatles three years hence.

Though this coverage was to damage him in the long term, it seemed at first as if no harm had been done. Another US item, "The Pied Piper" by The Changin' Times, climbed almost as high as its predecessor after a lyrical adjustment: the "I'll show you where life's at" hookline became the trendier "I'll show you where it's at". Any signs of commercial danger were mitigated, too, by St Peters' popularity overseas, particularly in Australasia, the Far East and, crucially, the States, where a peak of No 4 with "The Pied Piper" was followed by the return of "You Were On My Mind" to the Top 40.

The decline began when "Changes" (a ballad by the protest singer Phil Ochs) was a relative miss at home. Attempts at relaunch included the 1967 A-side, "Free Spirit" – another from the Changin' Times' portfolio – and reinvention as a country-and-western performer, notably on a 1970 album, Simply... Crispian St Peters. Later, St Peters was well-received and fondly remembered on the Swinging Sixties nostalgia circuit, but a private life troubled by divorce and gathering infirmity motivated him to concentrate on writing and arranging for others. Yet, until retiring as a professional entertainer in 2001, he extended a sporadic recording career that embraced a 1990 remake of "The Pied Piper" in a voice drained of 1966's buoyant optimism.

Alan Clayson

Robin Peter Smith (Crispian St Peters), singer and songwriter: born Swanley, Kent 5 April 1939; married (marriage dissolved; one son, one daughter); died Swanley 8 June 2010.

We’ve just recently been informed that former child actress Carole Ann Campbell passed away on March 6, 2010 in Laguna Woods CA (just shy of her 66th birthday), from a return bout with cancer. She was born March 27, 1944 in Sherman Oaks CA, the sole offspring of Glenn and Edna Campbell, who both had had show business-related careers, behind the cameras.

She’s best known (and will probably be mostly remembered) for being personally chosen by the legendary Walt Disney to portray the wannabe girlfriend (Iola Morton) of Joe Hardy, the Tommy Kirk character in the Mickey Mouse Club mini-series, “The Hardy Boys,” during the mid-1950s. By her own choice, her acting career ended in 1958, and the year she graduated from Van Nuys High School (1962), she cut three single recordings (45s) for Kangaroo Records, before permanently leaving the performing arts.

She married Gerald W. Murphy (August 1965), eventually settling in Northridge CA, where she gave birth to two sons, and we offer our most sincere condolences to those who knew her best.

For more detailed information on her, please visit this website.

Former NFL star Les Richter dies at age 79
June 12, 2010
01:47 PM EDT



BROOKLYN, Mich.Les Richter, who played significant roles in the evolution of both NASCAR and professional football, died Saturday morning at the age of 79. NASCAR president Mike Helton made the announcement during the Camping World Truck Series drivers' meeting at Michigan International Speedway.

Richter was born in Fresno, Calif., in 1930 and was a two-time football All-American at California. After a two-year stint in the Army, Richter was drafted by the New York Yanks, then traded to the Los Angeles Rams for 11 players. During a nine-year NFL career, Richter played linebacker, middle guard and also was the team's place-kicker. He was named to the Pro Bowl eight times.

After retiring from football, Richter worked as president of Riverside International Raceway, then became NASCAR's director of competition. Helton, who replaced Richter in that role in 1994, talked about the man everyone called "The Coach."

"Kind of backhandedly, he taught me to be firm but fair," Helton said. "It's obvious to me why Bill [France Jr.] had Les in that role. He passed on to me the principle of being firm but fair, but also how to go about doing that."

At the time of his passing, Richter was vice president of special projects for International Speedway Corp., based at Auto Club Speedway, where he played a dominant role in the development of that track.


Grizzly Smith, father of Jake "the Snake" Roberts, dies at age 78

Jun 12, 2010 - 6:38:40 PM
By James Caldwell, Torch assistant editor



Aurelian "Grizzly" Smith, the father of former WWE star Jake "the Snake" Roberts, reportedly died today at the age of 78. Smith died following complications from Alzheimer's Disease, reports Chris Yandek.

Smith was best known during his career as one-half of the Kentuckians tag team with Luke Brown. The team feuded with the Assassins in several territories across the U.S. throughout the 1960s.

After retiring from the ring, Smith worked for Bill Watts in his Mid-South territory and as a backstage agent for WCW.

Smith is also the father to former 1980s WWF wrestler Sam Houston and former WWF Women's champion Rockin' Robin.