Craig Scott is a
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
pop singer who had several commercially successful singles in the 1970s.
Life and career
Singing career
Scott is a former bank clerk from
Dunedin
Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...
who started his music career in the late 1960s, singing with the local Dunedin band Klap.
In 1968 Scott joined the band The Fantasy which shortly thereafter moved from Dunedin to Christchurch.
For some time Craig Scott and The Fantasy were the resident group at "The Scene" dance hall/nightclub at 224 Tuam St Christchurch.
Scott then joined the band Revival which won a Battle of the Bands contest in May 1969.
Winning the contest brought the band to the attention of HMV records and they were invited to Wellington to record a single, ''Viva Bobby Joe'', which peaked at #14 on the national singles chart.
In April 1970 Scott was offered a solo career and left Revival, which subsequently broke up.
He was given a starring role in the television music series ''Happen Inn'', which brought him national attention.
He released a series of commercially successful singles beginning with a
cover version
In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...
of
Neil Sedaka
Neil Sedaka (; born March 13, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. Since his music career began in 1957, he has sold millions of records worldwide and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collabo ...
's ''Star Crossed Lovers'' which was his only number one single. Other singles included ''Let's Get A Little Sentimental''; ''Smiley'' (a cover of Australian pop star
Ronnie Burns's hit); ''
Ciao Baby'' (1971) which was previously covered by
Lynne Randell
Lynne Randell (born Lynne Randall, 14 December 1949 – 8 June 2007) was an English Australian pop singer. For three years in the mid-1960s, she was Australia's most popular female performer and had hits with "Heart" and "Goin' Out of My Head" in ...
for a top ten hit in Australia (1967); and ''When Jojo Runs''.
In 1974 ''Happen Inn'' was cancelled and Scott began to lose popularity.
Around 1975, his last single to be successful was ''Wind and Rain'', peaking at #11 on the New Zealand pop chart.
* "Star Crossed Lovers"
Z #1* "
Let's Get a Little Sentimental
"Let's Get A Little Sentimental" is a song written by Mike Leander and originally released by The Montanas in 1970. It was released as a single but did not chart.
Craig Scott cover
The song was covered by New Zealand singer Craig Scott later ...
"
Z #4* "Peaceful Mountain"
Z #12* "Can I Believe In You"
Z #3* "Smiley"
Z #3* "
One More Mountain to Climb
"One More Mountain to Climb" is the 14th Diamond Records single for Ronnie Dove.
Background
Released in 1967, this single peaked at #45 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart. It was his first single since 1964’s Hello Pretty Girl to miss the Billbo ...
"
Z #14* "When Jo Jo Runs"
Z #5* "Wind and Rain"
Z #11* "
Rock and Roll (I Gave You the Best Years of My Life)
"Rock and Roll (I Gave You the Best Years of My Life)" is a 1973 song written and originally performed by Australian singer Kevin Johnson, most famously covered by American singer Mac Davis.
Johnson's version reached number four in Australia ...
"
Z #13
Retirement from performing and later life
Scott retired from performing in the late 1970s, saying "I couldn’t see myself doing that for the next 20 years". He became a music promoter. He then started New Zealand's first video rental business before managing Warner Brothers Video New Zealand for 15 years.
Around the year 2000 Scott and his wife moved back to Dunedin. They got into the property business, renovating houses. In the late 2000s they moved to the small
Central Otago
Central Otago is located in the inland part of the Otago region in the South Island of New Zealand. The motto for the area is "A World of Difference".
The area is dominated by mountain ranges and the upper reaches of the Clutha River and tributa ...
town of
Arrowtown
Arrowtown (Māori: ''Haehaenui'') is a historic gold mining town in the Otago region of the South Island of New Zealand. Arrowtown is located on the banks of the Arrow River approximately 7.5 km from State Highway 6. Arrowtown is locat ...
, becoming real estate agents there.
"Craig’s back on song"
''Mountain Scene'', 8 Sep 2011
External links
AudioCulture profile
References
New Zealand pop singers
Musicians from Dunedin
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
{{NewZealand-singer-stub