Doug Walker is an English singer-songwriter based in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. Walker is best known for his single "The Mystery" which saw a rapid rise to notoriety after being played by

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

. Walker gave a copy of the recording to DJ

Chris Moyles Christopher David Moyles (born 22 February 1974) is an English radio and television presenter, author and presenter of ''The Chris Moyles Show'' on Radio X. Previously he has presented ''The Chris Moyles Show'' on BBC Radio 1 from 2004 to 20 ...

after turning up outside the Radio 1 studio on 28 August 2007 at 5.30am. It was played at 7.20am, and the radio station was inundated with emails and SMS texts, resulting in Moyles playing the song seven more times that week. As a result Walker met with eleven record labels and signed with

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

on 12 October 2007. "The Mystery" was released on 3 March 2008 as a download, and it entered the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

at No. 36 on 9 March. Walker's debut album was produced by Danton Supple who was responsible for '' X&Y'' by

Coldplay Coldplay are a British rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer Will Champion and creative director Phil Harvey. They met at University Col ...

and '' Silence Is Easy'' by Starsailor. After recording, Walker flew to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

to mix his album with

Michael Brauer Michael Brauer is a New York-based mix engineer. He received a Grammy for "Best Pop Vocal Album" for his work on John Mayer's ''Continuum'', "Best Alternative Album" for Coldplay's ''Parachutes'', and also "Best Rock Album" for Coldplay's ''Viva la ...

. The album was released on CD in 2008, however sales data is not readily available. Walker toured extensively throughout 2007 and 2008 supporting artists including

The Wombats The Wombats are an English indie rock band formed in Liverpool in 2003, consisting of Matthew Murphy (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Tord Øverland Knudsen (bass, backing vocals, keyboards), and Dan Haggis (drums, backing vocals, keyboards). ...

Kate Nash Kate Marie Nash (born 6 July 1987) is an English singer-songwriter and actress. Nash launched her music career in 2005. Her 2007 single " Foundations" became a hit and brought her to public attention in the UK. Her debut album, '' Made of Bricks ...

Craig David Craig Ashley David (born 5 May 1981) is a British singer and songwriter who rose to fame in 1999, featuring on the single "Re-Rewind (The Crowd Say Bo Selecta), Re-Rewind" by Artful Dodger (UK band), Artful Dodger. David's debut studio album, ' ...

Amy MacDonald Amy Elizabeth Macdonald (born 25 August 1987) is a Scottish singer-songwriter. In 2007, she released her debut studio album, ''This Is the Life (Amy Macdonald album), This Is the Life'', which respectively produced the singles "Mr. Rock & Roll ...

, The Enemy,

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and Sam Beeton. His musical influences include

Electric Light Orchestra The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1970 by songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood with drummer Bev Bevan. Their music is characterised by a fusion of pop, classical a ...

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, U2,

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Sergei Rachmaninov Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of ...

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, Aqualung and

Regina Spektor Regina Ilyinichna Spektor (russian: Регинa Ильинична Спектор, ; born February 18, 1980) is a Russian–born American singer, songwriter, and pianist. After self-releasing her first three records and gaining popularity in ...

Discography

Albums

* 'Fear Together' (unreleased)

Singles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Doug Year of birth missing (living people) Living people English pop singers English male singer-songwriters People from Chertsey Musicians from Manchester