Edison Lighthouse are an English pop band, formed in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in 1969. The band was best known for their 1970

hit single A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single or simply a hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record' ...

Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes) "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" is the debut single by Edison Lighthouse. The song reached the number one spot on the UK Singles Chart on the week ending 31 January 1970, where it remained for a total of five weeks. It also became the firs ...

" recorded in late 1969.

Career

Before the name Edison Lighthouse, they were known as the

soft rock Soft rock is a form of rock music that originated in the late 1960s in Southern California and the United Kingdom which smoothed over the edges of singer-songwriter and pop rock, relying on simple, melodic songs with big, lush productions. S ...

band Greenfield Hammer, gigging on the

home counties The home counties are the counties of England that surround London. The counties are not precisely defined but Buckinghamshire and Surrey are usually included in definitions and Berkshire, Essex, Hertfordshire and Kent are also often inc ...

circuit. The original line-up of Edison Lighthouse consisted of

Tony Burrows Anthony Burrows (born 14 April 1942) is an English pop music, pop singer and recording artist. As a prolific session musician, Burrows was involved in the production of numerous transatlantic hit singles throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, ...

(lead vocalist), Stuart Edwards (lead guitar), David Taylor (bass guitar), George Weyman (drums), and Ray Dorey (guitar). The group's

top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

" (1970) was one of four near-concurrent

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 ...

top ten hit

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

that Burrows released under different names. The other songs were "

Gimme Dat Ding "Gimme Dat Ding" is a 1970 popular UK song, of the novelty type, sung by " one-hit wonder" The Pipkins, and written and composed by Albert Hammond and Mike Hazlewood. Released as a single, it is the title selection of an album which The Pipkins re ...

" (

the Pipkins The Pipkins were a short-lived English novelty duo, best known for their hit single " Gimme Dat Ding" (written by Albert Hammond and Mike Hazlewood), which reached No. 6 on the UK Singles Charts, No. 7 in Canada ( ''RPM'' Top Singles), and No. ...

), " My Baby Loves Lovin" ( White Plains), and "

United We Stand United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...

" (

Brotherhood of Man Brotherhood of Man are a British pop group who achieved success in the 1970s. They won the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest with "Save Your Kisses for Me". Created in 1969 by songwriter and record producer Tony Hiller, Brotherhood of Man was initia ...

). Burrows was also lead vocalist on the single "

Beach Baby "Beach Baby" is a song by the British band The First Class. Written by John Carter and his wife, Gillian (Jill) Shakespeare, the song became the band's only substantial hit. The subject of the lyrics is not holiday love, but a broken love relatio ...

" (1974) for another studio-only group,

the First Class The First Class were a British pop music studio-based group, put together by songwriter and record producer John Carter. They are best known for their hit song " Beach Baby," a top 20 hit in both the US and UK. Career The First Class was the ...

. "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" was No. 1 for five weeks and sold 250,000 copies in the UK. It reached the top of the chart in its second week. The United States release was in February 1970 and reached No. 5 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, selling a million copies there by April and earning an

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

gold disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

. In Canada, the song reached No. 3. Burrows left after "Love Grows", and

Tony Macaulay Tony Macaulay (born Anthony Gordon Instone; 21 April 1944) is an English author, composer for musical theatre, and songwriter. He has won the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors Award twice as 'Songwriter of the Year' (1970 an ...

(who owned the rights to the name Edison Lighthouse) brought in other musicians. Actor and singer Paul Vigrass replaced Burrows. Other members included David Kerr-Clemenson (bass guitar) of Warehorne, Andy Locke (vocals, guitar), Eddie Richards (drums), Wally Scott (guitar) and Ken Reeves (vocals). The band's song "

It's Up to You Petula "It's Up to You Petula" is a song by English band Edison Lighthouse. It was released as a non-album single, but was included on their 1971 debut release, '' Already''. The single became a modest international hit as a follow-up to the group's majo ...

" reached the UK top 50. Their next single, "What's Happening?" coupled with "Take a Little Time", was written by the band. They then went on to tour Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia and Africa. The single released for the Africa tour was "Reconsider My Belinda". The last single released was "Find Mr. Zebedee". The band then called it a day after returning from a tour of Europe.

Continuation of Edison Lighthouse

Dave Kerr-Clemenson, after touring with White Plains and Andy Locke, went on to form Fast Buck, recorded an album with

Jet Records Jet Records was a British record label started by Don Arden in 1974, featuring musicians such as Lynsey de Paul, Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), Roy Wood, Gary Moore, Ozzy Osbourne, Alan Price, Adrian Gurvitz, Riot and Magnum. History Th ...

, and toured the world extensively supporting ELO. Eddie Richards was the drummer in The First Class who had a hit with "Beach Baby". Guitarist Stuart Edwards died on 26 October 2016 from cancer at the age of 73. In 1973 Brian Huggins and Peter Butt, of the band Crush, were approached by their management to takeover the touring of Scandinavia as Edison Lighthouse. Brian Huggins acquired the rights to the name Edison Lighthouse in 1974. Huggins has been fronting the band ever since. The current Edison Lighthouse line-up is as follows: * Brian Huggins − lead vocals (1973–present) * Peter Butt − bass guitar (1973–present) * Mark Forton − drums (2020–present) * Rick Piggott − lead guitar (2022–present) * Matthew Bason – keyboards (2022-present)

Origin of the name

Edison Lighthouse was named after the

Eddystone Lighthouse The Eddystone Lighthouse is a lighthouse that is located on the dangerous Eddystone Rocks, south of Rame Head in Cornwall, England. The rocks are submerged below the surface of the sea and are composed of Precambrian gneiss. View at 1:50000 ...

off the coast of

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

. The band later briefly dropped the Lighthouse and became just Edison, although the original name was later reinstated.

Discography

Studio albums

* '' Already'' (1971, Bell Records, Sweden) * ''Love Grows'' (1977, SMA, UK)

Live albums

* ''Then There Where Two'' (2003, self-release, UK)

Compilation albums

* ''Love Grows'' (CD, ACD, Austria) * ''Edison Lighthouse'' (1990 Cassette/CD, Object Enterprises, UK) * ''Love Grows: Complete Collection Featuring Tony Burrows'' (1994 CD, Sunflower, Italy) * ''The Best of Edison Lighthouse - Love Grows'' (1999 CD,

Repertoire Records Repertoire Records is a German record label from Hamburg, Germany, specialising in reissues of classic pop and rock albums originally issued in the 1960s and 1970s. The chairman is Thomas Neelsen. See also * List of record labels File:Alvino ...

, Germany) * ''Love Grows with Edison Lighthouse'' (2002 CD, The Westminster Recording Co., UK) * ''On the Rocks'' (2002 CD, Park South, US) * ''Edison Lighthouse Selected Favorites'' (2006 Digital Download, Charly Records, US) * ''Their Very Best'' (2009 Digital Download, K-tel, US) * ''Barbara Ann'' (2010 Digital Download, One Media Publishing, US) * ''Showing the Way (The Dave Cash Collection)'' (2011 Digital Download, One Media Publishing, US) * ''The Dave Cash Collection: Light My House'' (2011 Digital Download, One Media Publishing, US)

Singles

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control English pop music groups British soft rock music groups Musical groups established in 1969 Musical groups from London Bell Records artists Bubblegum pop groups