Peter Frederick Wedlock (23 May 1942 – 4 March 2010) was an English

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

singer best known for his UK

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 ...

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

"The Oldest Swinger in Town", which was covered by German comedian

Karl Dall Karl Bernhard Dall (, 1 February 1941 – 23 November 2020) was a German comedian, singer, and television presenter. His distinctive 'hanging' eye was caused by a congenital ptosis. Family Karl Dall was born in Emden, Germany, the son of ...

as "Der älteste Popper der Stadt". He performed at many venues in Britain and Europe, presented programmes for

West Country The West Country (occasionally Westcountry) is a loosely defined area of South West England, usually taken to include all, some, or parts of the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, and, less commonly, Wiltshire, Gloucesters ...

TV and acted with the

Bristol Old Vic Bristol Old Vic is a British theatre company based at the Theatre Royal, Bristol. The present company was established in 1946 as an offshoot of the Old Vic in London. It is associated with the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, which became a fin ...

, as well as undertaking after-dinner speaking engagements.

Early life

Fred Wedlock was born in the old Bristol Maternity Hospital in Southwell Street,

Kingsdown, Bristol Kingsdown is an area of Bristol, located on high ground immediately north of the city centre and south of Cotham. It lies within the Cotham council ward. Kingsdown remained rural until the 18th century, but around 1737 land on the southern sl ...

. He was brought up in Redcliffe, where his father ran the York House

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

. He sang in the church choir at

St Mary Redcliffe St Mary Redcliffe is an Anglican parish church located in the Redcliffe district of Bristol, England. The church is a short walk from Bristol Temple Meads station. The church building was constructed from the 12th to the 15th centuries, and it ...

. Wedlock was educated at

Bristol Grammar School Bristol Grammar School (BGS) is a 4–18 mixed, independent day school in Bristol, England. It was founded in 1532 by Royal Charter for the teaching of 'good manners and literature', endowed by wealthy Bristol merchants Robert and Nicholas Thorn ...

in the 1950s. He represented the school and the Old Bristolians playing hockey.

Career

After attending

Swansea University , former_names=University College of Swansea, University of Wales Swansea , motto= cy, Gweddw crefft heb ei dawn , mottoeng="Technical skill is bereft without culture" , established=1920 – University College of Swansea 1996 – University of Wa ...

, he taught in the

East End of London The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...

during the 1960s, at South Bristol College and the Castle School, Thornbury (1969 to 1971), before taking up music full-time in the 1970s. Wedlock was a regular performer at the

Bristol Troubadour Club The Bristol Troubadour Club was a short lived but influentialclub in the thriving contemporary folk music scene in Bristol in the late 1960s and early 1970s, It was located in Clifton village, the student quarter above the city centre. The club ...

and he played the folk circuit, both prior to, and in the wake of, his single

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...

success, with performances at clubs and festivals all over the world. He also presented many programmes on

TV including ''Bargain Hunters'' on HTV. In 1997 Wedlock took a leading role in

's production of ''Up the Feeder, Down the Mouth'', a theatrical history of

Bristol Docks Bristol Harbour is the harbour in the city of Bristol, England. The harbour covers an area of . It is the former natural tidal river Avon through the city but was made into its current form in 1809 when the tide was prevented from going out per ...

, written by A. C. H. Smith. In 2001 the production was restaged on the waterfront. He also appeared in several productions for Bristol theatre company, The Ministry of Entertainment, most recently in December 2009. Wedlock's albums include ''The Folker'' (1971) (notable for the title track

parody A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its subj ...

of "

The Boxer "The Boxer" is a song written by Paul Simon and recorded by the American music duo Simon & Garfunkel from their fifth studio album, '' Bridge over Troubled Water'' (1970). Produced by the duo and Roy Halee, it was released as a standalone sing ...

" by

Simon and Garfunkel Simon & Garfunkel were an American folk rock duo consisting of the singer-songwriter Paul Simon and the singer Art Garfunkel. They were one of the best-selling music groups of the 1960s, and their biggest hits—including the electric remix of " ...

), ''Frollicks'' (1973), ''Out of Wedlock'' (1978), ''The Oldest Swinger in Town'' (1981) and ''Fred Wedlock Live'' (1982). In early 1981 "The Oldest Swinger in Town", reached number 6 in 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 ...

. The song was subsequently released in Australia where it peaked at number 60. His daughter, Hannah Wedlock, was an occasional member of the

Pigsty Hill Light Orchestra The Pigsty Hill Light Orchestra (or PHLO) were an eccentric band of British musicians, who joined together in early 1968 to play a fusion of comedy, jazz, and folk music, in a unique style which has been compared with The Temperance Seven and ...

, another Bristol-based outfit, whom Fred made his support band at an early stage of their career. She now performs with the Blue Note Jazz Band. His grandfather,

Billy Wedlock William John Wedlock (28 October 1880 – 25 January 1965), also known as "Fatty" or the "India Rubber Man", was a footballer who played for Bristol City in 1900–01 and from 1905 until his retirement in 1921. Between 1901 and 1905 he played fo ...

, captained

Bristol City F.C. Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

and was a regular for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in the early 20th century. The former Wedlock Stand at Ashton Gate was named in his honour. He lived at Amesbury near

Timsbury, Somerset Timsbury is a village and civil parish in England, in the Bath and North East Somerset unitary authority of the county of Somerset. It lies south-west of Bath, close to the Cam Brook river. The parish, which includes the hamlets of Radford a ...

where for many years he contributed to village life by providing entertainment and helping with raising funds for local projects.

Death

It was announced on 4 March 2010 that Fred Wedlock had died, in hospital in

Bath, Somerset Bath () is a city in the Bath and North East Somerset unitary area in the county of Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman-built baths. At the 2021 Census, the population was 101,557. Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, ...

, following a heart attack, after having contracted pneumonia. Dick Greener of ''Strawbs Web'', the website of

folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers suc ...

band

The Strawbs Strawbs (or The Strawbs) are an English rock band founded in 1964 as the Strawberry Hill Boys. The band started out as a bluegrass group, but eventually moved on to other styles such as folk rock and progressive rock. They are best known fo ...

, said that he was "A huge comic talent, and an all round thoroughly nice guy, I know ... those who have seen Fred in the past during his long and successful career, would want to pass on their condolences to Fred's family." Derek Cleverdon, chairman of the Variety Club Children's Charity South West, said Wedlock was also devoted to charitable causes. "He performed on numerous occasions for the Variety Club, and raised thousands of pounds for us over the years." A large number of people attended a funeral service held at

church on 15 March 2010. Family and friends paid homage with tributes and songs. A local press report said that "he filled Bristol's largest church to capacity." Wedlock was survived by his wife and two daughters.

Personal papers and recordings

Videos and CDs of television programmes and performances, promotional photographs and press cuttings, song lyrics, jokes, scripts, research notes, papers and correspondence are held by

Bristol Archives Bristol Archives (formerly Bristol Record Office) was established in 1924. It was the first borough record office in the United Kingdom, since at that time there was only one other local authority record office (Bedfordshire) in existence. It ...

(Ref. 44790)
online catalogue
.

Summary discography

*''The Folker'' – Village Thing VTS 7, 1971 *''Frollicks'' – Village Thing VTS 20, 1973 *''Home Made'' – Pillock Produckshuns PPS1, 1975 *''Greatest Hits'' (not a compilation as the title suggests: new live recordings of songs predominantly from his first two albums) – Pillock Produckshuns PPS17, 1977 *''Out of Wedlock'' – One Up OU2217, 1978 *''The Oldest Swinger in Town'' (with Chris Newman) – Pillock Produckshuns PPS 271, 1979 *''The Oldest Swinger in Town'' (different track listing) – Rocket TRAIN 13, 1981 *''Live'' (with Chris Newman) – Rocket TRAIN 19, 1982 *''The Complete 'Folker' and 'Frollicks' Albums'' – Village Thing, 2008 *''Wrinklies' Revolution'' – own label *''Souvenir'' – own label *''Something Old, Something New'' – own label *''Festive Fred'' – own label

References

External links

Official Fred Wedlock WebsiteVideo tribute from BBC West
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wedlock, Fred 1942 births 2010 deaths Musicians from Bristol People from Timsbury, Somerset English folk singers English comedy musicians Deaths from pneumonia in England People educated at Bristol Grammar School Alumni of Swansea University Scrumpy and Western Rocket Records artists British novelty song performers British male singer-songwriters