Raymond Edward "Gilbert" O'Sullivan (born 1 December 1946) is an Irish singer-songwriter who achieved his most significant success during the early 1970s with
hits including "
Alone Again (Naturally)
"Alone Again (Naturally)" is a song by Irish singer-songwriter Gilbert O'Sullivan. It was recorded in 1972 at the same time as his album '' Back to Front'' and was a worldwide hit.
The single spent six non-consecutive weeks at number one on ''B ...
", "
Clair", and "
Get Down".
O'Sullivan's songs are often marked by his distinctive, percussive piano playing style
and observational lyrics using word play.
Born in
Waterford
"Waterford remains the untaken city"
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, coordinates ...
, Ireland, O'Sullivan settled in
Swindon, England, as a child. In 1967, O'Sullivan began pursuing a career in music. Worldwide, he has charted 16 top 40 records including six No. 1 songs, the first of which was 1970's "
Nothing Rhymed
Nothing, the complete absence of anything, has been a matter of philosophical debate since at least the 5th century BC. Early Greek philosophers argued that it was impossible for ''nothing'' to exist. The atomists allowed ''nothing'' but only i ...
". Across his career, he has recorded 20 studio albums. The music magazine ''
Record Mirror
''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper between 1954 and 1991 for pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after the '' NME'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK album chart was published in '' ...
'' voted him the top UK male singer of 1972.
He has received three
Ivor Novello Awards
The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and composing. They have been presented annually in London by the Ivors Academy (formerly the BASCA) since 1956, and over 1,000 statuettes have been a ...
, including “Songwriter of the Year” in 1973.
Early life
Raymond Edward O'Sullivan was born on 1 December 1946 in Cork Road,
Waterford
"Waterford remains the untaken city"
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, pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe
, pushpin_relief = 1
, coordinates ...
, Ireland.
He was one of six children; his mother May ran a
sweet shop and his father was a
butcher
A butcher is a person who may slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat, or participate within any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat and poultry for sale in retail or wholesale food establishm ...
with Clover Meats.
The O'Sullivans emigrated due to a job offer in
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 ...
.
The family first moved to
Battersea, London when Raymond was seven, before settling in
Swindon, Wiltshire a year later. Raymond began playing piano here, later explaining: "I come from a working class background, but we always had a piano, the thinking of my parents was that if one of your kids could play it, you could make some money at it."
A period of going to piano lessons was short-lived, as O'Sullivan was not enamoured of
music theory and played the pieces by ear instead.
Raymond's father died two years after the move to Swindon.
Raymond attended
St Joseph's Catholic College before studying at
Swindon College, specialising in graphic design. Here, he played with several semi-professional bands including the Doodles, the Prefects and was most notably drummer in a band called Rick's Blues, along with Malcolm Mabbett (guitar), Keith Ray (bass), and founder
Rick Davies
Richard Davies (born 22 July 1944) is an English musician, singer and songwriter best known as founder, vocalist and keyboardist of the rock band Supertramp. Davies was its only constant member, and composed some of the band's best known songs ...
.
Davies, who later founded
Supertramp
Supertramp were an English rock band that formed in London in 1969. Marked by the individual songwriting of founders Roger Hodgson (vocals, keyboards, and guitars) and Rick Davies (vocals and keyboards), they are distinguished for blending p ...
, taught O'Sullivan how to play both drums and piano. O'Sullivan's drumming informed his style of piano-playing, which often utilises a distinct, percussive piano pattern. O'Sullivan has explained "My left hand is hitting the high hat and the right hand is the snare."
He started writing songs, heavily influenced by
the Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...
as writers and
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
as a performer.
Music career
In 1967, O'Sullivan moved from Swindon to
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...
in pursuit of a career in music. Determined to get a record deal and looking to stand out, he created an eye-catching visual image consisting of a pudding basin haircut, cloth cap and short trousers. O'Sullivan has said his love of
silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized Sound recording and reproduction, recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) ...
inspired the look. He scored a five-year contract with April Music,
CBS Records' house publishing company, after coming to the attention of the professional manager Stephen Shane, who also suggested changing his name from Ray to Gilbert as a play on the name of the operetta composers
Gilbert & Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan was a Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900), who jointly created fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which ''H.M.S. Pina ...
. He was paid an advance of £12 (equivalent to £ as of ), with which he bought a piano. He was signed to CBS Records by the
A&R manager Mike Smith, who produced
the Tremeloes
The Tremeloes are an English beat group founded in 1958 in Dagenham, England. They initially found success in the British Invasion era with lead singer Brian Poole, scoring a UK chart-topper in 1963 with "Do You Love Me". After Poole's departure ...
,
the Marmalade
Marmalade are a Scottish pop rock band originating from the east end of Glasgow, originally formed in 1961 as The Gaylords, and then later billed as Dean Ford and The Gaylords, recording four singles for Columbia (EMI). In 1966 they changed th ...
and
the Love Affair.
His first single was "Disappear", produced by Mike Smith and released in November 1967 credited to the mononym 'Gilbert'. It failed to chart, as did his second single "What Can I Do", released in April 1968. A switch to the Irish record label
Major Minor in 1969 yielded a third single "Mr. Moody's Garden", again unsuccessful. O'Sullivan then sent some demo tapes to
Gordon Mills, the manager of
Tom Jones and
Engelbert Humperdinck, whereupon O'Sullivan was signed to Mills' newly founded label, MAM Records. Mills reportedly hated O'Sullivan's self-created image, but O'Sullivan insisted on using it initially.
O'Sullivan's unique signature look garnered much attention, and often saw him compared to the
Bisto Kids. O'Sullivan explained his thinking behind his appearance in a 1971 interview: "My mother probably doesn't like
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Fur ...
because she hates the way he looks, his hair and everything. If you can get them interested in the way you look then they tend to like the music. The thing which I'm trying to create is of the thirties;
Keaton and
Chaplin."
Early success
At the end of 1970, O'Sullivan achieved his first UK
top 10 hit with "
Nothing Rhymed
Nothing, the complete absence of anything, has been a matter of philosophical debate since at least the 5th century BC. Early Greek philosophers argued that it was impossible for ''nothing'' to exist. The atomists allowed ''nothing'' but only i ...
",
which also reached
number one
Number One most commonly refers to:
* 1 (number)
Number One, No. 1, or #1 may also refer to:
Music Albums
* ''Number 1'' (Big Bang album), and the title song
* ''No. 1'' (BoA album), and the title song
* ''No.1'' (EP), by CLC
* ''n.1 ...
in the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
,
where it earned O'Sullivan his first
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 ...
.
Over 1971, O'Sullivan scored hits with "Underneath The Blanket Go" (which also reached number one in the Netherlands), "
We Will" and "No Matter How I Try", the latter being named "Best Ballad or Romantic Song" at the 17th Ivor Novello Awards in 1972. O'Sullivan released his debut album, ''
Himself
A reflexive pronoun is a pronoun that refers to another noun or pronoun (its antecedent) within the same sentence.
In the English language specifically, a reflexive pronoun will end in ''-self'' or ''-selves'', and refer to a previously n ...
'', in August 1971.
It received a warm critical reception, with O'Sullivan's observational and conversational style of songwriting garnering comparisons to
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...
and
Randy Newman.
O'Sullivan opted not to tour in promotion of the album, but did however make a number of appearances on British television during 1971, most notably recording an edition of ''
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
In Concert'' broadcast 18 December 1971.
In 1972 O'Sullivan achieved major international fame with "
and loss. The single peaked at no. 3 in the UK but in America spent six non-consecutive weeks at number one on
, selling nearly two million copies. It peaked at no. 2 in New Zealand (during an 11-week chart run), spent two weeks at number one in Canada (13 weeks in the Top 40);