Nicholas George Gilder (born 21 December 1951) is a British-Canadian musician who first came to prominence as the frontman for the

glam rock Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was performed by musicians who wore outrageous costumes, makeup, and hairstyles, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists drew on diver ...

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary *Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania *Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...

Sweeney Todd Sweeney Todd is a fictional character who first appeared as the villain of the penny dreadful serial ''The String of Pearls'' (1846–47). The original tale became a feature of 19th-century melodrama and London urban legend, legend. A barber fr ...

. He later had a successful solo career as a singer/songwriter.

Biography

Born 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 ...

, England, Gilder was raised in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

, Canada. He began his career as front-man for the

band

, which later briefly featured a very young

Bryan Adams Bryan Guy Adams (born 5 November 1959) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, composer, and photographer. He has been cited as one of the best-selling music artists of all time, and is estimated to have sold between 75 million and mor ...

. Sweeney Todd had a number one hit, "

Roxy Roller "Roxy Roller" is a song originally recorded by the glam rock band Sweeney Todd in 1975 with Nick Gilder on vocals. It was written by Jim McCulloch and Nick Gilder. In total, four versions of the song were released in 1976: * the original one at L ...

", that held on to the top spot in the Canadian music charts for three weeks in 1976. It went on to win a

Juno Award The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...

for " Best Selling Single" in 1977. Feeling they had international scope, Gilder and fellow band member, guitarist, and songwriting partner James McCulloch left the band and signed a US record deal. It was his second solo album, which spawned the hit "

Hot Child in the City "Hot Child in the City" is a song by English-Canadian musician Nick Gilder. It was released in June 1978 as a single from the album '' City Nights''. It went to No. 1 both in Canada (October 14, 1978) and in the United States (October 28, 1978). ...

", that gave Gilder chart success in the United States. That song went to No. 1 both in Canada and the US. It also earned him two more Juno Awards: "Single of the Year" and for " Most Promising Male Vocalist of the Year" in Canada as well as a

People's Choice Award The People's Choice Awards is an American awards show, recognizing people in entertainment, voted online by the general public and fans. The show has been held annually since 1975, with the winners originally determined using Gallup Polls until ...

in the US. It failed to chart in the United Kingdom, though it was featured on ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

'' and also in a

Hot Gossip Hot Gossip (1974–86) were a British dance troupe who made television appearances and in 1978 backed Sarah Brightman on her single " I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper". Formation Arlene Phillips moved to London to learn and teach developi ...

dance routine on ''

The Kenny Everett Video Show ''The Kenny Everett Video Show'' (later renamed ''The Kenny Everett Video Cassette'') is a British television comedy and music programme that was made by Thames Television for ITV from 3 July 1978 to 21 May 1981. Overview Philip Jones, Tham ...

''. Since this success, Gilder has had only minimal success in Canada and none of his subsequent releases featured in the US Top 40. Gilder has also been successful as a songwriter for artists such as

Bette Midler Bette Midler (;''Inside the Actors Studio'', 2004 born December 1, 1945) is an American singer, actress, comedian and author. Throughout her career, which spans over five decades, Midler has received List of awards and nominations received by Be ...

Joe Cocker John Robert "Joe" Cocker (20 May 1944 – 22 December 2014) was an English singer known for his gritty, bluesy voice and dynamic stage performances that featured expressive body movements. Most of his best known singles were recordings of son ...

Pat Benatar Patricia Mae Giraldo (''née'' Andrzejewski, formerly Benatar; born January 10, 1953), known professionally as Pat Benatar, is an American rock singer and songwriter. In the United States, she has had two multi-platinum albums, five platinum alb ...

and

Toni Basil Antonia Christina Basilotta (born September 22, 1943), better known by her stage name Toni Basil, is an American singer, choreographer, dancer, actress, and director. Her song "Mickey" topped the charts in the US, Canada and Australia and hit th ...

. In 1984, the band

Scandal A scandal can be broadly defined as the strong social reactions of outrage, anger, or surprise, when accusations or rumours circulate or appear for some reason, regarding a person or persons who are perceived to have transgressed in some way. Th ...

featuring

Patty Smyth Patricia Smyth (born June 26, 1957) is an American singer and songwriter. She first came into national attention with the rock band Scandal and went on to record and perform as a solo artist. Her distinctive voice and new wave image gained broa ...

had a US Top 10 hit with "The Warrior," which was written by Gilder and

Holly Knight ''Ilex'' (), or holly, is a genus of over 570 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family. ''Ilex'' has the most species of any woody dioecious angiosperm genus. The species are evergreen o ...

and earned him a BMI Airplay Award. The song also reached No. 1 in Canada, making him the first Canadian artist to reach the Top of the Canadian chart as lead singer for a band (Sweeney Todd with "Roxy Roller"), a solo artist ("Hot Child in the City") and songwriter for another artist. Gilder's songs have been used in several movies such as '' Youngblood'' with

Rob Lowe Robert Hepler Lowe (born March 17, 1964) is an American actor, filmmaker, and podcast host. He made his acting debut at the age of 15 with ABC's short-lived sitcom ''A New Kind of Family'' (1979–1980). Following numerous television roles in ...

, ''

The Wraith ''The Wraith'' is a 1986 independently made American action- fantasy film, produced by John Kemeny, written and directed by Mike Marvin, and starring Charlie Sheen, Sherilyn Fenn, Nick Cassavetes, and Randy Quaid.Charlie Sheen Carlos Irwin Estévez (born September 3, 1965), known professionally as Charlie Sheen, is an American actor. He has appeared in films such as ''Platoon'' (1986), ''Wall Street'' (1987), '' Young Guns'' (1988), '' The Rookie'' (1990), ''The Thr ...

, ''

Barb Wire Barb Wire may refer to: * Barb wire, a fencing material * Barb Wire (character), a comic book superhero published by Dark Horse Comics * ''Barb Wire'' (1996 film), starring Pamela Anderson, based on the comic book * ''Barb Wire'' (pinball), pinb ...

'' with

Pamela Anderson Pamela Denise Anderson (born July 1, 1967) is a Canadian-American actress and model. She is best known for her glamour modeling work in ''Playboy'' magazine and for her appearances on the television series ''Baywatch'' (1992–1997). Anders ...

, ''Scenes From the Goldmine'', that included a cameo appearance in the movie by Gilder, and in TV series ''

Sex and the City ''Sex and the City'' is an American romantic comedy, romantic comedy-drama television series created by Darren Star for HBO. An adaptation of Candace Bushnell's Sex and the City (newspaper column), newspaper column and 1996 book anthology of the ...

'', ''

That '70s Show ''That '70s Show'' is an American television Period piece, period teen sitcom that aired on Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox from August 23, 1998, to May 18, 2006. The series focuses on the lives of a group of six teenage friends living in the ficti ...

'', ''Ed'' (TV series), ''

Nip/Tuck ''Nip/Tuck'' is an American medical drama television series created by Ryan Murphy that aired on FX in the United States from July 22, 2003, to March 3, 2010. The series, which also incorporates elements of crime drama, black comedy, family dra ...

'', and most recently in the 2010 movie ''

The Runaways The Runaways were an all-female American rock band who recorded and performed from 1975 to 1979. The band released four studio albums and one live album during its run. Among their best-known songs are "Cherry Bomb", " Hollywood", "Queens of N ...

'', where "Roxy Roller" was featured early in the film. Armand Van Helden sampled "Rockaway" on his 2005 club hit, "When the Lights Go Down." The following year

Nemesis In ancient Greek religion, Nemesis, also called Rhamnousia or Rhamnusia ( grc, Ῥαμνουσία, Rhamnousía, the goddess of Rhamnous), was the goddess who personifies retribution, a central concept in the Greek world view. Etymology The n ...

recorded "Hot Child in the City" for their 2006 debut CD, ''Rise Up'' and Rocket recorded "Backstreet Noise" for their CD, ''Girls with Candy Hearts''. Gilder was to release an album called ''A Night on the Town, A Day in the Country'' in 2005, but it was shelved. Gilder returned to Canada in the mid-1990s, where he continues to tour as of 2020 (until

COVID-19 pandemic in Canada The COVID-19 pandemic in Canada is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (). It is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). Most cases over the course of the pandemic have been in Ontario, Que ...

). He has settled in the Vancouver, British Columbia area, where he lives with his family.

Discography

Solo

Studio albums: * 1977: '' You Know Who You Are'',

Chrysalis Records Chrysalis Records () is a British record label that was founded in 1968. The name is both a reference to the pupal stage of a butterfly and a combination of its founders' names, Chris Wright and Terry Ellis. It started as the Ellis-Wright Ag ...

* 1978: '' City Nights'', Chrysalis Records (No. 13 Can, No. 33 Billboard) * 1979: ''

Frequency Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit of time. It is also occasionally referred to as ''temporal frequency'' for clarity, and is distinct from ''angular frequency''. Frequency is measured in hertz (Hz) which is eq ...

'', Chrysalis Records (No. 71 Can, No. 127 Billboard) * 1980: '' Rock America'',

Casablanca Records Casablanca Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Republic Records. Under its founder Neil Bogart, Casablanca was most successful during the disco era of the mid to late 1970s. The label currently f ...

* 1981: ''

Body Talk Muzik Body may refer to: In science * Physical body, an object in physics that represents a large amount, has mass or takes up space * Body (biology), the physical material of an organism * Body plan, the physical features shared by a group of anima ...

'', Casablanca Records * 1985: ''

Nick Gilder Nicholas George Gilder (born 21 December 1951) is a British-Canadian musician who first came to prominence as the frontman for the glam rock band Sweeney Todd. He later had a successful solo career as a singer/songwriter. Biography Born in Lo ...

'',

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

* 1997: ''

Stairways Stairs are a structure designed to bridge a large vertical distance between lower and higher levels by dividing it into smaller vertical distances. This is achieved as a diagonal series of horizontal platforms called steps which enable passage ...

'', Spinner Music Group/Gilder Records * 1999: '' Longtime Coming'',

Page Music Barenaked Ladies is a Canadian rock band formed in 1988 in Scarborough, Ontario. The band developed a following in Canada, with their self-titled 1991 cassette becoming the first independent release to be certified gold in Canada. They reached ...

/Oasis/Orchard Compilations: * 2001: ''The Best of Nick Gilder'',

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

- Capitol Music/Razor & Tie Entertainment (The Chrysalis Years)

Singles

With Sweeney Todd

Album: * 1975: ''

'', London Records (No. 14 Can) Singles: * 1975: "Rock 'N' Roll Story", London Records * 1975: "Sweeney Todd Folder", London Records (No. 36 Can) * 1975: "Roxy Roller", London Records (No. 1 Can)

Songwriting contributions

‡ Also provided background vocals on "Don't Walk Away" & "Cool Zero"
‡‡ Not included in the soundtrack release

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gilder, Nick 1951 births Living people Canadian male singers Canadian rock singers Canadian songwriters Musicians from London Musicians from Vancouver Writers from London Writers from Vancouver English emigrants to Canada Glam rock musicians Chrysalis Records artists Casablanca Records artists Juno Award for Single of the Year winners Juno Award for Breakthrough Artist of the Year winners