Paul Griggs (born 20 November 1944 in

St. Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major town on the old Roman r ...

, Hertfordshire, England) is a British musician. He first played professionally in the band The Cortinas, formed in 1963. The Cortinas released one single in 1968 on Polydor Records called "Phoebe's Flower Shop" and were renamed Octopus the same year. Octopus, which included Griggs' brother Nigel, supported many well-known groups including

Cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...

and Yes and they released one LP (''Restless Night'',

Penny Farthing The penny-farthing, also known as a high wheel, high wheeler or ordinary, is an early type of bicycle. It was popular in the 1870s and 1880s, with its large front wheel providing high speeds (owing to its travelling a large distance for every r ...

, April 1971) and several singles. During its existence, Octopus had several members who later joined famous groups: Drummer

Brian Glascock Brian Glascock (born 17 July 1948) is an English rock drummer for The Gods, Toe Fat, Carmen, Captain Beyond, Soy Cowboy, and primarily for The Motels. He also played on albums by Dolly Parton, Iggy Pop, and Joan Armatrading. He performed ...

, John Cook and Tim Reeves of

Mungo Jerry Mungo Jerry are a British rock band, formed by Ray Dorset in Ashford, Middlesex in 1970. Experiencing their greatest success in the early 1970s, with a changing lineup always fronted by Ray Dorset, the group's biggest hit was "In the Summertime ...

, and brother

Nigel Griggs Nigel Griggs (born 18 August 1949) is a musician who played bass guitar in Split Enz. He is the brother of Paul Griggs from the 1970s vocal group Guys 'n' Dolls. A professional musician since 1963, Nigel Griggs played in a number of bands, nota ...

and Malcolm Green, both later of

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

group,

Split Enz Split Enz were a New Zealand rock band formed in Auckland in 1972 by Tim Finn and Phil Judd and had a variety of other members during its existence. Originally started as a folk-oriented group with quirky art rock stylings, the band built a ...

. According to the ''Nottingham Post'', "There was a point – when Octopus cut a single and album – when it looked like fame would be theirs ... but it didn't happen." When Octopus disbanded, Griggs joined vocal group

Guys 'n' Dolls Guys 'n' Dolls were a UK pop group, initially comprising a three-girl/three-boy line-up and later becoming two-girl/two-boy. In the mid-1970s, they scored UK top-ten hits with the singles " There's a Whole Lot of Loving" and "You Don't Have to ...

and their first single "There's a Whole Lot of Loving" reached number two 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 ...

. Griggs did not feature on this recording. It had been pre-recorded by

session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

s. This was followed by other chart placements. In September 1978, Guys 'n' Dolls supported

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...

for a week of concerts at the Royal Festival Hall in London and in the same year they took part in the Yamaha Song Festival in Tokyo. Guys 'n' Dolls spent their last years 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 ...

and during that time Griggs released two solo singles, the first a medley of

Shadows A shadow is a dark area where light from a light source is blocked by an opaque object. It occupies all of the three-dimensional volume behind an object with light in front of it. The cross section of a shadow is a two-dimensional silhouette, ...

instrumentals under the title of "Guitar Collection" for EMI Holland. The second a cover of

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

song "

You Won't See Me "You Won't See Me" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1965 album ''Rubber Soul''. It was written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. As with songs such as "We Can Work It Out" and "I'm Looking Through Yo ...

" for "

Dureco Dureco is a Dutch independent record label based in the Netherlands. Over the years many artists and groups such as the Amboina Serenaders, Judy Cheeks, Jules de Corte, De Dijk, Jef Elbers, Gotcha!, Samantha Jones, Ming Luhulima, the Mena Moeri ...

". After the group disbanded in 1985 Griggs assumed responsibility for Everyday Music Ltd in England, and concentrated on writing and producing. In 1986 he was a finalist in

A Song for Europe A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes'' ...

with his composition, "I'm Sorry" which was performed by Chad Brown, and a year later his song "No More Tears" was runner-up in "The Buddy Holly Song Contest" that was organised and judged by

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 ...

. Griggs received his award from McCartney at a dinner in London. Griggs has also released a solo CD on his own Fenman label called ''My Songs'' (Fen 001CD), on which he played and composed every track. In 1997, he made a guest appearance on the

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

quiz show, ''

Never Mind the Buzzcocks ''Never Mind the Buzzcocks'' is a British comedy panel game show with a pop music theme. It has aired on Sky Max since September 2021, having originally aired between November 1996 and January 2015 on BBC Two. The original series was first hoste ...

''. Griggs' song "I Don't Wanna Lose You" was recorded by

Lonnie Donegan Anthony James Donegan (29 April 1931 – 3 November 2002), known as Lonnie Donegan, was a British skiffle singer, songwriter and musician, referred to as the "King of Skiffle", who influenced 1960s British pop and rock musicians. Born in Scotl ...

, and featured on Donegan's album ''Muleskinner Blues''. In 2008, Griggs self-published a memoir, ''Diary of a Musician'' (Fenman Paperback) based on the diaries he kept from 1960.

Discography

The Cortinas * "Phoebe's Flower Shop" / "Too Much in Love" (

Polydor Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...

, May 1968) Octopus *"Laugh at the Poor Man" / "Girlfriend" (

, Nov 1969) * "The River" / "Thief" (Penny Farthing, May 1970) *''Restless Night'' (Penny Farthing, April 1971)
Guys 'n' Dolls

References

External links

* *
My Memories of Lonnie Donegan by Paul Griggs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Griggs, Paul 1944 births Living people British male songwriters English male singers English male songwriters English autobiographers Musicians from Hertfordshire People from St Albans