Sal Solo (born Christopher Scott Stevens; b. 5 September 1961 in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England) is an English singer.

Career

Solo began his career with a band called The News, which released one 7" single on GTO Records. Then he formed the pop group

Classix Nouveaux Classix Nouveaux are an English new wave band, who are generally considered part of the New Romantic scene. Though experiencing only minor success in their native UK, most notably with their 1982 Top 20 hit "Is It a Dream", the band had number ...

, with former members of

X-Ray Spex X-Ray Spex were an English punk rock band formed in 1976 in London. During their first incarnation (1976–1979), X-Ray Spex released five singles and one album. Their 1977 single " Oh Bondage Up Yours!" and 1978 debut album '' Germfree Adol ...

, which became associated with the burgeoning

New Romantic The New Romantic movement was an underground subculture movement that originated in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The movement emerged from the nightclub scene in London and Birmingham at venues such as Billy's and The Blitz. The New ...

movement. They released three albums with

EMI Records EMI Records (formerly EMI Records Ltd.) is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company of the same name in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the succ ...

. Classix Nouveaux had

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 ...

hits in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

and other countries in the early 1980s. They also had one top 20 and various other top 50

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...

in the United Kingdom, including "Is It a Dream", which reached No. 11 on 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 band split in 1985. Between 1984 and 1992, he provided lead vocals for the French

space rock Space rock is a music genre characterized by loose and lengthy song structures centered on instrumental textures that typically produce a hypnotic, otherworldly sound. It may feature distorted and reverberation-laden guitars, minimal drummin ...

group

Rockets A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely fr ...

. Following a pilgrimage to San Damiano in Italy, Solo embraced the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

faith of his childhood. He had a solo hit with "San Damiano (Heart and Soul)" which reached No. 15 on the UK Singles Chart, and went to No. 1 in Poland. The song has since been recorded by several artists, including

Aled Jones Aled Jones, (born 29 December 1970) is a Welsh singer and radio and television presenter. As a teenage chorister, he reached widespread fame during the mid-1980s. Since then he has worked in television with the BBC and ITV, and radio (for Cla ...

for his 2003 album ''Higher'', which remained on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

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 ...

for several weeks, and earned a

silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

disc. In 1987, Solo became active in

youth ministry Youth ministry, also commonly referred to as youth group, is an age-specific religious ministry of faith groups or other religious organizations, usually from ages 12 to 30, whose mission is to involve and engage with young people who attend the ...

in the Catholic Church in the UK. During this time, he continued to write and perform new music. In the early 1990s, he released three albums of

Christian music Christian music is music that has been written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life and faith. Common themes of Christian music include praise, worship, penitence, and lament, and its forms vary widely around ...

through the Christian record label, Word Records, followed by several more released independently. In 1999, he moved to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, where he works with Catholic teens in the United States and other parts of the world, speaking on matters of faith and justice, and giving concerts and youth retreats. Oblężenie Jasnej Góry przez Szwedów w 1655

Oblężenie Jasnej Góry przez Szwedów w 1655

Discography

Albums *1981: Classix Nouveaux: ''Night People'' (Liberty/EMI) *1982: Classix Nouveaux: ''La Verité'' (Liberty/EMI) *1983: Classix Nouveaux: ''Secret'' (Liberty/EMI) *1983: Hazan (

Nazia Hassan Nazia Hassan (3 April 1965 – 13 August 2000) was a Pakistani singer-songwriter, lawyer and social activist. Referred to as the Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of South Asian pop, she is considered one of the most influential singe ...

) ''Dreamer Devane'' (EMI) (as producer) *1983: Hazan (

) ''Destiny'' (EMI) (as producer) *1983: Hazan (

) ''Get a little closer'' (remix producer) *1984: Rockets: ''Imperception'' (CGD) *1985: Sal Solo: ''Heart & Soul'' (MCA) *1985: Roketz: ''One Way'' (CGD) *1991: Sal Solo: ''Look at Christ'' (Word UK) *1992: Rockets: ''Another Future'' (Polydor) *1994: Sal Solo: ''Through Ancient Eyes'' (Word UK) *1996: Sal Solo: ''Born to Die'' ( (Word UK) *1997: Classix Nouveaux: ''The Very Best of Classix Nouveaux'' (EMI UK) *1998: Sal Solo: ''Live!'' (ACTS) *1999: Sal Solo: ''Anno Domini'' (ACTS) *1999: Sal Solo: ''Pilgrimage – The Gospel Best of Sal Solo'' (ACTS) *2001: Sal Solo: ''I Worship'' (ACTS) *2001: Sal Solo: ''Anno Domini'' (Espańol) (De La Raiz) *2003: Sal Solo: ''NeoSacro'' (Espańol) (De La Raiz) *2005: Sal Solo: ''Yes! Best of Studio and Live'' (ACTS) *2005: Sal Solo: ''Teen Mass for the Millennium'' (ACTS) *2009: Sal Solo: ''We Cry Justice!'' (Heart Beat) *2012: Mathias Michael: ''I Believe'' (The Buzz) (as producer) *2012: Various Artists: ''NCYC'S Top Talent Volume One'' (The Buzz) (as producer) *2013: Fusion: "Undiscovered" (The Buzz) (as producer) *2013: Sal Solo: ''Acts of Worship'' (Heart Beat) *2020: SIJ10 (The Buzz) (as writer and producer) *2021: Classix Nouveaux: "Inside Outside 2021" (ESP) (single)

References

External links

Sal Solo official homepage

Sal Solo Myspace
{{DEFAULTSORT:Solo, Sal 1961 births English Roman Catholics Living people People from Hatfield, Hertfordshire English male singers English new wave musicians Musicians from Hertfordshire Male new wave singers Classix Nouveaux members British performers of Christian music