Anthony Fitzgerald (born 25 April 1943), known professionally as Tony Christie, is an English musician, singer and actor. He is best known for his recording of "

(Is This the Way To) Amarillo "(Is This the Way to) Amarillo" is a song written by Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield. It is about a man traveling to Amarillo, Texas, to find his girlfriend Marie. Written by two Americans with a strong country-western lyrical theme, the so ...

", a double UK chart success.

Career

1960s to 1970s

Discovered and managed by

Harvey Lisberg Harvey Brian Lisberg (born 2 March 1940) is an English talent manager and impresario, best known for discovering Herman's Hermits in 1963. In 1965, he signed songwriter Graham Gouldman, a founder member of 10cc, who Lisberg also managed, along w ...

, he had three hits in 1971, beginning with "

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

" which reached number 21 in the UK, and went on to have two Top Twenty hits 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 ...

with "

I Did What I Did for Maria "I Did What I Did for Maria" is a song recorded by British singer Tony Christie. It was written and produced by Mitch Murray and Peter Callander, who were also responsible for Christie's "Las Vegas" and " Avenues and Alleyways". The song is about ...

", which reached number two, and "

Is This the Way to Amarillo "(Is This the Way to) Amarillo" is a song written by Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield. It is about a man traveling to Amarillo, Texas, to find his girlfriend Marie. Written by two Americans with a strong country-western lyrical theme, the s ...

", which peaked at number 18, all in 1971. Subsequently, he had a minor hit with "

Avenues and Alleyways "Avenues and Alleyways" is a 1973 single recorded by Tony Christie as the theme song for the television series '' The Protectors (1972 - 1974)''. It was written and produced by Mitch Murray and Peter Callander, who were also responsible for Chris ...

" which reached number 37, and was the theme to the television series ''

The Protectors ''The Protectors'' is a British television series, an action thriller created by Gerry Anderson. It was Anderson's second TV series to exclusively use live actors as opposed to marionettes (following ''UFO''), and his second to be firmly set in ...

''. In addition he charted with "Drive Safely Darlin'" in early 1976 which was recorded on the MCA label and reached 35 in the UK chart. "Is This the Way to Amarillo" had sold more than one million copies by September 1972, and was awarded a

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 ...

. His early songs were dramatic big-voiced numbers, many of which were written by

Mitch Murray Mitch Murray (born Lionel Michael Stitcher; 30 January 1940) is an English songwriter, record producer and author. He has won two Ivor Novello Awards, including the Jimmy Kennedy Award. Murray has written, or co-written, songs that have produ ...

and

Peter Callander Peter Robin Callander (10 October 1939 – 25 February 2014) was an English songwriter and record producer. Active from the 1960s onwards, Callander wrote or co-wrote songs that have been performed by recording artists such as Cilla Black, Tom ...

. He recorded albums regularly throughout the 1970s and made infrequent appearances on the charts. His album ''With Loving Feeling'' sold well boosted by the hit single "Is This The Way to Amarillo". He recorded an album in the United States in 1973 with the record producer

Snuff Garrett Thomas Lesslie Garrett (July 5, 1938 – December 16, 2015) known as Snuff Garrett or Tommy Garrett, was an American record producer whose most famous work was during the 1960s and 1970s. Early years Garrett was born in Dallas, Texas, United ...

, which did little to stop his commercial slide. A live album followed which sold relatively better but by the mid-1970s recorded work became rarer and stage work took preference. In June 1972, he was invited to take part in the music festival, The

Golden Orpheus The Golden Orpheus ( bg, Златният Орфей, ''Zlatniyat Orfey'') was an international song contest, held annually from 1965 to 1999 in Sunny Beach, Bulgaria. Alongside its Bulgarian pop song competition, the festival’s rules and regul ...

, in

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

, which was recorded and published on vinyl by the government musical company Balkanton. He played the role of Magaldi on the original 1976 album recording of ''

Evita Evita may refer to: Arts * Evita (1996 film), ''Evita'' (1996 film), a 1996 American musical drama film based on the 1976 concept album of the same name * Evita (2008 film), ''Evita'' (2008 film), a documentary about Eva Péron * Evita (album), ''E ...

'' (singing the solo song "On this Night of a Thousand Stars" and the duet with Julie Covington "Eva And Magaldi / Eva Beware Of The City") and sought to represent the UK in the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest, with the song "The Queen of the Mardi Gras" but came third in the contest to select an entrant, behind eventual contest winners

Brotherhood of Man Brotherhood of Man are a British pop group who achieved success in the 1970s. They won the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest with "Save Your Kisses for Me". Created in 1969 by songwriter and record producer Tony Hiller, Brotherhood of Man was initia ...

1980s to 1990s

Although his popularity waned in his native England through most of the 1980s and 1990s, he maintained a successful singing career in continental Europe during this period. This was especially so in Germany, with four albums recorded with German producer

Jack White John Anthony White (; born July 9, 1975), commonly known as Jack White, is an American musician, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the duo the White Stripes. White has enjoyed consistent critical and popular success and is widely c ...

, especially their first album collaboration ''Welcome to My Music'', reaching number 7 in the German charts and going platinum. From 1991 to 2002, Christie recorded nine albums especially for the German market. In 1999, he sang the

Jarvis Cocker Jarvis Branson Cocker (born 19 September 1963) is an English musician and radio presenter. As the founder, frontman, lyricist and only consistent member of the band Pulp, he became a figurehead of the Britpop genre of the mid-1990s. Following P ...

-penned UK top ten hit "

Walk like a Panther Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined by an 'inverted pendulum' gait in which the body vaults o ...

", recorded by the Sheffield band

All Seeing I The All Seeing I were a British electronic music group from Sheffield, England, comprising Dean Honer, Jason Buckle and DJ Parrot (real name Richard Barratt). Biography The band released their first single "I Walk" in 1997, but it was not unt ...

. His influence on a new generation of singers was further demonstrated when

indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming *Independent video game development, video games created without financial backing from large companies *Indie game, any game (board ...

pop band

Rinaldi Sings Rinaldi is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Alessandro Rinaldi (painter) (born 1839), Cremonese historic painter * Alessandro Rinaldi (footballer) (born 1974), Italian soccer player *Andrea Rinaldi (2000–2020), Italian footba ...

released a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of "Avenues & Alleyways" in March 2004.

2000 to 2010

In 2002, "Is This the Way to Amarillo" was used in the TV comedy series ''

Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights ''Phoenix Nights'' is a British sitcom about The Phoenix Club, a working men's club in the northern English town of Bolton, Greater Manchester. The show is a spin-off from the "In the Club" episode of the spoof documentary series '' That Pet ...

'', leading to a resurgence in his popularity. The song was re-released on 14 March 2005 to raise money for the

Comic Relief Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene, or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension. Definition Comic relief usually means a releasing of emotional or other tension resulting from a comic episo ...

charity, and reached Number 1 in the

(outselling all the first release's chart run put together). This led to the biggest sales for a Number 1 single for the whole year, with seven weeks at the chart pinnacle. It also became the longest running chart-topper since

Cher Cher (; born Cherilyn Sarkisian; May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Often referred to by the media as the Honorific nicknames in popular music, "Goddess of Pop", she has been described as embodying female ...

's " Believe", almost seven years earlier. The single was credited as "featuring

Peter Kay Peter John Kay (born 2 July 1973) is an English actor, comedy writer and stand-up comedian. He has written, produced and acted in several television and film projects, and has written three books. Born and brought up in Bolton, Kay studied ...

", though Kay only appeared in the

video Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syste ...

; the audio track was the original 1971 issue. His album ''The Definitive Collection'' also climbed to the Number 1 spot the following week in 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 ...

, breaking records when it also came in at Number 1 on the downloads chart. In 2005, the Dutch singer Albert West covered the same song. This release reached Number 25 in the Dutch

record chart A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often ...

. The same year Christie re-recorded "Amarillo" together with the

Hermes House Band The Hermes House Band is a Dutch pop band, established in 1982 by members of the Rotterdamsch Studenten Corps, a fraternity/sorority in Rotterdam, Netherlands. They have released more than 25 albums and singles. History The band rose to fame i ...

for the German market, reaching Number 25 in the German charts and having several TV performances. Following the song's success, Christie was awarded the freedom of

Amarillo, Texas Amarillo ( ; Spanish for "yellow") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Potter County. It is the 14th-most populous city in Texas and the largest city in the Texas Panhandle. A portion of the city extends into Randall County ...

, and made a guest appearance on the

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

-based TV soap opera ''

Emmerdale ''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British soap opera that is broadcast on ITV1. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, '' ...

''. A few months later he re-released another single, "Avenues & Alleyways", as a follow-up to the success of "Amarillo". Although this only reached Number 26 on the

, it once again out-performed the original release, which reached Number 37 in 1973. Following on from this success, Christie released a single on 5 December 2005, a

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s an ...

cover of

Slade Slade are an English rock band formed in Wolverhampton in 1966. They rose to prominence during the glam rock era in the early 1970s, achieving 17 consecutive top 20 hits and six number ones on the UK Singles Chart. The ''British Hit Singles ...

's "

Merry Xmas Everybody "Merry Xmas Everybody" is a song by the British rock band Slade, released as a non-album single in 1973. The song was written by lead vocalist Noddy Holder and bassist Jim Lea, and it was produced by Chas Chandler. It was the band's sixth and ...

". The

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

contained a big band version of "Is This the Way to Amarillo" and a live recording of "If It Feels Good, Do It" plus videos of the first two tracks. However, it only reached Number 49 on the UK chart. To coincide with the 2006 World Cup, a new version of "Amarillo" was released on the novelty single " (Is This the Way to) The World Cup" on 29 May 2006, reaching Number 8 in the UK. On 6 November 2006, Christie issued the album '' Simply in Love''. In 2008, Christie recorded the album ''

Made in Sheffield ''Made in Sheffield'' is a documentary film on the history of the music scene in the city of Sheffield, England from 1975 until 1983. The film was directed Eve Wood and produced by Sheffield Vision and Slackjaw Film in 2001. It features bands su ...

'', with production from

Richard Hawley Richard Willis Hawley (born 17 January 1967) is an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer. After his first band Treebound Story (formed while he was still at school) broke up, Hawley found success as a member of Britpop band Longp ...

and contributions from

Alex Turner Alexander David Turner (born 6 January 1986) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is well known as the frontman and principal songwriter of the rock band Arctic Monkeys, with whom he has released seven albums. He ...

and

. On 20 May 2008, he performed one of the album's songs, "Danger Is A Woman in Love", at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

with Hawley. 2009 saw the release of the download single "Every Word She Said". The same year, Christie also featured in "Heresy", with his nephew's band Laruso, which was released on their début album ''A Classic Case of Cause and Effect''. In July 2010, Christie made his West End début in the musical '' Dreamboats and Petticoats'' in London's

Playhouse Theatre The Playhouse Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster, located in Northumberland Avenue, near Trafalgar Square, central London. The Theatre was built by F. H. Fowler and Hill with a seating capacity of 1,200. It was rebuilt i ...

playing the roles of 'Older Bobby' and 'Phil'. On 22 December 2010, Christie appeared in a celebrity version of '' Come Dine with Me''. Christie came joint second, with actress Susie Amy, behind winner Janet Ellis, but ahead of the musician and actor

Goldie Clifford Joseph Price MBE (born 19 September 1965), better known as Goldie, is a British music producer and DJ. Initially gaining exposure for his work as a graffiti artist, Goldie became well known for his pioneering role as a musician in th ...

. The

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

programme's prize of £1,000 went to charity.

2011 to present

Having signed with the Acid Jazz label, it was announced that a Northern Soul inspired album was to be released in January 2011. Christie's nineteenth studio album, '' Now's the Time!'', was released in the UK on 7 February 2011 through Acid Jazz. Produced by Richard Barrett of All Seeing I, it included collaborations with Jarvis Cocker and

Róisín Murphy Róisín Marie Murphy ( , ; born 5 July 1973) is an Irish singer, songwriter, and record producer. She first became known in the 1990s as one half of the pop duo Moloko alongside English musician Mark Brydon. After the breakup of Moloko, she em ...

. Martin Townsend of the ''

Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...

'' gave it a favourable review, saying it oozed wit and style. The song "Nobody in the World" which was released by Acid Jazz on a 45 RPM single the previous year appears on the album. To coincide with 50 years in the music industry, Christie embarked on a 50-date national tour promoting the new album. Over the course of the summer Christie travelled with his band across the country performing in all kinds of venues. The tour included his back catalogue of hits including "

", "

", and "Walk Like A Panther" and several tracks from the new ''Now's the Time!'' album. Included in the set list was a version of " Mr Bojangles" made famous by

Sammy Davis Jr. Samuel George Davis Jr. (December 8, 1925 – May 16, 1990) was an American singer, dancer, actor, comedian, film producer and television director. At age three, Davis began his career in vaudeville with his father Sammy Davis Sr. and the ...

and a cover of the

Smokey Robinson William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. (born February 19, 1940) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive director. He was the founder and front man of the Motown vocal group the Miracles, for which he was also chief ...

hit "

Shop Around "Shop Around" is a song originally recorded by the Miracles on Motown Records' Tamla subsidiary label. It was written by Miracles lead singer Smokey Robinson and Motown Records founder Berry Gordy. It became a smash hit in 1960 when originally re ...

". On 23 October 2011, Christie released a charity single, a special arrangement of "Steal The Sun" in aid of the

Help for Heroes Help for Heroes (H4H) is a British charity which provides lifelong recovery support to British Armed Forces service personnel who have been wounded or injured in the line of duty, and to their families, originally only since 11 September 2001, th ...

Charity, supporting all of the British Forces fighting on the frontline in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

. The single was available for download only on

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

HMV Sunrise Records and Entertainment, trading as HMV (for His Master's Voice), is a British music and entertainment retailer, currently operating exclusively in the United Kingdom. The first HMV-branded store was opened by the Gramophone Company ...

and Amazon, with all proceeds going to the charity. From December 2011, Christie appeared in pantomime at The Theatre Royal,

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

, as the King. In June 2014, Christie performed at Locke Park,

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

, as part of a "Live Picnic in the Park" music event, to raise money and awareness for Barnsley Hospice, which has been helping the local community for over 20 years. On 1 July 2017, Christie returned to his home village of Conisbrough, South Yorkshire, to be the headlining act at the Conisbrough Music Festival. Christie later appeared at the

Cambridge Arts Theatre Cambridge Arts Theatre is a 666-seat theatre on Peas Hill and St Edward's Passage in central Cambridge, England. The theatre presents a varied mix of drama, dance, opera and pantomime. It attracts some of the highest-quality touring productions ...

in the

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...

, ''

Jack and the Beanstalk "Jack and the Beanstalk" is an English fairy tale. It appeared as "The Story of Jack Spriggins and the Enchanted Bean" in 1734 4th edition On Commons and as Benjamin Tabart's moralized "The History of Jack and the Bean-Stalk" in 1807. Henry Cole ...

'', which was set in the fictional town of 'Amarillo' and featured Christie as the King. Christie is still touring and in October 2021 appeared at The Stables, Wavendon, Milton Keynes as part of a new tour.

Discography

References

External links

Official websiteOfficial German FansiteInterview on BBC Radio SheffieldTony Christie
at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christie, Tony 1943 births Living people English male singers English pop singers English crooners Schlager musicians People from Conisbrough Stockfisch Records artists