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Draft:Tony Thorpe (musician)

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Tony Thorpe
Birth nameAnthony John Thorpe
Born (1945-07-20) 20 July 1945 (age 79)
St. Bartholomew Hospital, Smithfield, London
Genresglam rock, pop
Instrument(s)guitar, vocals
Formerly ofThe Rubettes, The Firm

Anthony John "Tony" Thorpe is a former guitarist for The Rubettes (1974–1979), and a former vocalist for the novelty group The Firm (1982–1987).

Biography

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Anthony John Thorpe was born in St Bartholomew's Hospital in Smithfield, London. He attended St Mary's Priory School and St Ignatius College.[1] Thorpe's earliest influences include Elvis Presley, Little Richard, Lonnie Donegan, Denny Wright, Jimmy Currie, Les Bennetts, Duane Eddy, Chet Atkins, Hank Marvin, and Buddy Holly.[1] He was gifted a ukulele when he was eight, and his first guitar at ten.[2] Thorpe was learning how to play drums and guitar by age eleven, and at sixteen played a gig with Wee Willie Harris.[1]

Thorpe played in a few small bands, including The Vibratones, who he cut his first single with in 1961.[3]

Tony was a session guitarist in the late 1960s onwards. In 1973, Thorpe was hired to play guitar in the Tony Waddington project The Rubettes.[4] Their first song, "Sugar Baby Love", stayed at number one in the UK for five weeks, sold over 500,000 copies in the UK, and over 3 million worldwide.[5][6] Their country rock ballad, "Baby I Know", released in 1977, had Thorpe on lead vocals, and went to number 10 in the UK.

Thorpe and the rest of the band were multi-instrumentalists, and Thorpe additionally played bass, piano, and drums on Rubettes records. He played piano on "Ladies of Laredo" and the piano solo on "Foe Dee Oh Dee".[7]

By 1979, Thorpe was having creative differences with the band, he wanted to get rid of the "doo-wop" and "glam" image, and asked for the bands notable vocal harmonies to be taken off of his composition "You're The Reason Why", something the rest of the band and producer Gerry Shury disagreed on. He had left the band the same year after an argument over the band not wanting to add his country rock songs on their setlist for their upcoming tour,[7] but his guitar and vocals are still on a few songs recorded with him but released after his departure.[7] Thorpe was replaced by Bob Benham, and the group dissolved the following year.[8]

Soon after leaving the Rubettes, Thorpe released a Country music album "Tone Control", produced by Alan Blakley of The Tremeloes. In the 1990s, he put out a blues album, which was recorded in Denny Laine's studio.[1] In 1982, he sang lead vocals on "Arthur Daley E's Alright", a novelty record by The Firm, and also appeared on Top of the Pops. He later worked with them on their 1987 song "Star Trekkin'", which went to number one in the UK, staying for two weeks.[9][10]

In 1997, Tony put out his second solo album, Illusions & Dangerous Prayer.[11]

In March 2012, Thorpe digitally released the No Hits, No Jazz Collection and performed at Darwen Library Theatre with a live eight-piece band for his '50th Anniversary 1-Gig-Tour'. It featured session musicians Iain Reddy, Liam Barber, Justin Randall and Greg Harper.[12] In 2014, Thorpe released the autobiography "A Bride's Nightie".[13]

Tony also worked with the Coventry Theatre Orchestra, and has backed Cilla Black, Jimmy Tarbuck, Harry Secombe, Roy Castle, Tommy Steele (who he also arranged for at times), Denny Laine, Jimmy Smith, and Tal Farlow.[1]

Both in studio and on stage, Thorpe used Burns Nu-Sonic, Fender Stratocaster, Fender Telecaster, Coral Sitar, Epiphone, Hayman, and Alhambra, and used Fender Twin Reverbs, Fender Vibrolux and Vox AC30 amplifiers.[7]

Thorpe is now a semi-retired musician, and works in North East England.[14] He has had a few jobs including as a journalist, and until 2011 was a tutor at Burnley College.[2] He met his first wife, Sylvia, at a pub in Cardiff in 1966, where she was performing as a singer under the name Shirley Dee.[2][15] They got married in 1968 and had one son.[15][16] Sylvia died of cancer in 2013, aged 60, and was cremated at Burnley Crematorium.[15] Thorpe is a Christian. He lives in Burnley, Lancashire.[1][7] He suffered from drinking problems for a while but is now sober.[15] Tony has released a few poems and story books.[17]

Discography

[edit]

Taken from:[3]

1961:

  • The Vibratones - Honey Don't/Night Train [Single] (Performer)

1963:

  • The Hustlers - Gimme What I Want/Not Much [Single] (Writer)

1964:

  • Tony Rivers & the Castaways - I Love the Way You Walk/I Love You [Single] (Writer)
  • The Carefrees - We Love You Beatles/Hot Blooded Lover [Single] (Writer, Performer)

1966:

  • Wee Willie Harris - Someone's in the Kitchen With Dinah/Walk With Peter and Paul [Single] (Performer)

1967:

  • Wee Willie Harris - Try Movin' Baby/Listen to the River Roll Along [Single] (Performer)

1971:

  • Mike Morten Congregation - Nonstop Top 20 Christmas Party (Performer)
  • Mike Morten Congregation - Nonstop Top 20 Volume 4 (Performer)
  • Lockjaw - Stone Dead/Wait for It To End [Single] (Writer, Performer)

1972:

  • Hamlett - Where'd The Day Go?/Vampire Man [Single] (Writer, Performer)
  • Jailhouse - Ya Hoo Hoo/Bad End [Single] (Writer, Performer)
  • Mike Morten Congregation - Nonstop Hits Volume 4 (Performer)

1973:

  • Moon Williams - Looking for Love/Seaweed Avenue [Single] (Performer)

Thorpe's credits from 1974–1978 are solely with The Rubettes, to see his credits with the band in more detail, go to The Rubettes

1978:

  • T.J. Thorpe & the C.B. Band - Tone Control (Writer, Performer)

1979:

  • T.J. Thorpe & the C.B. Band - Ain't No Kinda Star/Part of Your Heart [Single] (Writer, Performer)
  • T.J. Thorpe & the C.B. Band - (Girl) How Am I Gonna Win You/Five and Ten Cent Store [Single] (Writer, Performer)
  • Desire - Boogie Airlines/Lifting Off [Single] (Writer, Performer)

1982:

  • The Firm - Arthur Daley 'e's Alright/Arthur Daley 'e's Alright (Posh Version) [Single] (Performer)
  • The Firm - Cash in Hand/Two Time Loser [Single] (Performer)

1983:

  • The Firm - Long Live the National/London is the Biz [Single] (Performer)

1984:

  • The Firm - Superheroes/Cash in Hand [Single] (Performer)

1997:

  • John Caira - Illusions & Dangerous Prayer (Writer, Performer)

1999:

  • The Rhythm Section - Too Much Sweat (Writer, Performer)

2008:

  • The L.C. Tanner Band - Thank God It's Christmas/Ballad of Chardonnay/Ain't It Love [Single] (Writer, Performer)

2012:

  • Solo - The No Hits, No Jazz Collection (Writer, Performer)

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e f "Tony Thorpe - Biography". sites.google.com. Retrieved 2024-08-18.
  2. ^ a b c "What's on: Tony Thorpe and Friends". Lancashire Telegraph. 2012-03-06. Retrieved 2024-08-18.
  3. ^ a b "Tony Thorpe - Complete Discography". sites.google.com. Retrieved 2024-08-18.
  4. ^ The Rubettes Story by Alan Rowett ISBN 9780952377207 first published 1994
  5. ^ "Rubettes Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More | ..." AllMusic. Retrieved 2024-08-18.
  6. ^ Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. p. 350. ISBN 0-214-20512-6.
  7. ^ a b c d e "FAQ - Tony Thorpe". 2014-02-22. Archived from the original on 2014-02-22. Retrieved 2024-08-18.
  8. ^ "Rubettes | The Band | 1978 - 1980 |". 2017-09-20. Archived from the original on 2017-09-20. Retrieved 2024-08-18.
  9. ^ "Official Singles Chart on 14/6/1987". Official Charts. 2023-01-28. Retrieved 2024-08-18.
  10. ^ "STAR TREKKIN'". Official Charts. 1987-06-06. Retrieved 2024-08-18.
  11. ^ "Tony Thorpe - Solo Albums". sites.google.com. Retrieved 2024-08-18.
  12. ^ "UK (Darwen), March 15, 2012 Review | Tony Thorpe | Live Concerts | Reviews @ Ultimate-Guitar.Com". 2015-09-04. Archived from the original on 2015-09-04. Retrieved 2024-08-18.
  13. ^ "Tony Thorpe - Autobiography". sites.google.com. Retrieved 2024-08-18.
  14. ^ "Tony Thorpe". Tony Thorpe. Retrieved 2024-08-18.
  15. ^ a b c d "Rubettes singer's tribute to devoted wife". The Newsroom. 2013-09-06. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  16. ^ "Tony Thorpe - FAQ". sites.google.com. Retrieved 2024-08-18.
  17. ^ "Tony Thorpe - Poems & Stories". sites.google.com. Retrieved 2024-08-18.
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