Dave Berry (musician) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Not to be confused with English 1960s singer Mike Berry.

Dave Berry (born David Holgate Grundy, 6 February 1941, Beighton

Beighton

Beighton ward —which includes the districts of Beighton, Hackenthorpe, Owlthorpe, and Sothall—is one of the 28 electoral wards in City of Sheffield, England. It is located in the eastern part of the city, on the border with Rotherham and covers an area of 5.7 km2...

, Sheffield

Sheffield

Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...

) is a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

pop singer

Pop Singer

"Pop Singer" is the début single from London-based glam rockers Rachel Stamp. It was released in February, 1996 through WEA. The single was released as a 2 track CD Single and limited edition pink 7" vinyl of 1000 copies...

and former teen idol

Teen idol

A teen idol is a celebrity who is widely idolized by teenagers; he or she is often young but not necessarily teenaged. Often teen idols are actors or pop singers, but some sports figures have an appeal to teenagers. Some teen idols began their careers as child actors...

of the 1960s. He performed a mixture of hard R&B

Rhythm and blues

Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...

and pop

Popular music

Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...

ballad

Ballad

A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...

s and was popular in Britain

United Kingdom

, and on Continental Europe

Continental Europe

Continental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent, is the continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European islands....

but had no commercial success in the US, where he is best known for the original versions of Ray Davies' "This Strange Effect" and Graham Gouldman's "I'm Going To Take You There". He had an unusual ambition for a pop performer trying to make a name for himself - to appear on TV

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

completely hidden by a prop. In his own words, to "not appear, to stay behind something and not come out". He often hid behind the upturned collar

Upturned collar

An upturned collar is an otherwise flat, protruding collar of either a shirt, jacket, or coat that has been turned upward.-Origins:Before the early 20th century, most shirt collars were turned up in some manner. Men and women alike wore tall, stiff collars , not unlike a taller version of a...

of his leather jacket, or wrapped himself around, and effectively behind, the microphone

Microphone

A microphone is an acoustic-to-electric transducer or sensor that converts sound into an electrical signal. In 1877, Emile Berliner invented the first microphone used as a telephone voice transmitter...

lead.

Career

His best remembered hits are Memphis, Tennessee

Memphis, Tennessee (song)

"Memphis, Tennessee" is a song by rock & roll singer-songwriter Chuck Berry. It is sometimes shortened to "Memphis". In the UK, the song charted at #6 in 1963, at the same time Decca Records issued a cover version in the UK by Dave Berry and the Cruisers, who came from Sheffield, Yorkshire...

, "The Crying Game

The Crying Game (song)

"The Crying Game" is a song written by Geoff Stephens. It was first released by Dave Berry in July 1964. It reached #5 on the UK Singles Chart. Then-unknown session guitarist Jimmy Page and Big Jim Sullivan played guitar in this song.-Song history:...

" (1964) and his 1965 hit "Little Things", a cover version

Cover version

In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...

of Bobby Goldsboro

Bobby Goldsboro

Bobby Goldsboro is an American country and pop singer-songwriter. He had a string of Pop and Country hits during the 1960s and 1970s, including his signature #1 classic "Honey," which sold well over one million copies in the United States.-Early life:Goldsboro was born in Marianna, Florida...

's Stateside

Stateside Records

Stateside Records is a British record label which initially released licenced American recordings and is now a reissue label....

Top 40 success. "This Strange Effect

This Strange Effect

"This Strange Effect" is a song written by Ray Davies of The Kinks and released first by Dave Berry in July 1965. The single was released in the United States in September 1965. It reached #1 in the Netherlands and Belgium and No.37 on the UK singles chart....

" (1965), written by Ray Davies

Ray Davies

Ray Davies, CBE is an English rock musician. He is best known as lead singer and songwriter for the Kinks, which he led with his younger brother, Dave...

, became a Number One hit for him in the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

and Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

, countries where he still enjoys celebrity

Celebrity

A celebrity, also referred to as a celeb in popular culture, is a person who has a prominent profile and commands a great degree of public fascination and influence in day-to-day media...

status, having received an award from Radio Veronica

Radio Veronica

Radio Veronica was an offshore radio station that began broadcasting in 1960, and broadcast from offshore for over fourteen years. It was set up by independent radio, TV and household electrical retailers in the Netherlands to stimulate the sales of radio receivers by providing an alternative to...

, Netherlands, for their best selling pop single

Single (music)

In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

of all time. B. J. Thomas

B. J. Thomas

Billy Joe "B. J." Thomas is an American popular singer known for his chart-topping hits in the 1960s and 1970s—appearing on the pop, adult contemporary, country and Hot 100 charts.-Career:...

's sentimental "Mama" (1966) and "Don't Gimme No Lip Child", covered by the Sex Pistols

Sex Pistols

The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band that formed in London in 1975. They were responsible for initiating the punk movement in the United Kingdom and inspiring many later punk and alternative rock musicians...

, were other notable recordings.

His early hits

Hit record

A hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings...

name-checked his backing band

Backup band

A backing band or backup band is a musical ensemble that accompanies an artist at a live performance or on a recording. This can either be an established, long-standing group that has little or no change in membership, or it may be an ad hoc group assembled for a single show or a single recording...

The Cruisers who at that time were John Fleet (bass

Bass guitar

The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....

and piano

Piano

The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

), Roy Barber (rhythm guitar

Rhythm guitar

Rhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...

), Frank Miles (lead guitar

Lead guitar

Lead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...

) and Kenny Slade (drums

Drum kit

A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....

). Berry parted with this line-up around the time of "The Crying Game" and recruited four more local musician

Musician

A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....

s - Frank White, Johnny Riley and Pete Cliff and as the second generation of Cruisers. Lead guitarist White was eventually replaced by Roy Ledger until around 1965 when personnel changes began to be more frequent. Berry used sessions guitarists Jimmy Page

Jimmy Page

James Patrick "Jimmy" Page, OBE is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as a studio session guitarist in London and was subsequently a member of The Yardbirds from 1966 to 1968, after which he founded the English rock band Led Zeppelin.Jimmy Page...

, John Paul Jones

John Paul Jones (musician)

John Paul Jones is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, composer, arranger and record producer. Best known as the bassist, mandolinist, and keyboardist for English rock band Led Zeppelin, Jones has since developed a solo career and has gained even more respect as both a musician and a...

, Big Jim Sullivan

Big Jim Sullivan

Big Jim Sullivan is an English musician, whose career started in 1959. He is best known as a session guitarist. In the 1960s and 1970s, Sullivan was one of the most "in-demand" studio musicians in the UK, and performed in more than one thousand charting singles over his career...

and Drummer Bobby Graham

Bobby Graham

Bobby Graham was an English session drummer, composer, arranger and record producer. Shel Talmy, who produced The Kinks, David Bowie and The Who, described Graham as "the greatest drummer the UK has ever produced."...

extensively.

His stage act, drawing largely on Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley

Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....

and Gene Vincent

Gene Vincent

Vincent Eugene Craddock , known as Gene Vincent, was an American musician who pioneered the styles of rock and roll and rockabilly. His 1956 top ten hit with his Blue Caps, "Be-Bop-A-Lula", is considered a significant early example of rockabilly...

, provided an inspiration for Alvin Stardust

Alvin Stardust

Alvin Stardust is an English pop singer and stage actor.-Career:...

. Such was his enigmatic and unconventional presence that several punk rock

Punk rock

Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

acts, such as the Sex Pistols, acknowledged him as an inspiration. The Geoff Stephens

Geoff Stephens

Geoffrey 'Geoff' Stephens , was one of the top British songwriters of the 1960s and 1970s.-Career:...

penned

Songwriter

A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...

song, "The Crying Game", brought Berry's voice

Human voice

The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal folds for talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, etc. Its frequency ranges from about 60 to 7000 Hz. The human voice is specifically that part of human sound production in which the vocal folds are the primary...

to his biggest international

International

----International mostly means something that involves more than one country. The term international as a word means involvement of, interaction between or encompassing more than one nation, or generally beyond national boundaries...

audience ever in 1992, when it was used as the theme song

Theme music

Theme music is a piece that is often written specifically for a radio program, television program, video game or movie, and usually played during the title sequence and/or end credits...

for one of that year's most successful film

Film

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

s - Neil Jordan

Neil Jordan

Neil Patrick Jordan is an Irish filmmaker and novelist. He won an Academy Award for The Crying Game.- Early life :...

's The Crying Game
The Crying Game
The Crying Game is a 1992 psychological thriller drama film written and directed by Neil Jordan. The film explores themes of race, gender, nationality, and sexuality against the backdrop of the Irish Troubles...

. In the final quarter of 2010, "Little Things" was used in an advertisement campaign on British television by Andrex

Andrex

Andrex is a British brand of toilet roll. It is a owned by the American company Kimberly-Clark. The "Andrex Puppy", a Labrador Retriever puppy that appears on the company's television adverts, is synonymous with the brand.Sold in the U.S...

toilet paper

Toilet paper

Toilet paper is a soft paper product used to maintain personal hygiene after human defecation or urination. However, it can also be used for other purposes such as blowing one's nose when one has a cold or absorbing common spills around the house, although paper towels are more used for the latter...

. Berry also regained some recognition when he was the surprise hit of the annual Alexis Korner

Alexis Korner

Alexis Korner was a blues musician and radio broadcaster, who has sometimes been referred to as "a Founding Father of British Blues"...

Tribute in 1995. In 1998 "This Strange Effect" was covered by the Belgian

Belgium

band

Band (music)

In music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform music. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* All-female band* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band...

, Hooverphonic

Hooverphonic

Hooverphonic are a Belgian rock/pop group, formed in 1995. Though early on categorized as a trip hop group, they quickly expanded their sound to the point where they could no longer be described as a lone genre, but rather encompass alternative, electronica, electropop, rock, and mixture of others...

, on their album

Album

An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...

, Blue Wonder Power Milk
Blue Wonder Power Milk
Blue Wonder Power Milk is the second album by the Belgian band Hooverphonic, the first one featuring lead singer Geike Arnaert. The singles released from this album are "This Strange Effect", "Lung", "Club Montepulciano" and "Eden"....

.

In May 2009 Berry was touring the UK and appearing in a cameo role in a theatrical production, The Mod Crop. In August that year, RPM Records

RPM Records (UK)

RPM Records is a record label founded in 1991, and based in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, England. The label specialises in reissues under the slogan: "Brought to you by collectors for collectors." It forms part of the Cherry Red group....

issued a double CD

Compact Disc

The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...

anthology of Berry's earliest recordings for Decca, entitled This Strange Effect (The Decca Sessions 1963-1966). The package added two previously unissued tracks made in 1963 (before Berry signed with Decca) with producer Mickie Most

Mickie Most

Mickie Most was an English record producer, with a string of hit singles with acts such as The Animals, Arrows, Herman's Hermits, Donovan, Suzi Quatro and the Jeff Beck Group often issued on his own RAK Records label....

: "Easy To Cry" and "Tongue Twisting". Berry's illustrated autobiography, Dave Berry - All There Is To Know, was published in 2010 by Heron Publications Ltd. It included contributions from Joe Cocker

Joe Cocker

John Robert "Joe" Cocker, OBE is an English rock and blues musician, composer and actor, who came to popularity in the 1960s, and is most known for his gritty voice, his idiosyncratic arm movements while performing, and his cover versions of popular songs, particularly those of The Beatles...

, Ray Davies

Ray Davies

Ray Davies, CBE is an English rock musician. He is best known as lead singer and songwriter for the Kinks, which he led with his younger brother, Dave...

, Tony Iommi

Tony Iommi

Anthony Frank "Tony" Iommi is an English guitarist and songwriter best known as the founding member of pioneering heavy metal band Black Sabbath, and its sole continual member through multiple personnel changes.Iommi is widely recognised as one of the most important and influential guitarists in...

, Peter Stringfellow

Peter Stringfellow

Peter James Stringfellow is an English nightclub owner.-Early life:Stringfellow was born on 17 October 1940 to Elsie and James William Stringfellow , a steelworker...

and Bill Wyman

Bill Wyman

Bill Wyman is an English musician best known as the bass guitarist for the English rock and roll band the Rolling Stones from 1962 until 1992. Since 1997, he has recorded and toured with his own band, Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings...

. A double

Double album

A double album is an audio album which spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically records and compact discs....

compilation

Compilation album

A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...

, Picture Me Gone - The Decca Sessions 1966-1974, was released in January 2011.

Singles

"Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee (song)
"Memphis, Tennessee" is a song by rock & roll singer-songwriter Chuck Berry. It is sometimes shortened to "Memphis". In the UK, the song charted at #6 in 1963, at the same time Decca Records issued a cover version in the UK by Dave Berry and the Cruisers, who came from Sheffield, Yorkshire...

" / "Tossin' And Turnin'" - October 1963 UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

#19
"My Baby Left Me
My Baby Left Me
My Baby Left Me is a rhythm and blues song written by blues singer Arthur Crudup in the late 1940s.It gained further exposure in covers by Elvis Presley, who placed his version on the b-side to his 1956 single "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You"; by Creedence Clearwater Revival, who recorded it as...

" / "Hoochie Coochie Man
Hoochie Coochie Man
"Hoochie Coochie Man" is a blues standard written by Willie Dixon and first performed by Muddy Waters in 1954 . The song was a major hit upon its release, reaching #8 on Billboard magazine's Black Singles chart...

" - January 1964 UK #37
"Baby It's You
Baby It's You
"Baby It's You" is a song written by Burt Bacharach , and Luther Dixon and Mack David . It was recorded by The Shirelles and The Beatles, and became hits for both...

" / "Sweet And Lovely" - April 1964 UK #24
"The Crying Game
The Crying Game (song)
"The Crying Game" is a song written by Geoff Stephens. It was first released by Dave Berry in July 1964. It reached #5 on the UK Singles Chart. Then-unknown session guitarist Jimmy Page and Big Jim Sullivan played guitar in this song.-Song history:...

" / "Don't Gimme No Lip Child" - July 1964 UK #5
"One Heart Between Two" / "You're Gonna Need Somebody" - November 1964 UK #41
"Little Things" - March 1965 UK #5
"This Strange Effect
This Strange Effect
"This Strange Effect" is a song written by Ray Davies of The Kinks and released first by Dave Berry in July 1965. The single was released in the United States in September 1965. It reached #1 in the Netherlands and Belgium and No.37 on the UK singles chart....

" - July 1965 UK #37 (written by Ray Davies of The Kinks)
"I'm Gonna Take You There" - November 1965 (written by Graham Gouldman)
"If You Wait For Love" - February 1966
"Mama" - July 1966 UK #5
"Picture Me Gone" - November 1966
"Green Grass" - 1966
"Stranger" - March 1967
"Forever" / "And I Have Learned To Dream" - August 1967
"Just As Much As Ever" - February 1968
"Do I Figure In Your Life" (Dello
Pete Dello
Pete Dello is a 1960s and 1970s singer-songwriter and now music teacher.-Career:Dello started his career as a musician in the skiffle era of the 1950s and was a founding member of the rock and roll band Grant Tracy and The Sunsets, after which he joined Steve Darbyshire's backing group, The Yum...

) - 1968
"Oh What A Life" - 1968
"Huma Lama (and The Sponge)" - 1969
"Change Our Minds" - 1970
"Chaplin House" - 1970 (written by Kevin Godley and Lol Creme)
"Movin' On" - 1972
"I can make you cry" - 1973
"Out of Time" / "Serenade for Alice" - 1988

EPs

1964 "Me-O-My-O" / "St. James Infirmary" / "If You Need Me" / "Ella Speed"
1965 "Can I Get It From You"

Original albums

1964 Dave Berry (Decca)

"The Crying Game" / "Not Fade Away

Not Fade Away (song)

"Not Fade Away" is a song credited to Buddy Holly and Norman Petty and first recorded by Holly's band The Crickets in Clovis, New Mexico, on May 27, 1957...

" / "I Don't Want To Go On" / "Ella Speed" / "The Girl from the Fair Isle" / "Go On Home" / "Everybody Tries" / "God Bless The Child" / "Memphis, Tennessee" / "On The Other Side Of Town" / "Go Home Girl" / "My Last Date" / "St. James Infirmary

St. James Infirmary Blues

"St. James Infirmary Blues" is based on an 18th century traditional English folk song of anonymous origin, though sometimes credited to the songwriter Joe Primrose . Louis Armstrong made it famous in his influential 1928 recording.-Authorship and history:"St...

" / "Just A Little Bit" / "See See Rider

See See Rider

The song is generally regarded as being traditional in origin. Ma Rainey's version became popular during 1925, as "See See Rider Blues." It became one of the most famous of all blues songs, with well over 100 versions. It was recorded by Big Bill Broonzy, Mississippi John Hurt, Lead Belly,...

" / "Don't Make Fun Of Me"

1966 Special Sound of Dave Berry (Decca)

"Mama" / "I Ain’t Going With You Girl" / "It’s Gonna Be Fine" / "You Made A Fool Of Me" / "Sticks And Stones" / "Now And From Now On" / "Same Game" / "Alright Baby" / "I Love You Babe" / "Soft Lights And Sweet Music" / "Green Grass" / "Love Has Gone Out Of Your Life" / "Little Things"

1966 One Dozen Berries (Decca)

"Hey Little Girl" / "Round And Round" / "Casting My Spell" / "Girl From The Fair Isle" / "Fanny Man" / "If You Wait For Love" / "Sweet And Lovely" / "Tears To Remind Me" / "Baby It's You

Baby It's You

"Baby It's You" is a song written by Burt Bacharach , and Luther Dixon and Mack David . It was recorded by The Shirelles and The Beatles, and became hits for both...

" / "Run My Heart" / "I Love You Babe" / "Heartbeat"

1968 Dave Berry '68 (Decca)

"Maybe Baby" / "Coffee Song" / "She Cried" / "And The Clock On The Steeple Struck 13" / "You Can Live On Love" / "My Baby Left Me" / "Baby’s Gone" / "Dying Daffodil Incident" / "Suspicions" / "Since You’ve Gone" / "Stick To It Ivity" / "I Got The Feeling"

1988 Hostage to the Beat

"Searchlight" / "Love from Johnny" / "Heart of Stone" / "Love is a Killer" / "Bring my Cadillac Back" / "God Bless the Child" / "Mountains of the Moon" / "On the Waterfront" / "My Baby Left Me" / "For a Knight to Win His Spurs" / "Boppin' the Blues" / "Tracks of My Tears"

2003 Memphis....in the Meantime

"Mercury Blues" / "Same old Blues" / "Mean 'ol Frisco" / "Are You Going My Way" / "Memphis in the Meantime" / "Cajun Moon" / "Georgia Ray" / "Pony Boy" / "Taking the Midnight Train" / "Boppin' the Blues" / "My Baby Left Me" - Blues Matters! Records

Compilation albums

1976 Remembering... (Decca)
1983 The Crying Game (Decca)
1986 This Strange Effect (See for Miles)
2009 This Strange Effect (The Decca Sessions 1963-1966) (2-CD, RPM)

DVD's

2011 Berry available on the Dave Berry website www.cryinggame.co.uk

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Career

Singles

EPs

Original albums

Compilation albums

See also

External links