Scott Walker (singer)
Encyclopedia
Scott Walker, born Noel Scott Engel on January 9, 1943 is an American singer-songwriter, musician
, record producer, and the former lead singer of The Walker Brothers
. Despite being American born, Walker's chart success has largely come in the United Kingdom, where his first four solo albums reached the top ten. Walker has lived in the UK since 1965. He continues to release solo material and is currently signed to 4AD
.
Originally championed by Eddie Fisher
in the late 1950s, Scott appeared several times under his real name on Fisher's TV
series as a teen idol in the vein of Fabian
or Frankie Avalon
. Walker was among the first to adopt the electric bass guitar
, mastering it to a proficiency to win regular session work in Los Angeles studios while still in his teens.
and Gary Leeds
to form The Walker Brothers
in Los Angeles
in 1964. Leeds had recently toured the United Kingdom with P.J. Proby and was the catalyst to their relocation to London.
The Walker Brothers arrived in London in early 1965 and attained worldwide popularity with pop
ballad
s. Their first single, "Pretty Girls Everywhere", with John Maus as lead singer, crept into the charts. It was their next single, "Love Her", with Scott's deeper baritone in the lead, that hit the British charts and executives at Philips, their UK record label, noticed the rangy émigré Americans.
The Walker Brothers' next release, "Make It Easy on Yourself
", a Bacharach
/David
ballad, swept to No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart
(#16 on the U.S. charts) on release in August 1965. After hitting again with "My Ship Is Coming In" (#3 UK), their second No. 1 (#13 U.S.), "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore
", shot to the top in early 1966 and their popularity and fan base is said to have exceeded The Beatles
in the UK and Europe. The Walker Brothers, especially lead singer Scott, attained pop star status.
Finding suitable material was always a problem. The Walkers' '60s sound mixes Phil Spector
's "wall of sound
" techniques with symphonic orchestrations featuring Britain's top musicians and arrangers. Scott Walker claimed authorship of this sound in recent interviews.
Many of their earlier numbers had a driving beat, but by Images
, their third album, ballads predominated. John Maus's musical influence had waned by this time, despite featuring in a solo of the standard "Blueberry Hill" and an original composition.
Artistic differences and the stresses stemming from overwhelming pop stardom led to the break-up of The Walker Brothers in 1967, although they reunited briefly for a tour of Japan the following year. Upon their UK return, Scott produced a solo album for the tour's musical director and guitarist Terry Smith
. The Walker Brothers' last two singles, "Stay with Me Baby" and "Walking in the Rain", struck fans and critics alike as retro, dated choices, harking back to earlier pop. Their failure to reach the top ten provided Scott with the necessary trigger for the split. It is noteworthy then that producer Johnny Franz and John Walker were keen to release the upbeat "Everything Under the Sun" as the single from Images, but Scott Walker "put his foot down", he later confessed, and scored another miss.
' mantle and began a solo career in a style clearly glimpsed in Images, the Walkers' last album. To this, he added risqué recordings of Jacques Brel
songs, translated by Mort Shuman
(who was also responsible for the hit musical Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris
). The influence of Brel is important as regards Walker's songwriting but should not be over-stated. His vocal style remained consistent throughout this period. Walker's own original songs of this period were influenced by Brel as he explored European musical roots while expressing his own American experience. He was also reaching a new maturity as a recording artist.
In 1968 Walker threw himself into intense study of contemporary and classical music, which included a sojourn in Quarr Abbey
, a monastery on the Isle of Wight
, to study Gregorian chant
. His own songs gradually coursed into Lieder and classical musical modes.
Scott Walker's early solo career was successful in Britain; his first three albums, titled Scott
(1967), Scott 2
(1968) and Scott 3
(1969), all sold in large numbers, Scott 2 topping the British charts. There were also early indications that this concentrated attention was not conducive to Walker's emotional well-being. He became reclusive and somewhat distanced from his audience. During this time, he combined his earlier teen appeal with a darker, more idiosyncratic approach that had been hinted at in songs like "Orpheus" on the Images album. Walker drove a fine line between classic ballads, his own compositions, and Brel covers.
At the peak of his fame in 1969, he was given his own BBC TV series, Scott, featuring solo Walker performances of ballads, big band standards and introductions of his own and Brel compositions. Footage of the show is currently very rare as recordings were not archived. Walker's fourth solo album was an LP of songs from the TV series entitled Scott: Scott Walker Sings Songs from his TV Series
.
Walker released his fifth solo LP, Scott 4
, in 1969. This was his first to be made up entirely of self-penned material, as the 'standards' and Brel covers were gone. The album failed to chart and was deleted
soon after. It has been speculated that the decision to release the album under his birth name Noel Scott Engel contributed to its chart failure. All subsequent re-issues of the album have been released under his stage name.
In recent interviews, Walker has suggested that by his third solo LP, a self-indulgent complacency had crept into his choice of material. Starting with 'Til the Band Comes In
(1970) - specifically the latter half of the album, which featured original material on side A and covers on side B - the early '70s saw Walker revert to cover versions of popular film tunes and a serious flirtation with the country and western scene. The Moviegoer
(1972), Any Day Now
(1973), Stretch
(1973), and We Had It All
(1974) feature no original material whatsoever. In the 2006 documentary Scott Walker: 30 Century Man
, Walker describes these as his "lost years", creatively.
's song "No Regrets
", from the album of the same title
climbed to #7 in the UK Singles Chart. However, the parent album only reached #49 in the UK Albums Chart
. The follow-up singles, "Lines" and "We're All Alone", from the second 1970s album Lines
, also failed to chart. Walker regards "Lines" as the best single the Walkers released.
With the imminent demise of their record label, the Walkers collaborated on an album of original material that was in stark contrast to the country-flavoured tunes of the previous 1970s albums. The resulting album, Nite Flights
, was released in 1978 to similar poor sales figures. Critically, it was received warmly, especially Scott's contributions. The brothers each wrote and sang their own compositions. The opening four songs were Scott's, the final four John's, while the middle pair were by Gary. Scott's four songs – "Nite Flights", "The Electrician", "Shut Out", and "Fat Mama Kick" – were his first original compositions since 'Til the Band Comes In
(released in 1970). They represented his first steps away from the MOR image and sound he had cultivated since the commercial failure of Scott 4
. The extremely dark and discomforting sound of Scott's songs, particularly "The Electrician", was to prove a forerunner to the direction of his future solo work.
The group split once more after their sixth album in 1978.
in 1984, Tilt in 1995 and The Drift
in 2006. Critical acclaim for The Drift
placed it as high as No. 2 on the Metacritic
chart on release in June 2006. It was still listed at No. 12 at the end of September 2006.
Walker has spoken about his lyrical technique; he compares his technique of assembling images that are sometimes seemingly disparate from each other and unconnected into short blocks of text to that of "a general, assembling troops on the battlefield". The Wire
has noted that the short blocks of white-on-black text presented in the CD insert is reflective of this. The roots of this compositional technique are apparent as early as the Scott Walker tracks on Nite Flites - the lyrics insert for the album clearly feature the technique, albeit with a black text on a white background.
In tangential developments, in 1993 Walker co-wrote and co-performed (with Goran Bregović
) the single "Man from Reno" for the soundtrack of the film Toxic Affair. In 1996, he recorded the Bob Dylan
song "I Threw It All Away" under the direction of Nick Cave
for inclusion in the soundtrack for the film To Have and to Hold. Three years later, he recorded the David Arnold
song "Only Myself to Blame", for the soundtrack of the Bond film
The World Is Not Enough
. That same year, he wrote and produced the soundtrack for the Léos Carax
film Pola X
, which was released as an album. Scott Walker wrote and produced two songs for Ute Lemper
the following year, and went on to produce Pulp
's 2001 album We Love Life
(whose track Bad Cover Version includes a mocking reference to Walker's poor covers on "The second side of 'Til The Band Comes In
").
Walker has been a continuing influence on other artists, in particular The Last Shadow Puppets
, Marc Almond
, Douglas Pearce of the band Death in June
, Billy MacKenzie
of The Associates, David Sylvian
, David Bowie
, Radiohead
, and the Divine Comedy
/Neil Hannon
. In 2000, he curated the London South Bank Centre
's annual summer live music festival, Meltdown
, which has a tradition of celebrity
curators. He did not perform at Meltdown himself, but wrote the music for The Richard Alston Dance Project item Thimblerigging.
In October 2003, Walker was given an award for his contribution to music by Q magazine
. This was presented by Jarvis Cocker
of Pulp, and Walker received a standing ovation at the presentation. This award had been presented only twice before, the first time to Phil Spector
, and the second to Brian Eno
. The release of a retrospective box set, 5 Easy Pieces
, comprising five themed discs spanning Walker's work with The Walker Brothers, his solo career (including film soundtrack work), and the two pieces composed for Ute Lemper, followed soon after.
The British independent label 4AD Records signed Walker in early 2004 and his first album in 11 years, The Drift
, was released on 8 May 2006 to strong reviews. In recent interviews, he appears more at ease with media attention. He reveals a wish to produce albums more frequently and hints at significant changes in material if and when it suits him. Walker mentioned the possibility of touring again with a compact, five-piece band in an interview with The Wire
in 2006.
In June 2006, Mojo
and radio honored Scott Walker with the MOJO Icon Award
: "Voted for by Mojo readers and Mojo4music users, the recipient of this award has enjoyed a spectacular career on a global scale". It was presented by Phil Alexander.
A documentary film, Scott Walker: 30 Century Man
, was completed in 2006 by New York film director Stephen Kijak
(Cinemania and Never Met Picasso). Interviews were recorded with David Bowie
(executive producer of the film), Radiohead
, Sting, Gavin Friday
and many musicians associated with Walker over the years. The World Premiere of Scott Walker: 30 Century Man took place as part of the 50th London Film Festival
. When The Independent
released its list of "Ten must-see films" at the 50th London Film Festival, Scott Walker: 30 Century Man, was among them. A documentary on Walker containing a substantial amount of footage from the film was shown on BBC1 in May 2007 as part of the Imagine...
strand, presented by Alan Yentob
.
Walker released "Darkness" as part of Plague Songs
, an album of songs for the Margate Exodus project, a re-telling of the Book of Exodus, the story of Moses
and his search for the Promised Land
. Ten singer-songwriters were commissioned by Artangel to write and record a song inspired by one of the ten biblical plagues
. Walker's evocation of "Darkness" appears as the ninth.
On 24 September 2007, Walker released And Who Shall Go to the Ball? And What Shall Go to the Ball?
as a limited, never-to-be-re-pressed edition. The 24-minute instrumental work was performed by the London Sinfonietta
with solo cellist Philip Sheppard
as music to a performance by London-based CandoCo
Dance Company. The recording is currently available.
From 13 to 15 November 2008, Drifting and Tilting: The Songs of Scott Walker was staged at The Barbican
, in London. It comprised eight songs, two from Tilt – "Farmer in the City" and "Patriot (a single)" – and the rest from The Drift
: "Cossacks Are", "Jesse", "Clara (Benito's Dream)", "Buzzers", "Jolson and Jones" and "Cue". Each song was presented in a music-theatre manner, with the vocal parts taken by a number of singers, including Jarvis Cocker
, Damon Albarn
and Dot Allison
.
Walker collaborated with Bat for Lashes
on the song "The Big Sleep" from her 2009 album Two Suns
.
Walker wrote the score for the ROH2 production of Jean Cocteau
’s 1932 play Duet for One which was be staged in the Linbury Studio in June 2011.
Walker began recording his next album in 2011, and is also composing the score for another opera to be performed in 2012.
starring Daniel Craig
. The song, an English version of Jaques Brel's "Fils de...", was originally released on Scott 3
.
A segment of Walker's song "30 Century Man" appears in the 2007 animated feature Futurama: Bender's Big Score
, in which a short animated sequence illustrates Walker's lyric "shakin' hand with Charles de Gaulle
."
"30 Century Man" also appears in The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
directed by Wes Anderson
.
Scott Walker's song "The Electrician" featured on The Walker Brothers' Nite Flights album is the opening track for the 2008 film Bronson
directed by Nicolas Winding Refn.
of the record industry. People want to take me to lunch, but nobody wants to finance the picture...I keep hoping that when I make a record, I'll be asked to make another one. I keep hoping that if I can make a series of three records, then I can progress and do different things each time. But when I have to get it up once every 10 years... it's a tough way to work." —in an interview for The Independent
, April 1995.
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....
, record producer, and the former lead singer of The Walker Brothers
The Walker Brothers
The Walker Brothers were an American 1960s and 1970s pop group, comprising Scott Engel , John Walker , and Gary Leeds...
. Despite being American born, Walker's chart success has largely come in the United Kingdom, where his first four solo albums reached the top ten. Walker has lived in the UK since 1965. He continues to release solo material and is currently signed to 4AD
4AD
4AD is a British independent record label that was started in 1979 by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent, funded by Beggars Banquet Records, and is still active today...
.
Originally championed by Eddie Fisher
Eddie Fisher (singer)
Edwin Jack "Eddie" Fisher , was an American entertainer. He was one of the world's most famous and successful singers in the 1950s, selling millions of records and hosting his own TV show. His divorce from his first wife, Debbie Reynolds, to marry his best friend's widow, Elizabeth Taylor, garnered...
in the late 1950s, Scott appeared several times under his real name on Fisher's TV
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
series as a teen idol in the vein of Fabian
Fabian (entertainer)
Fabiano Anthony Forte , known as Fabian, is an American teen idol of the late 1950s and early 1960s. He rose to national prominence after performing several times on American Bandstand. Eleven of his songs reached the Billboard Hot 100 listing.-Early life:Fabian was the son of Josephine and Domenic...
or Frankie Avalon
Frankie Avalon
Frankie Avalon is an American actor, singer, playwright, and former teen idol.-Career:By the time he was 12, Avalon was on U.S. television playing his trumpet. As a teenager he played with Bobby Rydell in Rocco and the Saints...
. Walker was among the first to adopt the electric bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, mastering it to a proficiency to win regular session work in Los Angeles studios while still in his teens.
The Walker Brothers era
After playing in many bands, he eventually joined with John MausJohn Walker (musician)
John Joseph Maus , known professionally as John Walker, was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist, best known as the founder of The Walker Brothers, who had their greatest success in the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom.-Early life and career:John Maus was born in New York City, the...
and Gary Leeds
Gary Walker (musician)
Gary Walker is an American musician, who was the drummer and vocalist with both The Standells and The Walker Brothers....
to form The Walker Brothers
The Walker Brothers
The Walker Brothers were an American 1960s and 1970s pop group, comprising Scott Engel , John Walker , and Gary Leeds...
in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
in 1964. Leeds had recently toured the United Kingdom with P.J. Proby and was the catalyst to their relocation to London.
The Walker Brothers arrived in London in early 1965 and attained worldwide popularity with pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
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. Their first single, "Pretty Girls Everywhere", with John Maus as lead singer, crept into the charts. It was their next single, "Love Her", with Scott's deeper baritone in the lead, that hit the British charts and executives at Philips, their UK record label, noticed the rangy émigré Americans.
The Walker Brothers' next release, "Make It Easy on Yourself
Make It Easy On Yourself
"Make It Easy On Yourself" is a popular song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David which was first a hit for Jerry Butler in 1962 and has since been a Top 40 single for the Walker Brothers - for whom it was a #1 UK hit - and Dionne Warwick.-Jerry Butler:...
", a Bacharach
Burt Bacharach
Burt F. Bacharach is an American pianist, composer and music producer. He is known for his popular hit songs and compositions from the mid-1950s through the 1980s, with lyrics written by Hal David. Many of their hits were produced specifically for, and performed by, Dionne Warwick...
/David
Hal David
Harold Lane "Hal" David is an American lyricist. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York. David is best known for his collaborations with composer Burt Bacharach.-Career:...
ballad, swept to No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
(#16 on the U.S. charts) on release in August 1965. After hitting again with "My Ship Is Coming In" (#3 UK), their second No. 1 (#13 U.S.), "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore
The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore
"The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine " is the name of a song written by Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio. It was originally released as a single by Frankie Valli in 1965 on the Smash label and has been recorded by numerous artists since, including The Walker Brothers, Cher, and Keane.- Frankie Valli original :The...
", shot to the top in early 1966 and their popularity and fan base is said to have exceeded The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
in the UK and Europe. The Walker Brothers, especially lead singer Scott, attained pop star status.
Finding suitable material was always a problem. The Walkers' '60s sound mixes Phil Spector
Phil Spector
Phillip Harvey "Phil" Spector is an American record producer and songwriter, later known for his conviction in the murder of actress Lana Clarkson....
's "wall of sound
Wall of Sound
The Wall of Sound is a music production technique for pop and rock music recordings developed by record producer Phil Spector at Gold Star Studios in Los Angeles, California, during the early 1960s...
" techniques with symphonic orchestrations featuring Britain's top musicians and arrangers. Scott Walker claimed authorship of this sound in recent interviews.
Many of their earlier numbers had a driving beat, but by Images
Images (The Walker Brothers album)
Images is the third album by The Walker Brothers, released in 1967. It was the last of their trio of 60s albums. They would not record together again until 1975's No Regrets.-Track listing:Side One# "Everything Under the Sun" Images is the third album by The Walker Brothers, released in 1967. It...
, their third album, ballads predominated. John Maus's musical influence had waned by this time, despite featuring in a solo of the standard "Blueberry Hill" and an original composition.
Artistic differences and the stresses stemming from overwhelming pop stardom led to the break-up of The Walker Brothers in 1967, although they reunited briefly for a tour of Japan the following year. Upon their UK return, Scott produced a solo album for the tour's musical director and guitarist Terry Smith
Terry Smith (British jazz guitarist)
Terence 'Terry' Smith is a British Jazz guitarist.-Biography:Twice winner of the Melody Maker Music Polls, Smith spent the early 1960s playing with the Tony Lee Trio, before becoming Scott Walker's musical director and accompanying The Walker Brothers on their Japan tour in 1968...
. The Walker Brothers' last two singles, "Stay with Me Baby" and "Walking in the Rain", struck fans and critics alike as retro, dated choices, harking back to earlier pop. Their failure to reach the top ten provided Scott with the necessary trigger for the split. It is noteworthy then that producer Johnny Franz and John Walker were keen to release the upbeat "Everything Under the Sun" as the single from Images, but Scott Walker "put his foot down", he later confessed, and scored another miss.
Scott Walker's emerging solo work
Scott Walker shed The Walker BrothersThe Walker Brothers
The Walker Brothers were an American 1960s and 1970s pop group, comprising Scott Engel , John Walker , and Gary Leeds...
' mantle and began a solo career in a style clearly glimpsed in Images, the Walkers' last album. To this, he added risqué recordings of Jacques Brel
Jacques Brel
Jacques Brel was a Belgian singer-songwriter who composed and performed literate, thoughtful, and theatrical songs that generated a large, devoted following in France initially, and later throughout the world. He was widely considered a master of the modern chanson...
songs, translated by Mort Shuman
Mort Shuman
Mort Shuman was an American singer, pianist and songwriter, best known as co-writer of many 1960s rock and roll hits, including "Viva Las Vegas"...
(who was also responsible for the hit musical Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris
Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris
Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris is an American musical revue of the songs of Jacques Brel.-Original Off-Broadway Production:...
). The influence of Brel is important as regards Walker's songwriting but should not be over-stated. His vocal style remained consistent throughout this period. Walker's own original songs of this period were influenced by Brel as he explored European musical roots while expressing his own American experience. He was also reaching a new maturity as a recording artist.
In 1968 Walker threw himself into intense study of contemporary and classical music, which included a sojourn in Quarr Abbey
Quarr Abbey
Quarr Abbey is a monastery between the villages of Binstead and Fishbourne on the Isle of Wight in southern England. The name is pronounced as "Kor" . It belongs to the Order of St Benedict. The present imposing brick construction was completed in 1912. A community of about a dozen monks maintains...
, a monastery on the Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
, to study Gregorian chant
Gregorian chant
Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic liturgical music within Western Christianity that accompanied the celebration of Mass and other ritual services...
. His own songs gradually coursed into Lieder and classical musical modes.
Scott Walker's early solo career was successful in Britain; his first three albums, titled Scott
Scott (album)
-Personnel:* Scott Walker - vocals* Wally Stott - arrangements, conductor* Reg Guest - arrangements, conductor* Peter Knight - arrangements, conductor* Peter Olliff - engineer-Release history:...
(1967), Scott 2
Scott 2
-Chart positions:-Personnel:*Wally Stott - arrangements and conductor *Reg Guest - arrangements and conductor *Peter Knight - arrangements and conductor *Peter Olliff - engineer-Release history:...
(1968) and Scott 3
Scott 3
The original U.S. Smash label vinyl issue omitted "30 Century Man", replacing it with "The Lights Of Cincinnati", a UK non-LP single from the same period...
(1969), all sold in large numbers, Scott 2 topping the British charts. There were also early indications that this concentrated attention was not conducive to Walker's emotional well-being. He became reclusive and somewhat distanced from his audience. During this time, he combined his earlier teen appeal with a darker, more idiosyncratic approach that had been hinted at in songs like "Orpheus" on the Images album. Walker drove a fine line between classic ballads, his own compositions, and Brel covers.
At the peak of his fame in 1969, he was given his own BBC TV series, Scott, featuring solo Walker performances of ballads, big band standards and introductions of his own and Brel compositions. Footage of the show is currently very rare as recordings were not archived. Walker's fourth solo album was an LP of songs from the TV series entitled Scott: Scott Walker Sings Songs from his TV Series
Scott: Scott Walker Sings Songs from his TV Series
-Release history:-Personnel:*Peter Knight - music director of accompaniment*Peter Olliff - engineer...
.
Walker released his fifth solo LP, Scott 4
Scott 4
-Release history:...
, in 1969. This was his first to be made up entirely of self-penned material, as the 'standards' and Brel covers were gone. The album failed to chart and was deleted
Deletion (music industry)
Deletion is a music industry term referring to the removal of a record or records from a label's official catalog, so that it is out of print, but usually at a record artist's request....
soon after. It has been speculated that the decision to release the album under his birth name Noel Scott Engel contributed to its chart failure. All subsequent re-issues of the album have been released under his stage name.
In recent interviews, Walker has suggested that by his third solo LP, a self-indulgent complacency had crept into his choice of material. Starting with 'Til the Band Comes In
'Til The Band Comes In
'Til The Band Comes In is a Scott Walker album, released in 1970. As a compromise with his record company, the first 10 tracks are self-penned, the remainder are cover versions.- Track listing :- Personnel :* Alan Clayson – liner notes...
(1970) - specifically the latter half of the album, which featured original material on side A and covers on side B - the early '70s saw Walker revert to cover versions of popular film tunes and a serious flirtation with the country and western scene. The Moviegoer
The Moviegoer (album)
- Personnel :* Scott Walker - Vocals* Johnny Franz - Producer* Peter J. Olliff - Engineering* Robert Cornford - Orchestra director...
(1972), Any Day Now
Any Day Now (Scott Walker album)
- Personnel :* Peter Knight - Arranged, Conductor* Robert Cornford - Arranged, Conductor tracks: A4, A6, B1, B5* John Franz - Producer* Peter J. Olliff - Engineer- Release details :...
(1973), Stretch
Stretch (album)
-Release details:...
(1973), and We Had It All
We Had It All
-Release details:...
(1974) feature no original material whatsoever. In the 2006 documentary Scott Walker: 30 Century Man
Scott Walker: 30 Century Man
Scott Walker: 30 Century Man is a 2006 documentary film about Scott Walker. The film gets its title from the Scott 3 song "30 Century Man". It is directed and co-produced by Stephen Kijak, with Grant Gee serving as director of photography...
, Walker describes these as his "lost years", creatively.
The Walker Brothers reunite
Perhaps for mutual protection, The Walker Brothers reunited in 1975 to produce three albums. Their first single, a cover of Tom RushTom Rush
Tom Rush is an American folk and blues singer, songwriter, musician and recording artist.- Life and career :Rush was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. His father was a teacher at St. Paul's School, in Concord, New Hampshire. Tom began performing in 1961 while studying at Harvard University after...
's song "No Regrets
No Regrets (Tom Rush song)
"No Regrets" is a song by folk and blues singer/songwriter Tom Rush. It is the final song on his 1968 album The Circle Game.His 1968 composition has become an acknowledged standard, with numerous cover versions having been recorded...
", from the album of the same title
No Regrets (The Walker Brothers album)
- Personnel :* Acoustic Guitar - John Walker, Judd Procter, Len Walker, Scott Walker* Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar - Alan Parker* Backing Vocals - Suzanne Lynch, Bones* Bass - Darryl Runswick* Conductor - Steve Grey* Drums - Barry Morgan...
climbed to #7 in the UK Singles Chart. However, the parent album only reached #49 in the UK Albums Chart
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
. The follow-up singles, "Lines" and "We're All Alone", from the second 1970s album Lines
Lines (The Walker Brothers album)
-Personnel:* Backing Vocals - Bones, The Charles Young Choral* Electric Bass - Alan Jones* Conductor - Steve Grey* Drums - Barry Morgan, Brian Bennett, Simon Phillips* Acoustic, Electric, Mandolin, High Strung Guitar, and Slide Guitar - Alan Parker...
, also failed to chart. Walker regards "Lines" as the best single the Walkers released.
With the imminent demise of their record label, the Walkers collaborated on an album of original material that was in stark contrast to the country-flavoured tunes of the previous 1970s albums. The resulting album, Nite Flights
Nite Flights (album)
Nite Flights is the sixth studio album by the American pop group The Walker Brothers. It was released in 1978. It includes the single "The Electrician". The album was to be the group's last together....
, was released in 1978 to similar poor sales figures. Critically, it was received warmly, especially Scott's contributions. The brothers each wrote and sang their own compositions. The opening four songs were Scott's, the final four John's, while the middle pair were by Gary. Scott's four songs – "Nite Flights", "The Electrician", "Shut Out", and "Fat Mama Kick" – were his first original compositions since 'Til the Band Comes In
'Til The Band Comes In
'Til The Band Comes In is a Scott Walker album, released in 1970. As a compromise with his record company, the first 10 tracks are self-penned, the remainder are cover versions.- Track listing :- Personnel :* Alan Clayson – liner notes...
(released in 1970). They represented his first steps away from the MOR image and sound he had cultivated since the commercial failure of Scott 4
Scott 4
-Release history:...
. The extremely dark and discomforting sound of Scott's songs, particularly "The Electrician", was to prove a forerunner to the direction of his future solo work.
The group split once more after their sixth album in 1978.
Return to solo works
Walker's recording activity has been sporadic since the late 1970s. He has released three albums since 1980: Climate of HunterClimate of Hunter
Climate of Hunter is the eleventh studio album by the American solo artist Scott Walker. It was released in March 1984 and reached number 60 on the UK Albums Chart. It includes the single "Track Three". It was also to be his only album of the 1980s....
in 1984, Tilt in 1995 and The Drift
The Drift
- Personnel :* Scott Walker – Vocals, Guitar, Harmonica, Sax, Sound Treatment* Hugh Burns – Guitar* Ian Thomas – Drums* Mark Warman – Keyboards, Orchestration, Conducting, Percussion, Woodwind, Sound Treatment* Philip Sheppard – Orchestration, Conducting, Cello...
in 2006. Critical acclaim for The Drift
The Drift
- Personnel :* Scott Walker – Vocals, Guitar, Harmonica, Sax, Sound Treatment* Hugh Burns – Guitar* Ian Thomas – Drums* Mark Warman – Keyboards, Orchestration, Conducting, Percussion, Woodwind, Sound Treatment* Philip Sheppard – Orchestration, Conducting, Cello...
placed it as high as No. 2 on the Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
chart on release in June 2006. It was still listed at No. 12 at the end of September 2006.
Walker has spoken about his lyrical technique; he compares his technique of assembling images that are sometimes seemingly disparate from each other and unconnected into short blocks of text to that of "a general, assembling troops on the battlefield". The Wire
The Wire (magazine)
The Wire is a British avant garde music magazine, founded in 1982 by jazz promoter Anthony Wood and journalist Chrissie Murray. The magazine initially concentrated on contemporary jazz and improvised music, but branched out in the early 1990s to various types of experimental music...
has noted that the short blocks of white-on-black text presented in the CD insert is reflective of this. The roots of this compositional technique are apparent as early as the Scott Walker tracks on Nite Flites - the lyrics insert for the album clearly feature the technique, albeit with a black text on a white background.
In tangential developments, in 1993 Walker co-wrote and co-performed (with Goran Bregović
Goran Bregovic
Goran Bregović is one of the most internationally known modern musicians and composers of the Balkans. He currently splits his time between Paris and Belgrade, where he settled down during the Yugoslav Wars.Bregović has composed for such varied artists as Iggy Pop and Cesária Évora...
) the single "Man from Reno" for the soundtrack of the film Toxic Affair. In 1996, he recorded the Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
song "I Threw It All Away" under the direction of Nick Cave
Nick Cave
Nicholas Edward "Nick" Cave is an Australian musician, songwriter, author, screenwriter, and occasional film actor.He is best known for his work as a frontman of the critically acclaimed rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, established in 1984, a group known for its eclectic influences and...
for inclusion in the soundtrack for the film To Have and to Hold. Three years later, he recorded the David Arnold
David Arnold
David Arnold is an English film composer best known for scoring five James Bond films, the 1994 film Stargate, the 1996 film Independence Day, and the television series Little Britain.-Film and television career:...
song "Only Myself to Blame", for the soundtrack of the Bond film
James Bond (film series)
The James Bond film series is a British series of motion pictures based on the fictional character of MI6 agent James Bond , who originally appeared in a series of books by Ian Fleming. Earlier films were based on Fleming's novels and short stories, followed later by films with original storylines...
The World Is Not Enough
The World Is Not Enough
The World Is Not Enough is the nineteenth spy film in the James Bond film series, and the third to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film was directed by Michael Apted, with the original story and screenplay written by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and Bruce Feirstein. It...
. That same year, he wrote and produced the soundtrack for the Léos Carax
Leos Carax
Leos Carax is a French-born film director, critic, and writer. Carax is noted for his poetic style and his tortured depictions of love. His first major work was Boy Meets Girl , and his notable works include Lovers on the Bridge and the controversial Pola X...
film Pola X
Pola X
Pola X is a 1999 French romantic drama film starring Guillaume Depardieu, Yekaterina Golubeva and Catherine Deneuve. The film is loosely based on the Herman Melville novel Pierre: or, The Ambiguities. It revolves around a successful young novelist who is confronted by a woman who claims to be his...
, which was released as an album. Scott Walker wrote and produced two songs for Ute Lemper
Ute Lemper
Ute Lemper is a German chanteuse and actress renowned for her interpretation of the work of Kurt Weill.- Biography :Born in Münster, Germany, Ute Lemper was raised in a Roman Catholic family. She joined the punk music group known as the Panama Drive Band at the age of 16...
the following year, and went on to produce Pulp
Pulp (band)
Pulp are an English alternative rock band formed in Sheffield in 1978. Their lineup consists of Jarvis Cocker , Russell Senior , Candida Doyle , Mark Webber , Steve Mackey and Nick Banks ....
's 2001 album We Love Life
We Love Life
Initial critical response to We Love Life was very positive. The album received an average score of 84 at Metacritic, based on 20 reviews. The music review online magazine Pitchfork Media placed We Love Life at number 194 on their list of top 200 albums of the 2000s.-Track listing:All songs written...
(whose track Bad Cover Version includes a mocking reference to Walker's poor covers on "The second side of 'Til The Band Comes In
'Til The Band Comes In
'Til The Band Comes In is a Scott Walker album, released in 1970. As a compromise with his record company, the first 10 tracks are self-penned, the remainder are cover versions.- Track listing :- Personnel :* Alan Clayson – liner notes...
").
Walker has been a continuing influence on other artists, in particular The Last Shadow Puppets
The Last Shadow Puppets
The Last Shadow Puppets is a band consisting of Alex Turner of the Arctic Monkeys, Miles Kane formerly of The Rascals, and composer/producer James Ford.-Formation:...
, Marc Almond
Marc Almond
Marc Almond is an English singer-songwriter and musician, who originally found fame as half of the seminal synthpop/New Wave duo Soft Cell...
, Douglas Pearce of the band Death in June
Death in June
Death in June are a neofolk group led by English folk musician Douglas Pearce, better known as Douglas P. The band was originally formed in Britain in 1981 as a trio, but after the other members left in 1984 and 1985 to work on other projects, the group became the work of Douglas P. and various...
, Billy MacKenzie
Billy Mackenzie
William MacArthur "Billy" Mackenzie was a Scottish singer, with a distinctive falsetto voice best known as a member of The Associates.- Biography :...
of The Associates, David Sylvian
David Sylvian
David Sylvian is an English singer-songwriter and musician who came to prominence in the late 1970s as the lead vocalist and main songwriter in the group Japan...
, David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
, Radiohead
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...
, and the Divine Comedy
The Divine Comedy (band)
The Divine Comedy are a chamber pop band from Ireland, fronted by Neil Hannon. Formed in 1989, Hannon has been the only constant member of the group, playing, in some instances, all of the non-orchestral instrumentation bar drums. To date, ten studio albums have been released under the Divine...
/Neil Hannon
Neil Hannon
Neil Hannon is a Northern Irish singer and songwriter, best known as the creator and frontman of the chamber pop group The Divine Comedy. The band's official website even goes so far as to say, "The Divine Comedy is Neil Hannon," and Hannon is quoted in an interview as saying, "The Divine Comedy...
. In 2000, he curated the London South Bank Centre
South Bank Centre
Southbank Centre is a complex of artistic venues in London, UK, on the South Bank of the River Thames between County Hall and Waterloo Bridge. It comprises three main buildings , and is Europe’s largest centre for the arts. It attracts more than three million visitors annually...
's annual summer live music festival, Meltdown
Meltdown (festival)
Meltdown is an annual, English festival, held in London, featuring a mix of music, art, performance and film. Meltdown is held in June at Southbank Centre, the arts complex covering and including the Royal Festival Hall, the Queen Elizabeth Hall and The Hayward...
, which has a tradition of 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...
curators. He did not perform at Meltdown himself, but wrote the music for The Richard Alston Dance Project item Thimblerigging.
In October 2003, Walker was given an award for his contribution to music by Q magazine
Q (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
. This was presented by Jarvis Cocker
Jarvis Cocker
Jarvis Branson Cocker is an English musician and frontman for the band Pulp. Through his work with the band, Cocker became a figurehead of the Britpop movement of the mid-1990s. Following Pulp's hiatus Cocker has led a successful solo career...
of Pulp, and Walker received a standing ovation at the presentation. This award had been presented only twice before, the first time to Phil Spector
Phil Spector
Phillip Harvey "Phil" Spector is an American record producer and songwriter, later known for his conviction in the murder of actress Lana Clarkson....
, and the second to Brian Eno
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
. The release of a retrospective box set, 5 Easy Pieces
5 Easy Pieces
5 Easy Pieces is a box set anthology of the career of Scott Walker. It was released in November 2003. The set comprises five themed CDs and a 56 page booklet.-Track listing:...
, comprising five themed discs spanning Walker's work with The Walker Brothers, his solo career (including film soundtrack work), and the two pieces composed for Ute Lemper, followed soon after.
The British independent label 4AD Records signed Walker in early 2004 and his first album in 11 years, The Drift
The Drift
- Personnel :* Scott Walker – Vocals, Guitar, Harmonica, Sax, Sound Treatment* Hugh Burns – Guitar* Ian Thomas – Drums* Mark Warman – Keyboards, Orchestration, Conducting, Percussion, Woodwind, Sound Treatment* Philip Sheppard – Orchestration, Conducting, Cello...
, was released on 8 May 2006 to strong reviews. In recent interviews, he appears more at ease with media attention. He reveals a wish to produce albums more frequently and hints at significant changes in material if and when it suits him. Walker mentioned the possibility of touring again with a compact, five-piece band in an interview with The Wire
The Wire (magazine)
The Wire is a British avant garde music magazine, founded in 1982 by jazz promoter Anthony Wood and journalist Chrissie Murray. The magazine initially concentrated on contemporary jazz and improvised music, but branched out in the early 1990s to various types of experimental music...
in 2006.
In June 2006, Mojo
Mojo (magazine)
MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music...
and radio honored Scott Walker with the MOJO Icon Award
MOJO Awards
The MOJO Awards is an awards ceremony that began in 2004 by Mojo, a popular music magazine published monthly by Bauer in the United Kingdom...
: "Voted for by Mojo readers and Mojo4music users, the recipient of this award has enjoyed a spectacular career on a global scale". It was presented by Phil Alexander.
A documentary film, Scott Walker: 30 Century Man
Scott Walker: 30 Century Man
Scott Walker: 30 Century Man is a 2006 documentary film about Scott Walker. The film gets its title from the Scott 3 song "30 Century Man". It is directed and co-produced by Stephen Kijak, with Grant Gee serving as director of photography...
, was completed in 2006 by New York film director Stephen Kijak
Stephen Kijak
-Career:Kijak studied with renowned film scholar and John Cassavetes expert Ray Carney as well as the late Mel Howard at Boston University’s College of Communication. He wrote, directed and produced the feature film Never Met Picasso which starred Margot Kidder, Alexis Arquette and Don McKellar...
(Cinemania and Never Met Picasso). Interviews were recorded with David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
(executive producer of the film), Radiohead
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...
, Sting, Gavin Friday
Gavin Friday
Gavin Friday is an Irish singer and songwriter, composer, actor and painter.-Career:Gavin was born in Dublin and grew up in Finglas, a neighbourhood located on Dublin's Northside...
and many musicians associated with Walker over the years. The World Premiere of Scott Walker: 30 Century Man took place as part of the 50th London Film Festival
London Film Festival
The BFI London Film Festival is the UK's largest public film event, screening more than 300 features, documentaries and shorts from almost 50 countries. The festival, , currently in its 54th year, is run every year in the second half of October under the umbrella of the British Film Institute...
. When The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
released its list of "Ten must-see films" at the 50th London Film Festival, Scott Walker: 30 Century Man, was among them. A documentary on Walker containing a substantial amount of footage from the film was shown on BBC1 in May 2007 as part of the Imagine...
Imagine (TV series)
Imagine is a wide ranging arts series first broadcast on BBC One in 2003, hosted and executive produced by Alan Yentob. Each series usually consists of 4 to 7 episodes, each on a different topic...
strand, presented by Alan Yentob
Alan Yentob
Alan Yentob is a British television executive and presenter who has worked throughout his career at the BBC.-Early life:...
.
Walker released "Darkness" as part of Plague Songs
Plague Songs
Plague Songs is an album of songs, by various artists, about the ten Plagues of Egypt described in the Book of Exodus.The songs were originally commissioned by the British arts organisation Artangel for its project The Margate Exodus, which centres around a one-day event that took place in Margate...
, an album of songs for the Margate Exodus project, a re-telling of the Book of Exodus, the story of Moses
Moses
Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
and his search for the Promised Land
Promised land
The Promised Land is a term used to describe the land promised or given by God, according to the Hebrew Bible, to the Israelites, the descendants of Jacob. The promise is firstly made to Abraham and then renewed to his son Isaac, and to Isaac's son Jacob , Abraham's grandson...
. Ten singer-songwriters were commissioned by Artangel to write and record a song inspired by one of the ten biblical plagues
Plagues of Egypt
The Plagues of Egypt , also called the Ten Plagues or the Biblical Plagues, were ten calamities that, according to the biblical Book of Exodus, Israel's God, Yahweh, inflicted upon Egypt to persuade Pharaoh to release the ill-treated Israelites from slavery. Pharaoh capitulated after the tenth...
. Walker's evocation of "Darkness" appears as the ninth.
On 24 September 2007, Walker released And Who Shall Go to the Ball? And What Shall Go to the Ball?
And Who Shall Go to the Ball? And What Shall Go to the Ball?
- Personnel :* London Sinfonietta - orchestra* Philip Sheppard - cello* Alasdair Malloy - percussion* Bradley Grant - saxophone, flute* Andy Findon - saxophone, flute* Steven Price - recording* Matt Paul - engineer* Mick Taylor - engineer...
as a limited, never-to-be-re-pressed edition. The 24-minute instrumental work was performed by the London Sinfonietta
London Sinfonietta
The London Sinfonietta is an English chamber orchestra founded in 1968 and based in London. The ensemble specialises in contemporary music and works across a wide range of genres, performing modern classics alongside world premieres, and includes music by electronica artists as well as folk and...
with solo cellist Philip Sheppard
Philip Sheppard (musician)
-Biography:Philip Sheppard trained in Cello and Composition at the Royal Academy of Music, during which time he specialised in contemporary music. He worked closely with Hans Werner Henze, Sir Michael Tippett and Luciano Berio during this time as a founder member of The Kreutzer String Quartet...
as music to a performance by London-based CandoCo
CandoCo
Candoco Dance Company is a contemporary dance company of disabled and non-disabled dancers, founded in 1991 by Celeste Dandeker and Adam Benjamin. Dandeker, who had previously trained with the London Contemporary Dance Theatre, suffered a fall whilst dancing on stage...
Dance Company. The recording is currently available.
From 13 to 15 November 2008, Drifting and Tilting: The Songs of Scott Walker was staged at The Barbican
Barbican Centre
The Barbican Centre is the largest performing arts centre in Europe. Located in the City of London, England, the Centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhibitions. It also houses a library, three restaurants, and a conservatory...
, in London. It comprised eight songs, two from Tilt – "Farmer in the City" and "Patriot (a single)" – and the rest from The Drift
The Drift
- Personnel :* Scott Walker – Vocals, Guitar, Harmonica, Sax, Sound Treatment* Hugh Burns – Guitar* Ian Thomas – Drums* Mark Warman – Keyboards, Orchestration, Conducting, Percussion, Woodwind, Sound Treatment* Philip Sheppard – Orchestration, Conducting, Cello...
: "Cossacks Are", "Jesse", "Clara (Benito's Dream)", "Buzzers", "Jolson and Jones" and "Cue". Each song was presented in a music-theatre manner, with the vocal parts taken by a number of singers, including Jarvis Cocker
Jarvis Cocker
Jarvis Branson Cocker is an English musician and frontman for the band Pulp. Through his work with the band, Cocker became a figurehead of the Britpop movement of the mid-1990s. Following Pulp's hiatus Cocker has led a successful solo career...
, Damon Albarn
Damon Albarn
Damon Albarn is an English singer-songwriter and record producer who has been involved in many high profile projects, coming to prominence as the frontman and primary songwriter of Britpop band Blur...
and Dot Allison
Dot Allison
Dot Allison is a Scottish singer and songwriter, who has made significant inroads in electronic music circles, most notably as a result of her tenure fronting the band One Dove in the early 1990s...
.
Walker collaborated with Bat for Lashes
Bat for Lashes
Natasha Khan , also known by her stage name Bat for Lashes, is an English musician. She sings and plays the piano, bass, guitar, harpsichord and the autoharp....
on the song "The Big Sleep" from her 2009 album Two Suns
Two Suns
Two Suns is the Mercury Music Prize nominated second album by English-Pakistani solo artist Bat for Lashes , released on 6 April 2009...
.
Walker wrote the score for the ROH2 production of Jean Cocteau
Jean Cocteau
Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau was a French poet, novelist, dramatist, designer, playwright, artist and filmmaker. His circle of associates, friends and lovers included Kenneth Anger, Pablo Picasso, Jean Hugo, Jean Marais, Henri Bernstein, Marlene Dietrich, Coco Chanel, Erik Satie, María...
’s 1932 play Duet for One which was be staged in the Linbury Studio in June 2011.
Walker began recording his next album in 2011, and is also composing the score for another opera to be performed in 2012.
Popular culture
Scott Walker's track "Sons Of" plays a prominent part in the Baillie Walsh film Flashbacks of a FoolFlashbacks of a Fool
Flashbacks of a Fool is a 2008 British drama film about a Hollywood actor who, following the death of his childhood best friend, reflects upon his life and what might have been, had he stayed in England...
starring Daniel Craig
Daniel Craig
Daniel Wroughton Craig is an English actor. His early film roles include Elizabeth, The Power of One, A Kid in King Arthur's Court and the television episodes Sharpe's Eagle, Zorro and The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles: Daredevils of the Desert...
. The song, an English version of Jaques Brel's "Fils de...", was originally released on Scott 3
Scott 3
The original U.S. Smash label vinyl issue omitted "30 Century Man", replacing it with "The Lights Of Cincinnati", a UK non-LP single from the same period...
.
A segment of Walker's song "30 Century Man" appears in the 2007 animated feature Futurama: Bender's Big Score
Futurama: Bender's Big Score
Futurama: Bender's Big Score is an Annie Award-winning direct-to-video film based on the animated series Futurama. It was released in the United States on November 27, 2007. Bender's Big Score, along with the three follow-up films, comprise season five of Futurama, with each film being separated...
, in which a short animated sequence illustrates Walker's lyric "shakin' hand with Charles de Gaulle
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
."
"30 Century Man" also appears in The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou is an American comedy-drama film directed, written, and co-produced by Wes Anderson. It is Anderson's fourth feature length film, released in the U.S. on December 25, 2004...
directed by Wes Anderson
Wes Anderson
Wesley Wales Anderson is an American film director, screenwriter, actor, and producer of features, short films and commercials....
.
Scott Walker's song "The Electrician" featured on The Walker Brothers' Nite Flights album is the opening track for the 2008 film Bronson
Bronson
- Surname :* Bryan Bronson, American hurdler* Charles Bronson, actor* Charles Bronson , British convicted prisoner** Bronson , a film based on the prisoner's life* Deming Bronson, Congressional Medal of Honor recipient- Given name :...
directed by Nicolas Winding Refn.
Further reading
- Anthony Reynolds The Impossible Dream: The Story of Scott Walker and The Walker Brothers Jawbone
Quotation
"I've become the Orson WellesOrson Welles
George Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
of the record industry. People want to take me to lunch, but nobody wants to finance the picture...I keep hoping that when I make a record, I'll be asked to make another one. I keep hoping that if I can make a series of three records, then I can progress and do different things each time. But when I have to get it up once every 10 years... it's a tough way to work." —in an interview for The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
, April 1995.
External links
- Scott Walker @ 4AD
- [ Scott Walker @ Allmusic]
- Scott Walker video interview on BBC Imagine...
- Montague Terrace
- Scott Walker Fanpage & Walker Brothers Message Board Germany
- Scott Walker @ pHinnWeb
- Scott Walker Film Blog
- Photo archive of Scott Walker and The Walker Brothers by Rock Photographer Chris Walter
- Scott Walker Track Samples
- Scott Walker documentary from "The Culture Show"
- Trouser Press entry
- AfterElton.com: Documenting a Musical Outsider
- club.kingsnake.com: Review of Scott Walker: 30 Century Man
- Kevchino Interview with director Stephen Kijak of Scott Walker: 30 Century Man
- The Music Collector Site, includes an album by album history of Scott