Edison Lighthouse
Encyclopedia
Edison Lighthouse was a UK
pop
group
, initially a studio
-only assemblage that served as a vehicle for session
vocalist Tony Burrows
and songwriter
/record producer
s Tony Macaulay
and Barry Mason
, are best known for their 1970 UK
chart-topper and million-selling record
, "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)
".
), Stuart Edwards (lead guitar
), David Taylor (bass guitar
), George Weyman (drum
s), and Ray Dorey (guitar
). The group's lone Top 40 hit
"Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)
" (1970) was one of four near-contemporaneous UK Singles Chart
Top Ten hit singles
by Burrows under different names, the others being White Plains
' "My Baby Loves Lovin'", The Pipkins
' "Gimme Dat Ding
", and Brotherhood of Man
's "United We Stand
". Burrows was also lead vocalist on the single "Beach Baby" (1974) for another studio-only group, The First Class
.
"Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" was #1 for five weeks and sold 250,000 copies in the UK. "Love Grows" raced to the #1 position in its second week on the chart
, which was at the time the quickest rise by an act new to the chart. The United States
release was in February 1970 and reached #5 in the Billboard Hot 100
, selling a million copies there by April earning the R.I.A.A.
gold disc
. In Canada the song reached #3.
After the success of "Love Grows", Burrows left to pursue other projects, and Macaulay, who owned the rights to the Edison Lighthouse name, assembled another group of musician
s to record
under the name. Members of the group Merlin 'Q' were brought in to perpetuate the image of a real working band. Actor
and singer Paul Vigrass replaced Burrows and other members of the re-assembled group were David Kerr-Clemenson (bass guitar), Andy Locke (guitar), Eddie Richards (drums) and Wally Scott (guitar). This second edition of Edison Lighthouse cracked the bottom of the UK Top 50 with the single "It's Up to You, Petula". The next single "What's Happening?"/ coupled with "Take a Little Time", which was written by the band. They then went on to tour Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, and Africa. The single released for the Africa tour was "Reconsider My Belinda". The last single released was "Find Mr Zebedee". The band then called it a day after returning from a tour of Europe. Dave Kerr-Clemenson, after touring with White Plains and Andy Locke, went on to form Fast Buck and recorded an album with Jet Records
and toured the world extensively supporting ELO
. Eddie Richards was the drummer in The First Class who had a hit with "Beach Baby".
A third Edison Lighthouse group, formed later in the 1970s, consisted of Brian Huggins (vocals), former member of Chicory Tip
Rick Foster (guitar and vocals), Pete Butt (bass), and Derek Boston (drums). They recorded at least one album, Love Grows, for the UK record label, SMA, in 1977, and a 2010 CD, Big Girls Don't Cry (Mojo 013) featured this version of the group.
In 2001, Les Fradkin, obtaining the trademark to the name Edison Lighthouse, formed a new group for touring and recording.
The lack of further chart activity leaves the group with transatlantic one-hit wonder
status.
off the coast of Cornwall
.
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
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...
group
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...
, initially a studio
Recording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
-only assemblage that served as a vehicle for session
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
vocalist Tony Burrows
Tony Burrows
Anthony "Tony" Burrows is a British session singer. He has been credited with singing lead on hit singles for more groups than any other recording artist, both on the UK Singles Chart and the U.S...
and songwriter
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...
/record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
s Tony Macaulay
Tony Macaulay
Tony Macaulay is a British author, composer for musical theatre, and songwriter, though it was the latter that made him a household name early in his career...
and Barry Mason
Barry Mason
John Barry Mason is an English songwriter, originally from the village of Coppull, near Chorley in Lancashire....
, are best known for their 1970 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...
chart-topper and million-selling record
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
, "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)
Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)
"Love Grows " is a popular song by "one-hit wonder" Edison Lighthouse. The single hit the number one spot on the UK singles chart on the week ending on 31 January 1970, where it remained for a total of five weeks.- Song profile :...
".
Career
The 'original' Edison Lighthouse was Tony Burrows (lead vocalistLead vocalist
The lead vocalist is the member of a band who sings the main vocal portions of a song. They may also play one or more instruments. Lead vocalists are sometimes referred to as the frontman or frontwoman, and as such, are usually considered to be the "leader" of the groups they perform in, often the...
), Stuart Edwards (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...
), David Taylor (bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
), George Weyman (drum
Drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
s), and Ray Dorey (guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
). The group's lone Top 40 hit
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...
"Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)
Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)
"Love Grows " is a popular song by "one-hit wonder" Edison Lighthouse. The single hit the number one spot on the UK singles chart on the week ending on 31 January 1970, where it remained for a total of five weeks.- Song profile :...
" (1970) was one of four near-contemporaneous 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 ...
Top Ten hit singles
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...
by Burrows under different names, the others being White Plains
White Plains (band)
White Plains were a British pop music group, that existed from 1969 to 1976.-Career:White Plains evolved from the late 1960s pop/psychedelic band The Flower Pot Men, composed of Tony Burrows, Pete Nelson, and Robin Shaw together with Neil Landon . The band was primarily a studio project led by John...
' "My Baby Loves Lovin'", The Pipkins
The Pipkins
The Pipkins were a short-lived novelty duo, best known for their hit single "Gimme Dat Ding" , which reached No. 6 in the UK Singles Charts and #9 on the U.S. charts in 1970...
' "Gimme Dat Ding
Gimme Dat Ding (song)
"Gimme Dat Ding" is a 1970 popular song sung by "one-hit wonder" The Pipkins, written by Albert Hammond and Mike Hazlewood. Released as a single, it is the title track of an album by The Pipkins on EMI Columbia, the song also appeared on a compilation of the same name, which The Pipkins shared with...
", and Brotherhood of Man
Brotherhood of Man
Brotherhood of Man are a British pop group who achieved success in the 1970s, most notably by winning the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest with "Save Your Kisses for Me"....
's "United We Stand
United We Stand (song)
"United We Stand" is a popular song by Tony Hiller and Peter Simmons. It was first recorded in 1970 by The Brotherhood of Man , becoming the band's first hit, peaking at #13 in the U.S., #9 in Canada, and #10 in the U.K. It is considered a worldwide standard and has been recorded by over 100...
". Burrows was also lead vocalist on the single "Beach Baby" (1974) for another studio-only group, The First Class
The First Class
The First Class was a British pop music studio-based group, put together by songwriter and record producer John Carter.-Career:The First Class was the studio creation of the British singer-songwriter John Carter and singers Tony Burrows and Chas Mills as an outlet for material Carter wrote with his...
.
"Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" was #1 for five weeks and sold 250,000 copies in the UK. "Love Grows" raced to the #1 position in its second week on the chart
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
, which was at the time the quickest rise by an act new to the chart. The United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
release was in February 1970 and reached #5 in the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
, selling a million copies there by April earning the R.I.A.A.
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
gold disc
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
. In Canada the song reached #3.
After the success of "Love Grows", Burrows left to pursue other projects, and Macaulay, who owned the rights to the Edison Lighthouse name, assembled another group of 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 to record
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
under the name. Members of the group Merlin 'Q' were brought in to perpetuate the image of a real working band. Actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
and singer Paul Vigrass replaced Burrows and other members of the re-assembled group were David Kerr-Clemenson (bass guitar), Andy Locke (guitar), Eddie Richards (drums) and Wally Scott (guitar). This second edition of Edison Lighthouse cracked the bottom of the UK Top 50 with the single "It's Up to You, Petula". The next single "What's Happening?"/ coupled with "Take a Little Time", which was written by the band. They then went on to tour Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, and Africa. The single released for the Africa tour was "Reconsider My Belinda". The last single released was "Find Mr Zebedee". The band then called it a day after returning from a tour of Europe. Dave Kerr-Clemenson, after touring with White Plains and Andy Locke, went on to form Fast Buck and recorded an album with Jet Records
Jet Records
Jet Records was a small British record label set up by Don Arden with artists like Electric Light Orchestra , Roy Wood, Gary Moore, Ozzy Osbourne, Riot and Magnum. The first release on the "Jet Records" label was "No Honestly", a UK top 10 for its singer and writer Lynsey De Paul in November 1974...
and toured the world extensively supporting ELO
Electric Light Orchestra
Electric Light Orchestra were a British rock group from Birmingham who released eleven studio albums between 1971 and 1986 and another album in 2001. ELO were formed to accommodate Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne's desire to create modern rock and pop songs with classical overtones...
. Eddie Richards was the drummer in The First Class who had a hit with "Beach Baby".
A third Edison Lighthouse group, formed later in the 1970s, consisted of Brian Huggins (vocals), former member of Chicory Tip
Chicory Tip
Chicory Tip is a British pop group from Maidstone, Kent, originally comprising; vocalist Peter Hewson ; guitarist Rick Foster ; bass guitarist Barry Mayger ; drummer Brian Shearer ; and guitarist and keyboard player Rod Cloutt Chicory Tip is a British pop group from Maidstone, Kent, originally...
Rick Foster (guitar and vocals), Pete Butt (bass), and Derek Boston (drums). They recorded at least one album, Love Grows, for the UK record label, SMA, in 1977, and a 2010 CD, Big Girls Don't Cry (Mojo 013) featured this version of the group.
In 2001, Les Fradkin, obtaining the trademark to the name Edison Lighthouse, formed a new group for touring and recording.
The lack of further chart activity leaves the group with transatlantic one-hit wonder
One-hit wonder
A one-hit wonder is a person or act known mainly for only a single success. The term is most often used to describe music performers with only one hit single.-Characteristics:...
status.
Origin of the name
Edison Lighthouse was named after the Eddystone LighthouseEddystone Lighthouse
Eddystone Lighthouse is on the treacherous Eddystone Rocks, south west of Rame Head, United Kingdom. While Rame Head is in Cornwall, the rocks are in Devon and composed of Precambrian Gneiss....
off the coast of Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
.
See also
- One-hit wonders in the UKOne-hit wonders in the UKThis is a list of artists who have achieved one #1 hit on the UK Singles Chart and no other entry whatsoever on the chart. The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles uses this definition of "one-hit wonder", which is a controversial term with various other proposed definitions.-Methodology:A hit is...
- List of artists who reached number one on the UK Singles Chart
- UK No.1 Hits of 1970
- List of performers on Top of the Pops
- One-hit wonders in the United StatesOne-hit wonders in the United StatesA one-hit wonder is a Top 40 phenomenon; the combination of artist and song that scores huge in the music industry with one single, but is unable to repeat the achievement...
- List of 1970s one-hit wonders in the United States
- Number 1 Singles in Ireland 1970Number 1 Singles in Ireland 1970This is a list of singles which topped the Irish Singles Chart in 1970.Note that prior to 1992, the Irish singles chart was compiled from trade shipments from the labels to record stores, rather than on consumer sales.-See also:*1970 in music...
- List of Top 25 singles for 1970 in Australia
External links
- [ Allmusic.com biography]