Ian Whitcomb
Encyclopedia
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...
, author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, 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...
, and 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...
. As part of the British Invasion
British Invasion
The British Invasion is a term used to describe the large number of rock and roll, beat, rock, and pop performers from the United Kingdom who became popular in the United States during the time period from 1964 through 1966.- Background :...
, his 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...
song
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
"You Turn Me On
You Turn Me On (song)
"You Turn Me On" is a 1965 single by Ian Whitcomb. The song is noticeable for Whitcomb's falsetto and "orgasmic vocal hook". Whitcomb recorded this song with his band, Bluesville. As part of the British Invasion, "You Turn Me On" reached number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the U.S.. In...
" reached number 8 on Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
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...
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....
in 1965.
He has written several books on popular music
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...
, beginning with After the Ball, published by Penguin Books
Penguin Books
Penguin Books is a publisher founded in 1935 by Sir Allen Lane and V.K. Krishna Menon. Penguin revolutionised publishing in the 1930s through its high quality, inexpensive paperbacks, sold through Woolworths and other high street stores for sixpence. Penguin's success demonstrated that large...
(Britain
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...
) and Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster, Inc., a division of CBS Corporation, is a publisher founded in New York City in 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. It is one of the four largest English-language publishers, alongside Random House, Penguin and HarperCollins...
(United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
) in 1972. He accompanies his singing by playing the ukulele
Ukulele
The ukulele, ; from ; it is a subset of the guitar family of instruments, generally with four nylon or gut strings or four courses of strings....
and, through his records
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...
, concert
Concert
A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...
s, and 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...
work, has helped to stimulate the current revival of interest in the instrument. His recreation of the music played aboard the RMS Titanic in the film of that name
Titanic (1997 film)
Titanic is a 1997 American epic romance and disaster film directed, written, co-produced, and co-edited by James Cameron. A fictionalized account of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, it stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson, Kate Winslet as Rose DeWitt Bukater and Billy Zane as Rose's fiancé, Cal...
won a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
in 1998 for package design and a nomination for Whitcomb's liner notes (Titanic: Music As Heard On The Fateful Voyage).
Early life
Whitcomb's father, Pat, worked for his father's film company British Screen Classics in the 1920s, eventually co-starring in Mr. Nobody (released by Fox in 1929). His father was a schooled pianist and encouraged Whitcomb to play. Ian's younger brother, Robin, accompanied him on drumDrum
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 in their first bands
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...
, notably The Ragtime Suwanee Six (1960–62) whose manager was Denny Cordell
Denny Cordell
Denny Cordell was an English record producer. He is notable for his late 1960s and early 1970s productions of hit singles for The Moody Blues, The Move, Procol Harum and Joe Cocker.-Career:...
, later to produce records by Procol Harum
Procol Harum
Procol Harum are a British rock band, formed in 1967, which contributed to the development of progressive rock, and by extension, symphonic rock. Their best-known recording is their 1967 single "A Whiter Shade of Pale"...
and 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...
. Robin went on to play tambourine
Tambourine
The tambourine or marine is a musical instrument of the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zils". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though some variants may not have a head at all....
on Sonny & Cher
Sonny & Cher
Sonny & Cher were an American pop music duo, actors, singers and entertainers made up of husband-and-wife team Sonny and Cher Bono in the 1960s and 1970s. The couple started their career in the mid-1960s as R&B backing singers for record producer Phil Spector....
's hit "I Got You Babe
I Got You Babe
"I Got You Babe" is a 1965 #1 single by American pop music duo Sonny & Cher.-Background and composition:Sonny Bono, a songwriter and record producer for Phil Spector, wrote the lyrics to and composed the music of the song for himself and his then-wife, Cher, late at night in their basement. Session...
" (1965). Growing up, Whitcomb's chief musical inspirations were Phil Harris
Phil Harris
Harris and Faye married in 1941; it was a second marriage for both and lasted 54 years, until Harris's death. Harris engaged in a fistfight at the Trocadero nightclub in 1938 with RKO studio mogul Bob Stevens; the cause was reported to be over Faye after Stevens and Faye had ended a romantic...
, Johnnie Ray
Johnnie Ray
Johnnie Ray was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Popular for most of the 1950s, Ray has been cited by critics as a major precursor of what would become rock and roll, for his jazz and blues-influenced music and his animated stage personality.-Early life:John Alvin Ray was born in...
, Guy Mitchell
Guy Mitchell
Guy Mitchell, born Albert George Cernik, was an American pop singer, successful in his homeland, the U.K. and Australia...
, 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 George Formby. He was sent away to boarding school in 1949 (Newlands, Seaford, Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
) at age 8 and there he soon formed a tissue paper-and-comb band to entertain staff and boys with current hits such as "Riders in the Sky".
Main career
At BryanstonBryanston School
Bryanston School is a co-educational independent school for both day and boarding pupils in Blandford, north Dorset, England, near the village of Bryanston. It was founded in 1928...
, a public school
Independent school (UK)
An independent school is a school that is not financed through the taxation system by local or national government and is instead funded by private sources, predominantly in the form of tuition charges, gifts and long-term charitable endowments, and so is not subject to the conditions imposed by...
in Dorset, England, Whitcomb started a skiffle
Skiffle
Skiffle is a type of popular music with jazz, blues, folk, roots and country influences, usually using homemade or improvised instruments. Originating as a term in the United States in the first half of the twentieth century, it became popular again in the UK in the 1950s, where it was mainly...
group in 1957 and then a rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
band in 1959. In the early 1960s, while studying history at Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin , formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", Extracts from Letters Patent of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and...
, he became a founding member of Dublin's first rhythm and blues
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...
band, Bluesville. Their second record release, "This Sporting Life", charted in the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1965. Whitcomb’s next 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...
, "You Turn Me On
You Turn Me On (song)
"You Turn Me On" is a 1965 single by Ian Whitcomb. The song is noticeable for Whitcomb's falsetto and "orgasmic vocal hook". Whitcomb recorded this song with his band, Bluesville. As part of the British Invasion, "You Turn Me On" reached number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the U.S.. In...
" reached Billboard’s number 8 spot in July 1965. During his summer vacation in 1965, Whitcomb went to America to appear on such television program
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
s as Shindig
Shindig
Shindig may refer to:*Shindig!, a '60s American music variety television show*"Shindig" , an episode of the television series Firefly*Shindig , an open-source software implementation of the OpenSocial standard...
, Hollywood A Go-Go
Hollywood A Go-Go
Hollywood A Go-Go was a Los Angeles based music variety show that ran in syndication in the mid-1960s. It was hosted by Sam Riddle, with music by The Sinners and dancing by The Gazzarri Dancers.-History:...
and American Bandstand
American Bandstand
American Bandstand is an American music-performance show that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989 and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as producer...
. Whitcomb played the Hollywood Bowl
Hollywood Bowl
The Hollywood Bowl is a modern amphitheater in the Hollywood area of Los Angeles, California, United States that is used primarily for music performances...
with The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...
in 1965 and then toured with The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
, The Kinks
The Kinks
The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, North London, by brothers Ray and Dave Davies in 1964. Categorised in the United States as a British Invasion band, The Kinks are recognised as one of the most important and influential rock acts of the era. Their music was influenced by a...
, and Sam the Sham
Sam the Sham
Sam the Sham is the stage name of the American rock and roll singer Domingo “Sam” Samudio . Sam the Sham was known for his camp robe and turban and hauling his equipment in a 1952 Packard hearse with maroon velvet curtains...
and the Pharaohs.
"N-Nervous!" Whitcomb’s next release, was recorded in Hollywood, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
and reached Billboard's Top 50. He returned to Dublin for his history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
finals and received a B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree
Academic degree
An academic degree is a position and title within a college or university that is usually awarded in recognition of the recipient having either satisfactorily completed a prescribed course of study or having conducted a scholarly endeavour deemed worthy of his or her admission to the degree...
. In 1966 he turned to early popular song: his version of a 1916 comedy number, "Where Did Robinson Crusoe Go with Friday on Saturday Night?" was a West Coast hit, reviving the ukulele before the emergence of Tiny Tim
Tiny Tim (musician)
Tiny Tim , , born in Manhattan, was an American singer and ukulele player. He was most famous for his rendition of "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" sung in a distinctive high falsetto/vibrato voice.-Rise to fame:Born to Lebanese parents in 1932, Khaury displayed musical talent at a very young age...
.
After making four 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...
s for Tower Records
Tower Records
Tower Records was a retail music chain that was based in Sacramento, California. It currently exists as an international franchise and an online music store....
and producing Mae West
Mae West
Mae West was an American actress, playwright, screenwriter and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned seven decades....
on her album called Great Balls of Fire for MGM Records
MGM Records
MGM Records was a record label started by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio in 1946, for the purpose of releasing soundtrack albums of their musical films. Later it became a pop label, lasting into the 1970s...
in 1972, Whitcomb returned to the UK where he began his writing career with After the Ball. He later wrote Tin Pan Alley, A Pictorial History (1919–1939) and a novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
, Lotusland: A Story of Southern California.
Returning to Hollywood, Whitcomb starred in and wrote L.A.–My Home Town (BBC TV; 1976) and Tin Pan Alley (PBS; 1974). He also provided the music for a documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
, Bugs Bunny: Superstar (UA), which was narrated by Orson Welles
Orson 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...
. For Play-Rite Music he cut 18 piano rolls that were included in an album, Pianomelt. His other albums reflected his research into the genres of ragtime
Ragtime
Ragtime is an original musical genre which enjoyed its peak popularity between 1897 and 1918. Its main characteristic trait is its syncopated, or "ragged," rhythm. It began as dance music in the red-light districts of American cities such as St. Louis and New Orleans years before being published...
, Tin Pan Alley
Tin Pan Alley
Tin Pan Alley is the name given to the collection of New York City music publishers and songwriters who dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th century and early 20th century...
, vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
, and music hall
Music hall
Music Hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...
. These, beginning with Under the Ragtime Moon (1972), were released on several record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
s including Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
, United Artists
United Artists
United Artists Corporation is an American film studio. The original studio of that name was founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks....
, and Decca Records
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
. During that time he also wrote and produced singles for Warner Bros.’ country division, most notably "Hands", a massage parlour story, and "A Friend of a Friend of Mine".
In the 1980s Whitcomb published Rock Odyssey: A Chronicle of the Sixties: Ian Whitcomb, a memoir
Memoir
A memoir , is a literary genre, forming a subclass of autobiography – although the terms 'memoir' and 'autobiography' are almost interchangeable. Memoir is autobiographical writing, but not all autobiographical writing follows the criteria for memoir set out below...
of the 1960s and described by The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
as the best personal account of this period. He also published Ragtime America (Limelight Editions, 1988), followed by a memoir of life as a British expatriate living 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...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, Resident Alien (Century, 1990). He produced a British documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
on black music, Legends of Rhythm and Blues (part of the series Repercussions, made by Third Eye Productions for Channel Four in 1984). During this time he also hosted a radio show in Los Angeles for fifteen years, taking the program from KROQ-FM
KROQ-FM
KROQ-FM — branded 106.7 KROQ — is a commercial modern rock radio station licensed to Pasadena, California serving the Greater Los Angeles. The call sign is pronounced "kay rock." It is the flagship station of Loveline hosted by Dr...
to KCRW
KCRW
KCRW is a public radio station broadcasting from the campus of Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, carrying a mix of National Public Radio news, talk radio and freeform music format. The general manager of KCRW is Jennifer Ferro...
and finally to KPPC-FM. His songs can he heard in the 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 Bloody Movie (1987), Cold Sassy Tree
Cold Sassy Tree
Cold Sassy Tree is a 1984 novel by Olive Ann Burns. Set in the U.S. state of Georgia in the fictional town of Cold Sassy in 1906, it follows the life of a 14-year-old boy named Will Tweedy, and explores themes such as religion, death, and social taboos...
(1989), Encino Man
Encino Man
Encino Man, released in Europe as California Man, is a 1992 comedy film directed by Les Mayfield and starring Brendan Fraser, Sean Astin and Pauly Shore. The plot revolves around two geeky teenagers from Encino, Los Angeles, California played by Astin and Shore, who discover a caveman in their...
(1992), Grass
Grass (1999 film)
Grass: History of Marijuana is a 1999 Canadian documentary film directed by Ron Mann, premiered in Toronto Film Festival, about the history of the United States government's war on marijuana in the 20th century.-Overview:...
(1999), Man of the Century
Man of the Century
Man of the Century is a 1999 comedy film directed by Adam Abraham and written by Abraham and Gibson Frazier. The film stars Frazier, Cara Buono, Susan Egan, Dwight Ewell and Anthony Rapp. It is a farce about the attitudes, values, and slang displayed in the popular culture of the 1920s . Man of...
(1999), Stanley's Gig (2000), After the Storm
After the Storm
After the Storm is the fourth studio album by American R&B singer Monica, released June 17, 2003, on J Records. Conceived from her abandoned project All Eyez on Me , it was recorded during 2001 to 2003 at Doppler Studios, Patchwerk Studios, and SouthSide Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, Soulpower...
(2001), The Cat's Meow
The Cat's Meow
The Cat's Meow is a 2001 drama film directed by Peter Bogdanovich, and starring Kirsten Dunst, Eddie Izzard, Edward Herrmann, Cary Elwes, Joanna Lumley, and Jennifer Tilly. The screenplay by Steven Peros is based on his play of the same title, which was inspired by the mysterious death of film...
(2002), Last Call (2002), Sleep Easy, Hutch Rimes (2002), Lonesome Jim
Lonesome Jim
Lonesome Jim is a 2005 American comedy/drama film directed by Steve Buscemi. Filmed mostly in the city of Goshen, Indiana, the film stars Casey Affleck as a chronically depressed aspiring novelist who moves back into his parents' home after failing to make it in New York City...
(2005), and Fido
Fido (film)
Fido is a 2006 Canadian zombie comedy film directed by Andrew Currie and written by Robert Chomiak, Currie, and Dennis Heaton from an original story by Heaton...
(2006).
Today
Whitcomb performs at music festivalMusic festival
A music festival is a festival oriented towards music that is sometimes presented with a theme such as musical genre, nationality or locality of musicians, or holiday. They are commonly held outdoors, and are often inclusive of other attractions such as food and merchandise vending machines,...
s throughout America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. He continues to write, and he makes frequent guest appearances. He is a regular performer at Cantalini's Restaurant http://www.salernobeach.com/whatshapp.html in Playa del Rey, California.
Since 7 November 2007, Whitcomb has had an internet radio
Internet radio
Internet radio is an audio service transmitted via the Internet...
program on Wednesday evenings from 8:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m.(PST) at LuxuriaMusic.com. He signed with Premiere Radio Networks
Premiere Radio Networks
Premiere Networks is an American radio network. It is the largest syndication company in the United States based on popularity of programming...
in September 2010 to launch The Ian Whitcomb Show on XM satellite radio, Channel 24.
Ian Whitcomb was named as a BEST OF L.A. in 2008 by Los Angeles magazine.
In 2009 Whitcomb wrote and, with his Bungalow Boys, performed original music for the West Coast Premiere of The Jazz Age, a play by Allan Knee, at the Blank Theater Company's 2nd Stage Theater in Los Angeles. For his work on The Jazz Age Whitcomb was nominated for an L.A. Theater Award.
Whitcomb lives in Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
with his wife, Regina, their cat, Simon, and dog, Rollo.
Singles
- 19641964 in music-Events:*January 1 – Top of the Pops is broadcast for the first time, on BBC television.*January 3 – Footage of the Beatles performing a concert in Bournemouth, England is shown on The Jack Paar Show....
– "Soho" / "Boney Moronie" (Jerden 735) - 1965 "This Sporting Life" / "Fizz" (Jerden 747)
- 1965 "This Sporting Life" (Billboard #100) / "Fizz" (Tower 120)
- 1965 "You Turn Me On (Turn On Song)You Turn Me On (song)"You Turn Me On" is a 1965 single by Ian Whitcomb. The song is noticeable for Whitcomb's falsetto and "orgasmic vocal hook". Whitcomb recorded this song with his band, Bluesville. As part of the British Invasion, "You Turn Me On" reached number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the U.S.. In...
" (Billboard #8) / "Poor But Honest" (Tower 134) - 1965 "N-E-R-V-O-U-S!" (Billboard #59) / "The End" (Tower 155)
- 1965 "18 Whitcomb Street" / "Fizz" (Tower 170)
- 1965 "No Tears for Johnny" / "Be My Baby" (Tower 189)
- 1965 "Good Hard Rock" / "High Blood Pressure" (Tower 192)
- 1965 "Your Baby Has Gone Down the Plug-Hole" / "Lover’s Prayer" (Tower 212)
- 1965 "Don't Think Twice It's Alright" / "As Tears Go ByAs Tears Go By (song)"As Tears Go By" is a song written by The Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger, guitarist Keith Richards, and their manager Andrew Loog Oldham, and was a popular hit for both British singer Marianne Faithfull in 1964 and The Rolling Stones in 1965.-History:...
" (Jerden 788) - 1965 "Louie LouieLouie Louie"Louie Louie" is an American rock 'n' roll song written by Richard Berry in 1955. It has become a standard in pop and rock, with hundreds of versions recorded by different artists...
" / "Walk Right InWalk Right InWalk Right In is the title of a country blues song written by musician Gus Cannon and originally recorded by Cannon's Jug Stompers in 1929, released on Victor Records, catalogue 38611. It was reissued on album in 1959 as a track on The Country Blues....
" (Tower 216; released as "Sir Arthur") - 1966 "You Won’t See Me" / "Please Don’t Leave Me on the Shelf" (Tower 251)
- 1966 "Where Did Robinson Crusoe Go With Friday On Saturday Night" (Billboard #101) / "Poor Little Bird" (Tower 274)
- 1966 "You Really Bent Me Out Of Shape" / "Rolling Home With Georgeanne" (Tower 336)
- 1967 "Sally Sails The Sky" / "Groovy Day" (Tower 385)
- 1967 "Lucky Jim" / "I’ve Been Ill" (Stateside/EMI SS2014)
- 1973 "Yaaka Hula Hickey Dula" / "They Go Wild, Simply Wild over Me" (United Artists XW 162-W)
- 1976 "Somewhere In Virginia in the Rain" / "Pancho" (Warner Brothers 8180)
- 1977 "You Do Something To MeYou Do Something to Me"You Do Something to Me" is a song written by Cole Porter. It is notable in that it was the first number in Porter's first fully integrated-book musical Fifty Million Frenchmen...
" / "I'm a Hooray With a Cane" (Warner Brothers K17018)
Albums
- 1965 You Turn Me On (Billboard #125—Tower T (Mono)/ST (Stereo) 5004)
- 1966 Ian Whitcomb’s Mod, Mod Music Hall (Tower T/ST 5042)
- 1967 Yellow Underground (Tower T/ST 5071)
- 1968 Sock Me Some Rock (Tower SDT 5100)
- 1970 On the Pier (World Record Club/EMI ST 1010)
- 1972 Under the Ragtime Moon (United Artists UAS 29403)
- 1973 You Turn Me On (Ember Records NR 5065)
- 1974 Hip Hooray for Neville Chamberlain! (Argo/Decca 2DA 162)
- 1976 Crooner Tunes (First American 7704)
- 1976 Treasures of Tin Pan Alley (Audiophile AP 115)
- 1977 Ian Whitcomb’s Red Hot Blue Heaven (Warner Bros. K56347)
- 1979 Ian Whitcomb: The Rock & Roll Years (First American FA 7729)
- 1980 At The Ragtime Ball (Audiophile AP 147)
- 1980 Instrumentals (First American FA 7751)
- 1980 Pianomelt (Sierra Briar SRAS 8708)
- 1981 In Hollywood! (First American FA 7789)
- 1982 Don’t Say Goodbye, Miss Ragtime (with Dick Zimmerman) (Stomp Off SOS 1017)
- 1983 My Wife is Dancing Mad (with Dick Zimmerman) (Stomp Off SOS 1049)
- 1983 The Boogie Woogie Jungle Snake (ITW Records 01)
- 1984 Rag Odyssey (Meteor Records MTM-006)
- 1984 On The Street of Dreams (ITW Records 03)
- 1986 The Best of Ian Whitcomb (Rhino Records RNLP 127)
- 1986 Oceans of Love (ITW Records 04)
- 1987 Steppin’ Out (Audiophile AP 225)
- 1987 Ian Whitcomb's Ragtime America (Premier PMP 1017)
- 1990 All the Hits Plus More (Prestige/BBC PRST 005)
Compact discs
- 1988 Happy Days Are Here Again (Audiophile ACD 242)
- 1992 Ian Whitcomb’ Ragtime America (ITW 009)
- 1995 Lotusland—A New Kind of Old-Fashioned Musical Comedy (Audiophile ACD 283)
- 1996 Let the Rest of the World Go By (Audiophile ACD 267)
- 1997 The Golden Age of Lounge (Varese Sarabande VSD 5821)
- 1997 Ian Whitcomb: You Turn Me On!/Mod Mod Music Hall (Sundazed SC 11044)
- 1997 Titanic: Music as Heard on the Fateful Voyage (Rhino R2 72821)
- 1998 Spread a Little Happiness (Audiophile ACD 249)
- 1998 Titanic Tunes—A Sing-A-Long in Steerage (The Musical Murrays Conducted by Ian Whitcomb)(Varese Sarabande 5965)
- 1998 Songs from the Titanic Era (The New White Star Orchestra)(Varese Sarabande VSF 5966)
- 1999 Comedy Songs (Audiophile ACD 163)
- 2001 Sentimentally Yours (Woodpecker Records)
- 2002 Dance Hall Days (ITW Records)
- 2003 Under the Ragtime Moon (Vivid Sound B00008WD18)
- 2005 Old Chestnuts & Rare Treats (ITW Records)
- 2005 Words & Music (ITW Records)
- 2006 Lone Pine Blues (Vivid Sound NACD3229; Japanese import only)
Books
- 1972 After the Ball—Pop Music from Rag to Rock (Allen Lane/Penguin) ISBN 0-14-003450-1.
- 1973 20th Century Fun Essex Music
- 1975 Tin Pan Alley: A Pictorial History (Paddington Press) ASIN: B000RC8WOC
- 1979 Lotusland: A Story of Southern California (Wildwood House) ISBN 0-7045-3005-8
- 1982 Whole Lotta Shakin’: A Rock ‘n’ Roll Scrapbook (Arrow) ASIN: B000OHDDPI
- 1983 Rock Odyssey: A Chronicle of the Sixties (Doubleday/Anchor) ISBN 0-385-15705-3
- 1986 Irving Berlin & Ragtime America (Arrow) ISBN 0-87910-115-6
- 1990 Resident Alien (Century) ISBN 0-7126-2266-7
- 1994 The Beckoning Fairground: Notes of a British Exile (California Classics) ISBN 1-879395-04-5
- 1994 Treasures of Tin Pan Alley (Mel Bay)
- 1995 Vaudeville Favorites (Mel Bay)
- 1996 The Best of Vintage Dance (Mel Bay)
- 1997 Songs of the Ragtime Era (Mel Bay)
- 1998 The Titanic Songbook (Mel Bay)
- 1998 Titanic Tunes (Mel Bay)
- 1998 Songs of the Jazz Age (Mel Bay)
- 1999 Ukulele Heaven (Mel Bay)
- 2001 Uke Ballads (Mel Bay)
- 2003 The Cat’s Meow (Mel Bay)
- 2007 The Ian Whitcomb Songbook (Mel Bay)
- 2009 Letters From Lotusland (Wild Shore Press) ISBN 978-0-578-03610-6
- 2011 Ian Whitcomb's Ukulele Sing-Along (Alfred Music Publishing) ISBN 0-7390-7381-8 (Book & CD)
Television
- 1965 Thank Your Lucky StarsThank Your Lucky Stars (TV series)Thank Your Lucky Stars was a British television pop music show made by ABC Television, and broadcast on ITV from 1961 to 1966. Many of the top bands performed on it, and for millions of British teenagers it was essential viewing...
- 1965 ShindigShindigShindig may refer to:*Shindig!, a '60s American music variety television show*"Shindig" , an episode of the television series Firefly*Shindig , an open-source software implementation of the OpenSocial standard...
- 1965 Hollywood A Go-GoHollywood A Go-GoHollywood A Go-Go was a Los Angeles based music variety show that ran in syndication in the mid-1960s. It was hosted by Sam Riddle, with music by The Sinners and dancing by The Gazzarri Dancers.-History:...
- 1965 ShivareeShivareeShivaree may refer to:* Shivaree , a clamorous salutation made to a newlywed couple* Shivaree , an American band formed in 1997* Shivaree , a play by William Mastrosimone...
- 1965 Where the Action IsWhere the Action IsWhere the Action Is or ' was a music-based television variety show in the United States from 1965–67. It was carried by the ABC network and aired each weekday afternoon...
- 1967 The Pat Boone Show
- 1971 The Old Grey Whistle Test
- 1973 Today
- 1975 The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson
- 1975 The Merv Griffin ShowThe Merv Griffin ShowThe Merv Griffin Show is an American television talk show, starring Merv Griffin. The series ran from October 1, 1962 to March 29, 1963 on NBC, September 20, 1965 to September 26, 1969 in first-run syndication, from August 18, 1969 to February 11, 1972 at 11:30 PM ET weeknights on CBS and again in...
- 1976 The Late Late ShowThe Late Late ShowThe Late Late Show, sometimes referred to as The Late Late, or in some cases by the acronym LLS, is the world's longest-running chat show by the same broadcaster and the official flagship television programme of Irish broadcasting company RTÉ...
- 1977 L.A–My Home Town
- 1979 Tomorrow
- 1985 Don’t Say Good Bye, Miss Ragtime
External links
- Ian Whitcomb's website
- Ian Whitcomb at TV.comTV.comTV.com is a website owned by CBS Interactive. The site covers television and focuses on English-language shows made or broadcast in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Japan...