Tony Burrows

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Tony Burrows
Tony Burrows in concert, 17 May 2008
Background information
Born (1942-04-14) 14 April 1942 (age 81)
Exeter, Devon, England
GenresPop
Occupation(s)Singer, songwriter
Instrument(s)Vocals, guitar
Years active1960s–present

Anthony Burrows (born 14 April 1942) is an English pop singer and recording artist.[1] As a prolific session musician, Burrows was involved in several transatlantic hit singles throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, most of which were one-hit wonders, including "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" by Edison Lighthouse, "United We Stand" by Brotherhood of Man, "My Baby Loves Lovin'" by White Plains, "Gimme Dat Ding" by The Pipkins and "Beach Baby" by The First Class. During 1970, four singles by four different acts with whom he performed all charted at or near the top of the UK Singles Chart and additionally reached the top 20 in the United States.

Early life and career[edit]

Burrows was born in Exeter, Devon, England.

In the early 1960s, he was a member of The Kestrels, a vocal harmony group which also included the future songwriting team Roger Greenaway and Roger Cook.[2] Burrows recorded his debut album in 1965 under the pseudonym Tony Bond. Subsequently, he joined the Ivy League in 1966 after the departure of John Carter.

Bands[edit]

Main articles: The Flower Pot Men, White Plains (band), and Brotherhood Of Man § Original line-up
Main articles: The Pipkins, The First Class, and Edison Lighthouse
Burrows (standing at right) and the Flower Pot Men in 1967.

Burrows was still with the Ivy League when they metamorphosed into the Flower Pot Men.[2] The Flower Pot Men had only one hit, "Let's Go to San Francisco", which reached No. 4 on the UK Singles Chart in the autumn of 1967.

However, Burrows had no involvement with the single, which was created and recorded in the studio by the song's writers and producers. He did feature on a few later Flower Pot Men singles which were not hits. Two founding members of Deep Purple, Jon Lord and Nick Simper, were also part of this early band for live shows.

Later, Burrows sang on several other one-hit wonder songs under different group names, Edison Lighthouse's "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" (February 1970); Brotherhood of Man's "United We Stand"; and the Pipkins' novelty song "Gimme Dat Ding" (April 1970). He also recorded with White Plains on "My Baby Loves Lovin'". These songs were all recorded within nine months of each other, but were all released around the same time in early 1970. His other one-hit wonder group was the First Class's "Beach Baby" (July 1974).[3]

A published interview with Burrows claims that he became the first (and still the only) recording artist to appear on BBC Television's Top of the Pops fronting three different group acts appearing almost sequentially in a single broadcast show: Edison Lighthouse (the No. 1 British-charted hit that week), White Plains, and Brotherhood of Man. However, Top of the Pops records show that this did not happen. He did appear with two of his bands, Edison Lighthouse and Brotherhood of Man on the same show one time --- on the 29 January 1970 episode of Top of the Pops, but never appeared with three bands on a single show. The recordings of his appearances on 29 January (with Edison Lighthouse and Brotherhood of Man), 5 February (with Edison Lighthouse) and 26 February 1970 (with White Plains) are all still in existence.

Although he hit the top 40 performing with five different groups, the singles released on his own weren't nearly as successful. He only managed to have one low charting single (No. 87) in the US as a solo artist.

Solo[edit]

In April, 1970, he released his solo single "Melanie Makes Me Smile",[2] which could only barely hit the Billboard Hot 100 (peaked at No. 87). His subsequent solo singles failed to chart.

Burrows has also contributed background vocals as a session singer to many other songs, claiming to have sung on 100 top 20 hits in the 1970s.[4] He has recorded as a session harmony singer with Elton John on the songs "Levon" and "Tiny Dancer", with Cliff Richard, and James Last.

Awards[edit]

In 2011, Burrows was awarded the BASCA Gold Badge Award in recognition of his contribution to music.[5]

Discography[edit]

One-hit wonder singles[edit]

Solo singles[edit]

  • 1970: "Melanie Makes Me Smile" / "I'll Get Along Somehow Girl" (Bell 1103)
  • 1970: "I've Still Got My Heart, Jo" / "Every Little Move She Makes" (Bell 1124)
  • 1971: "The Humming Song" / "Recollections" (Bell 1140)
  • 1971: "I'll Always Come Up Smiling" / "Back Home" (Bell 1172)
  • 1971: "Hand Me Down Man" / "Country Boy" (Bell 1190)
  • 1971: "In The Bad Bad Old Days" / "In the Bad Bad Old Days" (Bell USA 45-116, promo)
  • 1972: "Rhythm of the Rain" / "Home Lovin' Man" (Bell 1235)
  • 1973: "Take Away the Feeling" / "Lazy Weekend" (Ammo 103)
  • 1974: "Have You Had a Little Happiness Lately" / "Can't Live With You, Can't Live Without You" (Ammo 111)
  • 1975: "Run Joey Run" / "Girl I Used To Know" (RAK 216)
  • 1976: "Never Gonna Fall in Love Again" / "Changing" (as Magic featuring Tony Burrows) (Bus Stop Records 1036)
  • 1976: "Oh My Jo" / "Girl You've Got Me Going" (Bus Stop 1039)
  • 1976: "When My Little Girl Is Smiling" / "What Ya Gonna Do About Him" (DJM 10718)
  • 1984: "Three Chord Trick" / "Wake Up America" (as Heart to Heart with Stephanie de Sykes) (EMI 5461)

With Edison Lighthouse[edit]

Singles[edit]

Year Title Certifications
1970 "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)"
"She Works in a Woman's Way"

With Brotherhood of Man[edit]

Albums[edit]

Title Album details
United We Stand
  • Released: August 1970
  • Label: Deram

Singles[edit]

Year Title
1969 "Love One Another"
1970 "United We Stand"
"Where are You Going to My Love"
"This Boy"

With White Plains[edit]

Title Album details
White Plains
  • Released: August 1970
  • Label: Deram

With The Pipkins[edit]

Albums[edit]

Year Title
1970 Gimme Dat Ding

Singles[edit]

Title Year
"Gimme Dat Ding" 1970
"Yakety Yak" 1970
"Are You Cooking, Goose?" 1970
"My Baby Loves Lovin'" 1970
"Sunny Honey Girl" 1970
"Hole in the Middle" 1970

With The First Class[edit]

Albums[edit]

Title Year
The First Class 1974

Singles[edit]

Year Single
1974 "Beach Baby"
"Bobby Dazzler"
"Dreams are Ten a Penny"
1975 "What Became of Me"
"Funny How Love Can Be"[6]
"Life Is Whatever You Want It To Be"
"I Was a Star"
1976 "Beach Baby (Re-Release)"
"Child's Play"
"Ain't No Love"
1977 "Too Many Golden Oldies"
1978 "Broken Toy"
1980 "Beach Baby (Re-Release)"
1982 "Beach Baby (Re-Release)"
1983 "Gimme Little Sign"

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Jancik, Wayne (March 1998). The Billboard book of one-hit wonders. Billboard Books. p. 275. ISBN 978-0-8230-7622-2. Retrieved 29 May 2011.
  2. ^ a b c Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 374. ISBN 0-85112-939-0.
  3. ^ Tony Burrows - A 5-Time One Hit Wonder, retrieved 16 March 2023
  4. ^ "Tony Burrows". Alwynwturner.com. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  5. ^ "Gold Badge Awards in pictures - M Magazine". M-magazine.co.uk. 26 October 2011. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  6. ^ "Music: Top 100 Songs – Billboard Hot 100 Chart". Billboard.

External links[edit]

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