Craig Scott (singer)


David Alan Craig Scott is a New Zealand pop singer who had several commercially successful singles in the 1970s.

Early life

Scott was born in 1950 and grew up in Dunedin, where he was educated at King's High School. After leaving school, he found work as a bank clerk at the National Bank, where he stayed for 2½ years.

Singing career

Scott began his music career in the late 1960s, singing with the local Dunedin band Klap.
In 1968, Scott joined the band The Fantasy which shortly thereafter moved from Dunedin to Christchurch. For some time Craig Scott and The Fantasy were the resident group at "The Scene" dance hall/nightclub at 224 Tuam St Christchurch.
Scott then joined the band Revival which won a Battle of the Bands contest in May 1969. Winning the contest brought the band to the attention of His Master's Voice and they were invited to Wellington to record a single, Viva Bobby Joe, which peaked at #14 on the national singles chart.
In April 1970, Scott was offered a solo career and left Revival, which subsequently broke up. He was given a starring role in the television music series Happen Inn, which brought him national attention. He released a series of commercially successful singles beginning with a cover version of Neil Sedaka's Star Crossed Lovers which spent four weeks at number one on the New Zealand charts and was Scott's only number one single. Other singles included Let's Get A Little Sentimental; Smiley ; Ciao Baby which was previously covered by Lynne Randell for a top ten hit in Australia ; and When Jojo Runs.
On 27 February 1973, Scott married Joanne Rowe at Caversham Presbyterian Church.
In 1974, Happen Inn was cancelled and Scott began to lose popularity. Around 1975, his last single to be successful was Wind and Rain, peaking at #11 on the New Zealand pop chart.

Retirement from performing and later life

Scott retired from performing in the late 1970s, saying "I couldn't see myself doing that for the next 20 years". He became a music promoter. He then started New Zealand's first video rental business before managing Warner Brothers Video New Zealand for 15 years.
In 2001, Scott and his wife moved back to Dunedin. They got into the property business, renovating houses, and in the late 2000s they moved to the small Central Otago town of Arrowtown, becoming real estate agents there.