Peter Sarstedt
Peter Eardley Sarstedt was a British singer-songwriter and instrumentalist. He was the brother of singers Eden Kane, a teenage pop idol, and Clive Sarstedt, with both of whom he also recorded and performed as The Sarstedt Brothers. The Sarstedts had the distinction of being the only family from which three siblings separately attained chart success without any of them ever charting as a combined act.
Although his music was classified as pop, it generally encompassed ballads derived from traditional folk music rather than traditional rock and roll. He is best known for writing and performing the song "Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)?", which topped the UK Singles Chart in 1969. Set to a "faux European waltz tune" and described as "a romantic novel in song", it won an Ivor Novello Award. The record remained Sarstedt's biggest hit. He had one more hit single and one hit album but despite numerous releases never had chart success again.
He released the album England's Lane in 1997, which continued the story of the fictional Marie-Claire in the song "The Last of the Breed"; a planned third installment titled "Farewell Marie-Claire" did not materialise.
Sarstedt continued to tour mainly in 1960s revival-type shows, until his retirement in 2010 due to ill health.
Early life
Sarstedt was born, as one of six, in 1941, to English expatriates Albert James Sarstedt, an accountant and civil servant and his second wife Cora, in New Delhi in what was then British India. His ancestors were long resident in India; his ancestor Christian Ludwig Wilhelm Sarstedt, was born in 1841 in Hanover, Germany and migrated to India where he died in 1893. Both of his parents had trained as classical musicians.After Indian independence from Britain in 1947, Sarstedt's parents managed a tea plantation in the Darjeeling district of West Bengal, where Sarstedt attended Victoria Boys' School, a boarding school in Kurseong. He later moved to Calcutta; in 1954, Sarstedt's father died and the family relocated to Britain, settling in south London just before the rock 'n' roll boom.
Sarstedt along with his two brothers Richard and Robin joined a skiffle group called "The Fabulous Five", before establishing a group in 1960 called "The Saints", with Richard as lead vocalist and Peter playing bass guitar, whilst Richard was the first of the brothers to also establish a solo career in his own right also in 1960 and changing his name to Eden Kane, and becoming a teen idol having a hit record with "Well I Ask You" the following year. Peter would follow his older brother establishing his music career in the late 1960s, whist his younger brother Robin known as Clive Sarstedt would have a hit record with "My Resistance is Low" in 1976.
The Sarstedts had the distinction of being the first family where three siblings all attained separate chart success.
Career
Hit recordings
Sarstedt was best known for writing and performing his 1969 List of [UK Singles Chart number ones of the 1960s|UK number one single], released on the United Artists label, "Where Do You Go To ?", a portrait of a poor-born girl, Marie-Claire, from Naples who becomes a member of the European jet set. The song topped the chart in 14 countries. and was awarded the 1970 Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically. He later cited his first wife, Anita, as the inspiration for the song.Lovely followed his earlier single "I Am A Cathedral" which didn't attain chart success, and his debut self-titled vinyl LP album was released in 1969 and reached number eight on the British charts his follow-up single, "Frozen Orange Juice", reached number 10 in the UK in 1969. However, subsequent releases failed to chart. Sarstedt's recorded songs include "Beirut", "Take Off Your Clothes"
Another selection from the album Where Do You Go To ?, from which his single of the same title had been released, was an instrumental called "Overture". Sarstedt composed it in collaboration with Ian Green and Singer (record producer)|Ray Singer] and it was later used as the theme music for Keep America Beautiful's famous "Crying Indian" public service announcement, which starred Espera Oscar de Corti as Iron Eyes Cody.
Touring
In the 1980s and 1990s, Sarstedt frequently toured the southern UK as part of the "Solid Silver '60s" package tours, having returned to England after several years residing in Denmark. In the 1990s and 2000s, he continued to release new albums and tour. In 1997 he released the album England's Lane, which featured the follow-up to "Where Do You Go To", entitled "The Last of the Breed".In October 2002, Sarstedt appeared in an episode of the ITV programme After They Were Famous, together with Peter Wyngarde and Emlyn Hughes.
In 2006, Sarstedt released an album of new material called On Song. He sang harmonies on "Don't Think Twice" and "The Last Thing on My Mind" on Canadian singer Peter Thompson's 2007 album, Taking a Dive .
Popular culture
New interest was sparked in his music after "Where Do You Go To" was used in the 2007 Wes Anderson films Hotel Chevalier and The Darjeeling Limited. In 2012 a compilation of songs called Highlights—the Demos was released.Later years
Sarstedt's final album, was a compilation released in 2013, was titled Restless Heart. It was produced by Ray Singer and the single and accompanying video, "Valentine", directed and produced by Lara Singer, was released on Singer Records. A third installment of "Where Do You Go To", continuing the story of Marie-Claire, to be titled "Farewell Marie-Claire", did not materialize. Sarstedt last performed live in 2010.Personal life and death
Sarstedt married Anita Atke, who was a dentist, in 1969 and moved to Denmark. The couple divorced five years later. His second wife was Joanna Meill. From 2013 he lived in a retirement home in Sussex, England. He had progressive supranuclear palsy, diagnosed in 2015, but originally misdiagnosed as dementia in 2013. He died on 8 January 2017 at the age of 75. He is survived by his wife and two adult children.Discography
Albums
Sarstedt issued 15 albums in his 50-year-long career.| Year | Title | Label | UK Albums Chart | Notes |
| 1969 | Peter Sarstedt | United Artists ULP 1219 | 8 | |
| 1969 | As Though It Were a Movie | United Artists UAS 29037 | -- | |
| 1971 | Every Word You Say Is Written Down | United Artists UAS 29247 | -- | |
| 1973 | Worlds Apart Together | EMI SRZA8516 | -- | |
| 1975 | Tall Tree | Warner K56129 | -- | |
| 1979 | Ps... | Ariola/Hansa AHAL8006 | -- | |
| 1981 | Up Date | Festival Records D 19106 | -- | |
| 1986 | Colors: Asia Minor | Music Maker CMMR923 | -- | |
| 1987 | Never Say Goodbye | TRAX PETER/_IMS/POLYGRAM | -- | |
| 1997 | England's Lane | Roundtower Music RTMD89 - BMG | -- | |
| 2004 | Singer/Songwriter | EMI 5762632 | -- | |
| 2006 | On Song | RMS Studios | -- | |
| 2008 | The Lost Album | Singer SING 204 | -- | |
| 2012 | Highlights – the Demos | -- | ||
| 2013 | Restless Heart | Singer | -- |