Ian Whitcomb

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Ian Whitcomb
Whitcomb in 1990
Whitcomb in 1990
Background information
Birth nameIan Timothy Whitcomb
Born(1941-07-10)10 July 1941
Woking, Surrey, England
Died19 April 2020(2020-04-19) (aged 78)
Pasadena, California, U.S.
Occupation(s)Singer, songwriter, author, writer, broadcaster, actor
Instrument(s)Ukulele, accordion
Years active1963–2012
Websitehttp://www.picklehead.com/ian.html

Ian Timothy Whitcomb (10 July 1941 – 19 April 2020) was an English entertainer, singer-songwriter, record producer, writer, broadcaster and actor. As part of the British Invasion, his hit song "You Turn Me On" reached number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1965.

He wrote several books on

Grammy Award
in 1998 for package design and a nomination for Whitcomb's liner notes (Titanic: Music as Heard on the Fateful Voyage).

Early life

Whitcomb was born in

tissue paper-and-comb band to entertain staff and boys with current hits such as "Riders in the Sky
".

Music and writing career

At

public school in Dorset, England, Whitcomb began writing comic and other songs. He started a skiffle group in 1957 and then a rock and roll band in 1959. After leaving school, he worked at Harrods and then as an assistant at film studios.[3] With his younger brother Robin on drums, he formed a band, The Ragtime Suwanee Six, that played at parties in the Surrey area and was managed by Denny Cordell, later to produce records by Procol Harum and Joe Cocker. Robin went on to play tambourine on Sonny & Cher's hit "I Got You Babe
" (1965).

Around 1963, while studying history at

Hot 100.[4][5]

Their next record release, again credited as Ian Whitcomb & Bluesville, "

Hollywood A Go-Go and American Bandstand. Whitcomb played the Hollywood Bowl with The Beach Boys in 1965 and then toured with The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, and Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs.[3]

"N-E-R-V-O-U-S!", Whitcomb's next release, was recorded in Hollywood and reached No. 59 in Billboard and No. 47 in Cash Box. He returned to Dublin for his history finals and received a BA degree. In 1966 he turned to early popular song: His version of a 1916 Al Jolson 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.[7]

After making four albums for the Tower label, Whitcomb retired as a pop performer, later writing that he "wanted no part of the growing pretentiousness of rock with its mandatory drugs and wishy-washy spiritualism and its increasing loud and metallic guitar sounds."

Great Balls of Fire for MGM Records. He then returned to the UK and was commissioned by Penguin Books to write a history of pop music, After the Ball, published in 1972. He appeared on several BBC TV shows and was an early presenter of the BBC show The Old Grey Whistle Test in 1971.[3]

Whitcomb settled in California in the late 1970s. He starred in and wrote L.A.–My Home Town (BBC TV; 1976) and Tin Pan Alley (PBS; 1974). He wrote Tin Pan Alley, A Pictorial History (1919–1939) and a novel, Lotusland: A Story of Southern California, published in 1979. He also provided the music for a documentary film, Bugs Bunny: Superstar (UA), which was narrated by

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 of the 1960s and described by

KPCC-FM.[8]

He continued recording, producing a series of CD collections: Treasures of Tin Pan Alley,

Grammy. His songs are heard in the films Bloody Movie (1987), Cold Sassy Tree (1989), Encino Man (1992), Grass (1999), Man of the Century (1999), Stanley's Gig (2000), After the Storm (2001), The Cat's Meow (2002), Last Call (2002), Sleep Easy, Hutch Rimes (2002), Lonesome Jim (2005) and Fido
(2006).

Later life

Whitcomb lived in Southern California with his wife, Regina (née Enzer),[2] and their dog, Toby. He performed, on accordion and ukulele, at music festivals and major venues throughout America, often with his ragtime band, The Bungalow Boys, as well as with a larger orchestra. He continued writing, and made frequent guest appearances.[9] He notably performed live and on recordings as a special guest of ukulele chanteuse Janet Klein's Parlour Boys. He was a regular performer at Cantalini's Restaurant in Playa del Rey, California.[10] He appeared as Grand Marshal in the 24th Occasional Pasadena Doo Dah Parade on November 19, 1999.[11]

From November 2007, he had an

Premiere Radio Networks in September 2010 to launch The Ian Whitcomb Show on XM satellite radio, Channel 24.[citation needed] He was named as a BEST OF L.A. in 2008 by Los Angeles magazine.[citation needed
]

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 which he was nominated for an L.A. Theater Award.[citation needed]

As an educator, Whitcomb lectured on early American popular song and composers throughout the California library system. He was a favorite speaker at the annual Oregon Festival of American Music and at the Workman and Temple Families Homestead Museum.

Illness and death

Whitcomb died in Pasadena, California at a care facility on 19 April 2020, from complications of a stroke he had suffered in 2012. He was 78.[1][9]

Selected discography

Singles

Year A-side/B-side
Both sides from same album except where indicated 		Label & number U.S. Charts Canada Album
Billboard Cashbox RPM
1964 "Soho"
b/w "Boney Moronie" 		Jerden 735 — — — Non-album tracks
1965 "This Sporting Life" (Ian Whitcomb and Bluesville)
b/w "Fizz" (Ian Whitcomb and Barry Richardson) 		Jerden 747 — — —
"This Sporting Life"
b/w "Fizz"
Both sides: Ian Whitcomb and Bluesville 		Tower 120 100 87 — You Turn Me On!
"You Turn Me On (Turn On Song)"
b/w "Poor But Honest"
Both sides: Ian Whitcomb and Bluesville 		Tower 134 8 10 30
"N-E-R-V-O-U-S!"
b/w "The End" (Non-album track) 		Tower 155 59 47 12
"18 Whitcomb Street"
b/w "Fizz" (from You Turn Me On!) 		Tower 170 — — — Non-album track
"No Tears For Johnny"
b/w "Be My Baby" 		Tower 189 — — — You Turn Me On!
"High Blood Pressure"
b/w "Good Hard Rock" (Non-album track) 		Tower 192 — — — Sock Me Some Rock
"Lover's Prayer"
b/w "Your Baby Has Gone Down The Plug-Hole" (from Ian Whitcomb's Mod, Mod Music Hall!) 		Tower 212 — — — Non-album track
"
Don't Think Twice It's Alright"
b/w "As Tears Go By
" 		Jerden 788 — — — Non-album tracks
"Louie Louie"
b/w "Walk Right In"
Both sides: "Sir Arthur" 		Tower 216 — — —
1966 "You Won't See Me" (Ian Whitcomb and Somebody's Chyldren)
b/w "Please Don't Leave Me On The Shelf" (Ian Whitcomb and Bluesville Of London) 		Tower 251 — — —
"Where Did Robinson Crusoe Go With
Friday On Saturday Night" (Ian Whitcomb and His Seaside Syncopators)
b/w "Poor Little Bird" (Ian Whitcomb and His Radio Band) 		Tower 274 101 — — Ian Whitcomb's Mod, Mod Music Hall!
"You Really Bent Me Out Of Shape"
b/w "Rolling Home With Georgeanne" 		Tower 336 — — — Non-album tracks
1967 "Sally Sails The Sky"
b/w "Groovy Day" 		Tower 385 — — —
1973 "Yaaka Hula Hickey Dula"
b/w "They Go Wild, Simply Wild Over Me" 		United Artists 162 — — — Under The Ragtime Moon
1976 "Somewhere In Virginia In The Rain" (Kenni Huskey with Ian Whitcomb)
b/w "Pancho" (Kenni Huskey and The Kids On The Street) 		Warner Brothers 8180 — — — Non-album tracks

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)
  • 1972 Great Balls of Fire (Mae West album)UK (MGM 235207):(Liner notes credits:"Piano/conceived/produced/directed by Ian Whitcomb in Hollywood").
  • 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’s 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 (Varèse 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) (Varèse Sarabande 5965)
  • 1998 Songs from the Titanic Era (The New White Star Orchestra) (Varèse 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)
  • 2011 Now and Then (Cayenne Music)
  • 2011 I Love A Piano (Rivermont BSW-2218) with Adam Swanson
  • 2012 Songs Without Words (Rivermont BSW-3136) 2-CD set
  • 2014 The Golden Age of Tin Pan Alley (Rivermont BSW-3137) 2-CD set

Books

Appearances

Screen

Television

Notes

  1. The New York Times, 26 April 1998.
  2. The New York Times, 22 January 1984

References

  1. ^ a b "Ian Whitcomb, Rocker Turned Pop Music Historian, Dies at 78". The New York Times. 8 May 2020. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Ian Whitcomb, colourful musician who rode the British Invasion of the US – obituary". The Telegraph. 12 May 2020. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Ian Whitcomb Biography, Picklehead.com. Retrieved 20 April 2020
  4. ^ a b Ian Whitcomb & Bluesville, IrishRock.org. Retrieved 20 April 2020
  5. ISBN 0-89820-155-1
    .
  6. ISBN 978-1-4236-0369-6
    .
  7. ISBN 978-0-8248-3634-4
    .
  8. ^ Profile, Laradio.com; accessed 7 July 2015.
  9. ^ a b Bebco, Joe. "Pop Idol turned Ragtime Legend Ian Whitcomb has Died at 78". Syncopatedtimes.com. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  10. ^ "Music « Cantalini's Salerno Beach Restaurant". Salernobeach.com. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  11. ^ "Archives – Pasadena Doo Dah Parade". Pasadenadoodahparade.info. 26 October 2012. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  12. ^ "LuxuriaMusic Internet Radio – Cool, eclectic, fun!". Luxuriamusic.com. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  13. ^ "Ian Whitcomb". IMDb. Retrieved 4 February 2019. [unreliable source?]

External links

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