Crispian St Peters
Crispian St. Peters was a well known 1960s pop singer, who had major success with his hit singles "The Pied Piper", and "You Were on my Mind"
Born Robin Peter Smith on 5th April, 1939 in Kent, England. St. Peter's started his career with several unknown bands including the Hard Travellers, Beat Formula Three, The Country Gentleman and Peter & the Wolves. In 1964 St. Peters signed to Decca Records and released "You Were On My Mind” which went to number 2 in the UK charts. St.Peters made an enemy of the press and public alike when he claimed he had written better songs than The Beatles, was sexier then Dave Berry and better than Tom Jones. He said his comments were meant to be tongue-in-cheek.
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Later in 1966, St. Peters' "The Pied Piper" soared into the Top Ten on both sides of the Atlantic, and, with its infectious chorus and beat and flute ornamentation, seemed to captured the glow of the pre-psychedelic era. It proved to be the last of his successes, however, a fact that can only be explained, in part, by the controversy surrounding his statements. There was something bizarre and off-putting seeing his name attributed to statements announcing that The Beatles "are past it." His sound was also strangely inconsistent, crossing between upbeat folk-rock and brooding ballads -- he could sound like an aspiring rival to Tom Jones, but on a number like "Your Love Has Come," reached for a high register that made him seem more like an aspiring Tiny Tim. His folk-rock inclinations were also undone by numbers like the pre-Beatles British beat-style "Jilly Honey," complete with ornamentation that sounds like a honking sax (or is it a fuzz-bass?). In fairness, he did have the wisdom to record a rocked-up version of Phil Ochs' "Changes," but it was still difficult to tell whether St. Peters was trying to be Tom Jones, half of Peter and Gordon, a pop version of Donovan, or a mid-'60s version of Marty Wilde.
Even though Crispian only had three successful singles, he released new material with Square records throughout the 70s and 80s. Unfortunately it was not as good as his previous work.
A major stroke in 1995 saw the end of his music career when he announced his retirement. He eventually died in June 2010 after a long battle with illness.
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