Peter Skellern

Infobox Person
name = Peter Skellern


caption =
birth_date = birth date and age|1947|03|14
birth_place = Bury, Lancashire
death_date =
death_place =
other_names =
known_for = Chart-topper "You're a Lady" (1972)
occupation = singer/songwriter, pianist, actor
nationality = English

Peter Skellern is an English singer-songwriter and pianist.

Skellern was born on 14 March 1947 in Bury, Lancashire and attended the Derby Grammar School (now the Derby High School). He studied the piano at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He then joined pop groups called Harlem and March Hare.

His first hit song was "You're a Lady" in 1972. The record reached number three in the UK Singles Chart and number 50 in the United States. He followed this three years later with "Hold On To Love" which reached number 14 in the UK Singles Chart.

In 1978 Skellern also had a minor hit with "Love Is The Sweetest Thing" (which featured backing by the Grimethorpe Colliery Band), winning the Music Trades Association award for best Middle Of The Road Album of 1979.

In 1981 he wrote, composed and performed in a series of musical playlets for the BBC called "Happy Endings" and two years later hosted the "Private Lives" TV chat show. He wrote the lyrics for the song "One More Kiss Dear" from the 1982 movie Blade Runner, and performed the theme song for the London Weekend Television programme, "Me And My Girl", which became a hit single in its own right.

In 1984 he formed the first Oasis group with cellist Julian Lloyd Webber, singer Mary Hopkin and Bill Lovelady. The group released a self-titled album in 1984 on the Warner Brothers label earning a silver record. The group never performed live although they did assemble three times to record their music. They made many attempts to combine classical and popular music genres but their attempts failed to impress the public.

Skellern also provided the voice of Carter Brandon in the BBC Radio adaptations of Peter Tinniswood's Uncle Mort's North Country and Uncle Mort's Celtic Fringe. These were produced by Pete Atkin.

Skellern has collaborated with Richard Stilgoe in live cabaret and musical comedy, and two live recordings are available: "A Quiet Night Out", and "Who Plays Wins".

More recently Skellern has been writing choral music, including "Waiting for the Word" which was written for the BBC's Songs of Praise programme of 19 August 2001, "Six Simple Carols" and "The Nativity Cantata" written for the Hemel Hempstead choir, the Aeolian Singers. The work was first performed by them in 2004 and it has since been recorded.

Recordings

*"You're A Lady", 1972
*"Not Without A Friend", 1974
*"Holding My Own", 1974
*"Hold On To Love", 1975
*"Hard Times", 1975
*"Kissing In The Cactus", 1977
*"Skellern", 1978
*"Astaire", 1979
*"Still Magic", 1980
*"Happy Endings", 1981
*"A String Of Pearls", 1982
*"Ain't Life Something"
*"Cheek to Cheek"
*"Captain Beaky and His Band" (contribution to Vol. II), 1980
*"Oasis", 1984
*"Who Plays Wins" album with Richard Stilgoe, 1985
*"Stardust Memories" album (a tribute to the "Ink Spots"), 1995
*"By The Wey" album with Richard Stilgoe, 1997
*"A Quiet Night Out" album with Richard Stilgoe, 2000

Recordings of choral music

* [http://direct.crossrhythms.co.uk/cd.php?cd=20503 "The Nativity Cantata and other Christmas Music"] performed by the Aeolian Singers, 2005
*"So Said the Angel" on the album "A Cotswold Christmas" performed by the Abbey School Choir, Tewkesbury.

External links

*
* [http://www.manchester2002-uk.com/celebs/broadcasters4.html Website containing a brief Biography]