Karl Denver

Karl Denver (born Angus Murdo McKenzie, 16 December 1931, Springburn, Glasgow — died 21 December 1998 [ [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0219891/bio IMDb biography] ] ), was a Scottish singer, who, with his trio [Kevin Neil (born 25 July 1931, Manchester, Lancashire); Gerry Cottrell (born Gerard Cottrell, 18 December 1933, Manchester, Lancashire — died 24 November 2006 [ [http://www.hankypark.co.uk/hankypark_pete's%20page.htm Hankypark.co.uk] ] , at Old Trafford General Hospital, Old Trafford, Manchester] had a series of UK hit singles in the early 1960s. Most famous of these was a 1961 version of "Wimoweh" which showed off Denver's falsetto yodelling register. This unique artist, whose yodel-laced style added colour and contrast to the charts, reached the Top 20 with his first five singles.cite book
first= David
last= Roberts
year= 2006
title= British Hit Singles & Albums
edition= 19th
publisher= Guinness World Records Limited
location= London
pages= p. 151
id= ISBN 1-904994-10-5]

Career

Denver was well travelled by the time he took up singing, having had a previous career in the British Merchant Navy. He was not totally without real country music credentials either because he had actually lived in Nashville, Tennessee for a short time before being deported from there as an illegal immigrant during 1959. It was in the U.S. that he had adopted the new name that he retained for the remainder of his singing career. [ [http://www.45-rpm.org.uk/dirk/karld.htm 45-rpm.org.uk] ]

Denver's song "Never Goodbye" was an entry in A Song for Europe in 1962.

After the mid 1960s, Denver worked mainly on the cabaret circuit, however in 1989 he enjoyed a brief raise in profile after guesting on Madchester band, the Happy Mondays' single, "Lazyitis (One-Armed Boxer)", on Factory Records (FAC 222). Denver also appeared in The Happy Mondays' video for the song. Following this collaboration Factory released two further Denver recordings, "Wimoweh '89" (FAC 228) and "Indambinigi" (FAC 278; credited to Karl Denver and Steve Lima).

Death

Denver died from a brain tumour [ [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0219891/bio IMDb biography page] ] in 1998, at the age of 67.

Discography

ingles

*"Marcheta" - 1961 - UK #8
*"Mexicali Rose" - 1961 - UK #8
*"Wimoweh" - 1962 - UK #4
*"Never Goodbye" - 1962 - UK #9
*"A Little Love a Little Kiss" - 1962 - UK #19
*"Blue Week-end" - 1962 - UK #33
*"Can You Forgive Me" - 1963 - UK #32
*"Indian Love Call" - 1963 - UK #32
*"Still" - 1963 - UK #13
*"My World of Blue" - 1964 - UK #29
*"Love Me with All Your Heart" - 1964 - UK #37
*"Lazyitis - One Armed Boxer" - 1990 - UK #46 $

$ Happy Mondays and Karl Denver

cite book
first= David
last= Roberts
year= 2006
title= British Hit Singles & Albums
edition= 19th
publisher= Guinness World Records Limited
location= London
pages= p. 151
id= ISBN 1-904994-10-5]

Albums

*"Wimoweh" - 1961 - UK #7

cite book
first= David
last= Roberts
year= 2006
title= British Hit Singles & Albums
edition= 19th
publisher= Guinness World Records Limited
location= London
pages= p. 151
id= ISBN 1-904994-10-5]

ee also

*List of artists under the Decca Records label
*List of Factory Records recording artists
*List of NME covers

References

External links

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09SXTH699xE YouTube video of his Wimoweh performance]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j40bsMK4kZI YouTube video of The Happy Mondays' 'Lazyitis' featuring guest vocalist Karl Denver]
* [http://www.billyfury.com/wider_world/karldenver/ Memorial website, including Guardian obituary wording]
* [http://www.manchesterbeat.com/bands/karldenver/karldenver.php Manchesterbeat biography and pictures]