Edison Lighthouse

Infobox Musical artist
Name = Edison Lighthouse


Img_capt =
Background = group_or_band
Origin = United Kingdom
Instruments = Vocals, guitars, drums
Genre = Pop, MOR
Years_active = 1970–1971
Label = Bell Records
URL =
Current_members =
Past_members = Tony Burrows Stuart Edwards David Taylor George Weyman Ray Dorey

Edison Lighthouse was a UK pop group, initially a studio only assemblage that served as a vehicle for session vocalist Tony Burrows and songwriter/record producers Tony Macaulay and Barry Mason. They are best known for their 1970 UK chart-topper and million selling record, "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)".cite book
first= Joseph
last= Murrells
year= 1978
title= The Book of Golden Discs
edition= 2nd
publisher= Barrie and Jenkins Ltd
location= London
pages= p. 278
id= ISBN 0-214-20512-6]

Career

The 'original' Edison Lighthouse was Tony Burrows (lead vocalist), Stuart Edwards (lead guitar), David Taylor (bass guitar), George Weyman (drums) and Ray Dorey (guitar). The group's lone Top 40 hit "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)"cite book
first= David
last= Roberts
year= 2006
title= British Hit Singles & Albums
edition= 19th
publisher= Guinness World Records Limited
location= London
pages= p. 179
id= ISBN 1-904994-10-5] (1970) was one of four near contemporaneous UK Singles Chart Top Ten hit singles by Burrows under different names. These included White Plains' "My Baby Loves Lovin'", The Pipkins' "Gimme Dat Ding", and Brotherhood of Man's "United We Stand". Burrows was also lead vocalist on the single "Beach Baby" (1974) for another studio only group, The First Class.

"Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" was Number one for five weeks and sold 250,000 copies in the UK. "Love Grows" raced to the Number one position in its second week on the chart, which was at the time the quickest rise by an act new to the chart.cite book
first= Jo
last= Rice
year= 1982
title= The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits
edition= 1st
publisher= Guinness Superlatives Ltd
location= Enfield, Middlesex
pages= p. 131
id= ISBN 0-85112-250-7] The United States release was in February 1970 and reached Number 4 in the Billboard Hot 100, selling a million copies there by April earning the R.I.A.A. gold disc

After the success of "Love Grows", Burrows left to pursue other projects, and Macaulay, who owned the rights to the Edison Lighthouse name, assembled another group of musicians to record under the name. Members of the group Greenfield Hammer were brought in to perpetuate the image of a real working band. Actor and singer Paul Vigrass replaced Burrows and other members of the re-assembled group were David Clemson (bass guitar), Andy Locke (guitar), Eddie Richards (drums) and Wally Scott (guitar). This second edition of Edison Lighthouse barely cracked the UK Top 50 with the single "It's Up to You Petula" before vanishing. [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&searchlink=EDISON|LIGHTHOUSE&sql=11:fbfoxqw5ldje~T1 Allmusic.com biography by Jason Ankeny] ] They tried to renew their "Love Grows" fame, filming a new promo clip for their biggest hit in 1971, with Andy Locke miming instead of Burrows.

In 2001, Les Fradkin, obtaining the trademark to the name Edison Lighthouse, formed a new group for touring and recording.

The lack of further chart activity leaves the group with transatlantic one-hit wonder status.

Original band member details

*Tony Burrows (born 14 April 1942, Exeter, Devon)
*Stuart Edwards (born 9 June 1946, Maidenhead, Berkshire)
*David Taylor (born 7 October 1950, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire)
*George Weyman (born 18 May 1949, Herne Bay, Kent)
*Ray Dorey (born 22 February 1949, Windsor, Berkshire)

Origin of the name

Edison Lighthouse was named after the Edison Memorial Tower located in Edison, New Jersey, and is also a play on words on Eddystone Lighthouse, a lighthouse off the coast of Cornwall.fact|date=May 2007

ee also

*One-hit wonders in the UK
*List of artists who reached number one on the UK Singles Chart
*UK No.1 Hits of 1970
*List of performers on Top of the Pops
*One-hit wonders in the United States
*List of 1970s one-hit wonders in the United States
*Number 1 Singles in Ireland 1970
*List of Top 25 singles for 1970 in Australia

References

External links

* [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&searchlink=EDISON|LIGHTHOUSE&sql=11:fbfoxqw5ldje~T1 Allmusic.com biography]