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Gilbert O'Sullivan

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Gilbert O'Sullivan

Raymond Edward O'Sullivan (born 1 December 1946, Waterford, County Waterford, Ireland), known professionally as Gilbert O'Sullivan, is an Irish singer-songwriter, best known for his early 1970s hits "Alone Again (Naturally)", "Clair" and "Get Down".

Biography

Early in his life O'Sullivan's family moved to Swindon, Wiltshire, England, and here O'Sullivan began to develop an interest in music and art. At Swindon Art College in 1963 he met Rick Davies, who would later become a member of Supertramp.

In 1967, O'Sullivan was signed to a five-year contract with CBS Records by Stephen Shane, then Professional Manager at CBS's April/Blackwood publishing division. Shane renamed him "Gilbert" O'Sullivan, a play on the names of the Savoy Opera writing team of Gilbert and Sullivan.

After two unsuccessful singles with CBS and one with the Irish label Major Minor, O'Sullivan sent some demo tapes to Gordon Mills, the manager of Tom Jones and Engelbert Humperdinck, whereupon O'Sullivan was signed to Mills' label, MAM Records. O'Sullivan's self-created eye-catching visual image comprised a pudding basin haircut, cloth cap and short trousers. Mills reportedly hated the image, but O'Sullivan insisted on using it initially until he assumed a more modern "college-like" look took over in which he often wore a sweater bearing a large letter 'G'. At the end of 1970, O'Sullivan achieved his first UK Top 10 hit with "Nothing Rhymed", which reached No. 8 (No. 1 in The Netherlands).

In 1972, O'Sullivan reached international stardom with the self-penned ballad, "Alone Again (Naturally)", from the album Himself (1971), which reached No. 3 in UK; No. 1 in the U.S., spending six weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart (18 weeks on the charts in total) and selling nearly two million copies; No. 2 in New Zealand (11 weeks on the charts in total); No. 1 in Canada for 2 weeks (13 weeks in the top 40 in total)[1]; and No. 1 in Japan (21 weeks on the chart in total).

O'Sullivan followed this success with the songs "Clair" (1972, from the album Back To Front), which reached No. 2 in the United States on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 in Canada (14 weeks in the Canadian Top 40 ("Clair" spent 1 week at No. 1 and 4 weeks at No. 2 behind Seals and Crofts "Summer Breeze" and then The Temptations' "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone")[2]; "Out of the Question" (also from Back To Front), which reached No. 14 in Canada, spending 6 weeks in the Canadian Top 40[3]; and "Get Down" (1973, from the album I'm A Writer Not A Fighter), which reached No. 7 in both the US and Canada (10 weeks in the Canadian Top 40)[4]. In all, O'Sullivan enjoyed nearly five years of success with MAM, a run that included seven UK Top 10 singles and four UK Top 10 albums; three US Top 10 singles and one top 10 album; five Dutch Top 10 singles and three Top 10 albums; five New Zealand Top 10 singles; three Canadian Top 10 singles; and seven Japan Top 10 singles[5]

Things turned sour for O'Sullivan when he discovered his recording contract with MAM Records greatly favoured the label's owner, Gordon Mills. A litigation followed, with prolonged argument over how much money his songs had earned and how much of that money he had actually received. Eventually the court found in O'Sullivan's favour, awarding him seven million Pounds Sterling in damages. He had won, but the court battle had put his recording career on hold.

In 1980, after a five-year chart absence, O'Sullivan returned to his old record label, CBS. The first single, "What's In A Kiss?", reached No. 19 in the UK and No. 21 in Japan.[6] Following this release, and due in part to the then-ongoing MAM court case, O'Sullivan released no new material between 1982 and 1987. Apart from a minor hit single in 1990 and a compilation album in 1991 Nothing But The Best, O'Sullivan was absent from the charts until another compilation album, The Berry Vest of Gilbert O'Sullivan, returned him to the Top 20 in 2004.

O'Sullivan is also noted for bringing about the practice of clearing samples in hip-hop music as a result of the 1991 case, Grand Upright Music, Ltd. v. Warner Bros. Records, Inc.,[7] in which he sued rapper Biz Markie over the rights to use a sample of O'Sullivan's song "Alone Again (Naturally)"

O'Sullivan continues to record and perform to the present day, and enjoys some success in Japan. His album A Scruff At Heart was released in 2007, featuring "Just So You Know".

On 14 July 2008 O'Sullivan released his latest single "Never Say Die".

Discography

Main article: Gilbert O'Sullivan discography

Contemporary usage of his songs

  • Two of O'Sullivan's more famous songs, "Get Down" and "Alone Again (Naturally)", were used in the closing and opening credits (respectively) of the Japanese anime Maison Ikkoku. The songs were used without proper authorization; this caused a minor uproar, and only episode 24 featured them, after which the songs previously used in the series replaced them. Because of copyright reasons they have not been included with any home video releases outside of Japan. "Alone Again (Naturally)" was used in the second series of Life on Mars, while "Get Down" was also used in the American version of the show. "Alone Again (Naturally)" was used in the films Summer Time Machine Blues and Stuart Little, while "Nothing Rhymed" was featured in the soundtracks of The Virgin Suicides and Anita and Me.
  • "Nothing Rhymed" was used at the start of the second series finale of Consolevania, played over an archive new reel montage of an alternate history of the 20th century. The same song was a hit in Italy in 1971, performed by local group, I Profeti, with the title translated into "Era bella" ("She was beautiful").
  • "Alone Again (Naturally)" was used in the movie "Stuck on You."

References

  • Guinness Book of British Hit Singles - 16th Edition - ISBN 0-85112-190-X
  • Guinness Book of British Hit Albums - 7th Edition - ISBN 0-85112-619-7
  • The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits - ISBN 0-85112-250-7
  • The Book of Golden Discs - 2nd Edition - ISBN 0-214-20512-6

Footnotes

  1. ^ [http://www.webfitz.com/lyrics/Charts/1972 www.webfitz.com/lyrics/Charts/1972
  2. ^ [http://www.webfitz.com/lyrics/Charts/1972 www.webfitz.com/lyrics/Charts/1972
  3. ^ [http://www.webfitz.com/lyrics/Charts/1972 www.webfitz.com/lyrics/Charts/1972
  4. ^ [http://www.webfitz.com/lyrics/Charts/1972 www.webfitz.com/lyrics/Charts/1972
  5. ^ www.gilbertosullivan.com
  6. ^ www.gilbertosullivan.com
  7. ^ Grand Upright Music, Ltd. v. Warner Bros. Records, Inc., 780 F. Supp. 182 (S.D.N.Y. 1991)


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