Norman Watt-Roy
AMG AllMusic Guide: Pop Artists:
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Norman Watt-Roy
- Genres: Rock
Biography
Norman Watt-Roy has enjoyed a 40-year career in rock music as a bassist, working with sounds ranging from mid-'60s freakbeat to '70s new wave and pub rock, and '80s ska revival. Born to an Anglo-Indian family in Bombay in 1951, he came to England with his family in 1955 and spent the next four years living in Highbury, in North London. He spent most of the rest of his youth in Essex, until his mid-teens when he returned to London. He had arrived in England just as rock & roll was crossing the Atlantic, and by age 11 he was playing rhythm guitar with his brother Garth in a local band. He listened to a lot of music, but his first love was American soul, especially as represented by the Stax/Volt label. In 1967 at age 16, now playing bass, he and Garth Watt-Roy formed the Living Daylights, a psychedelic outfit with a pop edge. Their only official single release was a cover of the Grass Roots hit "Let's Live for Today," but they were good enough to get regular gigs around London. In 1968, however, the two siblings left their first band behind and formed a large-scale soul group -- this nine-piece outfit, which eventually took the name the Greatest Show on Earth, were signed to the Harvest label and made their recording debut in early 1970 with the single "Real Cool World," which charted in Europe and hit the number one spot in Switzerland. The group lasted for another two years, cutting two albums and releasing several follow-up singles as well. The brothers passed through the lineup of Glencoe in the company of guitarist John Turnbull.Norman Watt-Roy kept busy with session work throughout the '70s, and appeared on such albums as Rachel Sweet's Fool Around and Nick Lowe's Jesus of Cool, and Jona Lewie's number one single "You'll Always Find Me in the Kitchen at Parties." He and his brother, along with Turnbull, later joined up with Mick Gallagher (guitar) and Charlie Charles (drums), working under the name Loving Awareness -- that outfit, in turn, was engaged for a session with Chaz Jankel and Ian Dury which led to their work on Dury's New Boots and Panties!! LP, and eventually became the Blockheads, Dury's band.
They hit the top of the charts in 1979 with "Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick." Norman Watt-Roy was now one of the most visible bassists working in England. His time with the Blockheads allowed him to cross paths with Dr. Feelgood's Wilko Johnson, which led to his joining Johnson's own group in the mid-'80s. In between, he played with the Selecter on Celebrate the Bullet and the Clash on Sandinista!, with Wreckless Eric's Captains of Industry, and he played the original bass part on Frankie Goes to Hollywood's single "Relax." During the 21st century, he has kept busy working with Nick Cave, in addition to his continued performances with Johnson. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi
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Norman Watt-Roy
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| Norman Watt-Roy | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Normsferatu |
| Born | 15 February 1951 Bombay, India |
| Origin | Harlow, Essex |
| Genres | Jazz funk, rock and roll, blues rock |
| Occupations | Bassist |
| Instruments | Bass guitar |
| Years active | 1967–present |
| Labels | Stiff |
| Associated acts | Ian Dury The Blockheads Wilko Johnson The Clash |
Norman Watt-Roy (born 15 February 1951, Bombay, India) is the bassist for The Blockheads, previously known as Ian Dury & the Blockheads.[1]
In November 1954 the Watt-Roy family, including Norman, his older brother Garth (born Garth Philip Watt-Roy, December 1947 in Bombay, India) and his sister, moved to England. They settled in Highbury, North London, where Norman went to St Joan of Arc Primary School, Blackstock Road. When Norman was eight, the family relocated to Harlow, Essex. At the age of ten, he had been shown some guitar chords by his father, and played in school bands with his older brother Garth on lead guitar, who started playing in 1961. Norman Watt-Roy left school at 15 and briefly studied art at Harlow Technical College, before moving back to London.
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Early band work
In Early 1967 he formed 'The Living Daylights' with his brother Garth and released a single on the Philips label called "Let's Live For Today" (April 1967) and did regular gigs in venues such as The Angel Blues Rooms in Edmonton, London. In 1968 Norman and Garth Watt-Roy formed a nine piece soul band and toured US bases in Germany backing American soul singers such as Sonny Burke and played a summer residency at the Maddocks Club in Spain.
By this time the band was known as The Greatest Show On Earth and, by 1969 had procured a recording contract with Harvest Records leading to the release in February 1970 of a single "Real Cool World", which was a hit in Europe and reached #1 in Switzerland. Their debut album, Horizons, was followed by a second album The Going's Easy, both issued in 1970, and another single "Tell The Story" .
Pre-Blockhead
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In 1972, Watt-Roy joined Glencoe and met guitarist John Turnbull. The quartet released two albums Glencoe and The Spirit of Glencoe along with three singles and four recorded John Peel radio sessions before breaking up, and in 1974 got together with keyboardist Mick Gallagher to form the nucleus of a band which, with the addition of drummer Charlie Charles, was to be called Loving Awareness (managed by Radio Caroline guru Ronan O'Rahilly). It was while doing a session with Charles for a friend in 1976 that they met Chaz Jankel and Ian Dury and went on to play on the album New Boots and Panties!!, which was released on the Stiff Records label.
Ian Dury and the Blockheads
The 'Loving Awareness' quartet were later to join up with Jankel and Dury for the first Stiff Tour of UK and became known as Ian Dury and The Blockheads releasing two more albums on Stiff and a bevy of singles, achieving #1 status in the UK in 1979 with "Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick".
It was when Jankel was replaced for a time in 1980 by Wilko Johnson that a rapport between Watt-Roy and Johnson resulted in Watt-Roy becoming a regular member of Johnson's own band by 1985.
Other work
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This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (August 2011) |
During the 1970s and 1980s Watt-Roy did session work, appearing on albums such as Nick Lowe's Jesus of Cool, Rachel Sweet's Fool Around and Jona Lewie's single "You'll Always Find Me in the Kitchen at Parties". He also made an appearance on The Selecter's 1981 album Celebrate the Bullet and played on The Clash Sandinista! album along with fellow Blockhead Mick Gallagher on keyboards. Watt-Roy also played bass on their Cut The Crap recordings.
In 1983, Watt-Roy provided the original bass line for the Frankie Goes to Hollywood single "Relax" and, in 1984, teamed up with Gallagher again for Wreckless Eric's Captains of Industry album.
In 2001, Watt-Roy completed sessions with members of Madness, with whom he sporadically joined for live work at the time, and the ex producer of Depeche Mode, who had recorded him jamming with drummer Steve Monti with plans to sample the results. Since then he has been busy working with Nick Cave on Cave's solo shows, without the Bad Seeds, and continuing to be Wilko Johnson's bassist.
References
External links
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Mentioned in
The Living Daylights
(Rock Artist)
Norman Watt-Roy
(Rock Artist, '70s-2000s)
Loving Awareness
(Rock Band, '70s)
Horizons/The Going's Easy
(1997 Album by Greatest Show on Earth)
Garth Watt-Roy
(Rock Artist)
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