Richard Clapton
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Richard Clapton (1951?-) is an Australian singer/songwriter. Although not well-known outside Australia, a number of his songs such as "Girls on the Avenue", "Capricorn Dancer", "Deep Water", "Lucky Country", "The Best Years of Our Lives", and "I am an Island" are staples of FM radio playlists in Australia.
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[edit] Life and Career
Clapton's date of birth is somewhat elusive, but in an interview with the Melbourne Age in 2002, he described himself as 50-something. [1] In this article in Who magazine, his birthdate is given as 1951.[2].
The early 1970s are often regarded as a stagnant time for Australian rock music. In this context, the emergence of Richard Clapton as a talented and ambitious songwriter in the "troubadour" tradition of, for instance, Neil Young and Jackson Browne (both of whom later expressed their admiration for Clapton [3]) was refreshing. Although no hit singles were on his first album, Prussian Blue (1973), by the time of his second album, Girls on the Avenue (1975), Clapton enjoyed reasonable mainstream success, with the title song from the album reaching the #2 spot on the Australian top 40 charts. In 1976 he contributed to the film soundtrack for "Highway One", spawning the hit single "Capricorn Dancer", which remains a concert staple.
At the time of its release, Goodbye Tiger (1977) was one of the most critically acclaimed albums an Australian artist had released. It was produced by Richard Batchens, who was one of the most prominent and successful producers of the era.(See articles collected on the fan site linked below for confirmation of this). Many Clapton fans continue to regard this notably melancholic record as his masterpiece. In 1979 he to travelled to Los Angeles to record his fifth studio album "Hearts On The Nightline". The album failed to attract international attention, and Clapton returned to Sydney in 1980 and recorded the critically acclaimed "Dark Spaces".
The 1980's saw Clapton play less of a central role in the music industry, although 1982's The Great Escape (featuring contributions from members of Cold Chisel and INXS) sold strongly and contained memorable singles in the hard-rock "I Am an Island" (which featured Cold Chisel members Ian Moss on guitar and Jimmy Barnes on backing vocals) and "The Best Years of Our Lives". During the early 1980s, he was acknowledged as a mentor to several bands emerging from the then-vigorous pub rock scene, in particular INXS whose second LP, Underneath the Colours he produced.
On a 2006 album, Rewired, recorded at his home studio, Clapton produced "unplugged" acoustic versions of his early songs. This album contains many early Clapton songs that have been reworked to fit in with the acoustic feel of the album.
Clapton appeared in the Countdown Spectacular 2 concert series in Australia between late-August and early-September 2007. He sang three songs as part of the show, including the crowd favourite "Girls on the Avenue". He later headlined the 2008 Australia Day concert held at Parliament House, Canberra.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
- Prussian Blue (1973)
- Girls on the Avenue (1975)
- Main Street Jive (1976)
- Goodbye Tiger (1977)
- Past Hits and Previews (1978)
- Hearts on the Nightline (1979)
- Dark Spaces (1980)
- The Great Escape (1982)
- Solidarity (1984)
- Glory Road (1987)
- The Best Years of Our Lives (Live, 1989)
- Distant Thunder (1993)
- Angeltown (1996)
- Diamond Mine (2004)
- Rewired (2006)
