Screaming Lord Sutch

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

David Edward Sutch (or Screaming Lord Sutch) (November 10, 1940June 16, 1999) was an English musician, politician and maverick.

Contents

[edit] Musical career

Sutch was born at New End Hospital, Hampstead, North West London. In the 1960s, inspired by one of his favourite rock and roll stars, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, he changed his name to Screaming Lord Sutch, 3rd Earl of Harrow. Despite the fact that he had no connection with the peerage, the deed poll laws of England permitted this. Following a successful career as an early-'60s rock 'n' roll attraction, it became customary for the UK press and citizens to refer to him as Screaming Lord Sutch, or simply Lord Sutch. Early works included recordings produced by legendary audio pioneer Joe Meek.

During the 1960s, Screaming Lord Sutch was known for his horror-themed stage show, as well as for usually dressing like Jack the Ripper, pre-dating the shock rock antics of Alice Cooper by several years. Accompanied by his band, The Savages, he often started the show by coming out of a big black coffin. Other stage props included knives and daggers, skulls, and "bodies". Sutch also booked 'themed' concert tours, such as 'Sutch and the Roman Empire', where the Sutch and the band members would be dressed up as Roman soldiers. Despite his self-confessed lack of any vocal talent, he released many horror themed singles during the early-mid 60s, the most popular and well known of which is "Jack the Ripper", which the White Stripes cover in their live shows and The Horrors have released.

Screaming Lord Sutch performing.
Screaming Lord Sutch performing.

In 1963, Sutch and his then manager, Reg Calvert, took over a fort built during World War 2, just off the coast at Southend. This was to be 'Radio Sutch', intending to compete with the other pirate radio stations such as Radio Caroline. He planned to play music and broadcast Mandy Rice-Davies reading extracts from "Lady Chatterly's Lover". It didn't really happen and Calvert took over the project, renaming it 'Radio City', which lasted for a couple of years. In 1966 Calvert was shot dead by Oliver Smedley over a financial dispute however Smedley was subsequently acquitted of this killing on grounds of self defence.

In 1968, Dave Sutch took off for the USA in a Rolls Royce emblazoned with a Union Flag on the roof and pulling a trailer full of Marshall amplification which he intended to sell. He had a share interst in the Marshall company. Lord Sutch's album Lord Sutch and Heavy Friends was named in a 1998 BBC poll as the worst album of all time, a status it also held in Colin Larkin's book The Top 1000 Albums of All Time, despite the fact that legends such as Jimmy Page, John Bonham, Jeff Beck , Noel Redding and Nicky Hopkins among others performed on it and helped to write it.

For his follow-up album, Hands of Jack the Ripper, Sutch assembled a group of British rock celebrities for a concert at the Carlsharlton Park Rock 'n' Roll Festival. The entire show was recorded (though only Sutch knew), and after some quick editing, cutting and pasting it was released - much to everyone else's surprise! Musicians appearing on the record included Ritchie Blackmore (gtr); Matthew Fisher (kbr); Carlo Little (drm); Keith Moon (drm); Noel Redding (bss) and Nick Simper (bss).

[edit] Political activities

In the 1960s, he stood in various parliamentary elections, often standing as a representative of the 'National Teenage Party'. His first attempt to enter Parliament was in 1963, when he contested the by-election in Stratford-upon-Avon caused by the resignation of John Profumo. He gained 208 votes. His next foray was at the 1964 General Election when he stood in Harold Wilson's Huyton constituency. Here he got 518 votes.

He founded the Official Monster Raving Loony Party in 1983 and fought the Bermondsey by-election. In his career he contested over 40 elections, rarely threatening the major party candidates, but often getting a respectable number of votes. He was an easily recognisable figure at election counts due to his flamboyant clothes. It was shortly after he polled several hundred votes in Margaret Thatcher's Finchley constituency in 1983 that the deposit paid by candidates was raised from £150 to £500. This did little to deter the legendary deposit-losing Lord Sutch, who increased the number of rock concerts he performed per year to pay for his mock political campaigns. He also made an appearance - as himself - in the first episode of ITV comedy The New Statesman, coming second in the 1987 election (ahead of the Labour and SDP candidates) which saw Alan B'Stard elected to Parliament.

A series of adverts in the 1990s for Heineken Beers boasted that "Only Heineken can do this". One ad had Sutch at 10 Downing Street after becoming Prime Minister.

[edit] Private life

Despite his seemingly light-hearted antics, in actuality Screaming Lord Sutch suffered from periods of low mood and committed suicide by hanging on June 16, 1999, following the death of his mother the previous year. At the coroner's inquest into his death, his fiancee stated that he had "manic depression". However, her descriptions, both of his symptoms and their treatment by doctors with antidepressants [1], suggest that Sutch suffered from clinical depression.

Sutch never married, but is survived by a son, Tristan Lord Gwynne Sutch, born in 1975 to the American model Thann Rendessy.[2]

In 1991, Sutch's autobiography Life as Sutch: the Official Autobiography of a Raving Looney (co-written with Peter Chippindale) was published; however, the book was recalled by publishers swiftly[citation needed]. Versions are available: Angus & Robertson, ISBN 0-207-17240-4 and HarperCollins ISBN 0-00-255090-3. In 2005 Graham Sharpe, who had known Sutch since the late 1960s, when they both lived in Harrow and Sharpe was a rookie reporter on the Harrow Weekly Post, wrote the first biography of the man, The Man Who Was Screaming Lord Sutch. The culmination of almost two years' research and around 200 interviews by Sharpe, who had been with Sutch just three days before his death, the book received very positive reviews and seems likely to be the definitive biography.

[edit] Discography

The cover of Screaming Lord Sutch's 1972 album, Hands of Jack the Ripper
The cover of Screaming Lord Sutch's 1972 album, Hands of Jack the Ripper

Sutch released records from 1961 onwards. A comprehensive-looking discography can be found at wangdangdula.com. Later works include:

  • Lord Sutch and Heavy Friends (1970)
  • Hands of Jack the Ripper (1972)
  • Alive and Well (Live, 1980)
  • Jack the Ripper (Compilation, 19??)
  • Rock & Horror (Compilation, 1982) Ace Records CDCHM 65
  • Story/Screaming Lord Sutch & The Savages (Compilation, 1991)
  • Live Manifesto (Live, 1992)
  • Murder in the Graveyard (Live, 1992)
  • Raving Loony Party Favourites (Compilation, 1996)
  • Monster Rock (Compilation, 2000)
  • Midnight Man (EP, 2000)
  • Munster Rock (Compilation, 2001)
  • The London Rock & Roll Show DVD ASIN: B00007LZ56

[edit] Elections fought

Election Type Constituency Party Vote % vote Place Candidates
15 August 1963 be Stratford-on-Avon National Teenage 209 0.6 5th 5
31 March 1966 ge Huyton 1 National Teenage 585 0.9 3rd 3
18 June 1970 ge Cities of London and Westminster Young Ideas 142 0.4 5th 5
10 October 1974 ge Stafford and Stone Go to Blazes 351 0.6 4th 4
24 February 1983 be Bermondsey Official Monster Raving Loony 97 0.3 6th 16
23 March 1983 be Darlington Official Monster Raving Loony 374 0.7 4th 8
9 June 1983 ge Finchley 1 Official Monster Raving Loony 235 0.6 5th 11
28 July 1983 be Penrith and The Border Official Monster Raving Loony 412 1.1 4th 8
1 March 1984 be Chesterfield Official Monster Raving Loony 178 0.3 5th 17
4 July 1985 be Brecon and Radnor Official Monster Raving Loony 202 0.5 5th 7
10 April 1986 be Fulham Official Monster Raving Loony 134 0.4 5th 11
17 July 1986 be Newcastle-under-Lyme Official Monster Raving Loony 277 0.7 4th 7
14 July 1988 be Kensington Official Monster Raving Loony 61 0.3 7th 15
10 November 1988 be Glasgow Govan Official Monster Raving Loony 174 0.6 7th 8
15 December 1988 be Epping Forest Official Monster Raving Loony 208 0.6 7th 9
23 February 1989 be Richmond (Yorks) Official Monster Raving Loony 167 0.3 6th 9
4 May 1989 be Vale of Glamorgan Official Monster Raving Loony 266 0.6 8th 11
15 June 1989 be Vauxhall Official Monster Raving Loony 106 0.4 10th 14
22 March 1990 be Mid Staffordshire Official Monster Raving Loony 336 0.6 7th 14
24 May 1990 be Bootle 2 Official Monster Raving Loony 418 1.2 6th 8
27 September 1990 be Knowsley South Official Monster Raving Loony 197 0.9 6th 7
8 November 1990 be Bootle 3 Official Monster Raving Loony 310 1.1 5th 7
7 March 1991 be Ribble Valley 3 Official Monster Raving Loony 278 0.6 6th 9
4 April 1991 be Neath Official Monster Raving Loony 263 0.8 7th 8
16 May 1991 be Monmouth 4 Official Monster Raving Loony 314 0.7 4th 7
4 July 1991 be Liverpool Walton Official Monster Raving Loony 546 1.4 5th 6
9 April 1992 ge Huntingdon 1 Official Monster Raving Loony 728 1.0 6th 10
9 April 1992 ge Islwyn 5 Official Monster Raving Loony 547 1.3 5th 5
9 April 1992 ge Yeovil 6 Official Monster Raving Loony 338 0.6 5th 6
6 May 1993 be Newbury Official Monster Raving Loony 432 0.7 7th 19
29 July 1993 be Christchurch Official Monster Raving Loony 404 0.8 5th 6
5 May 1994 be Rotherham Official Monster Raving Loony 1,114 4.2 4th 5
9 June 1994 be Bradford South Official Monster Raving Loony 727 2.4 4th 5
9 June 1994 be Eastleigh Official Monster Raving Loony 783 1.4 5th 14
16 February 1995 be Islwyn Official Monster Raving Loony 506 2.2 5th 7
25 May 1995 be Perth and Kinross Official Monster Raving Loony 586 1.4 5th 9
27 July 1995 be Littleborough and Saddleworth Official Monster Raving Loony 782 1.9 4th 10
1 February 1996 be Hemsworth Official Monster Raving Loony 652 3.0 5th 10
11 April 1996 be South East Staffordshire Official Monster Raving Loony 506 1.2 5th 13
31 July 1997 be Uxbridge Official Monster Raving Loony 396 1.3 4th 11
20 November 1997 be Winchester Official Monster Raving Loony 316 0.6 5th 8

Notes:-

Preceded by
Office Created
Official Monster Raving Loony Party Leader
1983-1999
Succeeded by
Howling Laud Hope

[edit] References

  1. ^ BBC Suicide verdict on Sutch 31 August 1999
  2. ^ Screaming Lord Sutch Page in Fuller Up, The Dead Musician Directory
  • British Parliamentary Election Results 1950-1973, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Research Services 1983)
  • British Parliamentary Election Results 1974-1983, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Research Services 1984)

[edit] External links

In other languages