Chris Rainbow

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Chris Rainbow
Birth name	Christopher James Harley
Born	(1946-11-18) 18 November 1946 Glasgow, Scotland
Origin	Glasgow
Genres	Pop, ambient music
Occupations	Singer, record producer, songwriter
Years active	1971–present
Labels	Vital Spark Music
Associated acts	Alan Parsons Project, Runrig, Camel

Chris Rainbow (born Christopher James Harley, 18 November 1946, Glasgow) is a Scottish^{[citation needed]} rock singer and musician^[1] who had two minor hit songs, "Give Me What I Cry For" and "Solid State Brain" in the 1970s.

Apart from his solo career, he also made frequent vocal contributions to The Alan Parsons Project, starting on their 1979 Eve album through to their 1987 album Gaudi, and Eric Woolfson's Freudiana (1990) (an APP album in all but name).

Early life and name

He was born the son of James Harley and Pamela Clapham. He adopted the stage name "Rainbow" to avoid confusion with Steve Harley, saying:

"Steve Harley was at his peak and I didn't want any confusion. The name Rainbow was found one evening as me and some friends were watching TV and the reporter’s name flashed on the screen as ‘Christopher Rainbow’, so that was that."

The Alan Parsons Project

Before joining the Project, Rainbow was involved in a band called Hope Street for a year. Following this, he released three solo albums Home of the Brave in 1975, Looking Over My Shoulder in 1977, and White Trails in 1979. Tracks from the latter two albums are collected on The Best of Chris Rainbow, 1972–1980, which has appeared in single and double CD sets and included radio spots, and rare and unreleased material. At this time Rainbow received much wider recognition for his music through the support of Kenny Everett, then on Capital Radio in London, who featured his music extensively. Some of the jingles that Rainbow made for Capital at this time were later released on an album of out-takes, demos and unreleased material.

Touring

Rainbow recorded and toured with Camel, including singing some lead vocals on studio albums The Single Factor (1982) and Stationary Traveller (1984). He worked with Camel keyboardist Ton Scherpenzeel on his 1984 album Heart of the Universe in a duo format, performing five lead vocals.

More recently, Rainbow has produced several albums for the Scottish Gaelic rock group Runrig.

Record studio

Rainbow also runs the Vital Spark Music Studio on the Isle of Skye.

Radio Jingles

Rainbow wrote, produced and recorded jingles for Capital Radio 95.8FM 1973 to 1984 for Kenny Everett, Mike Aspel, Tommy Vance, David Symonds, and others.^{[citation needed]} The jingles were arranged for broadcast by Tommy Vance and Terence Dackombe.

Discography

Solo

1975: Home of the Brave UK-LP/Jap-LP
1978: Looking over My Shoulder UK-LP/Jap-LP
1979: White Trails UK-LP/Jap-LP
198?: The Instrumental Chris Rainbow UK mini-LP
1985: Body Music (video)
1993: Home of the Brave Jap-CD
1993: Looking over My Shoulder Jap-CD
1993: White Trails Jap-CD
2001: The Chris Rainbow Anthology, 1974–1981 UK-CD
2002: Unreleased & demo tracks, 1973–1983 Jap-CD
2003: The Best of Chris Rainbow 1972–1980 Jap-CD
20??: Heart of the Universe(guest vocals) Ned-LP/Jap-CD
2008: Waves UK-CD
2007: Home of the Brave Jap-CD (re-Mastered)
2007: Looking over My Shoulder Jap-CD (re-Mastered)

As sideman

1980: Song of Seven – Jon Anderson
1982: Animation – Jon Anderson

References

↑ Borack, John M. (2007). Shake some action: the ultimate power pop guide. Shake Some Action – PowerPop. pp. 184–. ISBN 978-0-9797714-0-8. Retrieved 14 August 2011.

External links

Chris Rainbow biography
Chris Rainbow discography at Discogs

v t e The Alan Parsons Project

Alan Parsons Eric Woolfson

Studio albums	Tales of Mystery and Imagination (1976) I Robot (1977) Pyramid (1978) Eve (1979) The Turn of a Friendly Card (1980) Eye in the Sky (1982) Ammonia Avenue (1984) Vulture Culture (1984) Stereotomy (1985) Gaudi (1987)

Compilations	The Best of the Alan Parsons Project (1983) The Best of The Alan Parsons Project, Vol. 2 (1988) The Instrumental Works (1988) The Definitive Collection (1997) The Best of the Alan Parsons Project (2002) The Essential Alan Parsons Project (2007)

Singles	"(The System of) Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether" "The Raven" "I Wouldn't Want To Be Like You" "Don't Let It Show" "Pyramania" "What Goes Up" "Lucifer" "Damned If I Do" "Games People Play" "Time" "Snake Eyes" "Eye in the Sky" "Psychobabble" "Old and Wise" "You Don't Believe" "Don't Answer Me" "Prime Time" "Let's Talk About Me" "Days Are Numbers (The Traveller)" "Stereotomy" "Limelight" "Standing on Higher Ground"

Contributors	Ian Bairnson Andrew Powell David Paton Stuart Elliott Stuart Tosh Richard Cottle Laurence Cottle Duncan Mackay Mel Collins Lenny Zakatek Chris Rainbow Geoff Barradale John Miles Colin Blunstone Dave Terry Jack Harris Graham Dye Steven Dye Dave Townsend

Related articles	Discography Keats Freudiana Ladyhawke Original Soundtrack

Authority control	VIAF: 79644399

Persondata
Name	Rainbow, Chris
Alternative names
Short description	British singer-songwriter
Date of birth	18 November 1946
Place of birth	Glasgow, Scotland
Date of death
Place of death

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.