Davy O'List Second Thoughts

Davy O'List

By the age of five Davy was playing guitar, trumpet and piano as well as writing, performing and singing his own original compositions and at 15 he went to the Royal College of Music whilst performing lead guitar rock-blues for his new band 'Little Boy Blues'.  He knew that in order to make it as a rock star he would have to formulate a new sound so he fused rock, R&B, soul, pop and classical music, with the group playing all the instruments.  He titled a new band 'The Attack' in 1966, which was the beginning of this new sound.  Managed by Don Arden, they were part of the 1960s swinging London scene and released 'Try It / We Don't Know' and 'Hi Ho Silver Lining / Anymore Than I Do'.  These caught the attention of DJ John Peel who used it for the theme tune for his show on Radio Caroline.  'Anymore Than I Do' quickly became very popular, which prompted John Mayall to ask Davy to join 'The Bluesbreakers'.

Davy joined P.P. Arnold playing soul and R&B in a band called 'The Nice' where he had his own spotlight playing his original music.  They were soon gigging in their own right and gained their own billing at the National Jazz and Blues Festival that summer.  With this success Davy obtained a record deal via P.P. Arnold's manager who also managed 'The Rolling Stones'.  'The Thoughts of EmerList Davjak' was The Nice's 1967 debut album, considered one of the first albums of progressive rock and still a best seller today.  Their first single 'The Thoughts of EmerList Davjak' (written and produced by O’List) reached the Top 40 and is considered one of the first progressive rock hit singles of all time, reaching the charts at the same time as it was performed on their support spots for the Jimi Hendrix Experience.

Their next hit single, 'America 2nd Amendment' was a reworked version of Leonard Bernstein's song from West Side Story and achieved number 21 in the UK charts in 1968.  The Nice went their separate ways in 1970 but their music remains top sellers today. Davy also substituted for Syd Barrett in Pink Floyd and during The Nice US tour David Crosby asked him to join him too.  He played briefly in Jethro Tull after the departure of Mick Abrahams and in early 1969 he provided guitar and bass for The Misunderstood.

Davy produced the commercial sound of Roxy Music in 1971 by writing, rewriting and arranging their first album, producing them for touring and securing a record deal with Island Records in 1972. By 1973 he rejoined Bryan Ferry and 'Let’s Stick Together', 'The In-crowd', and 'Chance Meeting' became gold discs.  He also made an album, 'Jet', for CBS in 1975 produced by Queen’s Roy Baker and then joined John Cale of the Velvet Underground for extensive European touring.

In 1979 Davy produced reggae bands for Island Records and mixed for The Jam tour. In the 80s he reinvented himself as a dance music artist self producing singles on his own label under the pseudonym Seal. He began touring his music live, becoming the first live hip hop group to tour in the UK.

Davy entered TV music production with his own studio in 2000.  His singles with The Attack, The Nice and Roxy Music were already extensively used and opened up a market for him. 'The In-crowd' was the main music feature for the 70's Punk B film.  His first solo production was a theme for ITV 2's reality TV show 'The Chase' shot in Arizona in 2002.   During 2004 Davy began touring his own band in Europe appearing live on MTV and Sky whilst developing a new sci-fi film TV series with Malcolm Stone (art director of The Muppets). In 2012 Davy joined Long Lunch Music to create new album releases with his latest album Second Thoughts distributed by Universal Music.  He will be touring it with his new band Davy O’List and Second Thoughts.

Second Thoughts, the title track from Davy's new solo album is now available to listen to on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6F5e_gjSGI

The link here is from the official website showing some new articles:

https://www.facebook.com/DavyOListMusic

There is more information on Get The Word Out about gigs and I have also posted my thoughts on the album. Basically its a prog album although I'm not entirely sure where it would be included on PA. Its almost new proto-prog and has an anchor in late sixties style wise. However proto is obviously reserved for bands that existed in the late sixties and the albums released at that time. At the very least is 'prog related' but might be a case for 'crossover' although I'm not sure if either is completely appropriate. I'm happy to help with any 'donkey work' involved with Davy's inclusion if Admin want to PM me on it.

Hi Richard,

Thanks for the post. It was interesting to see your view on the type of Prog music.  Yes, The Nice would be Proto Prog today but in 1967 we were a charming Pop group and in the charts regularly. Second Thoughts is coming from Proto Prog but it's now post.  The present art movement is called Contemporary.  I think it is cross over and it will be interesting to see what your experts come up with. I look forward to your reply on this and The Macbeth went very well there was a very good crowd. Kind regards, Davy O'List

Hi. I find "Second Thoughts" 7-8 days before and listened to this album over 10 times. WOW I like this so much and I think this is a Progressive Rock album and deserve to be in PA.

What I heard sounds as some kind of Eclectic more than Crossover