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