Keith West | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Keith Alan Hopkins |
| Born | (1944-12-06)6 December 1944 (age 80) Dagenham,Essex,England |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter |
| Years active | Mid-1960s–present |
| Labels | Parlophone,Kuckuck (FRG) |
Keith Hopkins[1] (born 6 December 1944,Dagenham,Essex, England),[2] known by hisstage nameKeith West, is a Britishrock singer, songwriter and music producer. He is best known for his single "Excerpt from A Teenage Opera" ("Grocer Jack"), which reached No. 2 on theUK Singles Chart.
West was also the lead singer of various groups includingTomorrow, a 1960spsychedelic rock band.[3] West wrote most of his own songs (credited to Keith Hopkins), often in collaboration withKen Burgess. Despite critical acclaim and support fromBBC Radio 1 DJJohn Peel, who featured Tomorrow on hisThe Perfumed Garden show, the group was not a major commercial success.
In 1964, West became lead singer of The In Crowd, a band from London, who later changed their name to Tomorrow.[4] The following year The In Crowd recorded three singles forParlophone.[5] Another member of these groups was guitaristSteve Howe, later of the bandYes.
In 1967, West became acquainted withMark Wirtz, a record producer who had already created theinstrumental title "A Touch of Velvet, a Sting of Brass" (1965). The melody later became thetheme music for the German television programmesBeat-Club andMusikladen. West was also a participant in Wirtz'sA Teenage Opera project: he was the singer of "Excerpt from A Teenage Opera",[4] also known as "Grocer Jack", which reached number 2 on theUK Singles Chart in 1967.[6] He also performed "Sam",[4] which reached the bottom end of the UK Top 40 the same year.[6]
In August 1967, Tomorrow released a single of a Hopkins/Howe song titled "Revolution". West released the solo single "On a Saturday" on Parlophone in 1968.[4] Other musicians who appeared on that single were guitarist Howe, bassistRonnie Wood, and drummerAynsley Dunbar. It has since been included on the remastered CD version of theTomorrow album (1999).
In 1971, West released a solo album,Wherever My Love Goes, on the Germanprogressive rockrecord labelKuckuck.[7] It featured his songwriting partner Ken Burgess andsteel guitaristGlenn Ross Campbell (ex-The Misunderstood). Two tracks on the album wereproduced byAndrew Loog Oldham.
By the mid-1970s, West was the lead singer of a group called Moonrider,[4] which also featuredJohn Weider,[4] Chico Greenwood (later to perform withMurray Head) andBruce Thomas.[8]
Today, West continues to produce and record music, which is used primarily within theadvertising industry. He is also associated withBurns Guitars.[4][9]
In 2021, the official biography of Keith West was published in the bookThinking About Tomorrow – Excerpts from the life of Keith West.[10]
| Year | Single | Chart Positions | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [11] | BEL [12] | DE [13] | NLD [14] | NZ [15] | US [16] | |||
| 1967 | "Excerpt from A Teenage Opera" | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 109[a] | |
| "Sam" | 38 | — | — | Tip[a] | — | — | ||
| 1968 | "On A Saturday" | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released to that territory | ||||||||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
