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Peter Blakeley | |
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| Background information | |
| Born | Peter Blakeley (1960-12-02)2 December 1960 (age 65) Sydney, Australia |
| Genres | Soul |
| Occupations | Musician, singer-songwriter, performer |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar |
| Years active | 1978–present |
| Labels | Truetone Capitol Giant |
| Website | peterblakeley |
Peter Blakeley is an Australianwhite soul/adult contemporary singer and songwriter.
Blakeley was a lead singer ofthe Rockmelons in the mid-1980s. He launched a solo career in 1987 and had a massive hit single in Australia in 1989 with "Crying in the Chapel", which was not a remake of the 1950s song "Crying in the Chapel". In 1990, he won anARIA award for Single of the Year with "Crying in the Chapel", the first single taken from his albumHarry's Café De Wheels. The song went platinum in 1990.[1]
Ian McFarlane, rockmusic journalist and author ofEncyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop (1999) wrote: "Peter Blakeley has been described by the founder of Atlantic RecordsAhmet Ertegun, as 'The finest White Soul singer I have ever heard.'"[2]
Peter Blakeley's earliest breakthrough came when he was invited byRichard Clapton to accompany him on an Australian national tour in 1978. Clapton would prove to be an important mentor in the early years. By this stage, Blakeley was closely involved with Sydney's music scene, which was at that time concentrated in the inner-city suburbs of Darlinghurst and Kings Cross.
Peter was involved with a number of line-ups between 1979 and 1984 including, Peter Black and The Reds (1980), The Blakeley Trio with Steve Stewart (Slime Men, Surry Hillbillies) and Denis Meagher, PM withChris Bailey and Malcolm Green, Rat Tat Tat (1984) with Geoff Stapleton,Paul Abrahams, Jeff Raglus, Viola Dana and The Starlight Wranglers (1984) and Paris Green (1984).
The next phase of Blakeley's career prior to him forming Peter Blakeley & The Resurrection, was a spell as featured vocalist with pioneer pop/electronic outfitThe Rockmelons. Peter can be heard on their second single "Sweat It Out" released on the Truetone Records label in 1985. Around this time, Peter also began performing and recording withWendy Matthews, an affiliation which would continue through to the 1990 release of theAbsent Friends single "I Don't Want to Be with Nobody but You" which featured Blakeley on backing vocals.
Peter Blakeley's commercial profile began to rise with the formation of Peter Blakeley & The Resurrection in 1986. This line-up includedWendy Matthews, Mark Punch, Hughie Benjamin,Paul Abrahams and Peter Kekel. With this line-up, Blakeley supported a number of international touring acts includingEric Clapton, the majority of the material presented in his live set at this stage was later recorded and released on the 1987 mini-albumVicious. Two singles were released during 1986, "Must Be Chemical" and a cover of Marvin Gaye's "Ain't That Peculiar".
"Must Be Chemical" and another song, "When I Was a Little Boy" were included on the soundtrack of the stage musicalIllusion which was released towards the end of 1986 by ABC music.Illusion was commissioned by theAdelaide Festival of Arts and featured words from noted Australian authorPeter Carey arranged to music by composerMartin Armiger. The single "Must Be Chemical" b/w "When I Was a Little Boy" was Blakeley's debut solo release for the Truetone label.
Vicious was produced by the renownedRicky Fataar (well known for his work withThe Beach Boys,Bonnie Raitt andThe Monitors) and released through the Truetone Records label. Two singles lifted from this record, "Caterina" and "Bye Bye Baby" received support from commercial radio as did the album trackCattle Train. This album was later released for the American market asThe Truetone Sessions byCapitol Records in 1988.
Peter Blakeley moved to Los Angeles in 1988 to sign withCapitol Records in the US. The first US release was 'The Truetone Sessions' in 1988 onCapitol Records. In 1989, he released the albumHarry's Café De Wheels, which was executive produced byPeter Asher.
Artists involved with the album includedLinda Ronstadt,Siedah Garrett,Wendy Matthews andAndrew Gold, in addition to legendary session musicians such asJeff Porcaro,Jim Keltner andLarry Klein. The lead single "Crying in the Chapel" was produced byStewart Levine who worked extensively withSimply Red.Harry's Café De Wheels spawned a total of four singles including, "Crying in the Chapel", "Quicksand", "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", and "You Never Heard It From Me". The album was well received and highly successful, especially in Australia and Europe.
Towards the end of 1989, Blakeley contributed vocals to some of the tracks onCher'sHeart of Stone album. This release was also produced byPeter Asher and featured musical contributions from a number of people involved in the recording of theHarry's Café De Wheels album including,Andrew Gold, Frank Wolf, andWaddy Wachtel.
In 1990 he worked briefly with the Australian groupAbsent Friends which featuredWendy Matthews as lead vocalist. Blakeley provided the backing vocal and harmony on the song "I Don't Want to Be with Nobody but You" which peaked at number 4 in the Australian charts in May of that year. He was also instrumental in the band's arrangement and selection of the song. The single was the most successful song released by the Absent Friends and was lifted from the albumHere's Looking Up Your Address.
In 1990, Blakeley recorded a cover of the 1965 songFor Your Love byThe Yardbirds for the various artists' soundtrack album for the Australian filmThe Crossing.
Between 1990 and 1991 Blakeley embarked on two world tours which took in the US, UK, Australia and Western Europe to promote the release of theHarry's Café De Wheels record. Members of Blakeley's touring band during this time includedTeenie Hodges, Hopeton Hibbert, Junior Baillie, Roger Mason, Ron Francois andDeni Hines. By this stage, the single "Crying in the Chapel" had charted on the Billboard Adult Contemporary charts in the US and received significant radio support across Europe. Subsequent singles released from the album also charted in Australia.
Blakeley's follow up recordThe Pale Horse was released in 1993 byGiant/Warner in America. The album represented a different musical direction for Blakeley and incorporated stronger elements of Funk and Blues thanHarry's Café De Wheels while still retaining a distinctive Soul sound. The album was recorded at thePaisley Park Studios in the US owned byPrince and included members of the New Power Generation on some of the tracks. The record was produced by Jeff Aldrich, David Z andAndrew Gold.David Z at that time had recently had major chart success with his production ofThe Fine Young Cannibals song "She Drives Me Crazy".
One of the songs from the albumBe Thankful for What You've Got was used in the opening sequence of the filmThe Taking of Beverly Hills, the two singles released from the album were "I've Been Lonely" and "God's Little Elvis".
TheAPRA Awards are held in Australia and New Zealand by theAustralasian Performing Right Association to recognise songwriting skills, sales and airplay performance by its members annually.
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989/90 | "Crying in the Chapel" | Most Performed Australasian Popular Work | Won |
TheARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres ofAustralian music.
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | "Crying in the Chapel" | Single of the Year | Won |
| Best Male Artist | Nominated | ||
| Song of the Year | Nominated | ||
| 1991 | Harry's Café De Wheels | Best Male Artist | Nominated |
| Best Cover Art | Nominated |
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