Sailor biography

 

Sailor was a British pop group mostly famous in the 1970s.

Much of their best material revolved around sailors' adventures on shore leave, especially in the "red-light quarter". Dressing in sailor gear that went with the image, they might easily be dismissed as something of a novelty, but created some enduring and finely crafted pop music. The group's leader, Georg Kajanus (stage name Georg Hultgreen), had previously had minor success as a songwriter, notably by penning "Flying Machine" for Cliff Richard in 1971 - though ironically it was Richard's first UK single that failed to reach the Top 30 in the UK Singles Chart.

Another of the group's trademarks was the 'Nickelodeon', a scratch-built contraption of pianos, synthesizers, glockenspiels, etc. that allowed the four piece band to reproduce on stage the complex acoustic arrangements that they had done in the recording studio.

The group's first UK single, "Traffic Jam", attracted considerable airplay on radio on release in 1974, but it was "Glass of Champagne", issued late the following year, which gave them their breakthrough, reaching #2 in the UK Singles Chart. The follow-up, "Girls Girls Girls", also made the Top 10, but of their subsequent singles, only "One Drink Too Many" registered in the Top 40.

Sailor's original line-up split up at the end of the 1970s, although Phil Pickett and Henry Marsh released more material as Sailor with Gavin David and Virginia David in 1980. Afterwards, Marsh mainly composed music for television, Hultgreen released three albums with DATA, Gavin David took up teaching chemistry, whilst Pickett enjoyed success touring with Culture Club and co-writing their hit "Karma Chameleon".

In 1989 a new album was released, after a ten year silence, with two new singles "The Secretary" and "La Cumbia". They started touring again and performed on many TV shows.

In 1995 Kajanus departed the band to pursue a solo career. The arrival of Peter Lincoln, gave new life to Sailor and their first live album, Live In Berlin, was recorded in the new line-up. Original member Henry Marsh left in 1999 and was replaced by Anthony England. In May 2001 England left the band to be replaced with Rob Alderton, and the new line-up recorded their first DVD in November 2002. In 2004 Sailor were voted the 45th most successful pop band of the last 40 years in Germany, surrounded by Genesis on 46 and Culture Club on 44. Their first book, A Glass Of Champagne - The Official Sailor Story was released in June 2004. In July 2005 Alderton left, and Henry Marsh returned.

July 2006 saw the world premiere of Sailor, The Musical Journey at the Carnegie Hall, Dunfermline, Scotland. Written by Bill Blenman, the new musical was comprised entirely of Kajanus compositions and tapped into his early 1970s creations. The musical also featured two new compositions by Kajanus.

In September 2006 Lincoln decided to leave Sailor to join Sweet. Afterwards, Marsh's son, Oliver, joined the band as their new singer. At the same time, "A Glass of Champagne" was used on a TV advertisement for Marks and Spencer, and in 2007 was sampled by the German techno group Scooter on their song "Jumping All Over The World", taken from the album of the same name Jumping All Over the World.