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Craig Scott (singer)

Craig Scott is a New Zealand pop singer who had several commercially successful singles in the 1970s.[1]

Life and career

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Singing career

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Scott is a former bank clerk from Dunedin who started his music career in the late 1960s, singing with the local Dunedin band Klap.[1][2]

In 1968 Scott joined the band The Fantasy which shortly thereafter moved from Dunedin to Christchurch.[1] For some time Craig Scott and The Fantasy were the resident group at "The Scene" dance hall/nightclub at 224 Tuam St Christchurch.

Scott then joined the band Revival which won a Battle of the Bands contest in May 1969.[1] Winning the contest brought the band to the attention of HMV records and they were invited to Wellington to record a single, Viva Bobby Joe, which peaked at #14 on the national singles chart.[1]

In April 1970 Scott was offered a solo career and left Revival, which subsequently broke up.[1] He was given a starring role in the television music series Happen Inn, which brought him national attention.[1] He released a series of commercially successful singles beginning with a cover version of Neil Sedaka's Star Crossed Lovers which spent four weeks at number one on the New Zealand charts and was Scott's only number one single.[3][4] Other singles included Let's Get A Little Sentimental; Smiley (a cover of Australian pop star Ronnie Burns's hit); Ciao Baby (1971) which was previously covered by Lynne Randell for a top ten hit in Australia (1967);[5][6] and When Jojo Runs.

In 1974 Happen Inn was cancelled and Scott began to lose popularity.[1] Around 1975, his last single to be successful was Wind and Rain, peaking at #11 on the New Zealand pop chart.

Retirement from performing and later life

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Scott retired from performing in the late 1970s, saying "I couldn’t see myself doing that for the next 20 years". He became a music promoter. He then started New Zealand's first video rental business before managing Warner Brothers Video New Zealand for 15 years.

Around 2000 Scott and his wife moved back to Dunedin. They got into the property business, renovating houses. In the late 2000s they moved to the small Central Otago town of Arrowtown, becoming real estate agents there.[8][1]

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Craig Scott". Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  2. ^ Burrows, Matt (16 June 2024). "How '70s Dunedin pop star Craig Scott swapped music career for real estate". NZ Herald. Retrieved 15 June 2024.
  3. ^ "Craig Scott: '50 years on, I still get recognised every day'". RNZ. 14 June 2020. Retrieved 15 June 2024.
  4. ^ "New Zealand Charts". Billboard. 1 August 1970. p. 59.
  5. ^ Lynne Randell - "Ciao Baby": April 1967 release, discographical details at 45cat.com, Retrieved 2 January 2020
  6. ^ Craig Scott - "Ciao Baby": 1971 release, discographical details at 45cat.com, Retrieved 2 January 2020
  7. ^ Pop Archives
  8. ^ "Craig’s back on song". Mountain Scene, 8 Sep 2011


 

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