Sutch was born at New End Hospital, Hampstead, North… Read Full Bio ↴Musical career:
Sutch was born at New End Hospital, Hampstead, North West London. In the 1960s, inspired by one of his favourite rock and roll stars, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, he changed his name to Screaming Lord Sutch, 3rd Earl of Harrow. Despite the fact that he had no connection with the peerage, the deed poll laws of England permitted this. Following a successful career as an early-'60s rock 'n' roll attraction, it became customary for the UK press and citizens to refer to him as Screaming Lord Sutch, or simply Lord Sutch. Early works included recordings produced by legendary audio pioneer Joe Meek.
During the 1960s, Screaming Lord Sutch was known for his horror-themed stage show, as well as for usually dressing as Jack the Ripper, pre-dating the shock rock antics of Alice Cooper by several years. Accompanied by his band, The Savages, he often started the show by coming out of a big black coffin. Other stage props included knives and daggers, skulls, and "bodies". Sutch also booked 'themed' concert tours, such as 'Sutch and the Roman Empire', where Sutch and the band members would be dressed up as Roman soldiers. Despite his self-confessed lack of any vocal talent, he released many horror themed singles during the early- to mid-60s, the most popular and well known of which is "Jack the Ripper", which has been covered both live and on record by many garage rock bands over the years, including The White Stripes, The Black Lips and The Horrors for their debut album, Strange House.
In 1963, Sutch and his then manager, Reg Calvert, took over a fort built during World War II, just off the coast at Southend. This was to be 'Radio Sutch', intending to compete with the other pirate radio stations such as Radio Caroline. He planned to play music and broadcast Mandy Rice-Davies reading extracts from "Lady Chatterley's Lover". It didn't really happen and Calvert took over the project, renaming it 'Radio City', which lasted for a couple of years. In 1966 Calvert was shot dead by Oliver Smedley over a financial dispute. However Smedley was subsequently acquitted of this killing on grounds of self-defence.
In 1968, Dave Sutch took off for the USA in a Rolls Royce emblazoned with a Union Flag on the roof and pulling a trailer full of Marshall amplifiers which he intended to sell. He had a share interest in the Marshall company.
Lord Sutch's album "Lord Sutch and Heavy Friends" was named in a 1998 BBC poll as the worst album of all time, a status it also held in Colin Larkin's book The Top 1000 Albums of All Time, despite the fact that legends such as Jimmy Page, John Bonham, Jeff Beck, Noel Redding and Nicky Hopkins among others performed on it and helped to write it.
For his follow-up album, "Hands of Jack the Ripper", Sutch assembled a group of British rock celebrities for a concert at the Carlsharlton Park Rock 'n' Roll Festival. The entire show was recorded (though only Sutch knew), and after some quick editing, cutting and pasting it was released - much to everyone else's surprise! Musicians appearing on the record included Ritchie Blackmore (guitar); Matthew Fisher (keyboard); Carlo Little (drums); Keith Moon (drums); Noel Redding (bass) and Nick Simper (bass).
Political activities:
In the 1960s, he stood in various parliamentary elections, often standing as a representative of the 'National Teenage Party'. His first attempt to enter Parliament was in 1963, when he contested the by-election in Stratford-upon-Avon caused by the resignation of John Profumo. He gained 208 votes. His next foray was at the 1964 General Election when he stood in Harold Wilson's Huyton constituency. Here he got 518 votes.
He founded the Official Monster Raving Loony Party in 1983 and fought the Bermondsey by-election. In his career he contested over 40 elections, rarely threatening the major party candidates, but often getting a respectable number of votes. He was an easily recognisable figure at election counts due to his flamboyant clothes. It was shortly after he polled several hundred votes in Margaret Thatcher's Finchley constituency in 1983 that the deposit paid by candidates was raised from £150 to £500. This did little to deter the legendary deposit-losing Lord Sutch, who increased the number of rock concerts he performed per year to pay for his mock political campaigns.
Arguably his most significant contribution to British politics came as a result of the Bootle by-election in 1990. He secured more votes than the candidate of the Continuing SDP, led by former Foreign Secretary David Owen. Within days the SDP dissolved itself. In 1993, when the British National Party (BNP) secured its first local councillor, Derek Beackon, Sutch was able to point out that the Official Monster Raving Loony Party already had six councillors.
He also made an appearance - as himself - in the first episode of ITV comedy The New Statesman, coming second in the 1987 election (ahead of the Labour and SDP candidates) which saw Alan B'Stard elected to Parliament.
A series of adverts in the 1990s for Heineken Pilsener boasted that "Only Heineken can do this". One ad had Sutch at 10 Downing Street after becoming Prime Minister.
Private life:
Despite his seemingly light-hearted antics, Screaming Lord Sutch in reality suffered from periods of depression and committed suicide by hanging on June 16, 1999, following the death of his mother the previous year. At the coroner's inquest into his death, his fiancee stated that he had "manic depression". However, her descriptions, both of his symptoms and their treatment by doctors with antidepressants [1], suggest that Sutch suffered from clinical depression[citation needed].
Sutch never married, but is survived by a son, Tristan Lord Gwynne Sutch, born in 1975 to the American model Thann Rendessy.[2]
In 1991, Sutch's autobiography Life as Sutch: the Official Autobiography of a Raving Looney (co-written with Peter Chippindale) was published; however, the book was recalled by publishers swiftly[citation needed]. Versions are available: Angus & Robertson, ISBN 0-207-17240-4 and HarperCollins ISBN 0-00-255090-3. In 2005 Graham Sharpe, who had known Sutch since the late 1960s, when they both lived in Harrow and Sharpe was a rookie reporter on the Harrow Weekly Post, wrote the first biography of the man, The Man Who Was Screaming Lord Sutch. The culmination of almost two years' research and around 200 interviews by Sharpe, who had been with Sutch just three days before his death, the book received very positive reviews and seems likely to be the definitive biography.
'Til The Following Night
Screaming Lord Sutch & the Savages Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And the moon is shinin' bright
In the center of a graveyard
In the middle of the night
I get out of my great big long black coffin 'til the following night
I got two horns on my head
And a twinkle in my eye
And it makes the chicks all sigh
When I hit 'em with my great big clubs, start to holler and cry
Dance and sing or scream for me
While we pound the floor
Somebody shake your head, the whole jaw bled
When I scream for more
While the bats are a-flyin'
And the cats are a-sighin'
And the zombies are a-dancin'
And the skeletons prancin'
I get into my great big coffin 'til the following night
Dance and sing or scream for me
While we pound the floor
Somebody shake your head, the whole jaw bled
When I scream for more
While the bats are a-flyin'
And the cats are a-sighin'
And the zombies are a-dancin'
And the skeletons prancin'
I get into my great big coffin 'til the following night
'Til the following night
'Til the following night
The lyrics to Screaming Lord Sutch's song 'Til The Following Night are about a creature of the night who rises from his coffin every night and wanders around in the graveyard. The singer of the song has two horns on his head, and a twinkle in his eye. He has two feet of hair, and it makes the chicks all sigh. The singer hits the girls with his clubs, making them holler and cry. In the chorus, the singer asks people to dance and sing or scream for him while he pounds the floor. He screams for more, and people shake their heads until their whole jaw bled.
The second stanza is similar to the first one, where the guy sinks back into his coffin at daybreak until the following night. The song portrays the usual horror elements of bats, zombies, skeletons, and cats, all coming together in the graveyard at night. The song's narrative suggests there is nothing scary or fearful about the graveyard and that it's a place to enjoy and have fun.
'Til The Following Night was released in 1961, and various rock and roll and heavy metal artists have covered the song. The song became famous in the United Kingdom and was a hit in Germany, Sweden, and the Netherlands, garnering Sutch significant publicity in these countries. Screaming Lord Sutch remained popular in the 1960s as an eccentric entertainer, appearing on TV shows and participating in politics. The song's lyrics, simplicity, and the use of horror imagery appeal to the audiences to date, making it a popular Halloween song.
Line by Line Meaning
When the shade of night a-fallin'
As darkness descends
And the moon is shinin' bright
With the moon's bright light
In the center of a graveyard
In the middle of a cemetery
In the middle of the night
At nighttime
I get out of my great big long black coffin 'til the following night
I exit my long, black coffin until the next night
I got two horns on my head
I sport a pair of horns on my head
And a twinkle in my eye
Along with a spark in my eye
I got two feet of hair
I have two feet of hair
And it makes the chicks all sigh
Causing girls to swoon
When I hit 'em with my great big clubs, start to holler and cry
When I strike them with my large clubs, they begin to yell and cry
Dance and sing or scream for me
Either dance, sing, or scream for me
While we pound the floor
While we beat the ground
Somebody shake your head, the whole jaw bled
Shake your head so hard it causes bleeding
When I scream for more
When I demand more
While the bats are a-flyin'
As bats fly around
And the cats are a-sighin'
And cats make sorrowful sounds
And the zombies are a-dancin'
While zombies dance
And the skeletons prancin'
And skeletons prance
I get into my great big coffin 'til the following night
I return to my large coffin until next night
'Til the following night
Until the next night
'Til the following night
Until the next night
'Til the following night
Until the next night
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: LORD DAVID SUTCH
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@dirtyolcanyanero
The best screaming...... EVER! I just don't think it gets any better than that.
@billcurtis7240
Yup I also saw Screaming Lord Such live, the highly salubrious Lincoln Drill hall, he was brought in in a coffin. Great show, great music. New nothing about joe Meek in those days, just discovered a lot later that many of my favourite tracks were produced by the same amazing man. Telstar, Johnny Remember me, Wild wind, Robot. All had something special, a sort unique Meek sound
@patrickhicks9880
this is cool i love it
@elcidnewton7686
Great band
@rudigerlabahn5238
Toller Sound.
@jvmt8719
This is amazing. This feels like proto-goth rock. Sure, it still sounds quite 60's and I'm not saying there is a traceable musical lineage from this to the goth rock of the early to mid 80's, but imagine Alien Sex Fiend covering this and it at least seems possible
@davidhamilton2726
Brand New Cadillac was by Vince Taylor who Bowie got his idea for Ziggy Stardust from. It is ine of the 3 genuine British rock tracks with Cliff's Dynamite and Shaking All over by Johhny Kidd. I would add this Sutch song to that. Sutch was influenced by Hawkins 0 - the coffin act certainly, but his live shows were the best rock act I have ever seen. Lots of greats like Ritchie Blackmore started with Sutch's band The Savages.
@87dramarama
no
@justagirl12345
Totally! I think of other artists that I think that theybwere the "goths" of their era
@lexlex862
i saw lord such in birkenhead early sixties Freddy Fingers lee on keys great showman ,nothing like him around now