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Biography
Infobox musical artist| name = Alex Harvey| image =| alt =| caption =| image_size =| background = solo_singer| birth_name =| alias =| birth_date = Birth date|1935|02|05|df=y| birth_place = Glasgow , Scotland | origin =| death_date = Death date and age|1982|02|04|1935|02|05|df=y| death_place = Zeebrugge , Belgium | genre = Rock, blues| occupation = Musician, songwriter| instrument = Vocals, guitar| years_active = 1954& ndash;1982| label = Vertigo Records|Vertigo , Polygram Records|Polygram , Buddah Records|Buddah | associated_acts = The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, The Alex Harvey Soul Band, Rock Workshop, New Band, Giant Moth| website =| notable_instruments =Infobox musical artist| name = The Sensational Alex Harvey Band| image =| alt =| caption =| image_size =| landscape = | background = group_or_band| alias = SAHB| origin =| genre = rock music|Rock | years_active = start date|1972–end date|1978| label = Vertigo Records|Vertigo , Universal Music Group|Universal International | associated_acts = Tear Gas, SAHB ... without Alex| website = URL|sahbofficial.co.uk| current_members =| past_members = Alex Harvey Zal Cleminson Chris Glen Hugh McKenna Ted McKenna Alex Harvey (5 February 1935 – 4 February 1982) was a Scottish people|Scottish rock musician. With The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, he built a reputation as an exciting live performer during the 1970s glam rock era. http://www.hotshotdigital.com/tribute/AlexHarvey.html Hot's Hot Digital
Biography
Harvey was born in 1935 in the Kinning Park district of Glasgow , Scotland, a working-class neighborhood, where he spent his childhood and youth."Rock Star" 2 By his own account, he worked in a number of jobs, from carpentry to waiting tables at a restaurant to carving tombstones,Denselow, 8 before finding success in music. He first began performing in skiffle groups in 1954.
His musical roots were in Dixieland jazz and skiffle music, which enjoyed considerable popularity in England and Scotland during the late 1950s. From 1958-1965, he was the leader of Alex Harvey's Big Soul Band, playing blues and rock and roll songs and spending considerable time touring in the United Kingdom and Germany. He also won a competition that sought "Scotland's answer to Tommy Steele ." Harvey became strongly identified with British rhythm and blues music, although he was equally able to play rock songs.
After leaving the Big Soul Band, he briefly tried for a solo career but with little success. By 1967, he found a positive direction for his career when he became a member of the pit band in the London stage production of the musical Hair (musical)|Hair . This band recorded the live album Hair Rave Up , which contained Harvey originals and other songs not from the stage show. In 1970 Harvey formed Rock Workshop with Ray Russell (musician)|Ray Russell ; their first, self-titled album contained an early version of "Hole In Her Stocking",cite web|url= http://www.angelair.force9.co.uk/sjpcd132.htm|title=Rock Workshop album description|date=13 March 2006|publisher=Angel Air Records|accessdate=31 December 2009 later to appear on Framed (SAHB album)|Framed . Harvey remained with Hair for five years.
Harvey was also instrumental in the formation of the band Stone the Crows by introducing his younger brother, Leslie Harvey , to singer Maggie Bell .Logan, Nick & Woffinden, Bob (eds.) "The New Musical Express Book of Rock", W.H. Allen & Co. Ltd (Star), 1973, p. 450. ISBN 0-352-39715-2. Tragically, Les Harvey was electrocuted in a freak accident while performing with the band in 1972.
In 1972, Harvey formed The Sensational Alex Harvey Band (often shortened to SAHB) with guitarist Zal Cleminson , bassist Chris Glen , and cousins Hugh and Ted McKenna on keyboards and drums respectively, all previous members of progressive rock act "Tear Gas". SAHB produced a succession of highly regarded albums and tours throughout the 1970s. The band never achieved acclaim in the United States the way it did in Great Britain, but it had a cult following in certain U.S. cities, especially Cleveland , where the group first played at the Agora Ballroom in December 1974. Thanks to airplay from WMMS , songs like "Next" and "The Impossible Dream" became very popular. Cleveland music critics observed that the Sensational Alex Harvey Band could headline in that city, while in other cities, few people came to see them (Pantsios, 3).
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band had top-40 hits in Britain with the single " Delilah (1968 song)|Delilah ", a cover version|re-make of the Tom Jones (singer)|Tom Jones hit, which reached No 7 in 1975, and also with "The Boston Tea Party" (June 1976). After Harvey left the group later that year, the other members continued as 'SAHB… without Alex'. Harvey re-joined the group for 1978's Rock Drill , but they disbanded shortly afterwards.
On 4 February 1982 while waiting to take a ferry back to shore after performing his last concert with his new band, the Electric Cowboys, Harvey suffered a massive myocardial infarction|heart attack . In an ambulance on the way to the hospital , he suffered a second heart attack, this one fatal. It occurred on the day before his 47th birthday, in Zeebrugge , Belgium . On his death, he left his second wife, Trudy, and two sons (Alex, by his first wife, Mary Martin, and Tyro).cite web|url= http://www.electricscotland.com/history/other/harvey_alex.htm |title=Alex Harvey |publisher=Electricscotland.com |date= |accessdate=2012-01-02
In 2002, a biography of Harvey by John Neil Munro was published: The Sensational Alex Harvey. The Sensational Alex Harvey Band were voted the fifth greatest Scottish band of all time in a 2005 survey. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4169075.stm BBC report on January 2005 survey In 2004, SAHB reformed and, two-years later, released a live album featuring many classic SAHB songs. On 4 February 2012 a Rowan tree was planted in memory of Alex in the grounds of the Peoples Palace museum in Glasgow by Alex Harvey jnr and the remaining members of the band.cite web|url= http://events.glasgowlife.org.uk/event/1/alex-harvey-a-tribute |title=Alex Harvey - A Tribute - People's Palace - Glasgow |publisher=Events.glasgowlife.org.uk |date= |accessdate=2012-03-30 A limited edition book entitled Alex Harvey: Last of the Teenage Idols, photographed by Janet Macoska and edited by Martin Kielty was released to coincide with the 30th anniversary of his death http://www.alexharveybook.com/
Discography
Studio albums
Alex Harvey and His Soul Band (1964)
The Blues (Alex Harvey album)|The Blues (1964)
Roman Wall Blues (1969)
The Joker is Wild (album)|The Joker is Wild (1972)
Framed (album)|Framed (1972)
Next (The Sensational Alex Harvey Band album)|Next (1973)
The Impossible Dream (The Sensational Alex Harvey Band album)|The Impossible Dream (1974)
Tomorrow Belongs to Me (album)|Tomorrow Belongs to Me (1975)
Live (The Sensational Alex Harvey Band album)|Live (1975)
Alex Harvey Presents: The Loch Ness Monster (1977)
BBC Radio 1 Live in Concert (1995)
Live on the Test (1995)
''British Tour '76 (2004)
Live At the BBC (2009)
Compilations
... Delilah , (Spectrum 1994)
Hot City (2009)
Big Hits And Close Shaves (1977)
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band (Old Gold 1997)
Teenage A Go Go (Alchemy Entertainment 2003)
All Sensations (Vertigo 1992)
The Best of the Sensational (UK chart peak: #148) http://www.zobbel.de/cluk/110806cluk.txt
Tribute bands
Since 2005, Not The Sensational Alex Harvey Band has been performing in Switzerland . Alex Harvey is portrayed by fellow Scot , Gustav Bertha . http://www.nsahb.com/
In 2008 a new Alex Harvey tribute, Vambo Rools, was formed in the Cleveland, Ohio region.Myspace|vamborools|Vambo Rools
References
Reflist
External links
URL|sahbofficial.co.uk|Official site
discogs artist|artist=Alex Harvey
Allmusic|artist|p35713|Alex Harvey
Allmusic|artist|p198185|The Sensational Alex Harvey Band
Alex Harvey Persondata | NAME = Harvey, Alex | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH = 5 February 1935 | PLACE OF BIRTH = Glasgow , Scotland | DATE OF DEATH = 4 February 1982 | PLACE OF DEATH = Zeebrugge, Belgium DEFAULTSORT:Harvey, Alex Category:Scottish rock singers Category:People from Glasgow Category:1935 births Category:1982 deaths Category:Vertigo Records artists
