THE songs of Gilbert O’Sullivan take me back to long car journeys of childhood holidays.
The likes of Matrimony, Nothing Rhymed and Clair were the soundtrack to our summer holidays.
“So you were forced to listen. I hope it didn’t put you off,” smiles Gilbert, when I reflect on the nostalgic pull of his music.
I may have been a captive audience, but I fell in love with those songs - played on a loop on our parents’ cassette player, wedged on the dashboard in its leatherette casing - and I’ve loved them ever since.
Gilbert’s much-loved classics, including six No. 1s, have earned him three Ivor Novello Awards. His first two albums stayed in the charts for more than a year, and in 1972 he was the biggest-selling UK artist in the world.
The singer-songwriter started his music career in 1967
(Image: Gilbert O'Sullivan)
Now he’s celebrating 60 years in music, returning to the stage for a series of special concerts celebrating 60 years of music - including a show in Bradford next month.
One of the UK’s most respected singer-songwriters, and most distinctive voices, Gilbert will be joined by acclaimed guitarist Bill Shanley. “It’s an intimate show,” says Gilbert. “Over two hours you’ll get to hear your favourites as well as a few new songs.”
Since releasing his first music in 1967 Gilbert has had 16 Top 40 records, including his 1970 breakthrough release Nothing Rhymed. The multi-million selling Alone Again (Naturally) was a US chart-topper for six weeks, earning him three Grammy nominations.
He remains a prolific songwriter. This autumn sees the release of new album On the Record, which includes a duet with Andrea Corr and the “wryly autobiographical” Growing Old Disgracefully.
Admired by artists such as Jarvis Cocker, Guy Garvey and Paul Weller, Gilbert is a remarkable songwriter, fusing timeless melodies with lyrics that deliver wit, warmth and occasional melancholy. He once said he writes songs “the postman can sing on his rounds” but he can go quite dark. Alone Again (Naturally) is a quietly heartbreaking tale of loss and loneliness.
He wrote I Wish I Could Cry after the death of Bobby Kennedy. “I’m really proud of that song,” says Gilbert.
The cover of new album, On the Record
(Image: Image submitted)
On the new album is a track called She Never Ceases to Amaze Me reflecting on family life with his two daughters. “I loved those years, when the girls were young and they’d race in from school. I have cassettes of them singing along with me,” he says. “I write songs because I enjoy writing them. I’ve never lost that love for the craft. The key is the melody, but if every song was ‘I love you baby’ I’d soon get bored.
“I’ve written about alcoholism, depression, the humiliation of free school meals. We didn’t have much money and I still remember that dread on Monday mornings when I was handed a different coloured dinner ticket.”
There are lovely fun songs too. Where Would We Be (Without Tea) is an affectionate ode to the nation’s favourite brew, while Ooh Wakka Doo Wakka Day is a sing-along crowd-pleaser, with the line ‘Now, up in Bradford a chap named Radford’ going down particularly well in this neck of the woods.
Of today’s songwriters, he says “the women are on top”, particularly Chappell Roan and Olivia Rodrigo.
Born Raymond O’Sullivan in Waterford, Ireland, he moved to Swindon with his family aged seven and started writing songs at art school. “I was one of six kids. My father died when I was 11 and my mother was strict - when I grew my hair slightly long I had to get it cut.
“There was a piano in everyone’s house, it was working-class home entertainment. None of my siblings were interested in music so I moved our piano into the garden shed, where I pumped away to Dylan covers. The neighbours never complained.
“I loved Dylan and the Beatles, that’s why I wrote songs. When the Beatles came along it started everything off for our generation. They looked great, they sounded great, and showed you didn’t need training to make music. We were joining bands in school, youth club, college.”
Teaming up with Rick Davies, who went on to form Supertramp, Gilbert moved to London and knocked on record company doors. His cut his first record with CBS in 1967 and later sent a demo tape to Gordon Mills, the man behind Tom Jones and Engelbert Humperdinck, who became his manager. Nothing Rhymed reached the UK Top 10 and more hit singles followed, along with debut album Himself.
It was the Beatles who influenced Gilbert’s quirky look of pudding-bowl haircut, flat cap and cropped trousers. “It’s quite Peaky Blinders now but back then no-one liked it, from CBS to Gordon Mills,” he says.
Gilbert's distinctive look of short haircut and flat cap
(Image: Gilbert O'Sullivan)
“Everyone was growing long hair, they wanted me to look like James Taylor, but I wanted to look different. It had nothing to do with the songwriting - it was the Beatles’ hair and collarless jackets. I was determined to stick to it. The music got me through.”
His first No. 1s were Clair and Get Down and in 1973 he was named Songwriter of the Year at the Ivor Novello Awards.
Other hits included No Matter How I Try, Matrimony, What’s in a Kiss and Alone Again, his first gold disc.
Today he lives in Jersey, where he has a studio, and is as creative as ever. In recent years he’s performed with a string quartet and an orchestra and explored Latin music on 2015 album Latin Ala G!
He occasionally shares his recording studio with other musicians. “If a local band is really into their music we let them in for a couple of days. When I write songs I go to my music room, all I need is a piano and a cassette player. My songwriting changed as I got older; when I started out I’d write the melody and lyrics at the piano and record it reel to reel. Now I have my ghetto blaster and off I go.”
- Gilbert O’Sullivan is at York Opera House on September 22 (call 0333 0096690 or visit yorktheatre.co.uk) and St George’s Hall, Bradford, on September 27. Call (01274) 432000 or visit bradford-theatres.co.uk