Agni (sharmishtha basu) Talks about Movie and Music 19.2.18 Roger Whittaker

Born: 22 March 1936, Nairobi, Kenya. Born of English parents originally from Staffordshire, Whittaker spent his younger years living in Africa. It was here that he acquired his first musical instrument in the shape of a guitar made by an Italian prisoner-of-war. In 1956 he moved to South Africa to what was to be an ill-fated attempt at studying medicine in Cape Town. After a period of teaching, he arrived in Wales in 1959 to study marine biology and bio-chemistry. Until then, Whittaker had treated his musical career purely as a part-time occupation, entertaining small groups of friends and the occasional folk club date. By 1961, while still continuing his studies, he had played many cabaret slots and after recording an independently-funded single for charity, he secured a contract with Fontana Records. His second single, ‘Steel Man’ (as Rog Whittaker), reached the lower regions of the UK charts. Roger decided to eschew a promising career in science in favour of one in entertainment. His brand of romantic folk-ballads made him a favourite with audiences all around Britain, particularly in Northern Ireland, where he enjoyed a resident spot on the Ulster television show This And That.

His steady rise in popularity was bolstered by a successful appearance at the Knokke music festival in Belgium in 1967. Among his prize winning performances was the self-penned, ‘Mexican Whistler’, which was recorded in Paris soon after the festival and became a chart number 1 around the continent. Whittaker’s easy-going, relaxed style made him a star performer on the European television and concert circuit. By learning the translation of his songs phonetically, he has taken the trouble to record especially for his German audience. This growing band of admirers spread in time to the Antipodes and Canada, yet he had still to crack the UK market. This was achieved in 1969 with ‘The Leavin’ (Durham Town)’ and the follow-up, ‘I Don’t Believe In If Anymore’. Along with ‘New World In The Morning’, ‘Why’ (co-written with Joan Stanton) and ‘The Last Farewell’ (co-written with Ron Webster), these songs established Whittaker as a successful MOR performer and finally made him a star in his adopted home country, giving him his own BBC television series.

http://www.oldies.com/artist-biography/Roger-Whittaker.html

Did not change what the author had to say about himself in his own website, it is beautiful! Just removed one paragraph, which you can read in the site!

I think he is the philosopher of country music. That is why I love him so very much! His songs are so very deep, and are quite versatile too, starting from brooding “Durham Town” to naughty “If I were a rich man!” and then to soul stirring “If”!

His songs have everything which serious listeners, who prefer lyrics over anything else would adore. There was no stopping loving this singer after I started hearing him!

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I will be posting pieces from Agnishatdal and Agnijaat here, if you like them and check out the Ezines you can now buy them from two spots:

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Few talks about some favorite stars, irrespective of their field of music, art.

They are collected from various sites or are just my view of them. You will know

the difference when you read the post, most are from wikipedia.

These are from the fun section of the Ezines.

I dont know, being me I may have missed mentioning it, do remember one thing,

as you read these works, some of these are my personal views and whatever data,

you see in these are collected from various sites of internet, mostly

wikipedia, famouspeople.net and quite often from the sites of the artists

themselves.

You know I dont know everything right? I am just a student who is sharing her

notes with you!

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