Christie is an English rock band that formed at the end of the 1960s. They are best remembered for their UK chart-topping hit single, Yellow River released in 1970. In addition to Jeff Christie (born Jeffrey Christie, 12 July 1946, Leeds, Yorkshire, England) their vocalist, bassist and songwriter; they initially included guitarist Vic Elmes and drummer Mike Blakley (born Michael Blakley, 12 January 1947, Bromley, Kent, England). Jeff Christie had initially worked with several bands including The Outer Limits, who released Just One More Chance / Help Me Please (1967) and Great Train Robbery / Sweet Freedom (1968). In 1970, Jeff Christie offered his composition Yellow River to The Tremeloes. They recorded it to release as a single but changed their minds and allowed Christie to use the backing track himself. The result was a UK number one hit in June 1970, and subsequently #23 in the U.S., also accumulating more weeks (23) on the Hot 100 than any other entry on that chart completely inside 1970. It was a worldwide hit and was number one in 26 countries with global sales of over 30 million. The follow-up single from October 1970, San Bernadino (misspelled if referring to, for example, San Bernardino, California), reached UK Number 5 and Number 1 in Germany, but only U.S. #100. Both tracks became flash songs on their eponymous debut album of that year, and it stayed on U.S. Billboard 200 chart for ten weeks. But the trio failed to sustain a lasting career, and Blakley was replaced by Paul Fenton (born 4 July 1946, Huddersfield, Yorkshire) just before the release of the bands second album, For All Mankind (1971). Lem Lubin (ex-Unit 4 + 2) was added to the line-up after the release of Iron Horse (1972),[5] but the title track proved to be the bands final hit single. The departure of Fenton and Lubin hastened the demise of the original line-up, but Jeff Christie returned with new members Terry Fogg (drums) (born Terrence George Fogg, 25 September 1945, Chesterfield, Derbyshire), Roger Flavell (bass), and Danny Krieger (guitar). A 1974 single Alabama / Im Alive failed to resurrect the bands fortunes, and new members Tony Ferguson (guitar) and Roger Willis (drums) were brought in to join Christie and Flavell.JoJos Band, written by Elmes, was a major hit for Christie in Argentina and Brazil, while the last Christie hit, Navajo, was Number 1 in Mexico. Jeff Christie reformed the band in 1990 with members of UK band Tubeless Hearts, Kev Moore, Simon Kay and Adrian Fos Foster. Tubeless Hearts tried to represent United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1991 with a Jeff Christie song, Safe in your Arms, but were unsuccessful. They continued to tour for a further 16 years all over Europe, Russia and Israel, recording intermittently. Following the release of Jeff Christies Floored Masters double album, the 1990 line-up of Christie embarked on a 2009 European Tour. In 2013, a Christie double album, No Turn Unstoned, was released, a collection of Christie demos and unreleased songs.
Posted on: Fri, 26 Sep 2014 00:06:26 +0000
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