who is this singer?

January 3, 2006 5:46 AM

Name the anonymous singer in this Guardian piece.

clues from the article:
- singer's name is same as his band.
- became big around 1986.
- married in Las Vegas
- toured US back in May

posted by oh pollo! to Media & Arts (31 answers total)

He's about 40 years old too.
posted by wackybrit at 6:01 AM on January 3, 2006

He also says "It's punk rock, man!", which might be a clue, although no one should ever say that, really.
posted by smackfu at 6:11 AM on January 3, 2006

Okay. He was introduced by Mariella Frostrup, who was the host of Big World Cafe in the 80s. The show didn't start until 1989, so it'd have to be one of the earliest guest stars on the show.

How about Roachford? I've never heard of him or his band, but I'm not from the UK and but the age matches.
posted by Gator at 6:15 AM on January 3, 2006

Then I heard the "friend" say, invoke, his hero's last name and that of the band, as if to underpin the moment

I don't take this to mean the band and the singer's names are necessarily the same....
posted by CunningLinguist at 6:16 AM on January 3, 2006

Response by poster: - Gator, it's not Roachford. Thanks though.
- CunningLinguist, good point.
posted by oh pollo! at 6:22 AM on January 3, 2006

He's a Brit based in LA though, that's another clue.
posted by CunningLinguist at 6:25 AM on January 3, 2006

Oh wait, he doesn't have to be a Brit. Ignore pls.
posted by CunningLinguist at 6:27 AM on January 3, 2006

Wasn't Warren Zevon English?
posted by Clay201 at 6:27 AM on January 3, 2006

And didn't he hang around LA? And didn't he have his one mainstream radio hit in the eighties?
posted by Clay201 at 6:28 AM on January 3, 2006

I did some googling < caroline butler music> and I take a guess: Rick Wakeman who used to play with YES.
posted by ollsen at 6:35 AM on January 3, 2006

It's probably not Warren Zevon.
posted by Miko at 6:36 AM on January 3, 2006

Rick Wakeman? heh. Not exactly punk rock, too old, reformed alcoholic, christian, tory. Nope.
posted by handee at 6:37 AM on January 3, 2006

Bon Jovi?
posted by punilux at 6:37 AM on January 3, 2006

Afterthought: I take it back. Isn't it a terrible thing to do, to expose the identity when Caroline Butler has asked for privacy in her article? And even worse: taking wild guesses and claiming someone to be an alcoholic. I wish I could take it back. Too late now. Next time I'll do some thinking first.
posted by ollsen at 6:38 AM on January 3, 2006

Bon jovi? Did you read the article? Or are you just trying to suggest links to alcoholism for random pop stars?
posted by handee at 6:45 AM on January 3, 2006

Rick Wakeman is in his mid 50s.
posted by iconomy at 6:50 AM on January 3, 2006

Fishbone is another one of the acts that appeared on Big World Cafe at that time; they do have some punk roots, so the "punk rock man" comment would fit; they did tour the US back in May according to FishBoneLive.org; they're LA-based. Angelo Moore?
posted by Gator at 6:56 AM on January 3, 2006

Here's a really large list of bands that were popular in the 80s.
posted by iconomy at 7:01 AM on January 3, 2006

It's possible that none of the details in the article are accurate. Las Vegas could be Milton Keynes and 1986 could be 1976.
posted by fire&wings at 7:17 AM on January 3, 2006

That's a good point, fire&wings.

Either way, we'll probably hear about it within a few days: Either the artist will be identified by better diggers than us (and possibly be pissed off at getting "outed" in this fashion), or she'll find herself in hot water for making the whole thing up to sell a story.
posted by Gator at 7:45 AM on January 3, 2006

Huey Lewis?
posted by itchie at 7:47 AM on January 3, 2006

Huey Lewis is way too old. He would have been almost 40 by the late '80s.

Also, the "punk rock" quote is not by the performer themselves but by someone else also in the room. At least that's how it reads, in context, to me.
posted by wackybrit at 7:56 AM on January 3, 2006

A Caroline Butler worked/works for Domino Records, but I assume that's coincidence. The article says "former record label boss". Can't be too many female record label bosses?

I'm inclined to think that the details are obfuscated, though. (The website quote near the end doesn't pop up in Google).
posted by Leon at 7:59 AM on January 3, 2006

Billy Idol?
posted by kenchie at 8:42 AM on January 3, 2006

Someone over at Popbitch just said he was American and black....
posted by Jofus at 9:30 AM on January 3, 2006

There's also the detail about getting him a cameo in a movie; there were a lot of details wrapped up in that anecdote (the photos, the on-set meltdown, the cabride) for it to be a complete fabrication.

Happy to know I'm not the only person who was Googling for this today
posted by junkbox at 11:11 AM on January 3, 2006

I think Billy Idol is too old unless many of the facts are totally fabricated.
posted by mikel at 11:34 AM on January 3, 2006

Well, it isn't as though there's a shortage of alcoholic musicians scratching out a living playing their old standards at state fairs and casinos. Tweak the details a little and I'd wager there's more than one right answer to this question.
posted by stefanie at 12:53 PM on January 3, 2006

sn't it a terrible thing to do, to expose the identity when Caroline Butler has asked for privacy in her article?

At some level, however, their relationship is almost certainly a fact of which hundreds, perhaps thousands of industry people are aware.

I don't think it's 80s -- I think it's a little later, judging by the '89 start of the BWC show and a few other implications. I do think the band's name is his last name. I couldn't be certain he's not American, either.

Butler seems to have a history in the worlds of "jungle" and "drum & bass", if that's any help. She managed the Sneaker Pimps, at one point. She also seems conversant with hip-hop here. (Hmm -- could he be black?) Possibly not the same person, true.

Happy to know I'm not the only person who was Googling for this today

There are whole newsgroups and websites devoted to puzzling out blind items.
posted by dhartung at 4:10 AM on January 4, 2006

Axl Rose?
posted by macadamiaranch at 11:24 AM on January 9, 2006

I can't help but think of Shane McGowan when I read that.
posted by chicobangs at 12:54 AM on January 19, 2006