Peter Skellern
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Peter Skellern (born 14 March 1947 in Bury, Lancashire), where he attended the Derby Grammar School (now the Derby High School), is an English singer/songwriter and pianist. His first hit was "You're a Lady", in 1972, which reached number three in the UK Singles Chart and number fifty in the U.S..
In 1978 he also had a minor hit with "Love Is The Sweetest Thing" (which featured a backing by the Grimethorpe Colliery Band), winning the Music Trades Association award for best MOR Album of 1979.
In 1981 he wrote, composed and performed in a series of musical playlets for the BBC called Happy Endings, and two years later Skellern hosted the Private Lives TV chat show.
Later still, in 1984, he formed the first Oasis band, and became the lead singer. 'Simpergroup' Oasis was formed with Julian Lloyd Webber, Mary Hopkin and Bill Lovelady. The group released a self-titled album, Oasis in 1984 on Warner Brothers, which earned a silver record. The group actually never performed live together, although they did assemble three times to record their music. They made many attempts to combine classical and popular music genres, but their attempts failed to impress the public.
More recently he has been writing choral music. Including Waiting for the Word, which was written for BBC Songs of Praise, 19 August 2001, Six Simple Carols and The Nativity Cantata that was written for the Hemel Hempstead based choir, the Aeolian Singers. It was first performed by them in 2004 and they have recently recorded it.
[edit] Recordings
- Peter Skellern — 1972
- Not Without A Friend — 1974
- A String Of Pearls
- Ain't Life Something
- Cheek to Cheek
- Captain Beaky and His Band (contribution to Vol. II) — 1980
- Oasis — 1984
- Who Plays Wins album with Richard Stilgoe — 1985
- Stardust Memories album (a tribute to the Ink Spots) — 1995
- By The Wey album with Richard Stilgoe — 1997
- A Quiet Night Out album with Richard Stilgoe — 2000
[edit] Recordings of Choral Music by Peter Skellern
- The Nativity Cantata and other Christmas Music performed by the Aeolian Singers — 2005
- So Said the Angel in the album A Cotswold Christmas performed by the Abbey School Choir, Tewkesbury.
