Post by kim on May 22, 2006 8:53:00 GMT -5
He was one of the strangest rock and roll singers of the 60s. And his antics even inspired a short-lived dance craze.
Freddie Garrity, who was the lead singer and most prominent member of Freddie and the Dreamers, has died.
The former British milkman had been suffering from emphysema for several years.
Garrity was perhaps the most unlikely of rock stars and his fame didn’t last. He wore Buddy Holly style glasses in an era when granny-like spectacles were more the norm, and his bizarre on stage flailing and goofy laugh led to one of his group's final hits, “Do The Freddie”.
But it was the 1965 smash “I’m Tellin’ You Now” where they made their biggest impact on the charts in North America. Follow-ups like “You Were Made For Me” and the novelty “Windmill in Old Amsterdam” also reached the charts, but in an era when the Beatles and the Rolling Stones were making progressively more advanced music, Freddie’s group seemed increasingly irrelevant and they quickly faded from view.
He kept the name alive playing nostalgia shows in the U.K. into the 70s, but the dream and the Dreamers were over for Garrity by about 1968.
His last major appearance in the U.S. wasn’t on record but on a TV show. He appeared as himself on an episode of the Judd Hirsch-starring TV show “Dear John” in 1987 and became a regular on British kids’ TV.
Garrity was just 69 when he passed away at a hospital in Wales.
He leaves behind four children from three marriages and a wave of nostalgic memories.
I recognize the name but can't say I was familiar with the music?
Thanks
Kim
Freddie Garrity, who was the lead singer and most prominent member of Freddie and the Dreamers, has died.
The former British milkman had been suffering from emphysema for several years.
Garrity was perhaps the most unlikely of rock stars and his fame didn’t last. He wore Buddy Holly style glasses in an era when granny-like spectacles were more the norm, and his bizarre on stage flailing and goofy laugh led to one of his group's final hits, “Do The Freddie”.
But it was the 1965 smash “I’m Tellin’ You Now” where they made their biggest impact on the charts in North America. Follow-ups like “You Were Made For Me” and the novelty “Windmill in Old Amsterdam” also reached the charts, but in an era when the Beatles and the Rolling Stones were making progressively more advanced music, Freddie’s group seemed increasingly irrelevant and they quickly faded from view.
He kept the name alive playing nostalgia shows in the U.K. into the 70s, but the dream and the Dreamers were over for Garrity by about 1968.
His last major appearance in the U.S. wasn’t on record but on a TV show. He appeared as himself on an episode of the Judd Hirsch-starring TV show “Dear John” in 1987 and became a regular on British kids’ TV.
Garrity was just 69 when he passed away at a hospital in Wales.
He leaves behind four children from three marriages and a wave of nostalgic memories.
I recognize the name but can't say I was familiar with the music?
Thanks
Kim
