Peter Straker -

Peter Straker (born Nov. 7, 1943) is a Jamaican cabaret-pop singer who issued three singles on Polydor at the start of the 1970s, followed by the album Private Parts on RCA in 1972. He reemerged on EMI in 1977 with the Freddie Mercury-produced This One’s on Me, followed by Changeling in 1978. His final album, Real Natural Man, appeared on Elton John’s Rocket Record Company in 1980.

Background

Peter Straker was born Nov. 7, 1943, in Jamaica. Straker identified his mother, singer Mavis Straker, as his earliest musical influence and recalled a childhood filled with classical music.

He travelled to Britain in 1955 aboard SS Reina del Pacifico with maternal grandmother Iris Isabelle Straker and two younger brothers. The family met Mavis at Plymouth and continued to Paddington Station in London. They lived first in Kilburn, then moved to Kensington and Chelsea. Straker worked as a bellboy at London Hilton on Park Lane.

Straker initially aimed for work as a dramatic actor and director. Friends persuaded him to sing at a pub on a night out. He subsequently met manager David Deyon, who booked him on nightclub dates across Britain.

Straker auditioned seven times for the London production of Hair. Director Tom O’Horgan cast him as Hud and rehearsed the company for nearly three months. Straker opened in the role on Sept. 27, 1968, at Shaftesbury Theatre and recorded the original London cast album on Oct. 13 at CTS Studios in London.

Early Singles

Straker signed with Polydor while Hair ran at Shaftesbury Theatre. On Aug. 15, 1969, Polydor issued his first solo single, “Breakfast in Bed,” a ballad recently popularized by Dusty Springfield (b/w “The Right to Cry”). “I Never Thought I’d Fall in Love” followed on Nov. 7, 1969 (b/w “Birdie Told Me”). In February 1970, Straker subsequently released “If This Was the Last Song” (b/w “Easy to Be Hard”).

Straker appeared with the Hair Band on March 15, 1970, at Atomic Sunrise at London’s Roundhouse. Polydor issued “Carousel” on July 3 (b/w “A New Day”). He joined the Norwegian premiere of Hair on Dec. 4 at Den Nationale Scene in Bergen.

Straker played Jo Delaney in the Bob Kellett film Girl Stroke Boy, released on Aug. 12, 1971, in Britain. He also worked cabaret dates under MAM management as his recording career moved toward RCA.

Straker worked with songwriters and producers Ken Howard and Alan Blaikley at RCA. The label issued “The Spirit Is Willing” on Jan. 21, 1972, under the billing Peter Straker–The Hands of Doctor Teleny. The Howard-Blaikley adaptation of Bach’s “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” reached No. 40 on the UK Singles Chart. Straker discussed experiences from his upbringing with Howard and Blaikley, who used those accounts as material for songs on Private Parts.

Discography: