Sailor

Sailor was an English music-hall pop band from London that released five albums between 1974 and 1978 on Epic. Rupert Holmes produced their 1975 second album Trouble, which spawned the UK hits “Glass of Champagne” and “Girls, Girls, Girls.” After the departure of singer–guitarist Georg Kajanus, a revamped Sailor linked with onetime Chicago producer James William Guercio for the 1980 Caribou release Dressed for Drowning, which contains the operatic rock opus “Danger on the Titanic.”

After the initial fold of Sailor, Kajanus formed the synthpop trio Data and Pickett co-wrote the transatlantic No. 1 “Karma Chameleon” as an auxiliary player for Culture Club. Sailor reconvened with two early nineties albums and continued for years on the cabaret circuit.

Members: Phil Pickett (bass, piano, calliope, xylophone, Hammond organ, mandolin, autoharp, vocals), Henry Marsh (accordion, nickelodeon, guitar, piano, vocals, 1973-99, 2005-present), Grant Serpell (drums, percussion, vocals, 1973-79, 1990-2011), Georg Kajanus (lead vocals, guitar, 1973-79, 1990-95), Virginia David (lead vocals, 1980-81), Gavin David (vocals, 1980-81)

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Formation

Sailor formed in 1973 when Grant Serpell and Henry March joined the musical team of Georg Kajanus and Phil Pickett, who released the 1972 folk-rock album Hi Ho Silver! on Signpost–MCA.

Kajanus (b. Georg Hultgreen; 1946) came from Norway and arrived in London after stints in Paris and Montreal. In 1968, he made a folk-rock album with the multinational quintet Eclection. Drummer Grant Serpell cut two 1968 singles in the pop-psych band Ice and played on the 1970 self-titled album by jazz-rockers Affinity. Keyboardist Henry Marsh hailed from the 1971 art-pop one-off Gringo. 

In early 1971, an acetate of the Kajanus original “Flying Machine” impressed Cliff Richard, who recorded the song for a June non-album single. Meanwhile, Kajanus befriended Pickett, an employee for the E H Morris publishing firm. They self-produced their duo release and customized a nickelodeon, an early 1900s coin-operated piano. Their creation was a two-sided standup keyboard embedded with piano, Moog, and glockenspiel.

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Sailor

Sailor released their self-titled debut album in August 1974 on Epic.

The album contains ten songs written by Georg Kajanus, including a history lesson on the last 100 years of transport (“Traffic Jam”) and a tribute to 1920s burlesque legend Josephine Baker. Notable deep-cuts touch upon Gilded Age ribaldry (“Girls of Amsterdam”) and titular self-reverence (“Sailor,” “Sailor’s Night On the Town”)

Kajanus plays twelve-string acoustic guitar on Sailor, which features bassist Philip Pickett and accordionist Henry Marsh on shared piano and nickelodeon roles.

A1. “Traffic Jam” (3:24)
A2. “Blue Desert” (3:45)
A3. “Sailor” (2:57)
A4. “Girls of Amsterdam” (3:08)
A5. “The Street” (3:32)

B1. “Let’s Go to Town” (4:04)
B2. “Josephine Baker” (4:00)
B3. “Blame It On the Soft Spot” (3:39)
B4. “Open Up the Door” (2:30)
B5. “Sailor’s Night On the Town” (3:24)

Sessions occurred on May 16 in Northwest London at Morgan Studio 2, where Kajanus produced Sailor in the company of engineer Robin Black, a soundman with numerous 1970-era post-psych credits (Blodwyn Pig, Egg, Supertramp, T2) and recent titles by Laurie Styvers, Lou Reed, Spirogyra, and Taggett. Black worked on Sailor in sequence with 1974 albums by Cat Stevens, Jethro Tull (War Child), Man, Sparks (Propaganda), and Steeleye Span.

Sailor gives an “executive producer” credit to the band’s contract broker, CBS UK A&R Dan Loggins (Kenny‘s brother), a recent benefactor for Mott the Hoople, Starry Eyed and Laughing, and Argent departee Russ Ballard.

Sailor is housed in a gatefold sleeve with group and member pics by photographer Brian D. Hennessey, who captured them grouped in uniform (front), cavorting in a seedy joint (inner-gate), and plain clothed portrait/profile style (back).

Epic lifted “Traffic Jam” as a single backed with “Harbour,” a non-album Kajanus number.

B. “Harbour” (3:02) 

“Traffic Jam” reached No. 4 in the Netherlands, where Sailor reached No. 2 on the Dutch albums chart. 

Sailor promoted the album with an autumn 1974 tour that hit Scarborough, Yorkshire, where (despite an initial power failure) they won the Northern audience with a setlist comprised of their album played front-to-back, followed by an encore with repeats of each number.

They cancelled their slot on an upcoming Mott the Hoople tour but performed a showcase under rainbow stripes for the September 4, 1974, broadcast of the BBC Two music program In Concert. Their thirty-two minute set included “Harbour” and 7/10s of Sailor (everything barring “Sailor,” “Girls of Amsterdam,” “Open Up the Door”). 

In January 1975, Epic lifted “Blue Desert” as a second single (b/w “Blame It On the Soft Spot”’), followed in April by “Sailor” (b/w “Open Up the Door”). “Sailor” reached No. 2 in the Netherlands and No. 12 in Belgium.

After Sailor’s UK chart breakthrough, Epic released Sailor in North America with the inner-pic on the front cover and the original side-by-side on the back cover with liner notes by Diane Hyatt.

In 1976, Epic re-issued Sailor in Germany and the Netherlands with a new cover.

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Trouble

Sailor released their second album, Trouble, in November 1975 on Epic.

Trouble contains ten Georg Kajanus originals, including the breakthrough singalong “A Glass of Champagne” and the burlesque ditty “Girl, Girls, Girls.” Topics include maritime port upheavals (“Trouble In Hong Kong”), getaway customs (“Panama”), and womanizing bandits (“Stop That Man”). On the ballads, Sailor celebrate romantic rituals (“People In Love”) and vintage women (“My Kind of Girl”) and long for another era (“The Old Nickelodeon Sound”).

On Trouble, Kajanus expands on his twelve-string acoustic role with two foreign instruments: arpa jarocha (a Veracruzana harp) and the charango (an Andean lute). Phil Pickett plays piano, bass nickelodeon, and the guitarrón, a Mexican six-string acoustic bass. Henry Marsh adds marimba to his arsenal of nickelodeon, accordion, and piano. Sailor spotlight their newfound musicianship on “Jacaranda,” a haunting instrumental that closes Side A.

A1. “Girl, Girls, Girls” (3:02)
A2. “Trouble In Hong Kong” (3:07)
A3. “People In Love” (3:29)
A4. “Coconut” (2:24)
A5. “Jacaranda” (2:15)

B1. “A Glass of Champagne” (2:41)
B2. “My Kind of Girl” (3:01)
B3. “Panama” (3:25)
B4. “Stop That Man” (3:05)
B5. “The Old Nickelodeon Sound” (2:56)

Sailor recorded the album at CBS Studios, London, with Rupert Holmes, an English-American songwriter, arranger, and onetime Buoys benefactor who just cut his second solo album for Epic. Holmes produced Trouble between albums by Boston art-rockers Orchestra Luna and 1976/77 titles by Sparks (Big Beat), Strawbs (Deep Cuts), and John Miles (Stranger In the City). 

Rupert’s engineering partner, Jeffrey Lesser, worked beforehand with Full Moon, Kool & The Gang, The Softones, and The Stylistics. He co-engineered the 1974 Renaissance album Turn of the Cards with future Sade soundman Mike Pela. 

Trouble finds Sailor running up a ramp (front) and cavorting at a bar (back) in campy seafaring attire; as pictured by Peter Lavery, a recent Polydor-stable photographer (Fantasy, Kingdom Come, Pink Fairies) whose images grace 1975/76 covers for Casino, David Essex, The Enid, Kursaal Flyers, Moon — most under the art direction of Polish graphic illustrator Roslav Szaybo, whose designs appear on subsequent CBS releases by Boxer, Cafe Jacques, Crawler, Judas Priest, and Sutherland Brothers & Quiver.

Sailor lifted “A Glass of Champagne” as their fourth single (b/w “Panama”). 

They first mimed the song on Top of the Pops for the BBC music program’s long-lost December 4, 1975, broadcast, which also featured in-studio numbers by 10cc (“Art for Art’s Sake”), Andy Fairweather-Low (“Wide Eyed and Legless”), David Essex (“If I Could”), and Slade (“In for a Penny”). Sailor reappeared on the (also lost) 12/11 broadcast and twice-mimed “A Glass of Champagne” in January 1976 for the surviving 1/8 and 1/22 TotP broadcasts, which also featured in-studios by Barbara Dickson (“Answer Me”), Electric Light Orchestra (“Evil Woman”), Osibisa (“Sunshine Day”), and Slik (“Forever and Ever”). 

On the week of January 17, 1976, “A Glass of Champagne” reached No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart, where it lodged two weeks under “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen. “A Glass of Champagne” also reached No. 1 in Ireland and No. 3 in the Netherlands, West Germany, and Sweden. In Georg’s native Norway, the song peaked at No. 8. In Oceania, “A Glass of Champagne” reached No. 4 in Australia but didn’t chart in New Zealand, where Epic instead issued “The Old Nickelodeon Sound” as the lead single (b/w “Trouble in Hong Kong”).

In March 1976, Sailor lifted “Girls, Girls, Girls” as the second Trouble single (b/w “Jacaranda”).

Sailor mimed “Girls, Girls, Girls” for the April 1 and 15 TotP broadcasts, which also featured in-studio numbers by Fox (“S-S-S-Single Bed”), John Miles (“Music”), Tarney & Spencer (“I’m Your Man Rock n Roll”), and The Three Degrees (“A Toast of Love”).

“Girls, Girls, Girls” reached No. 2 in the Netherlands, Sweden, and West Germany and peaked at No. 3 in Austria. The song was also a hit in Norway (No. 6), Finland (No. 8), New Zealand (No. 13), and Ireland (No. 16). “Girls, Girls, Girls” peaked at No. 7 on the UK Singles Chart.

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The Third Step

Sailor released their third album, The Third Step, in September 1976 on Epic. 

The album contains ten Georg Kajanus originals, including “Stiletto Heels,” an upbeat nickelodeon tune akin to “A Glass of Champagne” with lyrics about a seaside floozie. 

Side A covers now-standard Sailor themes: the stumbling lush (“One Drink Too Many”), tropical getaways (“Cool Breeze,” a “Blue Desert” sequel), and red light action (“Two Ladies On the Corner”). On the ballad “Dancing,” Georg sees the childlike spirit inside a woman who leaves him spellbound. The Third Step offers further novelty in the pipe-horn traveling number “Hanna” and the echoing, spooky “Quay Hotel.”

Kajanus plays 12-string, charango, harmonium, and shares piano with Phil Pickett, who plays xylophone and calliope, a 19th-century steam organ. Phil’s synthesized strings counter the synthesized brass of bassist and fellow nickelodeon player Henry Marsh.

A1. “One Drink Too Many” (3:59)
A2. “Give Me la Samba” (3:17)
A3. “Cool Breeze” (3:21)
A4. “Two Ladies On the Corner” (2:45)
A5. “Dancing” (4:37)
B1. “Stiletto Heels” (3:11)
B2. “Out of Money” (2:55)
B3. “Hanna” (3:16)
B4. “Quay Hotel” (4:05)
B5. “Melancholy” (2:35)

Sailor recorded the album with Trouble engineer Jeffrey Lesser, who produced The Third Step with assistance from Mark-Almond soundman Bernie O’Gorman.

In the UK and Oceania, The Third Step appeared in a gatefold designed by the post-psych graphics firm Hipgnosis. It shows a red ribbon blowing from a dark vent (front) and a green ribbon doing likewise in the opposite direction (back). The lyrical inner-gates feature red-on-black text and a studio pic of Sailor (plain-clothed) with their instruments.

Initial European pressings feature a blue-sky gradient cover with red-on-white inner-gates. In 1977, The Third Step appeared in Japan and Spain with the UK cover.

“Stiletto Heels” appeared in mid-September as the first single (b/w “Out of Money”). It reached No. 11 in Sweden and No. 12 in Germany. In January 1977, “One Drink Too Many” became the second single (b/w “Melancholy”) and peaked just outside the German and Austrian Top 20’s.

Phil Pickett plays bagpipes on “Monck’s March,” recorded with Fairport Convention co-founder Ashley Hutchings and the Albion Morris Men for Son of Morris On, a 1976 all-star folk release on Import Records. During 1977, he took a leave of absence from Sailor.

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Checkpoint

Sailor released their fourth album, Checkpoint, in August 1977 on Epic. In Pickett’s absence, they recorded the album as a trio.

Checkpoint contains eight Georg Kajanus originals, including the steam-pipe “Checkpoint Charlie” and the nickelodeon ballad “Romance,” a complementary “Dancing” followup. “Joe’s Pianola” is a quaint vintage barfly’s paean akin to “The Old Nickelodeon Sound.” On “Down By the Docks,” they treat classic Sailor themes with a disco arrangement.

Grant Serpell and Henry Marsh co-wrote “Put Your Mouth Where the Money Is” and “Istanbul 6.25,” a locomotive instrumental.

A1. “Stay With Me Now” (4:03)
A2. “Romance” (4:15)
A3. “Keep Off the Streets st Night” (2:50)
A4. “Checkpoint Charlie” (5:30)
A5. “Joe’s Pianola” (2:33)
B1. “Down By the Docks” (5:38)
B2. “Put Your Mouth Where the Money Is” (2:45)
B3. “My Girl (She Knows What to Do)” (3:10)
B4. “Istanbul 6.25” (3:24)
B5. “Nothing Has Changed” (4:36)

Beach Boy Bruce Johnston co-produced Checkpoint with Curt “Becher,” better known as Curt Boettcher, an architect of Sixties sunshine pop (The Millennium, Sagittarius, October Country). Curt co-engineered Checkpoint with Steve Levine, a rookie soundman also credited on 1976/77 albums by Krazy Kat and UPP. 

“Down By the Docks” and “Nothing Has Changed” feature string arrangements by Thor Baldursson, a recent orchestrator on Giorgio Moroder productions for Donna Summer and Roberta Kelly.

Szaybo designed the cover, which shows a smuggled defector in the open trunk of a car (license plate SAILOR), photographed by Brian Cooke, whose images appear on concurrent Gull titles by Gary Boyle and Isotope.

“Down by the Docks” appeared in late August as the first single (b/w “Put Your Mouth Where the Money Is”). The single reached the Top 25 in Germany. In November. “Romance” became the second single (b/w “Istanbul 6.25”).

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“All I Need Is a Girl”

On March 31, 1978, Sailor released “All I Need Is a Girl,” a standalone Georg Kajanus a-side backed with “Copacabana,” a three-way composition by Henry Marsh, Grant Serpell, and Phil Pickett, who rejoined the band after a one-year absence.

A. “All I Need Is a Girl” (2:48)
B. “Copacabana” (3:00)

Kajanus produced the single, which Vibrators soundman Simon Humphrey engineered in sequence with punk singles by The Cortinas and The Drones.

In June, “Put Your Mouth Where the Money Is” reappeared as the UK b-side of “The Runway,” a non-album (for the time being) Pickett song produced by Kajanus.

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Hideaway

Sailor released their fifth album, Hideaway, in September 1978 on Magnet.

Hideaway marks the return of Phil Pickett, who wrote “Stranger In Paris,” “One Life One Love One Day,” and “Pyjama Party.” Grant Serpell and Henry Marsh continue their writing partnership with three contributions: “Stay the Night,” “Jamaica Girl,” and “I Wish I Had a Way With Women.”

Georg Kajanus wrote four songs: “Give Me Shakespeare,” “Ashes and Diamonds,” “When It Hurts You” and “Machines.” Kajanus splits acoustic guitar and synthesizer parts three ways with guitarist Marsh and bassist/organist Pickett, who both play piano.

A1. “Give Me Shakespeare” (3:16)
A2. “Stay the Night” (3:36)
A3. “Stranger In Paris” (3:32)
A4. “Ashes and Diamonds” (3:55)
A5. “Jamaica Girl” (2:56)
B1. “One Life One Love One Day” (3:06)
B2. “When It Hurts You” (3:13)
B3. “Pyjama Party” (2:44)
B4. “I Wish I Had a Way With Women” (2:46)
B5. “Machines” (3:58)

Kajanus produced Hideaway, the first Sailor album since their debut with no outside producer. The cover shows a half-revealed nude island woman caressing the gateway to a tropical resort. On the backside, Sailor stand at the gate, where Picket peaks to the other side. The lyrical inner-sleeve presents a monochrome layout of studio pics.

Sailor lifted “Give Me Shakespeare” as a late-September single (b/w “I Wish I Had a Way With Women”). It peaked just outside the Austrian Top 20. In November, the lifted “Stay the Night” (b/w “Pyjama Party”).

A third Hideaway single, “Stranger in Paris” (b/w “Jamaica Girl”) appeared in early 1979 in the Netherlands with a picture sleeve cropped from the album’s back cover. 

After promotions wrapped on Hideaway, Kajanus disbanded Sailor and formed Data, a synthpop trio with sisters Phillipa and Francesca Boulter. Serpell joined the backing band of new wave singer Greg Vandike. 

Pickett and Marsh formed a new band, The Private Eyes, with the brother/sister duo of Gavin and Virginia David, who Phil met at the Lostwithiel Folk Club in Cornwall. The Private Eyes soon morphed into a new iteration of Sailor.

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Dressed for Drowning

Sailor released their sixth album, Dressed for Drowning, in 1980 on Caribou.

The album contains nine songs composed by Phil Pickett, including “Starlight,” “Who Will Stop the Rain?” and “Danger On the Titanic,” an epic Queen-meets-ABBA single. Side B contains the re-recorded 1978 standalone “Runaway” and the Henry Marsh co-write “Pearl Harbor.” 

This was the only released album of the second Sailor iteration composed of Pickett, Marsh, and brother/sister singers Gavin and Virginia David, who joined the band under the working name Private Eyes, which spawned the Side A track “Private Eye.”

Marsh and Pickett hold dual roles on piano and synthesizer with respective contributions on lead guitar and 12-string. Gavin sings lead with Virginia, Phil, and Henry on backing vocals. The album features onetime Spoils of War drummer James Stoud.

A1. “Danger On the Titanic” (5:49)
A2. “Don’t Send Flowers” (3:45)
A3. “Private Eye” (5:22)
A4. “Don’t Look a Gift Horse” (5:13)
B1. “Runaway” (4:26)
B2. “Hat Check Girl” (2:56)
B3. “Pearl Harbor” (4:42)
B4. “Starlight” (3:41)
B5. “Who Will Stop the Rain” (5:09)

Sessions occurred in Nederland, Colorado, at the Caribou Ranch, a Rocky Mountains facility owned by former Chicago producer James William Guercio, who produced Dressed for Drowning in sequence with Ouch!, the fourth album by another recent Caribou client, German rockers Lake. He added bass and backing vocals to “Pearl Harbor.”

Dressed for Drowning was engineered by Wayne Tarnowski, a recent Aurra and Slave soundman with earlier credits behind Compost, Madura, Weather Report, and Chicago’s 1972–77 albums V, VI, VII, VIII, X, and XI. Tarnowski plays tenor saxophone on “Don’t Look a Gift Horse.”

Stoud also plays on 1979/80 albums by Dionne Warwick, Melissa Manchester, Paul Davis, and the S.O.S. Band.

Photography – Elliot Gilbert
Design – Andrea Klein (Sleeve), John Berg (Album)

A second recorded Sailor album by the David-siblings lineup, TV Land, remained in the vaults. Under the moniker David, Virginia cut the 1982 single “Am I Normal?” on Stiletto Records; written by Deborah Berg and Julian Marshall, collectively known as Eye to Eye.

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Discography:

• Sailor (1974)
• Trouble (1975)
• The Third Step (1976)
• Checkpoint (1977)
• Hideaway (1978)
• Dressed for Drowning (1980)
• Sailor (1991)
• Street Lamp (1992)
• Live in Berlin (1998)

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Sources:

• Discogs: Sailor
• English S Albums Directory
• 45worlds: Sailor
• 45cat: Sailor
• Sailor-Music.com: albums