Pete Atkin (born 22 August 1945) is a British singer-songwriter and radio producer, notable for his 1970s musical collaborations with Clive James and for producing the BBC Radio 4 series, This Sceptred Isle.

Early life

Born in Cambridge, England, Atkin attended Romsey County Primary School where he began to play the violin, and subsequently attended The Perse School. He taught himself piano and guitar. In 1959, he formed a church youth club band called 'The Chevrons' for whom he played piano with four schoolfriends. He studied Classics and English at St John's College, Cambridge.

Music career

Atkin made his first recording in 1967: a private pressing of 160 copies of While The Music Lasts, with vocals by Atkin and fellow Footlights alum Julie Covington and songs written by Atkin solo as well as with Clive James. Next year he was taken to EMI with Julie Covington to record the most popular number from the 1967 Revue Show: the complex "Duet", which had appeared on his first album. At six minutes, it was too long to be a single and has never received commercial release; the tape has since been lost. Atkin released a second privately pressed album, consisting of 99 copies, in 1969. The Party's Moving On featured performances by Atkin and Covington and songs co-written by James.

Essex Music funded the recording of fourteen Atkin/James tracks in 1969. The producer, Don Paul, was a friend of the disc jockey Kenny Everett, who played, amongst others, the song "Master of the Revels."

In 1970, Atkin, Covington and Dai Davies recorded a series of twelve 15-minute programmes edited by James for London Weekend Television. These shows, also called The Party's Moving On, each featured three songs and were broadcast only in London late at night. They led to the commissioning of the larger revue format series What Are You Doing After The Show?. That year, Covington released several singles penned by Atkin and James, followed by the 1970 release of Atkin's first album Beware of the Beautiful Stranger. In 1971, Covington released her first album, The Beautiful Changes with the majority of songs by Atkin and James.

Atkin did, and still does, write his own lyrics, but it was the collaboration with Clive James that produced his most famous songs. Despite the investment this implied, Atkin and James became increasingly dissatisfied with their handling by RCA. After the release of the next album Secret Drinker they had no wish to continue the relationship, and to fill their contractual obligations they concocted the album Live Libel, a collection of humour pieces which Atkin had used over the years to lighten the mood in concerts. Paradoxically this album resulted in their most successful tour to date, as James joined Atkin on stage for an evening of song, satire and poetry. James read from his epic poetic satire, The Fate of Felicity Fark in the Land of the Media while Atkin sang songs from the latest release and previous favourites.

To their dismay, the offers from other record labels did not flow in after the tour ended. Clive James returned to his blossoming career in television, while Atkin, after trying to make a living as a carpenter, responded to a 'Situation Vacant' notice from the BBC, and thus embarked on the next phase of his career.

Songs

James' lyrics were far from mainstream popular music, being frequently dense with poetic references. At their most accessible they might describe the life of a machine tool shop supervisor, as in "Carnations on the Roof". The song "My Egoist", in contrast, is translated almost entirely from a poem by Guillaume Apollinaire. Other references include Rainer Maria Rilke's Duino Elegies and William Shakespeare's sonnets.

Atkin's musical settings drew most of their inspiration from Tin Pan Alley, although in the above-mentioned "Carnations on the Roof" he set a sombre description of a working class life to themes characteristic of Tamla Motown. Often Atkin turned James' intentions upside down, as with "The Last Hill That Shows You All The Valley", which James wrote as a dirge but which Atkin set to a thumping, angry rock beat. The combination worked as James' mournful cataloguing of man's inhumanity to man became a cry of protest.

A sonnet in French by Gérard de Nerval, "El Desdichado", which begins "Je suis le ténébreux, le veuf" (roughly I am the shadowy man, the widower), inspired two separate lyrics by James, one of which was "The Shadow and the Widower", an interior dialogue reflecting on a failed romance as a man wanders home through a sterile urban landscape. The same poem, coincidentally, was set to music and performed by Flanders and Swann. A detailed breakdown of the references within this song (and several others) can be found on Atkin's website.

Other work

While James became a well-known television personality and Atkin a radio producer, their music catalogue went out of print until all six original albums were re-released on CD in the 1990s.

In September 2023, Atkin released a second collaboration with Simon Wallace, The Luck of the Draw. The fourteen-track record included five songs from their 1970s records, two songs originally written for and recorded by Julie Covington, five from their recordings in the 2000s, including The Lakeside Sessions and Winter Spring, and two previously unreleased songs.

The "Midnight Voices" mailing list has now been replaced by an online discussion forum with multiple subject areas.

Discography

As a performer

Solo albums

  • Beware of the Beautiful Stranger – LP, Fontana (1970)
  • Driving Through Mythical America – LP, Philips (1971)
  • A King at Nightfall – LP, RCA (1973)
  • The Road of Silk – LP, RCA (1974)
  • Secret Drinker – LP, RCA (1974)
  • Live Libel – LP, RCA (1975)
  • The Lakeside Sessions, Volume 1: History & Geography – CD, Hillside Music (2001)
  • The Lakeside Sessions, Volume 2: A Dream of Fair Women – CD, Hillside Music (2001)
  • Winter Spring – CD, 10 new songs, Hillside Music (2003)
  • Midnight Voices – CD 15 songs, Hillside Music (official release in February 2008)
  • The Colours Of The Night – CD 13 songs, Hillside Music (official release in July 2015)
  • The Luck of the Draw – CD 14 songs, Hillside Music (official release in September 2023)

Reissues

  • Beware of the Beautiful Stranger – LP, RCA (1973)
  • Driving Through Mythical America – LP, RCA (1973)
  • Beware of the Beautiful Stranger / Driving Through Mythical America – 2-on-1 CD, See For Miles (1997), now deleted
  • A King at Nightfall / The Road of Silk...plus – Double CD, See For Miles (2001), now deleted
  • Secret Drinker / Live Libel – 2-on-1 CD, See For Miles (2001), now deleted
  • The Lakeside Sessions – Double CD, Hillside Music (2002)
  • Beware of the Beautiful Stranger – CD, Edsel (2009)
  • Driving Through Mythical America – CD, Edsel (2009)
  • A King at Nightfall / The Road of Silk – double CD, Edsel (2009)
  • Secret Drinker / Live Libel – double CD, Edsel (2009)

Singles

  • Be Careful When They Offer You The Moon / Master of the Revels – 7", Philips 6006 050 (1970)
  • Carnations on the Roof / Screen-Freak – 7", RCA 2329 (1973)
  • Master of the Revels / Thief in the Night – 7", RCA 2416 (1973)
  • The Man Who Walked Towards The Music / Senior Citizens – 7", RCA LPBO 5012 (1974)
  • I See The Joker / Sessionman's Blues (both new versions) – 7", RCA 2517 (1975)

With the Shrinks

  • Horfield To Hollywood – CD, (2000)
  • On The Stoop – CD, (2002)
  • More Damned Lies – CD, (2003)
  • Further Along The Road – CD, (2006)
  • Modern Sounds of Cotham & Westbury – CD, (2009)
  • That's How It Looks – CD, (2012)
  • Kissed by the Queen – CD, (2015)
  • Our Greatest Hits – CD, (2020)

Compilations (Atkin only)

  • Rider to the World's End – Cassette, RCA
  • Master of the Revels – LP, RCA (1977)
  • Touch Has A Memory – CD and cassette, RCA (1990)

Compilations (various artists)

  • Heads Together / First Round – LP, Songwriters' Workshop sampler, Vertigo (1971)
  • The Mermaid Frolics – LP, Amnesty Gala Benefit album, Polydor (1977)
  • Down River Recordings: – Live Volume 1 – CD, Martin & Kingsbury (2002)
  • 9 x 2 – English Contemporary Chanson – CD, Irregular Records (2002)

Private issues

  • While The Music Lasts – LP, Private Issue (1967)
  • The Party's Moving On – LP, Private Issue (1969)
  • Pete Atkin At Monyash – CD, Private Issue (concert) (1997)

As a writer

Recorded music

  • The Beautiful Changes Julie Covington – LP, Columbia (1971)
  • The Beautiful Changes...plus Julie Covington, Re-issue – CD, See For Miles (1999)

Books

  • A First Folio – Songs from "The Road of Silk" and "Secret Drinker" albums

Musicals

  • A & R (Artist & Repertoire) – A play with songs (1977)

Cover versions

  • Master of the Revels – Don Partridge
  • Errant Knight – John The Fish
  • The Flowers and the Wine – Val Doonican
  • The Flowers and the Wine – John The Fish
  • The Flowers and the Wine – Doug Ashdown
  • Girl on the Train – Joe Stead
  • Touch Has A Memory – Wizz Jones
  • A Hill of Little Shoes – Coope Boyes and Simpson
  • Touch Has A Memory – Fiona Egan

References

<small>Most of this article is derived from Atkin's own sleeve notes or from the sources listed here. Where the source may not be clear it has been included as a comment that is visible in Edit mode.</small>

  • Atkin, Pete. 'Pete Atkin Chronology', Smash Flops, (1996). Retrieved 30 November 2005.
  • The Complete Pete Atkin Discography including lyrics, chords, parody lyrics audio samples, and unreleased songs.
  • PeteAtkin.com – Extensive website – unofficial but "recognised and encouraged" by Pete Atkin