Lord David Paul Nicholas Dundas (born 2 June 1945) is an English musician and actor, best known for his chart success in the pop genre during the 1970s, including his biggest hit " Jeans On", as well as his later career in film and television scores.

Biography

Dundas was born in

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, the second son of the 3rd Marquess of Zetland and his wife, Penelope Pike. As a younger son of a

marquess A marquess (; ) is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German-language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman with the rank of a marquess or the wife (or wid ...

, he is entitled to the courtesy title 'Lord'. He was educated at Harrow and the

Central School of Speech and Drama The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, commonly shortened to Central, is a drama school founded by Elsie Fogerty in 1906, as the Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art, to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for ...

. While at the Central School, Dundas shared a house on Albert Street in

Camden Town Camden Town () is an area in the London Borough of Camden, around north-northwest of Charing Cross. Historically in Middlesex, it is identified in the London Plan as one of 34 major centres in Greater London. Laid out as a residential distri ...

with actor Vivian MacKerrell and film director

Bruce Robinson Bruce Robinson (born 2 May 1946) is an English actor, director, screenwriter and novelist. He wrote and directed '' Withnail and I'' (1987), a film with comic and tragic elements set in London in the late 1960s, which drew on his experiences as ...

, which his parents bought for him; eventually, according to Dundas himself, "15 people were living there – there were three bedrooms". Those years served as the basis for Robinson's unpublished memoir and the film ''

Withnail & I ''Withnail and I'' is a 1987 British black comedy film written and directed by Bruce Robinson. Loosely based on Robinson's life in London in the late 1960s, the plot follows two unemployed actors, Withnail and "I" (portrayed by Richard E. Grant ...

'' (1987). Dundas co-wrote the score for the film, considered "one of Britain's biggest cult films". On 17 December 1971, Dundas married Corinna Maeve Wolfe Scott, and they had two children. They divorced in 1995. Dundas then married Taina Bettina Breuckmann on 21 November 1997, and they had one son.

Musical career

His 1976 single " Jeans On" reached No. 3 in the UK Singles Chart, No. 17 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and No. 1 in the German Singles Chart, where the song remained 19 weeks in the Top Ten. The song originally appeared as a television advertising

jingle A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meanings that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually ...

for Brutus Jeans (the words used in the jingle – "I pull my Brutus jeans on" – were replaced with "I pull my old blue jeans on" for the single release). The single was later sampled by

Fatboy Slim Norman Quentin Cook (born Quentin Leo Cook, 31 July 1963), also known as Fatboy Slim, is an English musician and DJ who helped popularise the big beat genre in the 1990s. His music makes extensive use of Sampling (music), samples from eclectic ...

for his track "Sho Nuff" which was also used in an advertisement in 2006 for the

SEAT Ibiza The SEAT Ibiza is a supermini car that has been manufactured by Spanish car manufacturer SEAT since 1984. It is SEAT's best-selling car. The Ibiza is named after the Spanish island of Ibiza and was the second SEAT model to be named after a Span ...

. Dundas's follow-up single, "Another Funny Honeymoon" was a medium-sized hit, reaching No. 29 in the UK. Dundas performed the song live on the

BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1 January 1927. It p ...

show, ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...

'', in 1977. A later single, "Where Were You Today", based on a C&A radio commercial ("Come and C and A" being replaced by the song title) was less successful. Jingles made by Dundas for Capital Radio were played daily on the station in the 1970s: "Grab a little piece of heaven, with Roger Scott from 3 to 7" and "Get a little soft rock, country, blues, with Tony Myatt from 11 to 2". Dundas co-wrote the song " Come to Me (I Am Woman)", which was recorded by

ABBA ABBA ( ) were a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. They are one of the most popular and successful musical groups of all time, and are one of the List ...

singer

Frida Frida, Frieda, or Freida may refer to: People and fictional characters *Frida (given name), any of several people or characters ** *Frieda (surname), any of several people or characters *Afroditi Frida (born 1964), Greek singer *Frida (singer) ...

and included on her 1984 album, '' Shine''. The following year it was recorded and released as a single by actress

Su Pollard Susan Georgina "Su" Pollard (born 7 November 1949) is a British actress, singer, songwriter and author whose career has spanned over 50 years. Pollard is most known for her role in the sitcom '' Hi-de-Hi!'' She also appeared in the sitcoms '' Y ...

Discography

Albums

* 1977 ''David Dundas'' (AUS No. 82) * 1978 ''Vertical Hold'' * 1987 ''

Withnail and I ''Withnail and I'' is a 1987 British black comedy film written and directed by Bruce Robinson. Loosely based on Robinson's life in London in the late 1960s, the plot follows two unemployed actors, Withnail and "I" (portrayed by Richard E. Gra ...

'' otion Picture Soundtrack

Singles

Film and television (as an actor)

* 1968 ''City '68'' (TV series) – Tony Lambert * 1968 ''A Man of our Times'' (TV series) – Roy * 1968 ''Pere Goriot'' (TV mini-series) – Eugène de Rastignac * 1968 '' Prudence and the Pill'' – Tony Bates * 1968 ''Boy Meets Girl'' (TV series) – Mic * 1969 ''

ITV Saturday Night Theatre ''ITV Sunday Night Theatre'', originally titled ''ITV Saturday Night Theatre'' and often shortened to simply ''Sunday Night Theatre'' or ''Saturday Night Theatre'', is a British television anthology series screened on ITV, whose episodes were co ...

'' (TV series) – Matthew Fairchild * 1969 ''

Mosquito Squadron ''Mosquito Squadron'' is a 1969 British war film made by Oakmont Productions, directed by Boris Sagal and starring David McCallum. The raid echoes Operation Jericho, a combined RAF–Maquis (World War II), Maquis raid which freed French prison ...

'' – Flight Lieutenant Douglas Shelton, RAF * 1971 '' Paul Temple'' (TV series) – Joe Brand * 1972 ''Shelley'' (TV movie) – Thomas Jefferson Hogg * 1973 ''Weir of Hermiston'' (TV series) – Frank Innes * 1975 ''

Churchill's People ''Churchill's People'' is a series of 26 historical dramas produced by the BBC, based on Winston Churchill's '' A History of the English-Speaking Peoples''. They were first broadcast on BBC1 in 1974 and 1975. It was produced to mark the centena ...

'' (TV series) – Prince Edward * 1986 '' When the Wind Blows'' – credited as an actor

Film and television (as a musician)

* 1971 ''Private Road'' – co-wrote original score with Michael Feast and George Fenton. * 1972 ''Weir of Hermiston'', BBC Scotland. * 1982 '' Fourscore'' – music for the launch of

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

, used for over ten years but no longer featured on the channel. * 1983 ''Daybreak'' – start up music for

TV-am TV-am was a TV company that broadcast the ITV franchise for breakfast television in the United Kingdom from 1 February 1983 until 31 December 1992. The station was the UK's first national operator of a commercial breakfast television franchise ...

in its early years, also used as the theme to the hour-long early morning news programme of the same name (also on TV-am), initially presented by

Robert Kee Robert Kee (5 October 1919 – 11 January 2013) was a British broadcaster, journalist, historian and writer, known for his historical works on World War II and Ireland. Life and career Kee was born on 5 October 1919 in Calcutta, India, ...

; * 1986 'Gilding the Lily' – piano score in the style of

Erik Satie Eric Alfred Leslie Satie (born 17 May 18661 July 1925), better known as Erik Satie, was a French composer and pianist. The son of a French father and a British mother, he studied at the Conservatoire de Paris, Paris Conservatoire but was an undi ...

for the iconic TV commercial for Simple skincare in which robotic arms spray a pristine white lily with colouring and perfume; * 1987 ''

'', original score; * 1989 '' How to Get Ahead in Advertising'', co-wrote original score with Rick Wentworth; * 1989 ''Get Ready'' – for the rebranding of ITV by English Markell Pockett (and later used in the idents for

Border Television ITV Border, previously Border Television and commonly referred to as simply Border, is the Channel 3 service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the England/Scotland border region, covering most of Cumbria and Dumfries and Galloway, the ...

in the mid-1990s, it was also used for

Tyne Tees Television ITV Tyne Tees, previously known as Tyne Tees, Channel 3 North East and Tyne Tees Television, is the ITV (TV network), ITV television franchisee for North East England and parts of North Yorkshire. Tyne Tees launched on 15 January 1959 from stu ...

's non ITV generic idents from 1991 to 1992); * 1992 '' Freddie as F.R.O.7'', co-wrote original score with Rick Wentworth. * c. 1993 Television commercials for the Kraft General Foods, Inc. product, "Country Time Lemonade Drink Mix" featured a Dundas composition called "I Keep Your Picture" as background music. * 1998 – another ITV rebranding, under the title "Television from the Heart", for FutureBrand English & Pockett.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dundas, Lord David 1945 births Living people Musicians from Oxford Younger sons of marquesses People educated at Harrow School Alumni of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama British soft rock musicians English male singers English male actors English composers English people of Scottish descent Chrysalis Records artists Jingle composers