Russ Sainty (born Alfred Charles Sainty; April 1936 –28 November 2021) was an English

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm an ...

and

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' (G ...

singer.

Life and career

Sainty was born in

Leyton Leyton () is a town in east London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It borders Walthamstow to the north, Leytonstone to the east, and Stratford to the south, with Clapton, Hackney Wick and Homerton, across the Rive ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

. He first performed as a singer with the Buddy Monroe Five, before becoming a regular at the

2i's Coffee Bar The 2i's Coffee Bar was a coffeehouse at 59 Old Compton Street in Soho, London, that was open from 1956 to 1970. It played a formative role in the emergence of Britain's skiffle and rock and roll music culture in the late 1950s, and several maj ...

Soho Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was develo ...

. He was a contemporary of

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...

and

the Shadows The Shadows (originally known as the Drifters) were an English instrumental rock group, who dominated the British popular music charts in the late 1950s and early 1960s, in the pre- Beatles era. They served as the backing band for Cliff Richar ...

, and was often backed by

Tony Sheridan Anthony Esmond Sheridan McGinnity (21 May 1940 – 16 February 2013), known professionally as Tony Sheridan, was an English rock and roll guitarist who spent much of his adult life in Germany. He was best known as an early collaborator of th ...

's band. He then joined a band, the Nu-Notes, who became known around London for performing versions of current American hit records. Around this time, he adopted the professional name of Russ Sainty. In late 1958 he turned down the chance to record

Lionel Bart Lionel Bart (1 August 1930 – 3 April 1999) was a British writer and composer of pop music and musicals. He wrote Tommy Steele's " Rock with the Caveman" and was the sole creator of the musical ''Oliver!'' (1960). With ''Oliver!'' and his work ...

's song " Living Doll", which became a hit for Cliff Richard.Tim Ewbank, ''Cliff: An Intimate Portrait of a Living Legend'', 2010, p.149
/ref> In 1959, Sainty passed an audition for the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

, which led to him making regular appearances on radio programmes including '' Saturday Club''. He was the opening act at the

Butlin's Butlin's is a chain of large seaside resorts in the United Kingdom. Butlin's was founded by Billy Butlin to provide affordable holidays for ordinary British families. Between 1936 and 1966, ten camps were built, including one in Ireland and o ...

holiday camp in

Bognor Regis Bognor Regis (), sometimes simply known as Bognor (), is a town and seaside resort in West Sussex on the south coast of England, south-west of London, west of Brighton, south-east of Chichester and east of Portsmouth. Other nearby to ...

, and in 1960 at the

California Ballroom The California Ballroom, nicknamed "Cali" and "Soul City", was a 2000-capacity music venue, being one of the United Kingdom's best-known soul music venues outside London. Located in Whipsnade Road, Dunstable, Bedfordshire, the venue was open from ...

Dunstable Dunstable ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, east of the Chiltern Hills, north of London. There are several steep chalk escarpments, most noticeable when approaching Dunstable from the north. Dunstable is the ...

, where he became a regular performer.Steve Deeks, "Tributes paid after death of Hayling Island rock 'n' roll legend Russ Sainty who performed with The Rolling Stones and Cliff Richard", ''The News, Portsmouth'', 29 November 2021
Retrieved 22 February 2022"Dunstable California Ballroom favourite dies aged 85", ''Luton News Herald & Post'', 30 November 2021
Retrieved 22 February 2022
Retrieved 22 February 2022 Sainty released several singles on various

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the prod ...

s, including

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in We ...

Top Rank Top Rank, Inc. is a boxing promotional company founded by Jabir Herbert Muhammad and Bob Arum, which was incorporated in 1973, and is based in Las Vegas, Nevada. Since its founding, Top Rank has promoted many world class fighters, including Muh ...

, and

HMV Sunrise Records and Entertainment, trading as HMV (for His Master's Voice), is a British music and entertainment retailer, currently operating exclusively in the United Kingdom. The first HMV-branded store was opened by the Gramophone Company ...

in the early 1960s. None became chart hits, but he is best remembered for his version of " Send Me the Pillow You Dream On", a hit at the time for

Johnny Tillotson Johnny Tillotson (born April 20, 1938) is an American singer-songwriter. He enjoyed his greatest success in the early 1960s, when he scored nine top-ten hits on the pop, country, and adult contemporary ''Billboard'' charts, including " Poetry ...

. In 1963, he performed at the top of a bill with support from

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

. He continued performing regularly at the California Ballroom until 1965, making a total of 338 appearances there. He married and opened a restaurant, and continued to perform in clubs in Britain and South Africa, as well as on cruise ships. In 1982, he became entertainments manager for Warners at

Hayling Island Hayling Island is an island off the south coast of England, in the borough of Havant in the county of Hampshire, east of Portsmouth. History An Iron Age shrine in the north of Hayling Island was later developed into a Roman temple in the 1st c ...

. He later performed as a member of

The Dallas Boys The Dallas Boys were a five-piece vocal group from Leicester, England who were regular performers on British television in the 1950s and 1960s. They have been described as "Britain's first boy band". History The group formed in Leicester and co ...

, as well as making occasional solo appearances. In 2008 he published an autobiography, ''King of the 'Cali. He died in 2021, aged 85.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sainty, Russ 1936 births 2021 deaths English pop singers People from Leyton British rock and roll musicians