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, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

and

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

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 Ri ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

. He first performed as a singer with the Buddy Monroe Five, before becoming a regular at the 2i's Coffee Bar in

Soho SoHo, short for "South of Houston Street, Houston Street", is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Since the 1970s, the neighborhood has been the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, art installations such as The Wall ...

. He was a contemporary of

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is a British singer and actor. He has total sales of over 21.5 million singles in the United Kingdom and, as of 2012, was the third-top-selling artist in UK Singles Chart histo ...

and

the Shadows The Shadows (originally known as the Drifters between 1958 and 1959) were an English instrumental rock group, who dominated the British popular music charts in the pre-Beatles era from the late 1950s to the early 1960s. They served as the bac ...

, 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 an English 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 The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, 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 resort, seaside resorts in the United Kingdom, incorporated as Butlins Skyline Limited. Butlin's was founded by Billy Butlin to provide affordable holidays for ordinary British families. Between 1936 and 1 ...

holiday camp in

Bognor Regis Bognor Regis (), also 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 towns include Littleham ...

, and in 1960 at the California Ballroom in

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 fou ...

, 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 "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

s, including

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

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 M ...

, and

His Master's Voice His Master's Voice is an entertainment trademark featuring a dog named Nipper, curiously peering into the horn of a wind-up gramophone. Painted by Francis Barraud in 1898, the image has since become a global symbol used across consumer elect ...

in the early 1960s. None became chart hits, but he is best remembered for his version of "

Send Me the Pillow You Dream On "Send Me the Pillow You Dream On" is a country song written and recorded by Hank Locklin. The song has become a standard for the Nashville sound, and has been covered by pop, country, and bluegrass artists. Locklin first released the song in 78-d ...

", a hit at the time for

Johnny Tillotson Johnny Tillotson (April 20, 1938 – April 1, 2025) was 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, incl ...

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

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

. 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, later developed into a Roman temple in the 1st cent ...

. 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 com ...

, 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 Singers from the London Borough of Waltham Forest