Crispian St Peters

Born: Robin Peter Smith, 5 April 1943, Swanley, Ke

Originally a member of UK pop group the Beat Formula Three, Smith was plucked from obscurity by manager Dave Nicolson, rechristened Crispian St. Peters and signed to a 10-year management and production contract. After two unsuccessful singles for Decca Records ("At This Moment" and "No No No") Nicolson persuaded him to cover We Five's US hit "You Were On My Mind". Although the single was almost buried in the pre-Christmas sales rush of 1965, it continued to sell into the New Year and took Crispian into the UK Top 10. Under Nicolson's tutelage, the shy star was momentarily transformed into arrogance incarnate and astonished the conservative music press of the period by his suggestion that he had written 80 songs of better quality than those of the Beatles. Other stars were also waved aside as Crispian announced that he was better than Elvis Presley: "I'm going to make Presley look like the Statue of Liberty . . . I am sexier than Dave Berry and more exciting than Tom Jones . . . and the Beatles are past it'. Outraged readers denounced him in letters columns, but St. Peters returned stronger than ever with the sprightly "Pied Piper", a Top 10 hit on both sides of the Atlantic. Thereafter he was remembered more for his idle boasts than his music. After successive chart failures, he switched to country, a form that better suited his singing style. Serious psychological problems hampered his remote chances of a comeback and he fell into obscurity, reappearing irregularly on the flickering revivalist circuit.

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