Eric Faulkner

born on 21/10/1953 in Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom

Eric Faulkner

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Eric Faulkner (born 21 October 1953) is a guitarist, songwriter, and singer, best known as a member of the Scottish pop band, the Bay City Rollers.

Eric Faulkner was born at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh, Scotland. As a youngster he learned to play the viola and played for a time in a youth orchestra. He is also adept at playing the violin, mandolin, bass and keyboards.

Faulkner joined the Bay City Rollers in 1972 as their guitarist, after a period with the group KIP (previously known as Sugar). Faulkner was a member of the Rollers for the remainder of their existence into the 1980s. He wrote more than half of the recorded catalogue of Rollers songs including the UK Singles Chart hits "Money Honey" and "Love Me Like I Love You". Although the songs were credited Faulkner/Wood, in reality the vast majority were penned by Faulkner alone, many written before he had even joined the band. It was late in the bands career before any true collaboration took place.

In 1976, during the Rollers heyday, Faulkner made headlines for an alleged parasuicide attempt via sleeping pill overdose.[1] The incident was turned into a media opportunity by Bay City Rollers manager, Tam Paton who allegedly phoned the press before emergency services; Faulkner maintains the overdose was accidental and not a suicide attempt.

In the 1990s, he worked as lead singer of a reformed version of the Bay City Rollers, which also featured Alan Longmuir, Stuart Wood and singer Karen "Kass" Prosser. He also toured with his own band, The Eric Faulkner Co-operative that he founded with Kass.

Faulkner performed at Guilfest 2006 with 3 Men & Black, featuring Pauline Black from The Selecter. During the set he led a tribute to the late Syd Barrett and sang "See Emily Play", as well as "Radio Heaven", a recent song he penned, and a rendition of the Bay City Rollers hit "Shang-a-Lang". Faulkner continued to perform with 3 Men & Black as a support act on their 2006 concert tour.

In 2007, Faulkner continued as a solo artist and appeared at the Glastonbury Festival as a protest singer in support of British politician Tony Benn.[1] arranged for him to end his performance by introducing Tony Benn on the Left Field stage under the banner "Another World is Possible". He also performs all the old favourite Roller tunes as Eric Faulkner's Bay City Rollers at festivals such as Rebellion and Mathew Street.

Recent festival performances for his solo acoustic set have included The Acoustic Festival of Britain, Fèis Ìle (Islay Festival of Music and Malt), Parkfest and The Edinburgh Guitar and Music Festival. He is also much in demand to lead Singer/Songwriter Circles and Guitar Masterclasses. Faulkner and the five other former Bay City Rollers members filed a lawsuit in 2007 against Arista Records which alleged a breach of contract for unpaid royalties.[2][3]

References

  1. Braiden, Gerry, What's the story with . . . the Bay City Rollers?, 23 June 2007.
  2. Bay City Rollers File Suit Against Arista Records for Millions in Unpaid Royalties. Press Release. Holland & Knight (20 March 2007).
  3. Bay City Rollers sue record label, 21 March 2007.
  • Irwin Stambler, Encyclopedia of Pop, Rock & Soul. 1974. St. Martin's Press, Inc. New York, N.Y. ISBN 0-312-02573-4

External links

  • www.ericfaulkner.co.uk (Official Website)
  • www.thearmyoflove.co.uk (Approved Fan Website)
This page was last modified 13.12.2013 03:42:51

This article uses material from the article Eric Faulkner from the free encyclopedia Wikipedia and it is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.