Monocled Alchemist

“The Pied Piper” / “Sweet Dawn My True Love” (Decca F. 12359) March 1966

Crispian St. Peters | The Pied Piper | (Decca) 1966 | A very clever song, yet commercial, to the full. Should be as big as “Always On My Mind”. Starts softly, then into a march-along chorus line, with original piping effects and a steady beat. A most appealing single, with patches of light and shade.
Good self-penned flip. (Record Mirror, 26/03/66)

Crispian St. Peters | The Pied Piper | (Decca) 1966

I must admit it now. I was given to thinking at one point that Mr St. Peters would never see the light of day again after “You Were On My Mind” had left the chart.

I’m wrong. This is, if anything, a better record than that. It builds up very much like his hit with an exceptionally catchy chorus. I must say I’m swayed by phrases like “I’ll show you where it’s at” anyway, but this is good. And Crispy toast has developed a very individual sound on record. A hit methinks.

“Sweet Dawn My True Love” on the flip. (Disc Weekly, 26/03/66)

Crispian Calms Down

EVER since his first hit, people have been asking: “Just who is Crispian St. Peters?” To many, he is the first major solo disc discovery this year. To others he is an untalented loudmouth. To some his name means about as much as a Welsh railway junction.

When I met him shortly after “You Were On My Mind” entered the chart last January, he made some startling comments. He was going to be bigger than Presley; more talented than Sammy Davis Jr.

I met him again recently in his dressing-room at an Eastbourne club. He was dressed in tight-fitting black trousers, suede jacket, white polo-neck sweater and a black matador’s hat.

“Perhaps I was wrong to have made the statements I did, having had only one hit,” he explained, drawing on his cigarette.” But I don’t really want to talk about that now.”

Crispian St. Peters is not an easy chap to understand. He is about as enigmatic as a schizophrenic chameleon—a man of many roles, who plays them all with equal success.

Crispian wears a permanently worried expression, but laughs loudly when something tickles his dry sense of humour. He talks slowly and deliberately in a slightly Australian-tinged accent. (having spent several months in Sydney.) He jumps from one subject to another.

Crispian St. Peters | The Pied Piper | (Decca) 1966

Crispian admits that success HAS changed him. “I eat, drink and smoke a lot more than I did before,” he said, as he opened a bottle of beer.

” I can now do many things I’ve always wanted to, but could never afford. I’m not any happier now, though. But I feel a lot more secure.

“I cleared off all the debts I had. Lots of people, particularly my mother, helped me when times were hard. Now I want to repay them all.”

Success has also provided Crispian with a new Jaguar and a luxury flat near Hyde Park. Both these acquisitions have given him the feeling of security which he finds important.

He explained: “If you’ve ever been really broke and hungry as I have, then, when money does come your way, you find that material possessions are essential.

“Some pop singers find an expression of extravagance in their clothes, but I don’t regard this as being as important as having an elegant and select home.”

Crispian’s flat is being decorated by a team of interior designers, on his choice of colours.

“I have also been looking around for an artist to paint a mural for me in the living-room. When the flat is complete, I’m going to have lots of parties and invite all the people who helped me in the past.”

Crispian likes to be alone, and to get away from it all he wants to buy himself a large country house.

“I want some place with about 20 acres of land, so that I can wander about on my own,” he said, lighting a cigarette with a gold lighter.

“It would also be somewhere I could practise shooting. I’ve always been interested in guns and cowboys.”

Sitting there, a tall, thin figure with his matador’s hat, Crispian looked all set for a life in the saddle, and admitted that, despite his search for security, he was a restless person.

“I’ve worked at almost every job imaginable, simply because I couldn’t settle down.”

Crispian’s success Is due largely to one man — his astute 19-year-old manager, Dave Nicolson, who also produces his records. Since they first met, when Crispian was completely unknown, Dave has worked to create a star. Now his efforts are beginning to pay off. But for Dave this is only the beginning.

” I am convinced Crispian is going to be an enormous star,” he told me. “We’ve made it this far. I don’t see anything to stop us now.” (NME, 15/04/66)

Crispian St. Peters | The Pied Piper | (Decca) 1966

I’m no saint!

SAYS CRISPIAN ST. PETERS, that young man with the improbable name, hit the chart with “You Were On My Mind” —and netted himself a Silver Disc in the process. He also netted a few knockers. too.

They said he was a “one-hit merchant.” Also that he was getting a bit too big for his boots. This last comment brought on by Crispian’s out-spoken remarks on the pop trade —especially the Beatles.

Well, Crispian has confounded his critics. By hitting back with another hit—this time with the appropriately titled “Pied Piper.”

Did those criticisms bring Crispian down?” I did worry about them a bit,” he says frankly. “But then I thought, it’s no use getting upset. What’s the good if you don’t speak your mind?”

Of course, Crispian is thrilled at having another hit. But his big ambition is to get one of his own compositions up there in the chart. The higher the better.

“On my forthcoming album, twelve of the fourteen tracks are my own songs,” he says. Pretty courageous considering Crispian’s first two singles—also his own compositions—made as much impact on the chart as a Mozart minuet.

Adds Crispian: “My numbers have all been B sides up to the present. But some of them are good enough to be A sides.” PERHAPS THE FANS WILL SHARE CRISPIAN’S FEELINGS. CERTAINLY THEY HAVE ABOUT HIS TWO LATEST SINGLES. EVEN THOUGH HE DIDN’T WRITE THEM.

(Disc Weekly, 16/04/66)