Christopher Frederick Andrews (born 15 October 1942) is an English-German singer-songwriter and producer, whose musical career started in the late 1950s.[1][2][3][4] His biggest hits as a solo artist include "To Whom It Concerns", "Yesterday Man", and "Pretty Belinda". He had thirteen number one songs between five countries between 1965 and 1970.
When Andrews was in his mid teens, he had formed his own group, Chris Ravel and the Ravers.[5] One of the records made by the Ravers, which according to Andrews probably only sold around five copies, is said to have been purchased by Bill Wyman of The Rolling Stones.[6] On 14 March 1959, he made his British television debut, performing on the Oh, Boy! show. He would later return in April to perform a cover of Cliff Richard's, "Move It".
Also in 1965, Andrews as a solo artist, reached No. 3 in the UK with the single "Yesterday Man",[12] which peaked in Germany at No. 1 for four weeks;[13] followed up with a No. 13 hit in the UK "To Whom It Concerns".[9] The instrumental section of this song was used as the theme for RTÉ's long-running TV programme, The Late Late Show, until 1999, and a re-arranged version returned as the show's theme music in September 2009.[2] As well as obtaining a high placing in the UK chart, "Yesterday Man" climbed to No. 1 in Ireland and Germany. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.[7]
Later releases by Andrews were not as successful, but his own hits are seen as early examples of bluebeat influenced white pop music. Although his chart appearances dwindled in Britain by 1966, his chart topping success continued in mainland Europe for a number of years, particularly in Germany, and Andrews often recorded in foreign languages.[1] It is possible that Chris Andrews' huge success in Germany was connected to the fact that his two UK hits, at least, were rhythmically redolent of Oom-pah music (although not intentionally so; see above), thus making them more acceptable to older German audiences who would not have liked many of the other Anglophone songs which became hits there.[citation needed]
Andrews on stage in 2010
In South Africa, his later single releases proved particularly popular,[14] with "Pretty Belinda" (1969), "Carol OK" and "Brown Eyes" (both 1970) all topping the charts there. "Yo Yo" reached No. 7 at the end of 1970. Throughout the 70s and 80s, Andrews worked mainly as a record producer.[6] Those same four songs all went to number one in Zimbabwe, where surprisingly, Andrews had the most number one singles in any country.
Between 2009 and 2013, he released three songs in collaboration with Tobee. These include "Pretty Belinda – Schlauchboot" (2009), "Pretty Belinda – Skilift" (2010), and "White Christmas" (2013). "Pretty Belinda – Schlauchboot" went to 58 on German charts,[15] marking the first time he was on any music chart since 1970 with "Yo Yo".
Andrews remains active in his career as a singer-songwriter, working primarily in Germany, continental Europe and in the United Kingdom.
Personal life
Andrews was born Christopher Frederick Andrews in Romford, Essex, England. He learned how to play the piano at age five, and switched from blues music to rock and roll at the age of twelve.[16] Inspired by Lonnie Donegan, he also learned how to play the guitar.[16]
He lives with his second wife Alexandra, who is also his manager, in Selm, Germany, and Mallorca. Because of the Brexit vote, Andrews also obtained German citizenship in 2016.[17]
^Nugent, Stephen, Anne Fowler, Pete Fowler: Chart Log of American/British Top 20 Hits, 1955–1974. In: Gillett, Charlie, Simon Frith (ed.): Rock File 4. Frogmore, St. Albans: Panther Books, 1976, p. 70
^Ehnert, Günter (ed.): Hit Bilanz. Deutsche Chart Singles 1956–1980. Hamburg: Taurus Press, 1990, p. 17
