Sailor (band)


Sailor are a British pop group, best known in the 1970s for their hit singles "A Glass of Champagne" and "Girls, Girls, Girls", written by the group's lead singer and 12-string guitar player, Georg Kajanus.

In the 1970s

The group's leader, Georg Kajanus, had previously written "Flying Machine" for Cliff Richard in 1971, although it was Richard's first British single that failed to reach the Top 30. Sailor developed from Kajanus Pickett, a singer-songwriter duo that had formed when Phil Pickett and Kajanus met in 1970 at E H Morris, a music publisher where Pickett briefly worked. They later recorded the album Hi Ho Silver for Signpost Records. Sailor first came together in 1973 with the addition of musicians Henry Marsh and Grant Serpell.
The group's work included Kajanus' invention the Nickelodeon, a musical instrument made of pianos, synthesisers and glockenspiels that allowed the four-piece band to reproduce on stage the acoustic arrangements that they had done in the recording studio.
The group's first UK single was "Traffic Jam" from their first album, Sailor. "A Glass of Champagne", issued late the following year from the Trouble album, reached No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart. The follow-up "Girls, Girls, Girls" also made the Top 10, but of their subsequent singles, only "One Drink Too Many" registered in the UK Top 40.
Sailor's original line-up split up in 1978, although Pickett and Marsh released more material as Sailor with Gavin and Virginia David in 1980, with an album of Pickett compositions called Dressed for Drowning, produced by James William Guercio at his Caribou studio in Colorado.

Revival

In 1989, Sailor reformed to release a new album after a ten-year silence with two new singles, "The Secretary" and "La Cumbia". The band started touring again in 1993, and performed on many television programmes in Europe. In 1995, Kajanus departed the band again to pursue other projects.
The arrival of Peter Lincoln saw Sailor issue their first live album, Live in Berlin. Original member Marsh left in 1999, and was replaced by Anthony England. England left the band in May 2001, to be replaced by Rob Alderton; the new line-up recorded their first DVD in November 2002. In 2004, Sailor were voted the 45th-most successful pop band of the last 40 years in Germany. A biography of the group by James McCarraher, entitled A Glass of Champagne – The Official Sailor Story, was published in June 2004. Alderton left in July 2005, and Marsh returned to the line-up.
Buried Treasure, a double album of previously recorded material, was released in February 2006. By September, Lincoln had left Sailor to join Sweet. After this, Marsh's classically trained son Oliver joined the band as their new guitarist and lead singer. He was replaced in 2009 by Nick Parvin but rejoined in May 2011 along with his brother Thomas, who joined as drummer, replacing Serpell.

Band members

;Georg Kajanus
;Henry Marsh
;Phil Pickett
;Grant Serpell
;Gavin David
;Virginia David
;Peter Lincoln
;Anthony England
;Rob Alderton
;Oliver Marsh
;Nick Parvin
;Oliver Marsh
;Thomas Marsh

Discography

Studio albums

The premiere of Sailor, the Musical Journey at the Carnegie Hall was in July 2006 in Dunfermline, Scotland. The new musical was written by Bill Blenman and made up entirely of Kajanus compositions.