Behind the Hits: Tony Christie's Musical Journey

Tony Christie shares his remarkable journey from performing in small UK nightclubs to becoming an international star touring worldwide after signing with MCA Records in 1971. His life transformed completely as hit songs like "Las Vegas" and "Amarillo" opened doors to global tours and changed his family's circumstances forever.

• Career launched by manager Harvey Lisberg, who also managed Herman's Hermits
• Experienced multiple career revivals, including when Peter Kay used "Amarillo" in his TV show
• Recorded new albums in Nashville with top session musicians
• Currently navigating a dementia diagnosis but continuing to perform extensively
• Touring actively at age 81 with performances scheduled throughout the year
• Recently released albums "We Still Shine" and "A New Life"
• Hoping to perform in Amarillo, Texas, where he was given the key to the city
• Maintains multi-generational appeal with families attending shows together

Join us for this inspiring conversation about resilience, musical passion, and finding new beginnings at any age

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:14

My career in the entertainment industry has enabled me to work with a diverse range of talent. Through my years of experience, I've recognized two essential aspects. Industry professionals, whether famous stars or behind-the-scenes staff, have fascinating stories to tell. Secondly, audiences are eager to listen to these stories, which offer a glimpse into their lives and the evolution of their life stories. This podcast aims to share these narratives, providing information on how they evolved into their chosen career. We will delve into their journey to stardom, discuss their struggles and successes, and hear from people who help them achieve their goals. Get ready for intriguing behind-the-scenes stories and insights into the fascinating world of entertainment. Hi, I'm Tony Mantor. Welcome to Almost Live Nashville. We're thrilled to welcome Tony Christie, a remarkable artist discovered and managed by Harvey Lisberg, renowned for launching Herm's Hermits. Tony soared to fame with three hit singles in 1971 on MCA Records, captivating audiences worldwide on tour. Today, we'll explore his illustrious career from chart-topping success to his inspiring journey after a dementia diagnosis in 2023. Despite this challenge, Tony continues to perform and record, showcasing an incredible legacy and an optimistic outlook. Later in the show, we'll be joined by his son Sean to join in the conversation. So before we dive into our episode, we'll be back with an uninterrupted show right after a word from our sponsors. Thanks for joining us today, Tony. It's an honor to have you here. Pleasure. Yes, mine as well. Now I understand that you started off early in life with a manager by the name of Harvey Lisberg. That's right.

SPEAKER_01 2:08

He was my manager, yeah. He was Herman's Hermit's manager at the time. And then he took me over and uh yeah, Harvey, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:15

I understand he was very instrumental in getting me a record deal with MCA Records.

SPEAKER_01 2:20

Yeah, yeah, he got me he got me the record deal. Um he changed my life, basically. Yeah, he got me a record deal and had to start having hits around the world, so he changed my life.

SPEAKER_00 2:29

Yeah, that's great. I think it was like early 70s that you had the big record Las Vegas, which climbed the charts in the UK. 1971, yeah. Yeah. Once you started having the hit records, how did that affect you? How did your life change moving forward?

SPEAKER_01 2:45

Oh, completely. I mean, at the time I was uh we'd be I was I'd been married three years to my wife, six nineteen sixty-eight, we married, and uh we were living in a in a little apartment in a block of flats uh in Sheffield, and uh it changed my life basically because suddenly I was being invited over to New Zealand and Australia and around the world.

SPEAKER_00 3:07

It was just you know, it it changed my life completely. Yeah, that's just so very good. Now, before you got signed by MCA, where was you performing? Were you just doing local shows?

SPEAKER_01 3:18

Uh on the on the on the nightclub circuit. So uh everywhere, all all all over the UK. Wherever there was a nightclub, I I'd I'd be doing it, you know.

SPEAKER_00 3:26

Yeah, that's great. Now, once you were signed by MCA, you went from doing the nightclub circuit to major concerts. How did that feel and what happened from there?

SPEAKER_01 3:38

Oh, it did. I mean, uh suddenly d uh dip from doing little nightclubs, I was suddenly at the Albert Hall and doing these huge venues, and uh it was a life changer in a good way, you know, because it it changed my life that we at the time for all that my wife and I were living in a little a little apartment in a block of flats near near the Sheffield Wednesday Football Club, and it just it was, you know, but just changed my life. Opened the world.

SPEAKER_00 4:04

Yeah, that's great. So did you record mostly other people's songs or did you do some songwriting yourself?

SPEAKER_01 4:11

I did a a little bit of writing, but I I basically my manager, Harvey Lisburg, he was managed the Hermons Hermits and various songwriters. So I I started getting songs from some of the top writers who were having hits around the world. And suddenly my manager said, I'll I'll get yourself. And then they started giving me these hit songs. So it changed that really changed my life.

SPEAKER_00 4:32

Yeah, it's always nice to get great songs to record. Now, once you were recording and out there, did you tour consistently or did you take some breaks every now and then? How did that go? I never stopped.

SPEAKER_01 4:43

I I was a workaholic. And when you when you that and you're married and you've got a little kid, talk to my son Sean, who you've spoken to, um living in a in a flat, in a block of flats, you know, you you work. You just work, work, work, work, work, debits. Never turn any work down. That tour tour around the world in Australia, New Zealand, all these places. And uh I I never turned work down. Just we'd struggled for years and years and years, my wife and I, and then we we I said, that's it, I'm gonna work myself to death. And I did. I just carried on working. Never turned anything down.

SPEAKER_00 5:15

Yeah, that's a great thing. So what did it feel like? You go from performing in an area where you probably know a lot of people that come to see you. Now you're on this grand stage, you're performing in all kinds of countries around the world. People are loving what you're doing, just a completely different atmosphere. How did that feel to make that transition?

SPEAKER_01 5:36

Well, a completely different. I mean, first of all, Germany was a big, a big market. Holland and Belgium and Germany, they took off before I took off in England and the UK. And uh I saw I was spending a lot of time touring around Europe, you know, and then suddenly it started hitting back in the UK where I live. And it that really changed my life. And we moved from a tiny little one-bedroom flat that we lived in and bought a house. It changed our lives, you know.

SPEAKER_00 6:04

Sure. And that's a great thing. Now, did you have anyone around you that might have given you suggestions and you look back at them or you think about it and you thought, what are they talking about?

SPEAKER_01 6:16

Um, yeah, there were a f a few ones that you know, I I because I've been in the business for a long time as as a no as a nobody, and I've heard people saying, Oh, I do this to I said, No, no, done all that. It hasn't worked. Um, these were people that didn't know what they were talking about. So I I was very fortunate. I got a good manager, and he was he's also the manager of of uh Peter Noon and Hermann Sermitz. So he got the c connections, if you know what I mean. R basically, Harvey, he changed my life.

SPEAKER_00 6:43

Do you have any special place that you've performed that kind of holds a little something in your heart because of just the interaction or whatever the case may be? It might be just everything went well, a special night, just something that maybe stands out to you.

SPEAKER_01 7:00

New Zealand. The first tour I did of New Zealand was an absolute sellout. And uh it was I mean, uh a beautiful place, of course. And then Australia, of course, that that was a place again that I used to do. I used to go into Sydney and do four weeks at a nightclub there for the you know. Uh it just changed my life. The world opened suddenly.

SPEAKER_00 7:18

Yeah, I certainly understand that. Now, as you were growing up, you were living in this small little town. Everybody knew everyone. And then, as you said, the world opened up. What went through your mind as you traveled this world realizing that you was just this person from a small little town?

SPEAKER_01 7:36

Well, I guess well, it it meant that we went from living in a little tiny little flat on the fifth floor to suddenly uh buying a house, four-bedroom house on a lovely estate. It just changed our lives, you know. By this time we've got two children. Um and it was it was it was, you know, absolute magic.

SPEAKER_00 7:56

You did another song, I think, for a TV show, correct? Phoenix Knight, you know.

SPEAKER_01 8:01

Amarillo, yeah. Well, Peter Kay, I'd met years ago in the in the nightclubs, you know, on the nightclub circuit. And he used it. He used to use it as his playoff song, was was my my was me. His play on music because he was a comedian. He used my Amarillo as his play on music on the knot. Wife and I were living in Spain, and um suddenly we got this folk called Amaro's is taking off big time. Can you get back? We're doing a tour, we can put you a tour. And that was basically I got back to the UK again and uh did a long, long tour, and it changed my life again, kept changing my life.

SPEAKER_00 8:34

That's just an awesome journey. And that's the beauty of this music business. We can have something that we've done, it can sit there for a long time, and then all of a sudden it resurfaces and it brings back and restarts your career all over again.

SPEAKER_01 8:47

Absolutely. It's changed my life a few times. Yeah, it's always for the better. So, you know, I've been very, very fortunate. I've been had great managers, great songs given to me, you know, work with some great producers. So I'm for I'm very fortunate.

SPEAKER_00 9:00

Yeah, speaking of producers, I understand you're being produced in Nashville. I understand you've produced a new album. What is it?

SPEAKER_01 9:06

It's called A New Life, not a new wife, a new life.

unknown 9:10

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 9:11

And um, I re-regorded all the old stuff. Plus, I did two songs that I've been singing on the Cabaret 30 for Donkey's years. Two songs that the audience used to go crazy about. One was Jezebel, the old it. I've re-recorded, that's on the new album. And also Mr. Bo Jangles. Again, a number that I used to sing on live shows, but never recorded. But now I've I've recorded them.

SPEAKER_00 9:34

That's great. It's always nice to put songs on that you'll really like to do. So, how did it feel coming back to Nashville and recording not only your old songs, but laying down some tracks on new versions of other songs as well?

SPEAKER_01 9:47

It was brilliant. I mean, the thing is that people don't realize it's so quick that the musicians are so good, you know.

SPEAKER_00 9:54

Yes, I work with them consistently. Nashville has some of the best players in the world.

SPEAKER_01 9:58

That guitar player's a bit good, isn't he? Kat Wells, Dolly Prampton's musical director, not yeah, they're some of the best people to work with in the world.

SPEAKER_00 10:06

Yeah, absolutely. I'd like to gently shift the conversation to something a little more personal, your health. I understand you've been navigating a diagnosis of dementia, which can be incredibly challenging. Could you share a little more about your experiences and of course how you're doing?

SPEAKER_01 10:23

Yeah, four four, four and a half years ago. It was uh because I was always a crossword fanatic, cryptic crosswords, that was my hobby. And suddenly we started having problems doing them. And um so my wife said, Let's go and see a a doctor about it, because you you you're starting to forget things at the moment. And uh she did they did x-rays and all this on my head. And um they said, Yeah, you you've got the beginnings of uh I can't remember the word, dementia. I'd forgotten the word. And that's quite all right. So uh that was it, that was about four years ago, and um they said you're very, very fortunate you're in the music business. That's that's one of the things we recommend people with it listen to lots of music. And uh that that helps to keep it keep it down. So I'm I'm I'm on tablets that they put me on four years ago, which is you know, get stopped it getting worse. It not cured it. The thing that I mean, I'm in I'm in music, that's helping.

SPEAKER_00 11:20

I always say that music is a powerful tool, and I'm glad that it's powerful to help you. So does it affect you with your lyrics and singing?

SPEAKER_01 11:29

I I have cue. I have uh cue auto cues.

SPEAKER_00 11:32

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 11:32

On stage. But I've had that for 30 years. Because I if you got like 40 or 50 songs you had tried to do, you know, you can't remember all lyrics from your albums, you know. So I've always got that autocuse on the stage for me to for the lyrics.

SPEAKER_00 11:46

I totally understand. Back when I was performing, I always had on stage with me what I used to call cheat sheets. Yeah, yeah, and cheat sheets that I used to have the lights shining down in just a certain way so that I could look down and remember at least most of the words. So I'm totally with you there.

SPEAKER_01 12:02

Yeah, yeah. I do, because I to me if you make a mistake, you're you're you're you're spoiling the show for the audience. So I'd rather have uh ultra cue. I've I've got a couple of TV screens on the on the floor next to me, you know, that with the words are.

SPEAKER_00 12:19

Yeah, you do what you need to do. As long as you're enjoying yourself and the people are enjoying you, that's all that matters.

SPEAKER_01 12:25

That's right, that's true, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:27

Yeah. You know, you're out there performing, you're having a good time, and people are having a good time. That really is all that matters. Yeah. And it's really great that you've got such loyal fans that follow you through thick and thin through it all.

SPEAKER_01 12:45

It really is. I mean, there's I've had followers for 50, 60 years that are still there following me. I owe them money, but that doesn't matter.

SPEAKER_00 12:51

It's uh Yeah, yeah, that's great. So planning on recording any new music anytime soon? Uh I am, yeah, I'm always always recording, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:01

Next year. Yeah, we're planning on that, yeah, Nashville.

SPEAKER_00 13:04

Well, when you come to Nashville, let me know. I'll come down and see you.

SPEAKER_01 13:07

Well, yeah, yeah, we will do. Yeah. Sean's got your D Sean's got your details. Yeah. We'll saw that. Yeah, Sean, sorry, let me go.

SPEAKER_00 13:15

Yeah, I'm just like you. I love being in Nashville. Love working with the greatest musicians out there. It's just a pleasure to do business there. It's just awesome.

SPEAKER_02 13:23

Oh, good. Well we'll go to Ruth's Christ for a stake. Yeah, there you go. Last time we went we went with Brent Mason.

SPEAKER_00 13:35

Yeah, that's great. I know Brent. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:37

And that was actually we that wasn't from this session. Actually, no, that's we did go. We did go with to be fair. But we went with Brent and his wives the last time we were there.

SPEAKER_00 13:46

Yeah, that's great.

SPEAKER_02 13:47

Yeah, great guy. Yeah, great guy, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:49

And the good thing is they just get great music in that studio.

SPEAKER_01 13:53

Yes, exactly. Exactly. Yeah. The best. I mean the best.

SPEAKER_02 13:57

And it's what they leave out. Jerry Douglas played some incredible with on some of the passes, some incredible guitar, and he'd say, No, let me do that again. And and take all the this amazing stuff out. And you go, No, because it doesn't serve the song. It's getting in the way of the vocal. That just uh it's something that over here, well, it's a different thing. It's a different thing. And over there, it's uh it's just in the blood. They know, you know.

SPEAKER_00 14:21

Yeah, it's something that people don't realise unless they see it actually happening.

SPEAKER_02 14:25

The first time we recorded at um the Sound Emporium, we had Toto's bass player. Well, I'm dreadful with names as well. So it was uh it was Jeff Vicaro and and uh I can't remember his name, the bass player, but anyway. It was just amazing to see he's got a baseball cap sat with his back to the glass. I remember hearing that he was said to the engineers just uh plug that into the tape, straight into the tape machine, not through the desk. He won't anyone messing with the sound, he'd got it going through a lovely cube tech and all this stuff, and he went, just take me straight onto the put me onto the tape.

SPEAKER_00 15:00

Yeah, that's great. The musicians are just phenomenal here. So once you got it all done, you put the music together. Did you actually release the album off that?

SPEAKER_02 15:12

Yeah, 24. We Still Shine was the album. Uh came out last year, We Still Shine, and then we've recorded, then it's a new life. We did both albums in the same uh visit.

SPEAKER_00 15:24

Yeah, that's great. So how about touring? Anything on the books for that?

SPEAKER_02 15:30

Touring, yeah. Yeah, tomorrow we're in London. The next night we're in uh Milton Keynes. We're doing all the press thing and the radio thing and now, and then Friday back home, but we're doing radio interviews, press interviews, and then next week down to London to do TV show. So called Loose Women, ITV. And just constantly touring now, all the way up to the end of the year. And I've all I've already started putting dates in next year.

SPEAKER_00 15:55

That's just so great to see him being so active singing.

SPEAKER_02 15:59

I just love to see Madame sing his it's uh I like to see the faces of the audience.

SPEAKER_00 16:06

Yeah, the audience must be really spread out in age. I bet you're seeing uh his fans, his kids, his grandkids, such a great group of people that are getting to enjoy his music, all as a family.

SPEAKER_02 16:22

Well, we get generations. We get three generations the grandparents of the kids and the grandkids. Um we recently played in Dublin. My dad actually, this was last year, the album had just come out, We Still Shine. He was looking down and on the front row, there was like the grandparents, kids, and the grandkids, and he did what was a a new song off the title track, We Still Shine. And he looked down and the whole family was singing this song. But it the album had only been out a couple of weeks. They knew the they knew the lyric. I didn't he didn't. He's got auto cue, but he's always used all.

SPEAKER_00 16:59

Well, I'm glad that you're doing well. I'm glad that you're having all this success. It's just uh fun to do. It is.

SPEAKER_01 17:06

I'm very uh you know, I'm very fortunate at my age. I'm still I'm 81 and I'm still working and doing well. Voice is still there, the knees are not as good. All that praying, you see, all that praying.

SPEAKER_00 17:17

There you go. There you go. That's awesome. I mean, to be 81 and to be able to go out and do what you love to do. Yeah, plus you have all of those memories that you've done. Yeah. I mean, when you look back on it, that's a pretty fulfilling life that you've had, and the best thing is you're still doing it.

SPEAKER_01 17:36

Which is, um thankfully, thank God I you know, my voice is still there.

SPEAKER_00 17:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:40

It's it's it's still as good as it was. So that's awesome. If it's there, use it.

SPEAKER_00 17:45

Yeah, that's right. Exactly. I mean, if you're healthy, you're enjoying life, you're loving what you do, that's what you need to do because once you hit 70, 80, 90 years old, and you're still here, you've got a lot of things to reflect upon. I mean, my mother died just four months short of a hundred. Oh God, really? Yeah. And she used to tell me, I don't have any friends, and I always would tell her, You've got all kinds of friends, but yet she really didn't because she had outlived most all of them.

SPEAKER_01 18:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:17

So for you to be 81, you look around yourself and you see who's there and who's not, and still be doing what you love to be doing. Yeah. I think that's just fantastic.

SPEAKER_01 18:28

It is, absolutely. I mean, I've you know, I'm thank God that I'm still working that my voice is still there, you know, it's good. And I'm working next week. Uh it's his birthday on the 24th. 24th, um 25th. But we're working working on the 24th. It's my birthday on the 25th. 82nd. Yeah. 82nd birthday.

SPEAKER_00 18:45

That's awesome. And I'm still working. The old saying is if you're doing something that you enjoy, then you're really not working at all.

SPEAKER_01 18:53

Yeah. Yeah. No, no. And I enjoy what I do.

SPEAKER_00 18:56

Music is a passion. Not only do you get out there to do what you like to do, you get to do it in front of people that love to see what you do.

SPEAKER_01 19:07

Yeah, I'm blessed. I'm blessed.

SPEAKER_00 19:09

I truly enjoy talking about music and their passion for it, especially yours. Yeah. Is there any one song that when you look back at things, it just kind of comes to the top, sticks in your mind, even though it might not have been a huge hit for you, it was one of your favorites. Yeah. Do you remember So Deep is the Night?

SPEAKER_01 19:28

Yeah, sure do. Joe Bans Tristes. That's the song. So Deep is the Night. And I've been singing that song from the 60s when I was in when I was in a group, Tony Cristina Trackers, and that was my big song. That used to kill the audience.

SPEAKER_00 19:39

Oh, that's awesome. I bet it's a great memory as well. What I love about what you're doing is you've done it for so many years, and you can hear it in your voice that your passion is still there for it. Oh, God, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:54

I thought there's a great story about that. We were at a at awards doing in London, and Tom Jones was there, and Tom said to Dad, he said, um, that song, So Deep is the Night, he says, I wore that thing out. He says, I wore the record out playing it. So it was one of his favorites.

SPEAKER_00 20:11

That's awesome. What a great thing to hear. Yeah. That's another thing we have to bring up. You've been around for so long, and you've been around so many well-known celebrities. It's always nice when the other stars that you know and performed with make comments that they like your music like they do.

SPEAKER_01 20:30

It is, absolutely. I'm very fortunate. I've got some good friends in the show business, and they've all been nice.

SPEAKER_02 20:36

Neil Lieber and Neil Sidaka sent a lovely message just last week after hearing the uh new album. Sorry, I'm not trying to plug you. But this is true. They sent the most lovely email about the new album and said and said, Thank you, Tony, for giving Is This the Way to Amarillo third life? Because obviously first live was when it was first in it, then in 2005, and just hearing it the way it's done now, it just it would they loved it.

SPEAKER_00 21:03

Yeah, yeah. Have you had any opportunities to sing with other stars that you've known? Because I think that would be something people would love to hear as well. That would be we haven't. We haven't.

SPEAKER_02 21:16

You did. You sang at the Albert Hall. Oh, Sadaka. You sang um Is this the way Zan Rilla with Sidaka? Just piano and the two of them.

SPEAKER_01 21:24

Piano and that was it. Yeah, that sounds nice. Brilliant. Storm absolutely stormed the audience.

SPEAKER_02 21:30

That would be great. I've always wanted Dad to sing with Tom Jones. Yeah, that would be an awesome show. Neil Siddhartha would be great, you know. Like a an old old time rap pack thing. Yeah, that'd be great.

SPEAKER_00 21:42

Yeah, I think you should put that together. I think that would be a show that would be a night to remember for everyone.

SPEAKER_02 21:48

Oh, we think so, yeah. That'd be a great title as well, wouldn't it? A night to remember. A night to remember. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:53

When you do that, make sure I'm there because I did come up with a title.

SPEAKER_02 21:58

Well, we hope you as well. Get to Amarillo. We put want to play this Starlight Ranch. There's a I'd film it if possible, because we were supposed to do this back in 2019, but then COVID hit. Right. Yeah. The tourist board invite invited my uh dad and my mom and myself in 2005 over to Amarillo because tourism went through the roof with the song, and all a lot of the Europeans in English were going over, and it was on Route 66, but they'd go through it, you know, and now they were stopping there. And the mayor, meant uh Mayor Trent Seismore Jr. the third at the time, he bought my mum and dad a Stetson and cowboy kaway boots and got the key, the key to Amarillo. And we've never and the thing is because it's a country music town, they didn't really know this song. You know, they knew this song, is it um Amarillo in the morning, is it or early Amarillo? Yes, Amarillo by morning.

SPEAKER_00 22:56

Morning.

SPEAKER_02 22:56

Yeah, but they didn't know is this the way to Amarillo, but they do now. But now we're hoping now with this new version, it could be played on radio stations in Amarillo.

SPEAKER_00 23:06

Yeah, that would be nice.

SPEAKER_02 23:08

Yeah, and we'll finally get him there. We'll do a show called This Is the Way to Amarillo.

SPEAKER_00 23:14

Yeah. These are great ideas. You definitely need to make this happen.

SPEAKER_02 23:21

Well, we'll have to we'll have to keep in touch because maybe you know people.

SPEAKER_00 23:24

You never know. I really tell you, this is great ideas. And you know the bottom line of everything is that the most important thing is that he's healthy and having fun doing it.

SPEAKER_02 23:36

Well, it's just I think the title of the album could be right, A New Life. We're making the absolute best of it. And uh Dad has always said when he's asked, what is it that you're most proud of? And he always says it hasn't happened yet.

SPEAKER_00 23:48

Yeah, I love it. That's awesome. Not only that, he has just such a great attitude and a great demeanor about him.

SPEAKER_02 23:56

He's a a gentleman and a we call him the quiet man family, my sisters. We used to learn one thing in his life. Every year he'd just suddenly slip out this thing, and you go, What? You did that? You know, it's like he just doesn't like talking about himself or what happened. He wasn't very show busy. He didn't do the showbiz thing, he just got on with his and he still does. We he moved to the Midlands in the UK, and the reason was was that he'd got more chance of getting home every night after touring wherever. Still like that. But now we tour with my mom and sometimes my sister a lot of the time, so it's a family thing.

SPEAKER_00 24:32

Yeah, I think that's really nice. People are always getting wrapped up in becoming that next big star, but they tend to forget that when it all comes crashing down, the family is still there. And that loss of times is what keeps life moving forward.

SPEAKER_02 24:49

Yeah, yeah. Who can you turn to, you know?

SPEAKER_00 24:51

In this business, unfortunately, as both of you know, there's very few people that you can actually count on. Well, I have to say, this has been a most interesting conversation, and I've just truly enjoyed talking to the both of you. I really appreciate you taking the time to come onto the show today. Oh, it's been nice. A pleasure. Yes, it's been my pleasure as well. Thanks again. Thanks for joining us today. We hope you enjoyed the show. This has been a Tony Mantor production. For more information, contact media at plateau music.com.