Tony Burrows

Prolific, versatile, and ubiquitous British session vocalist par excellence Tony Burrows has lent his pleasant and soothing voice to a handful of enduring hit pop and rock songs throughout the years. He was born on April 14, 1943 in Exeter, Devon, England. Burrows first started singing in the mid 1950's and turned pro in 1960. The first group Tony was a member of was the Kestrels, who were successful enough to tour twice with 'the Beatles'. Burrows recorded his debut album in 1965 under the pseudonym Tony Bond. He then joined the group the Ivy League, who eventually evolved into the 1960's psychedelic rock outfit the Flower Pot Men. This particular band had their sole hit song "Let's Go to San Francisco" during the summer of 1967. The Flower Pot Men then became the pop-rock band White Plains, who scored a #9 UK radio hit with the bouncy "My Baby Loves Lovin'" in July, 1970. 1970 proved to be a banner year for Burrows: Besides "My Baby Loves Lovin'," he also sang the lead vocals on Edison Lighthouse's delightfully catchy and upbeat "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" (which peaked at #1 on the UK pop charts for five weeks), the jaunty 1920's-style ragtime swing tribute novelty number "Gimme Dat Ding" by the Pipkins, and the Brotherhood of Man's uplifting "United We Stand." Tony accomplished another even more remarkable feat in February, 1970 when he performed the lead vocals for a trio of hit songs by three different bands on the British music variety TV program "Top of the Pops": Edison Lighthouse's "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)," "My Baby Loves Lovin'" by White Plains, and the Brotherhood of Man's "United We Stand." Although Burrows was unofficially blacklisted by the BBC for this still unprecedented achievement, he nonetheless appeared on "Top of the Pops" a few weeks later singing lead vocals on "Gimme Dat Ding" by the Pipkins. However, most of Tony's solo singles received little to no radio airplay, with only "Melanie Makes Me Smile" proving to be the lone minor hit of the bunch. Burrows went on to once again provide the soaring lead vocals on "Beach Baby" by the First Class; this exuberant homage to the Beach Boys reached #13 on the UK radio and soared all the way to #4 on the US Billboard pop charts in 1974. Alas, other recordings made both on his own and with other groups weren't nearly as successful. Still, Tony has remained busy throughout the years: He's not only worked as a session singer for such notable artists as Elton John, Rod Stewart, Tom Jones, James Last, and Cliff Richard, but also written, produced and done voice-over work on TV commercials. Tony Burrows still continues to sing and perform in concert with a reformed version of White Plains.