Music Profile

Scott Walker

Hermetic, Visionary Singer-Songwriter By Jim Allen

Teen idol turned adventurous art-pop crooner.

Scott Walker (born Noel Scott Engel) experienced pop stardom early in his career when his not-really-brothers trio The Walker Brothers emigrated to England and briefly became U.K. teen idols via big, brooding, Roy Orbison-meets-Righteous Brothers ballads like “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore.” With ambitions beyond AM radio, he began a solo career in 1967, his creamy baritone croon filling both Jacques Brel tunes and his own cabaret-tinged art-pop compositions, the latter becoming increasingly unconventional over the course of his first four albums. Experiencing diminishing sales, Walker quit songwriting and released a series of uninspired middle-of-the-road easy listening albums in the ‘70s. A 1978 reunion album with the Walker Brothers found him embracing both writing and his experimental side more fully than ever, and a 1981 anthology compiled by disciple Julian Cope helped make Walker’s early work a crucial influence on a new generation of adventurous singer-songwriters. His subsequent solo releases, though few and far between, remain among the most experimental works existing -- however nominally -- under the pop umbrella.

TAGS: 1960s, Avant-Garde, Cabaret, Comeback, Crooner, Experimental, Orchestral Pop, Swinging London, Teen Idol,

FACTS: Born/Formed: January 09, 1943; Location: Hamilton, Ohio, United States; Fanpage, Label Info

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