Peter Blegvad

Perhaps better known outside of avant-garde circles for his work as a cartoonist, Peter Blegvad was also a witty and articulate singer/songwriter as well as an alumnus of <a href="spotify:artist:78gqgxLFWiVkLEq60KfToZ">Slapp Happy</a>. Born August 14, 1951, in New York City, Blegvad and his family moved to Britain in 1965. After relocating to Germany in the early '70s, he formed the self-described "champions of naïve rock" <a href="spotify:artist:78gqgxLFWiVkLEq60KfToZ">Slapp Happy</a> with British composer <a href="spotify:artist:4uJt75N8u4RRQQ6hKYYIaS">Anthony Moore</a> and singer <a href="spotify:artist:61YthmX9Hi1gyqVl0MGEy2">Dagmar Krause</a>. Upon releasing a handful of albums, in 1975 the group teamed with fellow avant-pranksters <a href="spotify:artist:6P3Zlv61YNe6DHVZhFj8oL">Henry Cow</a> for a pair of LPs before splitting up.

After recording 1977's Kew. Rhone. with <a href="spotify:artist:6P3Zlv61YNe6DHVZhFj8oL">Henry Cow</a> bassist <a href="spotify:artist:0kTUrt9pT8ejZ4FZHOPra9">John Greaves</a>, Blegvad returned to Britain and mounted a solo career in 1983 with the <a href="spotify:artist:4QeOiHDqIpzHpbfxz4dc9X">Andy Partridge</a>-produced The Naked Shakespeare. While in New York, he worked with <a href="spotify:artist:483hYXnMW88DowwGAmowzG">Anton Fier</a>'s <a href="spotify:artist:4iBOZeQKhT5NBsPxVXq7JL">Golden Palominos</a> before recording Knights Like This in 1985. Another hiatus followed before Blegvad resurfaced in 1988 with Downtime; King Strut & Other Stories appeared two years later, but when it failed to deliver him the mainstream success so many felt he deserved, he was left without a contract.

In 1992 Blegvad, whose artwork had long adorned his records, was signed to create a cartoon strip for Britain's Independent on Sunday newspaper; the strip, a surreal, referential work titled Leviathan, gradually emerged as the focus of his career, allowing music to fall by the wayside. Finally, in 1995 he returned to recording with two separate projects: the first, Unearthed, was a spoken word offering, while the other, Just Woke Up, was a more conventional musical work. Hangman's Hill followed in 1998 and Choices Under Pressure appeared three years later. 2003's King Strut & Other Stories found Blegvad assuming the traditional singer/songwriter role. Orpheus the Lowdown followed in 2004. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi