Gilbert O'Sullivan
He was the superstar who topped the UK and US single charts in the 70s with songs of endearing tunefulness, unabashed sentiment and existentialist musings. Today, Irish singer-songwriter Gilbert O’Sullivan continues to be regarded with tremendous affection and his songs remain well-loved around the world.
Gilbert O’Sullivan was born Raymond Edward O’Sullivan in 1946 in Ireland. He moved to Swindon, England with his family aged 7 and after a formal education became a student at Swindon Art College, specializing in graphic design.
But he had another love – music – and after forming and joining local bands as a drummer/vocalist, he started writing his own songs, heavily influenced by The Beatles as writers and Bob Dylan as a performer. Calling himself Gilbert, with a very distinctive image, two singles released by CBS Records and one with the Major Minor label, got little attention. Undeterred, he sent a demo tape to Gordon Mills, the man behind Tom Jones and Engelbert Humperdinck, who impressed with his song writing, became his manager. The result was his first single on the MAM label, Nothing Rhymed, became a UK Top Ten hit in 1970.
After college, Cruz started the band ARBITRAGE. Chris’s first original tune “The Other Side”(featuring Marc Ford) received critical acclaim and radio airplay.
In 2006, Chris Cruz was signed to Delirium Records resulting in the 2008 releases IN MY HEART(the Love Record) and ON MY MIND(the Folk record). After performing showcases and opening slots for BJ Thomas, Judy Collins, Country Joe, Smithereens and more, Cruz realized he needed to play covers to pay the mortgage. The Pacific Coast Crooner has performed from the OC to the Canadian border at Dive Bars, Wine Bars, Restaurants, Clubs & Sandwich shops. In 2016 Chris’s label Persuasion Records released the cover heavy full length I WANT YOU.
When the lockdown of 2020 began, Chris Cruz found himself sitting on a couple un-released recordings ROSARY BEATS(Original Country & Folk Rock 6 song EP) and SENTIMENTAL DREAMS(Acoustic Folk featuring vocalist Rae Shirer). While ROSARY BEATS presents Chris’s edgier Original Folk Rock, SENTIMENTAL DREAMS is meant to be representative of the cover gigs with Rae Shirer.