Tony Christie: From UK "Big Voice" to Schlager Stardom

Tony Christie

By David Hillier
CSMR UK Correspondent

LONDON - Along with Roger Whittaker, Tony Christie has become one of the principal Englishmen to become a big star in the German-speaking schlager music world.

Unlike Whittaker, however, Christie did so singing almost exclusively in his native English language.

Tony Christie is a popular English singer whose career has enjoyed an unexpected revival during the last decade. He recently celebrated 50 years in the music business.

Born Antony Fitzgerald, he freely admits to having adopted the stage name “Christie” out of an affection, shared by millions of other young men at the time, for the glamorous English actress, Julie Christie.

He began his musical career as a teenager in industrial South Yorkshire, amongst a landscape of coal mines and steel mills, performing in the demanding settings of local working mens' clubs.

Starting out as one of “The Grant Brothers”, a duo who consciously modelled themselves on the 50s and early 60s American pop sensations, The Everly Brothers, he subsequently joined a local group called “The Counterbeats”.

After a first attempt to launch a career as a solo performer in London proved unsuccessful, he returned to the then thriving Northern club scene, and quickly established himself as one of its star attractions.

This time a record contract materialised, and Tony’s first hit, ‘Las Vegas’, reached Number 21 in the UK charts at the start of 1971. It was quickly followed by such international hits as ‘I Did What I Did For Maria’ which peaked at Number 2, ‘(Is This The Way To) Amarillo’ (written by Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield) and ‘Avenues And Alleyways’, the theme tune to the British TV series “The Protectors”.

These songs have been characterised as “big voiced songs” and their chart success led to Tony undertaking a number of worldwide tours. These years on the road ensured that when, by the mid 1970s, opportunities for recording were becoming rarer, there would always be people who wanted to listen to Tony Christie.

Although his popularity waned in his native England through most of the 1980s and 1990s, Tony, who moved to Spain, was able to maintain a successful singing career in continental Europe and in Western Germany in particular. He had a huge hit there with “Sweet September “and went on to record nine albums for the German market between 1991 and 2002, the first of which, “Welcome to My Music”, reached number 7 in the charts and went platinum.

Here is Tony performing a medley of his biggest schlager hits before his German fans in a 2009 Musikantenstadl broadcast where he ends with a little duet with Andy Borg:



Tony’s fortunes in the UK were, however, then to revive most dramatically, almost by chance. In 2002, the English comedian Peter Kay featured "(Is This the Way to) Amarillo", which had become Tony’s signature tune, in his popular UKTV comedy series “Phoenix Nights”.

This led to a resurgence in Tony’s popularity, which received another significant boost when the original 1971 track of "(Is This the Way to) Amarillo", was re-released on in March 2005 to raise money for the Comic Relief charity.

It reached number 1 in the UK Singles Chart and held that position for seven weeks, becoming the longest running chart-topper since Cher’s "Believe” almost seven years earlier. An album, “ The Definitive Collection” also reached the number one spot in the UK Album Chart and broke more records when it also came in at number one on the downloads chart.

Here is a BBC broadcast of Tony back home in the UK performing his big comeback hit, Amarillo:



In 2005 Tony re-recorded "Amarillo" with the Hermes House Band specifically for the German market. This version of the song reached number 25 in the German charts. As a result of the revived song's success, Tony was given the Freedom of the City award by Amarillo, Texas.

Christie has now returned to live in England where he has continued to make recordings, releasing his nineteenth studio album, the 1960’s retro-themed “Now’s The Time” in February 2011. During the summer of 2011 he undertook an extensive tour within the UK and has plans for a tour of the UK and Germany next year.

Throughout the ups and downs of his career Tony Christie has enjoyed the unswerving support of his wife, to whom he has been married for 43 years, and his son, Sean, who is his manager.

Tony Christie has unquestionably become one of the biggest British stars ever to enter the schlager music firmament.