Peter Lincoln

15 March 1956

 

Peter Lincoln, the successor of Georg Kajanus, joined SAILOR as the new captain in 1996. Before SAILOR, Peter had worked together with many different bands and artists, including Shakin' Stevens and Cliff Richard.

In September 2006 Peter left SAILOR to join The Sweet as their lead singer until mid-2019.
His project
FRONTM3N together with Peter Howarth (known from The Hollies) and Mick Wilson (known from 10CC) started in January 2016.
Also, in April 2021, Peter joined Smokie to become the successor of Mike Craft as their lead singer.


Fanclub letter to the fans
1996

Dear SAILOR Fans,
It's great to be able to write to you at last !
I first met the guys in Europe a few years ago and had no idea that I would eventually become a part of SAILOR. I next met the band at the end of the last year (95) when we played and sang the SAILOR songs together for the first time. It was fantastic!
Now to answer some questions about myself. - I am forty years old (oh! oh!) - about 1.88 m tall. I am happily married with two children (a son and a daughter). I sing, play the guitar and keyboards..... and the Charango!? and I have worked with all kinds of bands and artists during my career as a musician.
I am sure that some of you already know about the new album ("Legacy") which we have just completed. It contains the greatest and latest music of SAILOR, and I know you won't be disappointed. We are all very excited about it!!
We have already started rehearsing for an extensive Europe tour and I hope to meet as many of you as possible,
Peter Lincoln


Biography of Peter Lincoln...
with special thanks to James McCarraher:

The departure of Georg Kajanus from the SAILOR line up in 1996 left a gap that many thought could never be filled. The end of SAILOR looked a reality.
A chance discovery led Grant, Phil and Henry to a very likeable and immensely talented Geordie by the name of Peter Lincoln. Peter auditioned at Henry’s studio and passed the audition with flying colours, as Henry explains in the SAILOR Biography: "He came along and just did this amazing imitation of Georg singing ‘A Glass of Champagne’ - to such an extent that when we put the two tracks on, the original and Pete singing, we couldn’t tell which was which. It was amazing. We all just leapt. Was that Georg or Peter? – We kept switching between the two vocal tracks and couldn’t tell the difference – it was so brilliant. And we all went ‘we can carry on!’"
Grant knew that they had found someone very special: "Pete is a very prodigious musician – he really is an exceptional musician and really should have been successful in his own right. He is a wonderful, wonderful player. He can mix with the best of them as a player and a singer. He’s a very intelligent man, a very interesting man and an amazing talent as a musician and as a producer."
Peter was born in Newcastle on the 15 March 1956. Showing an aptitude for piano and guitar from a very early age, he chose a career path as a music teacher before having a change of heart and heading for London in search of fame and fortune.
Playing in a number of bands, including Lost Patrol, he received a break touring with French legend, Julien Clerc, before becoming a regular in Sir Cliff Richard’s band. Sir Cliff holds Peter in exceptionally high regard both as a friend and musician. Peter has also been a member of Shakin’ Steven’s band, playing on the Oldie Nacht Circuit where he had previously met SAILOR.
Peter made his SAILOR recording debut on the excellent "Legacy - Greatest And Latest" album, establishing himself firmly at the helm and endorsing SAILOR’s existence as a productive and continually creative band. Peter led SAILOR on their trip to Greenland and has given the band a future.
When he is not fronting SAILOR, Peter performs as one half of a musical duo, continues to write songs and promotes gigs in his area.
© James McCarraher 2004.



Interview for the DVD "Pirate Copy - Sailor Live In Concert"
November 2002:

Peter: I wasn't involved in the original line-up of the band back in the 70s, but what we do now pays homage to their original concept. But we also realise that one needs to go and entertain an audience, really go at them and give them something they not usually see, which is why we take our clothes of at the end of the show...!

Question: You have toured the world extensively, but Greenland must have been different?

Peter: I still don't really know how that came about. We were doing a lot of work in Denmark and Greenland is a Danish colony. Our promoter in Denmark rang us up and said 'how do you fancy the - you know - old paid holiday in Greenland?' and we went. And it was the most incredible experience. I can't remember all the statistics, but it was one of those trips where every time someone opened their mouth whatever they said was gobsmacking. We arrived there and drove from the airport to hotel in the capital of Greenland, Nuuk, which has a population of 12.000. The whole country is either 14 or 16 times as big as the UK, but only 60.000 people live there. So you can't get your head around that. We go to the hotel, and there was a pedestrian crossing outside my hotel window - it was the only traffic light in Greenland. It was put there to give the cars a chance, because this particular road was the main connection from a main living area to a main shopping area, so there were constantly people crossing this road and the cars would always just sit and give way to the pedestrians, so they put the traffic lights there to stop the pedestrians and let the cars go through. Then I religiously took my swimming trunks with me, like you do when you go away, and I went down to the hotel reception and said 'where's the swimming pool?' And they said 'oh, there's no swimming pools here.' I said 'what do you mean, here?' and they said 'well, nobody learns to swim in Greenland.' I asked 'why is that?' and they said 'if you fall in the water it's going to kill you anyway, so if you can swim it only prolongs the struggle, doesn't it?'. So they don't even learn to swim. And every time someone opened their mouth it was something like that, just a bizarre statistic. The second town we played in had a population of 5.000 people and 10.000 dogs. Of course everybody has a team of huskies because the only way to get from town to town - there aren't any roads, you either have to fly or go on a snow-bike on the land or be pulled by a dog-sleigh. Anyway, I could go on about Greenland all day, it was fantastic, really really fantastic!

Question: Are there any plans to take this line-up into the studio?

Peter: It would be nice, it would be a really positive thing. But it's one of those difficult things, you either have to try and write things deliberately to hark back, and one doesn't want to do that too much, to fit into the SAILOR sound, or take the thing forward. SAILOR did have successes recently in the early 90s in Germany, which was just before I joined the band, and they did have some radio hits in Europe in the 90s. So I mean, there's always scope, there's always a chance. It would be great.

Question: What personal ambitions do you hope to fulfil within the band?

Peter: It would be nice to augment the show, it would be nice to be in a position where we could perhaps do more work in the UK. Some dancing girls might be nice... no! Just do what we do really. It has a slightly mad element to it, and we do come up with a few insane ideas. And they usually get taken on board. It's normally when we are late at night in a hotel bar or sit around after a flight has been delayed or something like that when somebody says 'well, what about that?' and suddenly we're off again.

Question: How easy was it for you personally to fit in within the band?

Peter: Really fine. In previous incarnations of my career I've met the guys on the road in Germany. I was working with Shakin' Stevens and with Cliff Richard before I joined SAILOR. I've met them, and Grant the drummer lives reasonably locally to me anyway, and we have mutual friends. So it wasn't difficult. They are really good guys.

photo © by Karsten Wagner


05 October 2006:

Farewell message from Peter Lincoln...

Well, it’s been a wonderful eleven or so years but now – five Nickelodeons later - it seems that the time has finally come for me to move on.
I have made lifelong friendships with Phil, Grant and Henry. Along the way we have shared some fabulous times with a good deal of uproarious fun, and sometimes complete insanity. Our trip to Greenland, the "birth" of "The Full Monty", the towns, the girls, the harbours……
When Henry first suggested the idea of his son Ollie as a replacement I was absolutely delighted. He’s a great guy and he’s going to do a great job!
So I guess it only remains for me to thank all of the friends and fans of SAILOR for their continued support throughout my time with the band.
I bid a fond farewell to SAILOR and wish them every success for the future.
Love to all
Peter

Peter at his last concert in Parchim (D) 09.09.2006


Peter Lincoln with Andy Scott's THE SWEET:


Peter Lincoln solo:

photo © by Katrin Wagner

Go to:

Georg Kajanus
Henry Marsh
Phil Pickett
Grant Serpell
Gavin & Virginia David
Peter Lincoln
Anthony England
Rob Alderton
Oliver Marsh
Nick Parvin
The crew...

 











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