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1976

Taken from "Freizeit Magazin" issue 12/1976

SAILOR: Hot rock in the sailor-way
The four funny boys from England made it over here with their hit "A Glass Of Champagne". Here's their story:

They are not a 'sleeper' any longer: After their first hit, "Traffic Jam", you can now find the funny band SAILOR in all the charts with "A Glass Of Champagne". Who are the four boys in the sailor-look?
Georg Kajanus (29) is the main composer, guitarist and lead singer of the band, who has recently presented it's show at the "Musikladen" on ARD television. Georg, son of a Russian prince, started his musical career with folk songs. Then he became a member of the band Eclection. When this had failed, he went to Paris and formed SAILOR there. He also had the idea to use the music-monster Nickelodeon for a new sound. The "thing" consists of two pianos back to back and some synthesizers. He says: "I don't like electric guitars. It would have been ridiculous to use them. They don't fit to what SAILOR do. A 12 string guitar is much better."
Henry Marsh (26) plays one side of the Nickelodeon, an accordion and the glockenspiels. Henry has short hair and usually wears a panama hat. Now he is totally different from how he used to be a few years ago. At that time Henry had long hair and played the lead-guitar in the band Gringo. He says about SAILOR: "We try to find a way somewhere between a live performance and musical perfection. We don't improvise. It is very important to get the song right, show what you want to say with it!"
Philip Pickett (29) also plays the Nickelodeon. He comes from England, although he used to live in America for a long time, until he was forced to chose: "Either you become a soldier, or you leave." Phil went back to England. Having always worked with music he also became a songwriter in his home country. Percy Sledge and Georgie Fame sang his songs. In France, where he had once had a hit sung by himself, he met Georg Kajanus. He worked with him, but the success didn't come - until they formed SAILOR. But he doesn't write songs for SAILOR: "SAILOR, that has been Georg's music right from the beginning! He had already got most of the material for the first LP on tapes before we formed the band."
Grant Serpell (29) is the drummer. His musical past has little to do with what SAILOR does today. He started with a band named Affinity. "The funny thing about SAILOR is that we have all done different kinds of music before. We discussed this and realised that people don't want to be proselytised. They just want to be entertained!" And this is what Grant says about their sailor-costumes: "If you know that you don't look like the members of the audience you behave differently - and you play safer!"

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