Ian Whitcomb has been entertaining the world for over 30 years. Hitting the American Top Ten
charts in 1965 with his novelty record, "You Turn Me On" (an orgasmic panting song), he soon
abandoned life as a British Invader (born in Surrey, England, in 1941) to devote himself to
resurrecting the roots of pop music, especially Ragtime and the simple, heartfelt songs of
turn-of-the-century Tin Pan Alley.
The result has been a steady flow of records, books, documentaries, radio shows, and concerts
dedicated to this neglected music. Whtcomb has performed everywhere, from the Hollywood Bowl and the Montreux Jazz Festival to shopping malls and private homes. Not only has he preserved such gems as "I Go So Far With Sophie On Sophie's Sofa" and "The War In Snider's Grocery Store", but he has also added to the library of sturdy songs with his own contributions
such as "Wurzel Fudge--The Village Idiot" and even serious ballads. He has been allowed
to perform on such TV shows as Johnny Carson's "Tonight Show"; he represented Ireland at
the European Variety TV show contest (Ian is a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin, and The Father of Irish Rock); he was the original host of the longest running rock TV program
in Britain, "The Old Grey Whistle Test".
Whitcomb's CD "Titanic: Music As Hear On The Fateful Voyage", a re-creation of the music played by the White Star Orchestra on the fateful Titanic voyage in 1912, was nominated for two Grammy Awards.
As an author, Whitcomb is best known for his classic book on the history of pop music from rag to rock, entitled After The Ball - Pop Music From Rags To Riches, still in print after
a quarter of a century. He has published ten other books, including Irving Berlin & Ragtime America, a memoir of his life in Los Angeles, and a novel set in Southern California. His articles on popular culture appear in The Los Angeles Times, The Daily Telegraph, and The London Magazine. His account of the British Invasion -- and his role in it -- is featured on the cover story of the December, 1997 edition of American Heritage Magazine.
He lives near Pasadena, California, with his singing wife, Regina, and his mongrel dog, Inspector. Fittingly, this animal was inherited from the late Rudy Vallee, the world's first star crooner--for Ian Whitcomb is the last in the line of such gentle, friendly song delineators. He doesn't only sing comedy songs, you see, he can jerk tears with such numbers as "Who Wants A Bad Little Boy?".