Band Profile

Carl joins The Hollies

Tribute messages to Carl

Sadly, after his last concert in Norway in July, 2004, Carl went into hospital for a routine check-up and without warning his condition suddenly deteriorated. Within a few short days he died peacefully at home on August 31st with his family at his bedside.

One of the most distinctive and versatile voices in the music business, Carl achieved major success with the Birmingham based band, The Move.  Their many hits included Blackberry Way, Fire Brigade, I Can Hear The Grass Grow and Flowers In The Rain, which was the first record to be played by Tony Blackburn on BBC Radio 1.

Carl left The Move in 1970 and then worked extensively in cabaret, television, film and theatre.  For many years he was one of the top singers in advertising, recording hundreds of jingles and voice-overs all over the world. "Nescafe, Nescafe" I can hear it now.

In 1974 he married the actress Susan Hanson.  She played Miss Diane, the waitress, in the TV programme Crossroads.  Carl also made an appearance in this programme.

Carl made numerous television appearances, including Pebble Mill, Emu's Wide World, The Benny Hill Show, The Jim Davidson Show, The Generation Game, A John Lennon BBC special and many, many more.  He also collaborated with a host of top singers and musicians, including Roy Wood, Jeff Lynne & ELO, Lynsey De Paul, Stephanie Lawrence and Paul Jones.

For a 6 year spell in the 1990's, he played the narrator in Willy Russell's hit musical Blood Brothers and featured on around a dozen albums of songs from the musicals of Andrew Lloyd Webber.

In 2000, Allan Clarke retired after nearly four decades as the distinctive voice of The Hollies and it was Carl who took on the roll of "New" lead singer.  This to any man would have been a daunting task but Carl took on his new roll with complete professionalism and vitality.  He did not try to mimic Allan but earned himself critical acclaim for performing The Hollies'catalogue of Top 40 hits in his own style on the band's extensive European and worldwide tours.  He took great delighted in meeting fans and was also known to surprise many of them with his comical way of reading dedications out during performances.

Carl's own website

However, it was after returning from a tour in America in 2002 that Carl underwent a major operation that necessitated the cancellation of the Autumn tour.  He recovered well and continued performing with The Hollies.