Screaming Lord Sutch

David Edward Sutch (10 November 1940 – 16 June 1999), known as Screaming Lord Sutch , was an English musician and perennial parliamentary candidate.

He was the founder of the Official Monster Raving Loony Party and served as its leader from 1983 to 1999, during which time he stood in numerous parliamentary elections. He holds the record for contesting the most Parliamentary elections: 39 between 1963 and 1997. As a singer, he variously worked with Keith Moon, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Ritchie Blackmore, Charlie Watts, John Bonham, Noel Redding, Mitch Mitchell and Nicky Hopkins, and is known for his recordings with Joe Meek, including "Jack the Ripper" (1963).

Early life David Edward Sutch in Hampstead, London. His father, a policeman, was killed in the Blitz when Sutch was 10 months old. He was raised by his mother, Annie (also known as Nancy),

Musical career In the 1960s, inspired by Screamin' Jay Hawkins, he adopted the stage name "Screaming Lord Sutch, 3rd Earl of Harrow", although he had no link whatsoever with the peerage. The British press subsequently took to referring to him as "Screaming Lord Sutch", or simply "Lord Sutch".

During that decade, Screaming Lord Sutch became known for a horror‑themed stage show in which he appeared dressed as Jack the Ripper, anticipating the shock rock theatricality of Arthur Brown and Alice Cooper. Accompanied by his band, the Savages, he would open the performance by emerging from a black coffin (on one occasion he became trapped inside, an incident later parodied in the film Slade in Flame). His other props included knives, daggers, skulls and artificial corpses. Sutch organised themed tours, among them "Sutch and the Roman Empire", for which he and the band dressed as Roman soldiers. The fellow musician Chas McDevitt later claimed that he himself had suggested a Screamin' Jay Hawkins‑style act to Sutch's manager, Paul Lincoln, after seeing Hawkins perform in New York in 1957. McDevitt had contemplated emulating Hawkins by beginning his own act with an emergence from a silk‑lined coffin, but had concluded that he "(didn't have) the personality to carry this off", observing that "no one in this country had heard of Hawkins until the mid‑60s".

Despite what was widely regarded, and what he himself acknowledged, as a limited vocal ability, Sutch released a string of horror‑themed singles during the early to mid‑1960s, the most popular of which was "Jack the Ripper". His single "The Cheat" has been cited as a proto‑psychedelic recording. His early output included recordings produced by the audio innovator Joe Meek.

In 1963, Sutch and his manager, Reginald Calvert, took possession of the Shivering Sands Army Fort, a Maunsell Fort off Southend, and the following year launched Radio Sutch with the aim of competing with other pirate radio stations such as Radio Caroline. The broadcasts featured music, together with Mandy Rice-Davies reading from Lady Chatterley's Lover. Sutch soon lost interest in the station and sold it to Calvert, after which it was renamed Radio City and continued until the Marine Broadcasting Offences Act took effect in 1967. In 1966, Calvert was shot dead by Oliver Smedley in the course of a financial dispute; Smedley was acquitted on grounds of self-defence.

Around this time, Ritchie Blackmore left the band, and Roger Warwick departed to establish an R&B big band for Freddie Mack.

Sutch's album Lord Sutch and Heavy Friends was named the worst album of all time in a 1998 BBC poll, a distinction it also holds in Colin Larkin's The Top 1000 Albums of All Time.

For the follow‑up, Hands of Jack the Ripper, Sutch gathered a group of British rock celebrities for a concert at the Carshalton Park Rock ’n’ Roll Festival. The performance was recorded—though unbeknown to the musicians—and released to their surprise. Those who appear on the record include Ritchie Blackmore (guitar), Matthew Fisher (keyboards), Carlo Little (drums), Keith Moon (drums), Noel Redding (bass) and Nick Simper (bass).

In 2017, Sutch's song "Flashing Lights" was featured in the Steven Soderbergh film Logan Lucky.

Political activities In the 1960s, Sutch stood in parliamentary elections, often as representative of the National Teenage Party. His first was in 1963, when he contested the Stratford by-election caused by the resignation of John Profumo. and fought the 1983 Bermondsey by-election. In his career, he contested over 40 elections. He was recognisable at election counts by his flamboyant clothes and top hat. In 1968, he officially added "lord" to his name by deed poll. On 1 October 1985, the deposit paid by candidates was raised from £150 to £500. Later that year he contested his last two by-elections, in Uxbridge and Winchester.

In 1999 Sutch starred in a Coco Pops advert as a returning officer announcing the results of its renaming competition.

Some of Sutch's Loony Party policies were later adopted by mainstream parties and became law. Specifically:

Personal life Sutch was friends with Cynthia Payne, and at one time lived at her house.

In 1991, his autobiography, Life as Sutch: The Official Autobiography of a Raving Loony (co-written with Peter Chippindale), was published. In 2005 Graham Sharpe, who had known him since the late 1960s, wrote the first biography, The Man Who Was Screaming Lord Sutch.

Sutch had a history of depression, and killed himself by hanging on 16 June 1999 at his late mother's house in West Harrow, London.

A day before his suicide, 15 June 1999, he wrote an entry into his calendar reading "depression depression depression is too much".

Discography Studio albums Lord Sutch and Heavy Friends, also known as Smoke and Fire (1970), as Lord Sutch and Heavy Friends, with Jimmy Page, John Bonham, Jeff Beck, Noel Redding and Nicky Hopkins – AUS No. 16, US No. 84 Rock & Horror (1982), Ace Records CDCHM 65

Live albums Hands of Jack the Ripper (1972), as Lord Sutch and Heavy Friends, with Ritchie Blackmore, Matthew Fisher, Carlo Little, Keith Moon, Noel Redding and Nick Simper Alive and Well (1980) Live Manifesto (1992) Murder in the Graveyard (1992), as Screaming Lord Sutch and the Undertakers

Compilations Jack the Ripper (1985), Autograph Records ASK 780 Story/Screaming Lord Sutch & the Savages (1991) Raving Loony Party Favourites (1996)

Posthumously released: Monster Rock (2000) Munster Rock (2001) Screaming Lord Sutch and the Savages: 1961–1968 (2020)

Extended plays

The Meteors meet Screaming Lord Sutch: Ace Records 12", 1981

Posthumously released: Midnight Man (2000) The London Rock & Roll Show DVD

Singles "'Til the Following Night" b/w "Good Golly Miss Molly" (1961) "Jack the Ripper" b/w "Don't You Just Know It" (1963) "I'm a Hog for You" b/w "Monster in Black Tights" (1963) "She's Fallen in Love with the Monster Man" b/w "Bye Bye Baby" (1964) "Dracula's Daughter" b/w "Come Back Baby" (1964) "The Train Kept A-Rollin'" b/w "Honey Hush" (1965) "The Cheat" b/w "Black and Hairy" (1965) "Purple People Eater" b/w "You Don't Care" (1966) "'Cause I Love You" b/w "Thumping Beat" (1970), as Lord Sutch and Heavy Friends "Election Fever" b/w "Rock the Election" (1970), as Lord Sutch and Heavy Friends "Gotta Keep A-Rocking" b/w "Country Club" (1972), as Lord Sutch and Heavy Friends

Elections contested ElectionTypeConstituencyPartyVote% votePlaceCandidates 15 August 1963 BE Stratford-upon-Avon National Teenage 209 0.6 5 5 31 March 1966 GE Huyton 1 National Teenage 585 0.9 3 22 18 June 1970 GE Cities of London and Westminster Young Ideas 142 0.4 5 5 10 October 1974 GE Stafford and Stone Go to Blazes 351 0.6 4 4 24 February 1983 BE Bermondsey Official Monster Raving Loony 97 0.3 6 16 23 March 1983 BE Darlington Official Monster Raving Loony 374 0.7 4 8 9 June 1983 GE Finchley 1 Official Monster Raving Loony 235 0.6 5 11 28 July 1983 BE Penrith and The Border Official Monster Raving Loony 412 1.1 4 8 1 March 1984 BE Chesterfield Official Monster Raving Loony 178 0.3 5 17 4 July 1985 BE Brecon and Radnor Official Monster Raving Loony 202 0.5 5 7 10 April 1986 BE Fulham Official Monster Raving Loony 134 0.4 5 11 17 July 1986 BE Newcastle-under-Lyme Official Monster Raving Loony 277 0.7 4 7 14 July 1988 BE Kensington Official Monster Raving Loony 61 0.3 7 15 10 November 1988 BE Glasgow Govan Official Monster Raving Loony 174 0.6 7 8 15 December 1988 BE Epping Forest Official Monster Raving Loony 208 0.6 7 9 23 February 1989 BE Richmond (Yorks) Official Monster Raving Loony 167 0.3 6 9 4 May 1989 BE Vale of Glamorgan Official Monster Raving Loony 266 0.6 8 11 15 June 1989 BE Vauxhall Official Monster Raving Loony 106 0.4 10 14 15 June 1989 EE London Central Official Monster Raving Loony 841 0.5 6 8 22 March 1990 BE Mid Staffordshire Official Monster Raving Loony 336 0.6 7 14 24 May 1990 BE Bootle 2 Official Monster Raving Loony 418 1.2 6 8 27 September 1990 BE Knowsley South Official Monster Raving Loony 197 0.9 6 7 8 November 1990 BE Bootle 3 Official Monster Raving Loony 310 1.1 5 7 7 March 1991 BE Ribble Valley 3 Official Monster Raving Loony 278 0.6 6 9 4 April 1991 BE Neath Official Monster Raving Loony 263 0.8 7 8 16 May 1991 BE Monmouth 4 Official Monster Raving Loony 314 0.7 4 7 4 July 1991 BE Liverpool Walton Official Monster Raving Loony 546 1.4 5 6 9 April 1992 GE Huntingdon 1 Official Monster Raving Loony 728 1.0 6 10 9 April 1992 GE Islwyn 5 Official Monster Raving Loony 547 1.3 5 5 9 April 1992 GE Yeovil 6 Official Monster Raving Loony 338 0.6 5 6 6 May 1993 BE Newbury Official Monster Raving Loony 432 0.7 7 19 29 July 1993 BE Christchurch Official Monster Raving Loony 404 0.8 5 6 5 May 1994 BE Rotherham Official Monster Raving Loony 1,114 4.2 4 5 9 June 1994 BE Bradford South Official Monster Raving Loony 727 2.4 4 5 9 June 1994 BE Eastleigh Official Monster Raving Loony 783 1.4 5 14 16 February 1995 BE Islwyn Official Monster Raving Loony 506 2.2 5 7 25 May 1995 BE Perth and Kinross Official Monster Raving Loony 586 1.4 5 9 27 July 1995 BE Littleborough and Saddleworth Official Monster Raving Loony 782 1.9 4 10 1 February 1996 BE Hemsworth Official Monster Raving Loony 652 3.0 5 10 11 April 1996 BE South East Staffordshire Official Monster Raving Loony 506 1.2 5 13 31 July 1997 BE Uxbridge Official Monster Raving Loony 396 1.3 4 11 20 November 1997 BE Winchester Official Monster Raving Loony 316 0.6 5 8

Notes:- 1 This election was won by the incumbent Prime Minister. 2 Sutch achieved a better result than the candidate from the rump SDP. 3 Sutch achieved a better result than the candidate from the continuing Liberal Party. 4 Sutch achieved a better result than the joint candidate from the Green Party of England and Wales and Plaid Cymru. 5 This election was won by the incumbent Leader of the Opposition. 6 This election was won by the incumbent Leader of the Liberal Democrats.