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Nick Gilder

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Nick Gilder
Birth nameNicholas George Gilder
Born (1951-12-21) 21 December 1951 (age 72)
London, England
OriginVancouver, British Columbia, Canada
GenresRock, glam rock
OccupationSinger-songwriter
InstrumentVocals
Years active1975–present

Nicholas George Gilder (born 21 December 1951) is a British-Canadian musician who first came to prominence as the frontman for the glam rock band Sweeney Todd. He later had a successful solo career as a singer/songwriter.

Biography

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Born in London, Gilder was raised in Vancouver, British Columbia.[1] He began his career as front-man for the glam rock band Sweeney Todd,[1] which later briefly featured a very young Bryan Adams.[2] Sweeney Todd had a number one hit, "Roxy Roller" which had the top spot in the Canadian music charts for three weeks in 1976.[3][4][5] It went on to win a Juno Award for "Best Selling Single" in 1977.

Feeling they had international scope, Gilder and fellow band member, guitarist, and songwriting partner James McCulloch left the band and signed a US record deal.[1] It was his second solo album, which spawned the hit "Hot Child in the City" and it gave Gilder chart success in the United States.[1] The song went to No. 1 both in Canada and the US. It earned him two more Juno Awards: "Single of the Year" and for "Most Promising Male Vocalist of the Year" in Canada as well as a People's Choice Award in the US. It failed to chart in the United Kingdom, although it was featured on Top of the Pops and also in a Hot Gossip dance routine on The Kenny Everett Video Show. Since that success, Gilder has had only minimal success in Canada and none of his releases have hit the US Top 40.[1]

Gilder has also been successful as a songwriter for artists including Bette Midler, Joe Cocker, Pat Benatar and Toni Basil. In 1984, the band Scandal featuring Patty Smyth had a US Top 10 hit with "The Warrior," which was written by Gilder and Holly Knight; it earned him a BMI Airplay Award. The song also reached No. 1 in Canada, making him the first Canadian artist to reach the Top of the Canadian chart as lead singer for a band (Sweeney Todd with "Roxy Roller"), a solo artist ("Hot Child in the City"), and songwriter for another artist.

Gilder's songs have been used in several movies such as Youngblood with Rob Lowe, The Wraith with Charlie Sheen, Barb Wire with Pamela Anderson, Scenes From the Goldmine (it included a cameo appearance in the movie by Gilder), and in TV series Sex and the City, That '70s Show, Ed, and Nip/Tuck. Most recently one of his songs was used in the 2010 movie The Runaways, where "Roxy Roller" was featured in the beginning of the film.

Armand Van Helden sampled "Rockaway" on his 2005 club hit, "When the Lights Go Down." The next year Nemesis recorded "Hot Child in the City" for their 2006 debut CD, Rise Up and Rocket recorded "Backstreet Noise" for the band's CD, Girls with Candy Hearts.

Gilder was set to release an album called A Night on the Town, A Day in the Country in 2005,[6] but it was shelved. He returned to Canada in the mid-1990s, where he continues to tour as of 2020 (until the COVID-19 pandemic began).[7] He has settled in the Vancouver, British Columbia area where he lives with his family.[8]

Discography

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Solo

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Studio albums:

Compilations:

  • 2001: The Best of Nick Gilder, EMI- Capitol Music/Razor & Tie Entertainment (The Chrysalis Years)

Singles

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Year Single Peak chart
positions
US AUS[9] CAN
1976 "She's a Star (in Her Own Right)" — — 71
1976 "Roxy Roller" (w/ Sweeney Todd) -[10] 29 1
1976 "Roxy Roller"[11] - — -
1977 "Runaways in the Night" — — —
1977 "Rated X" — — —
1978 "Hot Child in the City" 1 18 1
1978 "Here Comes the Night" 44 — 21
1978 "(She's) One of the Boys" — — —
1978 "Got to Get Out" — — —
1979 "(You Really) Rock Me" 57 95 35
1979 "Electric Love" — — —
1979 "Metro Jets" — — 28
1979 "Into the 80s" — — —
1980 "Wild Ones (Feeling Electric)" — — 22
1980 "Catch 22" — — 26
1980 "Rock America" — — —
1980 "I've Got Your Number" — — —
1981 "Prove It" — — —
1981 "(She Talks) Body Talk" — — —
1985 "Let Me In" — — 50
1985 "Footsteps" — — 70
1997 "Café Heaven" — — —
1997 "You're Everything (I Want to Do) — — —
2000 "Roxy Roller 2000" — — —

With Sweeney Todd

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Album:

Singles:

  • 1975: "Rock 'N' Roll Story", London Records
  • 1975: "Sweeney Todd Folder", London Records (No. 36 Can)
  • 1975: "Roxy Roller", London Records (No. 1 Can)

Songwriting contributions

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SONG ARTIST ALBUM YEAR/LABEL
"Rated X" (N. Gilder, J. McCulloch) Pat Benatar In the Heat of the Night 1979 Chrysalis Records
"Is It Love" (N. Gilder, J. McCulloch) Bette Midler No Frills 1983 Atlantic Records
"Body Talk" (N. Gilder, Herndon) Kix Cool Kids 1983 Atlantic Records
"Think of Me" (N. Gilder, Martin S. Briley) Martin Briley Dangerous Moments 1984 Mercury Records
"The Warrior" (N. Gilder, Holly Knight) Scandal featuring Patty Smyth The Warrior 1984 Columbia Records
"Footsteps" Nick Gilder Youngblood (Original Movie Soundtrack) 1985/1986 RCA/Ariola International
"Tough Love" (N. Gilder, D. Hitchings) Patty Smyth Never Enough 1987 Columbia Records
"Hot Child in the City" ‡‡
 Nick Gilder Hot Child in the City (Original Movie Soundtrack) 1987 Prism Entertainment/Paramount Home Video
"Scream of Angels" ‡‡
 Nick Gilder The Wraith (Original Movie Soundtrack) 1987 Live Home Video
"Don't Walk Away" (N. Gilder, Duane Hitchings) ‡
 Pat Benatar Wide Awake in Dreamland 1988 Chrysalis Records
"You Know We're Gonna Hurt" (N. Gilder, Rick Boston) Joe Cocker One Night of Sin 1989 Capitol Records
"You're Everything (I Want to Do)" (N. Gilder, Brett Walker) Brett Walker Nevertheless 1994 Empire Records
"Hot Child in the City" ‡‡
 Nick Gilder Went to Coney Island on a Mission from God...Be Back by Five (Original Movie Soundtrack) 1998 Evenmore Entertainment
"The Battle Hymn of the Republic" Voices of Classic Rock Voices for America (Various Artists) provided vocals 2001 Intersound Records
"Hot Child in the City" ‡‡
 Nick Gilder Going the Distance (Original Movie Soundtrack) 2010 WaterTower Music
"Roxy Roller" Nick Gilder The Runaways (Original Movie Soundtrack) 2010 Atlantic Records

‡ Also provided background vocals on "Don't Walk Away" & "Cool Zero"
‡‡ Not included in the soundtrack release

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 971. ISBN 0-85112-939-0.
  2. ^ "Sweeney Todd". AllMusic.
  3. ^ "Item Display – RPM – Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Archived from the original on 15 October 2012. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
  4. ^ "Item Display – RPM – Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Archived from the original on 15 October 2012. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
  5. ^ "Item Display – RPM – Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Archived from the original on 15 October 2012. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
  6. ^ "Nick Gilder Online – Magazine Articles". Members.shaw.ca. 2 August 1998.
  7. ^ "Tour Dates 2020". nickgilder.com. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  8. ^ "Nick Gilder – Keeping Sweeney Todd Rolling". The Music Express. 20 December 2013. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
  9. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 125. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  10. ^ In the US the original version of "Roxy Roller" with Nick Gilder on vocals had not been released. There were however two charting versions released by London Records on which newly recorded vocals replacing Gilder's were by new lead singers: Clark Perry resp. Bryan Adams. The first new version climbed to No. 90 on the Billboard Hot 100, the latter to No. 99. Read the article on "Roxy Roller" for further information.
  11. ^ This is about Nick's own re-recording of the song released by Chrysalis Records, however not in Canada.
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