INSIDE TV INTERVIEW (Spring 1993)

BACK AGAIN, Naturally

After more than a decade out of the limelight, Seventies' idol Gilbert O'Sullivan pop hits the comeback trail...

There were few bigger pop stars in the Seventies than Gilbert O'Sullivan.

As a whole generation smooched in 1972 to such classics as Alone Again (Naturally) and Clair, he fast established himself as one of the top singer-songwriters of the decade.

But, as is so often the case in the music business, his success was short-lived. The hits dried up by 1975 and, in 1979, Gilbert embarked on a bitter legal fight against his former manager, Gordon Mills.

'It wasn't a battle over money,' explains Gilbert, who is Bobby Davro's guest on Rock with Laughter this week. 'Gordon was denying me certain rights to my own songs. He also broke nearly every promise he made to me.”

The bitter dispute dragged on for six years. 'At times, even my lawyer said to me, "Are you sure you want to go through with this?" the 46-year-old singer recalls.

'I could have done without the law suit, but it was something I was prepared to fight for - win or lose.'

Although he did eventually win the case, becoming the first artist to successfully challenge the music industry, his career never really recovered. He still enjoys considerable success in Europe and, only last year, had a Number One hit in Japan. And with the recent release of his new album, Sounds of the Loop, Gilbert is now hoping to make a comeback in Britain, too.

'I'm up against many brick walls in the UK, but that's no deterrent to me,' he says. 'As long as I can keep making records, I'm sure that I will have another UK hit eventually.'

Brought up in Swindon, Gilbert now lives in Jersey with his Norwegian-born wife, Aase, and daughters, Ella-Marie, 12, and Tara, eight. 'Jersey's a wonderful island,' he says. 'We moved here because it's a perfect place for a family. It has a very healthy climate and there aren't the pressures of life you have in the UK, such as motorways and crowds. It's a great place to relax... and write songs, of course.'

Words: Chris Twomey
Photographs: Rex