Tony Christie

The song was re-released in March 2005 to raise money for the Comic Relief charity, with an accompanying video where Peter Kay mimed the song accompanied by various celebrities including Bez, Michael Parkinson, Heather Mills McCartney and Tony himself. He has released several albums since. In 2002 "Is This Way The Way To Amarillo?" was used in the comedy series Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights, leading to a resurgence in his popularity. He tried to launch a comeback in 1986 (see 1986 in music) and was nominated for a Grammy, and the use of "Misirlou" in a Quentin Tarantino film, Pulp Fiction, effectively launched a comeback within a small but devoted audience. In 1999 he was the vocalist on the Jarvis Cocker-penned UK top ten hit "Walk Like A Panther" by the Sheffield band All Seeing I. As a result, Dale became an environmental activist and soon began performing again throughout the 1970s and 1980s. He played the role of Magaldi in the original 1975 album recording of the musical Evita and sought to represent the UK in the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest but came third in the national contest to select an entrant behind eventual contest winners Brotherhood of Man. In 1979, he almost lost a leg after being injured while swimming; a pollution-related infection made the mild injury much worse.

He also had a minor hit with "Avenues and Alleyways", the theme to the television series The Protectors. He recovered, though, and retired from music for a time. Born with the real name Anthony Fitzgerald in 1943, he had two top twenty hits in the UK charts in 1971 with "I Did What I Did For Maria" and "Is This The Way To Amarillo?". briefly, the British Invasion began to overtake the American charts in 1964. Though he continued performing live, Dale was soon set back by rectal cancer. Tony Christie is a British singer from Conisborough, South Yorkshire. Though surf rock became the national sound in the U.S. Interview on BBC Radio Sheffield (http://www.bbc.co.uk/southyorkshire/toby/tony_christie/index.shtml). His second album was named after his performing nickname, King of the Surf Guitar.

Official website (http://www.tonychristie.com). The album was picked up by Capitol Records and distributed nationally, and Dale soon began appearing on the Ed Sullivan Show and in films. This was followed by more locally-released songs, including "Jungle Fever" and "Surf Beat". His first full-length album was Surfer's Choice (1962 in music). 1961's "Let's Go Trippin'" is often regarded as the first surf rock song (see 1961 in music). With his backing band, The Del-Tones, Dale's live performances became huge local draws.

He also began surfing, and soon began developing the sound that eventually became surf rock. In 1954, he moved to southern California and began performing. Among his early musical influences was his uncle, an oud player performing belly dance music - for example, Dale describes the rhythm on his song "Misirlou" as taken directly from a belly dance piece. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts to a Lebanese father and a Polish mother, and soon learned to play the drums, the ukulele, and finally the guitar.

. Due to his skilful guitar playing--which was often hard and aggressive--some consider Dick Dale a father of heavy metal music. Dick experimented with the reverb by bringing the microphone down to the sound of the guitar. Leo actually built reverb into a mircophone so Dick's singing voice would sound better in concert.

Dick is also the pioneer of guitar reverb. Leo Fender had to constantly reengineer the amplifer to make it withstand Dick's playing. He would reportedly play so fast the amplifier would catch on fire. Dick was friends with Leo Fender. Dick pushed the Fender Stratocaster's amplifer to its limits.

His guitar-playing techniques influenced future guitarists as varied as Jimi Hendrix and Eddie Van Halen. Dick Dale (born Richard Monsour on May 4, 1937) was one of the pioneers in surf rock, one of the most influential musicians of the early 1960s.