Letters from Lotusland: An Englishman in Exile - Softcover

Ian Whitcomb has been entertaining the world for over 30 years. Hitting the American Top Ten charts in 1965 with his novelty record, "You Turn Me On" (an orgasmic panting song), he soon abandoned life as a British Invader (born in Surrey, England, in 1941) to devote himself to resurrecting the roots of pop music, especially Ragtime and the simple, heartfelt songs of turn-of-the-century Tin Pan Alley. .....The result has been a steady flow of records, books, documentaries, radio shows, and concerts dedicated to this neglected music. He has performed everywhere, from the Hollywood Bowl and the Montreux Jazz Festival to shopping malls and private homes. Not only has he preserved such gems as "I Go So Far With Sophie On Sophie's Sofa" and "The War In Snider's Grocery Store", but he has also added to the library of sturdy songs with his own contributions such as "Wurzel Fudge--The Village Idiot" and even serious ballads. He has been allowed to perform on such TV shows as Johnny Carson's "Tonight Show"; he represented Ireland at the European Variety TV show contest (Ian is a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin, and The Father of Irish Rock); he was the original host of the longest running rock TV program in Britain, "The Old Grey Whistle Test". .....As an author, he is best known for his classic book on the history of pop music from rag to rock, entitled "After The Ball", still in print after a quarter of a century. He has published ten other books, including a biography of Irving Berlin, a memoir of his life in Los Angleles, and a novel set in Southern California. .....He lives near Pasadena, California, with his singing wife, Regina, and his mongrel dog, Inspector. Fittingly, this animal was inherited from the late Rudy Vallee, the world's first star crooner--for Ian Whitcomb is the last in the line of such gentle, friendly song delineators. He doesn't only sing comedy songs, you see, he can jerk tears with such numbers as "Who Wants A Bad Little Boy?".