Clipping 6
Ever since his first hit, people have been asking, "just who is Crispian St Peters?"
To many, he is the first major solo disc discovery this year. To others, he is an untalented loudmouth. To some his name means about as much as a Welsh railway junction.
When I met him shortly after "You Were On My Mind" entered the chart last January, he made some startling comments.
He was going to be bigger than Presley; more talented than Sammy Davis Jr.
Black and white
I met him again recently in his dressing room at an Eastbourne club. He was dressed in tight-fitting black trousers, suede jacket, white polo-neck sweater and a black matador's hat.
"Perhaps I was wrong to have made the statements I did, having had only one hit", he explained, drawing on his cigarette. "But I don't really want to talk about that now."
Crispian St Peters is not an easy chap to understand. He is about as enigmatic as a schizophrenic chameleon - a man of many roles, who plays them all with equal success. He wears a permanently worried expression, but laughs loudly when something tickles his dry sense of humour. He talks slowly and deliberatly in a slightly Australian tinged accent. (He spent several months in Sydney) He jumps from one subject to another.
Crispian admits that success has changed him. "I eat, drink and smoke a lot more than I did before," he said as he opened a bottle of beer.
Secure
"I can now do many things I've always wanted to, but could never afford. I'm not any happier now, though. But I feel a lot more secure.
I cleared off all the debts I had. Lots of people, particularly my mother, helped me when times were hard. Now I want to repay them all."
Success has also provided Crispian with a new Jaguar and a luxury flat near Hyde Park. Both these acquisitions have given him the feeling of security which he finds important.
He explained: "If you've ever been really broke and hungry as I have, then when money does come your way, you find that material possessions are essential. Some pop singers find an expression of extravagance in their clothes, but I don't regard this as being as important as having an elegant and select home."
Crispian's flat is being decorated by a team of interior designers, on his choice of colours. "I have also been looking around for an artist to paint a mural for me in the living-room. When the flat is complete I'm going to have lots of parties and invite all the people who have helped me in the past."
Crispian likes to be alone, and to get away from it all he wants to buy himself a large country house. "I want some place with about twenty acres of land, so that I can wander about on my own," he said, lighting a cigarette with a gold lighter. "It would also be somewhere I could practise shooting. I've always been interested in guns and cowboys."
Sitting there, a tall, thin figure with his matador's hat, Crispian looked all set for his life in the saddle, and admitted that, despite his search for security he was a restless person. "I've worked at almost every job imaginable, simply because I couldn't settle down."
Crispian's success is due largely to one man - his astute 19 year old manager, Dave Nicolson, who also produces his records.
Since they first met, when Crispian was completly unknown, Dave has worked to create a star. Now his efforts are beginning to pay off. But for Dave this is only the beginning.
"I am convinced Crispian is going to be an enormous star," he told me. "We've made it this far. I don't see anything to stop us now."
Norrie Drummond 'New Musical Express' 16/4/66