The Indian-born, British-raised singer Peter Sarstedt, best known for his single, 1969’s “Where Do You Go To (My Lovely),” died Jan. 8 at age 75. The cause and place of death were not reported but published obituaries noted that he battled for several years with Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, a rare neurological condition.
Peter Eardley Sarstedt was born in Delhi, India, on Dec. 10, 1941, to parents who were British. Both of them were classical musicians who instilled a love of music in their children, and after moving back to England in 1954, Peter and his brother Richard (who went by the name Eden Kane) began playing skiffle music. (There was also a younger brother, Robin, who recorded first as Wes Sands and then as Clive Sands.)
Related: What were some of the hits of late 1969?
In early 1969, signed to the United Artists label in the U.K., Sarstedt recorded “Where Do You Go To (My Lovely),” described in the New York Times as a song about a “fictional girl named Marie-Claire, who rises from the back streets of Naples to join the European jet-set.” The single rocketed all the way to the #1 position in Britain but when it was released in the United States, on World Pacific Records, is went only as high as #70. A followup single, “Frozen orange Juice,” made it to #10 in the U.K. but stopped short at #116 in the U.S. Sarstedt never charted. “Where Do You Go To” won the awarded the 1970 Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically in the U.K.
Sarstedt continued to record and perform long after the hits dried up, often appearing n oldies package tours in Europe. He retired from show business in 2010 but released one final album in 2013, titled Restless Heart.
Watch a live video of Sarstedt singing “Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)”
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