Ray Columbus
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=November 2012}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Ray Columbus
| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=NZL|OBE|size=100%}}
| image = Ray Columbus (27002761860) (cropped).jpg
| caption = Columbus on television in the early 1970s
| image_size =
| background = solo_singer
| birth_date = {{birth date|1942|11|4|df=y}}
| birth_place = Christchurch, New Zealand
| death_place = Snells Beach, New Zealand
| death_date = {{nowrap|{{death date and age|2016|11|29|1942|11|4|df=y}}}}
| origin = New Zealand
| instrument = Vocals
| genre = Pop music, surf music
| occupation = {{hlist|Singer|songwriter|television host|music manager}}
| years_active = 1959–2015
| label = Zodiac
| past_member_of = Ray Columbus & The Invaders
}}
Raymond John Patrick Columbus {{post-nominals|country=NZL|OBE}} (4 November 1942 – 29 November 2016) was a New Zealand Benny Award-winning singer and songwriter, television host, music manager and entertainer, with a career spanning six decades. As the lead singer of surf music band Ray Columbus & the Invaders, his best-known hit was "She's A Mod" in 1964.
Early years
Columbus attended Xavier College in Christchurch and studied tap, but was more interested in the rock and roll of the era and formed his first band, The Dominoes, in 1959.{{cite news|title=Musician Ray Columbus has died at 74|url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/music/67963824/musician-ray-columbus-has-died-at-74|accessdate=29 November 2016|agency=Fairfax Media|publisher=Stuff.co.nz}} Based in a church hall, in Addington, Christchurch, the band put on Saturday night dances. Often in the last bracket of songs for the night, Columbus would throw a big sombrero on the floor and dance around it while the band played the Mexican hat dance.
Music career
Columbus got his big break playing with the Downbeats Band, which later became Ray and the Drifters. He relocated to Auckland when he was offered a TV show titled Club Columbus, whereupon he changed the band's name to Ray Columbus & the Invaders in 1964. The Invaders were known for their Fender guitars, dance moves and lavish clean-cut outfits. In 1964, the Invaders released their best-known song, "She's a Mod". The track was written by British musician Terry Beale for his group The Senators, but was not a hit. However, "She's A Mod" became a number one hit in Australia – the first song from a New Zealand group to reach the top of the charts in another country. In 1965, the band released the single "Till We Kissed", which sold fifty thousand units. It was a retitled version of "Where Have You Been (All My Life)", originally recorded by Arthur Alexander in 1962, and also performed by The Beatles during their Hamburg days.
The Invaders' second album, Original Numbers, was the first album in New Zealand to include entirely self-composed songs.
After disbanding the Invaders, Columbus relocated to the United States for two years. Returning to New Zealand, he hosted numerous television pop shows, including Ray Columbus presents New Faces, C'mon, Happen Inn and That's Country (which he co-created and helped sell to a US cable network).{{cite web|title=Biography: Ray Columbus|url=https://www.nzonscreen.com/person/ray-columbus/biography|website=NZ On Screen|accessdate=30 November 2016}} He was also a noted music manager, mentoring artists such as singer Suzanne Lynch. In the late 1990s, he managed the rock band Zed.
As a solo artist, Columbus performed at Redwood 70, the first major modern music festival held in New Zealand,{{cite web|url=https://www.audioculture.co.nz/articles/redwood-70-national-music-convention |title=Redwood 70 National Music Convention |first=Andrew |last=Schmidt |publisher=AudioCulture |date=12 December 2013 |access-date=18 August 2022}} toured with The Rolling Stones, Roy Orbison and The Newbeats, as well as playing Royal Variety Performances and being an opening act of the 1974 New Zealand Commonwealth Games.
Personal life
Columbus released a biography in 2011, which stated that he had smoked for years and was a heavy drinker. He suffered a heart attack in 2004, and a stroke in 2007 that left him partially paralysed. In April 2014, he was reported to be terminally ill, from an immune deficiency condition caused by medication.{{cite web|url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/music/9948390/Family-flock-to-terminally-ill-Columbus |title= Family flock to terminally-ill Columbus |publisher= Stuff/Fairfax |date=16 April 2014}}
Columbus died at his Snells Beach, North Auckland residence in November 2016 aged 74, after a "four-year battle with ill health". He was survived by his wife and two children.{{cite news|title=NZ music legend Ray Columbus dies|url=http://www.newshub.co.nz/entertainment/nz-music-legend-ray-columbus-dies-2016112915|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161129145931/http://www.newshub.co.nz/entertainment/nz-music-legend-ray-columbus-dies-2016112915|url-status=dead|archive-date=29 November 2016|accessdate=29 November 2016|agency=MediaWorks|publisher=Newshub }}{{cite news|title=Kiwi music legend Ray Columbus dies|url=https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/kiwi-music-legend-ray-columbus-dies|accessdate=29 November 2016|agency=1 News|publisher=1 News}}
Discography
{{See also|Ray Columbus & the Invaders}}
=Solo studio albums=
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1"
! scope="col" style="width:17em;"| Title ! scope="col" style="width:17em;"| Details |
| scope="row"| The Ray Columbus Album
|
|
|---|
| scope="row"| Hit Tracks
|
|
| scope="row"| Jangles, Spangles & Banners
|
|
| scope="row"| Happy Birthday Rock 'n' Roll (with The Stargazers) |
|
=Compilation albums=
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1"
! scope="col" style="width:17em;"| Title ! scope="col" style="width:17em;"| Details |
| scope="row"| His 14 Greatest Hits
|
|
|---|
| scope="row"| The Solo Years
|
|
| scope="row"| Now You Shake
|
|
=Singles=
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|+ List of singles with selected New Zealand positions ! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Title ! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Year ! scope="col" colspan="1"| Peak chart positions ! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Album |
| style="width:3em;font-size:85%"|NZ {{Cite web|url=https://charts.nz/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Ray+Columbus|title=Ray Columbus NZ Charts|website=charts.nz|access-date=18 August 2021}} |
|---|
| scope="row"| "We Want a Beat"
| 1966 | — |rowspan=4 | The Ray Columbus Album |
| scope="row"| "I Need You"
|rowspan=2 | 1967 | — |
| scope="row"| "There's No Room in the 'In' Crowd"
| — |
| scope="row"| "(That's What I've Got) For Loving You Baby"
| 1968 | — |
| scope="row"| "Travelling Singing Man"
|rowspan=2 | 1969 | — |rowspan=2 {{n/a|non-album singles}} |
| scope="row"| "Happy in a Sad Kind of Way"
| — |
| scope="row"| "Los Angeles (Is Where I Want to Stay)"
|rowspan=3 | 1970 | — |rowspan=2 | Hit Tracks |
| scope="row"| "Hold Me"
| — |
| scope="row"| "Wendy, Where Are You?"
| — |rowspan=3 {{n/a|non-album singles}} |
| scope="row"| "People Are People"
|rowspan=3 | 1971 | — |
| scope="row"| "Good Friend of Mary's"
| — |
| scope="row"| "Where Is the "Y" In Love?"
| — |rowspan=3 | Jangles, Spangles & Banners |
| scope="row"| "Tell Me You Do" (with Jillian Richards) | 1972 | — |
| scope="row"| "Missing You"
|rowspan=3 | 1973 | — |
| scope="row"| "Computer Dater"
| — |rowspan=2| Ray Columbus His 14 Greatest Hits |
| scope="row"| "Singing the Blues"
| — |
| scope="row"| "Bird Dog" (with The Stargazers)
| 1976 | — | Happy Birthday Rock 'n' Roll |
| scope="row"| "She's a Mod" / "Mod Rap" (with Double J & Twice The T) | 1989 | 2 | {{n/a|non-album single}} |
| scope="row"| "Till We Kissed" (with Herbs) | 1993 | 26 | {{n/a|non-album single}} |
Honours and awards
In 1973, Columbus received the Benny Award from the Variety Artists Club of New Zealand Inc, the highest honour available to a New Zealand variety entertainer.{{cite web|url=http://www.vac.org.nz/bennyaward/|title=Variety Artists Club of NZ Benny Award Recipients}} In the 1974 Queen's Birthday Honours, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, for services to entertainment.{{London Gazette |issue=46312 |date=15 June 1974 |page=6830 |supp=3}} In 1990, Columbus received the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal for his promotion of New Zealand overseas.{{cite book|last1=Columbus|first1=Ray|title=The Mod Father: Ray Columbus|date=2011|publisher=Penguin UK|location=London|isbn=978-1742287805}}
=Aotearoa Music Awards=
The Aotearoa Music Awards (previously known as New Zealand Music Awards (NZMA)) are an annual awards night celebrating excellence in New Zealand music and have been presented annually since 1965.
{{awards table}}
! {{Abbr|Ref.|Reference}}
|-
| 1965 || "Till We Kissed" || Single of the Year|| {{won}} ||rowspan="6"|{{cite web|url=https://aotearoamusicawards.nz/award-history/|title=Aotearoa Music Awards|website=aotearoamusicawards.nz|access-date=18 August 2021}}
|-
| 1966 || "I Need You" || Single of the Year || {{nom}}
|-
| 1968 || "Happy in a Sad Kind of Way" || Single of the Year || {{nom}}
|-
| 1970 || "Travelling Singing Man" || Single of the Year || {{nom}}
|-
| 1971 || "People Are People" || Single of the Year || {{nom}}
|-
| 1989 || "She's a Mod" (with Double J and Twice the T) || Single of the Year || {{nom}}
|-
| 2009 || Ray Columbus (as part of Ray Columbus & the Invaders) || New Zealand Music Hall of Fame || {{yes2|inductee}} ||{{cite web|url=https://www.musichall.co.nz/home/inductees/|title=HOME INDUCTEES|website=musichall.co.nz|access-date=16 August 2021}}
|-
{{end}}
References
{{reflist}}
Further reading
- Ray Columbus, Ray Columbus: The Modfather: Life and Times of a Rock 'n' Roll Pioneer, Penguin Books, 2011, {{ISBN|978-0143206576}}
External links
- [http://www.sergent.com.au/music/columbusinv.html sergent.com.au]
- [https://www.audioculture.co.nz/people/ray-columbus AudioCulture profile]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Columbus, Ray}}
Category:20th-century New Zealand male singers
Category:20th-century New Zealand singer-songwriters
Category:New Zealand pop singers
Category:New Zealand male singer-songwriters
Category:New Zealand people of Greek descent
Category:Musicians from Christchurch
Category:New Zealand Officers of the Order of the British Empire