Alex Harvey (5 February 1935 – 4 February 1982) was a Scottish rock musician. With The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, he built a reputation as an exciting live performer during the 1970s glam rock era.^[1]

Biography[link]

Harvey was born in 1935 in the Kinning Park district of Glasgow, Scotland, a working-class neighborhood, where he spent his childhood and youth.^[2] By his own account, he worked in a number of jobs, from carpentry to waiting tables at a restaurant to carving tombstones,^[3] before finding success in music. He first began performing in skiffle groups in 1954.^[2]

His musical roots were in Dixieland jazz and skiffle music, which enjoyed considerable popularity in England and Scotland during the late 1950s. From 1958-1965, he was the leader of Alex Harvey's Big Soul Band, playing blues and rock and roll songs and spending considerable time touring in the United Kingdom and Germany.^[3] He also won a competition that sought "Scotland's answer to Tommy Steele." Harvey became strongly identified with British rhythm and blues music, although he was equally able to play rock songs.

After leaving the Big Soul Band, he briefly tried for a solo career but with little success.^[3] By 1967, he found a positive direction for his career when he became a member of the pit band in the London stage production of the musical Hair. This band recorded the live album Hair Rave Up, which contained Harvey originals and other songs not from the stage show. In 1970 Harvey formed Rock Workshop with Ray Russell; their first, self-titled album contained an early version of "Hole In Her Stocking",^[4] later to appear on Framed. Harvey remained with Hair for five years.

Harvey was also instrumental in the formation of the band Stone the Crows by introducing his younger brother, Leslie Harvey, to singer Maggie Bell.^[5] Tragically, Les Harvey was electrocuted in a freak accident while performing with the band in 1972.

In 1972, Harvey formed The Sensational Alex Harvey Band (often shortened to SAHB) with guitarist Zal Cleminson, bassist Chris Glen, and cousins Hugh and Ted McKenna on keyboards and drums respectively, all previous members of progressive rock act "Tear Gas". SAHB produced a succession of highly regarded albums and tours throughout the 1970s. The band never achieved acclaim in the United States the way it did in Great Britain, but it had a cult following in certain U.S. cities, especially Cleveland, where the group first played at the Agora Ballroom in December 1974. Thanks to airplay from WMMS, songs like "Next" and "The Impossible Dream" became very popular. Cleveland music critics observed that the Sensational Alex Harvey Band could headline in that city, while in other cities, few people came to see them (Pantsios, 3).

The Sensational Alex Harvey Band had top-40 hits in Britain with the single "Delilah", a re-make of the Tom Jones hit, which reached No 7 in 1975, and also with "The Boston Tea Party" (June 1976). After Harvey left the group later that year, the other members continued as 'SAHB… without Alex'. Harvey re-joined the group for 1978's Rock Drill, but they disbanded shortly afterwards.

On 4 February 1982 while waiting to take a ferry back to shore after performing his last concert with his new band, the Electric Cowboys, Harvey suffered a massive heart attack. In an ambulance on the way to the hospital, he suffered a second heart attack, this one fatal. It occurred on the day before his 47th birthday, in Zeebrugge, Belgium. On his death, he left his second wife, Trudy, and two sons (Alex, by his first wife, Mary Martin, and Tyro).^[6]

In 2002, a biography of Harvey by John Neil Munro was published: The Sensational Alex Harvey. The Sensational Alex Harvey Band were voted the fifth greatest Scottish band of all time in a 2005 survey.^[7] In 2004, SAHB reformed and, two-years later, released a live album featuring many classic SAHB songs. On 4 February 2012 a Rowan tree was planted in memory of Alex in the grounds of the Peoples Palace museum in Glasgow by Alex Harvey jnr and the remaining members of the band.^[8] A limited edition book entitled Alex Harvey: Last of the Teenage Idols, photographed by Janet Macoska and edited by Martin Kielty was released to coincide with the 30th anniversary of his death ^[9]

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

• Alex Harvey and His Soul Band (1964)
• The Blues (1964)
• Roman Wall Blues (1969)
• The Joker is Wild (1972)
• Framed (1972)
• Next (1973)
• The Impossible Dream (1974)
• Tomorrow Belongs to Me (1975)
• The Penthouse Tapes (1976)
• SAHB Stories (1976)
• Rock Drill (1978)
• The Mafia Stole My Guitar (1979)
• Soldier on the Wall (1982)

Unreleased album[link]

• Hot City (1974)

Live albums[link]

• Hair Rave Up (1969)
• Alex Harvey Talks About Everything (1974)
• Live (1975)
• Alex Harvey Presents: The Loch Ness Monster (1977)
• BBC Radio 1 Live in Concert (1995)
• Live on the Test (1995)
• British Tour '76 (2004)
• Live At the BBC (2009)

Compilations[link]

• ... Delilah, (Spectrum 1994)
• Hot City (2009)
• Big Hits And Close Shaves (1977)
• The Sensational Alex Harvey Band (Old Gold 1997)
• Teenage A Go Go (Alchemy Entertainment 2003)
• All Sensations (Vertigo 1992)
• The Best of the Sensational (UK chart peak: #148)^[10]

Tribute bands[link]

• Since 2005, Not The Sensational Alex Harvey Band has been performing in Switzerland. Alex Harvey is portrayed by fellow Scot, Gustav Bertha.^[11]
• In 2008 a new Alex Harvey tribute, Vambo Rools, was formed in the Cleveland, Ohio region.^[12]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official site
• Alex Harvey (musician) discography at Discogs
• Alex Harvey at Allmusic
• The Sensational Alex Harvey Band at Allmusic

Devon Kershaw
Devon Kershaw in Tour de Ski 2010
Personal information
Full name	Luke Devon Kershaw
Born	(1982-12-20) 20 December 1982 (age 29) Sudbury, Canada
Height	1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Professional information
Skis	Fischer
Medal record Men's cross country skiing Competitor for  Canada World Championships Gold 2011 Oslo Team sprint

Devon Kershaw (born December 20, 1982) is a Canadian cross country skier who has been competing since 2000. Growing up in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, he split his time between several sports before choosing to focus on his skiing career.

Early life and career[link]

Devon grew up in the Northern Ontario city of Sudbury, Ontario. His father (Will) and mother (Maureen) were instrumental in developing and nurturing a love of the natural environment and active lifestyle. Kershaw was a serious sports enthusiast growing up, playing hockey, volleyball, badminton, tennis, and running competitively in his younger years.

Skiing for Laurentian Nordic as a young skier in Sudbury, he participated in 3 World Junior Championships (2000, 2001, 2002) and won 18 National Junior Medals. As a senior racer he moved West to Canmore, Alberta, home of Canada’s National Ski Team, to pursue his athletic dreams and pursuits.

Athletic career[link]

In the 2005 World Championships in Oberstdorf finished 14th in the individual sprint.

He was also the first Canadian male cross country skier to medal in the sprint category - placing third in the Freestyle Sprint in Borlänge, Sweden, on March 7, 2006. In November 2006, he skated his way into the history books again by placing a best finish for a Canadian male in more than 10 years in a World Cup distance event - 15th in the Men’s 15 kilometre freestyle race in Gällivare, Sweden.

During the first Tour de Ski in 2006-2007, Devon came 2nd in the first Stage - the Freestyle Sprint, a position that was later upgraded to first when the first place skier, Christoph Eigenmann, was knocked out in a later stage. Unfortunately, Devon became sick and was unable to defend his title in the second sprint race later in the Tour, causing him to lose the overall title.

In 2009, Kershaw and the Canadian team finish fifth in the 4 x 10 km relay in the Liberec World Championships.

In the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, Kershaw's best individual finish was fifth in the 50 km event, and fourth in the team sprint with teammate Alex Harvey. This is the best placing ever for Canadian men in an Olympic cross-country competition.

In the Oslo 2011 World Championship Kershaw and Alex Harvey won the gold medal in the team sprint, bringing Canada their second FIS Nordic World Ski Championship medal ever, the first being Sara Renner's bronze in 2005.

In the 2011 tour de ski, Devon came in first in one of the sprint stages, beating Dario Cologna, and [Northug]. In the 2012 Tour de ski, Devon came in 4th place in the whole tour, the best a Canadian has ever done. Devon Kershaw had an amazing 2011/2012 season, winning many world cup medals and finishing at an amazing second place in the overall world cup season!

Personal life[link]

Kershaw is the eldest of three children, sister Linnaea is a journalism student in Vancouver and brother Sean an Art History student in Montreal. Beyond skiing Kershaw plans to return to school to pursue a degree in medicine, with the eventual goal of becoming doctor specializing in sports medicine

References[link]

• Devon Kershaw at the International Ski Federation
• Official Site
• Bio at Cross Country Canada