Rock star.
Born: January 7, 1938; Died: October 4, 2014.
Paul Revere, who has died from cancer aged 76, was the lead singer of the Raiders rock band who became known as the madman of rock and roll for his theatrical wardrobe and manic on-stage persona. The band made an appearance as themselves in the Batman TV series starring Adam West.
The group would often dress in Revolutionary-era long coats and three-pointed hats. They became popular in 1963 with their rendition of Richard Berry's Louie, Louie before releasing their own hits, such as Kicks, Hungry and Good Thing. The band's biggest hit came in 1971 with Indian Reservation.
Revere himself always believed that his success had happened largely by accident. "From day one, we've always been a party band that accidentally had some hit records and accidentally got on a hit television series," he said.
Born Paul Revere Dick in Harvard, Nebraska, he grew up on a farm where he learned to play piano. He showed some early entrepreneurial ability when he opened a barber shop when he was still 18 years old. After expanding the business and buying a restaurant, he put together a band called the Downbeats with singer Mark Lindsay, renaming it the Raiders in 1960. They were joined by Drake Levin on guitar, Mike Smith on drums and Phil Volk on bass.
"We were visual and fun and crazy and were America's answer to the British music invasion," said Revere. "We just happened to be at the right time and had the right name and had the right gimmick."
The band went on to have 20 consecutive hits, with Indian Reservation selling more than a million. The Raiders served as the house band for the Dick Clark variety show Where the Action Is.
In all, Revere spent 50 years in the music industry although the line-up of the band changed many times and Revere was latterly the only original member. They continued touring until earlier this year.
"After you've had some success," he said, "you're afraid it's going to go away and you need to take advantage of it, so you work as hard as you can because it might disappear tomorrow."
In the last six months, he had been treated for cancer. "I don't want to get into the details but let's just say, it ain't fun," Revere wrote last year. "It's been rough getting through the last few shows, but I would do whatever it takes to avoid missing a show. I'm giving it my all, and then some, and the band tells me I've been even more awesome than usual."
He is survived by his wife and son.
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