Editing Screaming Lord Sutch (section)

== Musical career ==
In the 1960s, inspired by [[Screamin' Jay Hawkins]], he changed his stage name to "Screaming Lord Sutch, 3rd Earl of Harrow", despite having no connection with the [[peerage]]. It later became customary for the UK press to refer to him as "Screaming Lord Sutch", or simply "Lord Sutch".

During the 1960s Screaming Lord Sutch was known for his horror-themed stage show, dressing as [[Jack the Ripper]], pre-dating the [[shock rock]] antics of [[Arthur Brown (musician)|Arthur Brown]] and [[Alice Cooper]]. Accompanied by his band, the Savages, he started by coming out of a black coffin (once being trapped inside of it, an incident parodied in the film ''[[Slade in Flame]]''). Other props included knives and daggers, skulls and "bodies". Sutch booked themed tours, such as 'Sutch and the Roman Empire', where Sutch and the band members would be dressed up as Roman soldiers. Fellow musician [[Chas McDevitt]] has claimed that he gave the idea for a Screamin' Jay Hawkins-inspired act to Sutch's manager [[Paul Lincoln]] after seeing Hawkins perform in New York in 1957, having already considered emulating Hawkins himself by starting his act by emerging from a silk-lined coffin but deciding that he "(didn't have) the personality to carry this off", stating that "no one in this country had heard of Hawkins until the mid-60s".<ref>{{cite magazine |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=The 2i's and the birth of British rock |url=https://recordcollectormag.com/articles/the-2is-and-the-birth-of-british-rock |magazine=[[Record Collector]] |date=5 October 2007 |access-date=7 September 2021}}</ref>

Despite a self-confessed lack of vocal talent, Sutch released horror-themed singles during the early to mid-1960s, the most popular being "[[Jack the Ripper (song)|Jack the Ripper]]". His single "The Cheat" has been cited as a [[Psychedelic_rock#1960%E2%80%9365:_Precursors_and_influences|proto-psychedelic]] recording.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://dangerousminds.net/comments/the_wild_world_of_screaming_lord_sutch |title=The Wild World Of Screaming Lord Sutch |last=Campbell|first=Marc |date=November 22, 2010 |work=Dangerous Minds |access-date=December 8, 2023}}</ref> Early works included recordings produced by audio pioneer [[Joe Meek]].<ref name="RecordCollector">{{cite news |last1=Solly |first1=Bob |title=Sutch's life |url=https://recordcollectormag.com/articles/sutchs-life |access-date=25 October 2021 |work=[[Record Collector]] |date=28 March 2009}}</ref>

[[File:Radio Sutch guntower.png|thumb|Radio Sutch on a [[Shivering Sands]] guntower]]
In 1963 Sutch and his manager, [[Reginald Calvert]], took over [[Shivering Sands Army Fort]], a [[Maunsell Forts|Maunsell Fort]] off Southend, and in 1964 started [[Radio City (pirate radio station)|Radio Sutch]], intending to compete with other [[pirate radio]] stations such as [[Radio Caroline]]. Broadcasts consisted of music and [[Mandy Rice-Davies]] reading ''[[Lady Chatterley's Lover]]''. Sutch tired of the station, and sold it to Calvert, after which it was renamed [[Radio City (pirate radio station)|Radio City]] and lasted until the [[Marine, &c., Broadcasting (Offences) Act 1967|Marine Broadcasting Offences Act]] came into force in 1967. In 1966 Calvert was shot dead by [[Oliver Smedley]] over a financial dispute. Smedley was acquitted on grounds of [[self-defence]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Stafford |first1=David |last2=Stafford |first2=Caroline |title=Cupid Stunts:The Life & Radio Times Of Kenny Everett |date=2013 |publisher=Omnibus Press |isbn=978-0-85712-867-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4Tn_AgAAQBAJ&q=sutch&pg=PT81 |access-date=28 December 2018 |language=en}}</ref>

About this time [[Ritchie Blackmore]] left the band. Roger Warwick left to set up an R&B big band for Freddie Mack.

Sutch's album ''[[Lord Sutch and Heavy Friends]]'' was named in a 1998 [[BBC]] poll as the worst album of all time, a status it also held in [[Colin Larkin (writer)|Colin Larkin]]'s book ''The Top 1000 Albums of All Time'',<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.timepieces.nl/chart/12172/1994-colin-larkin-all-time-top-1000-albums |title=1994 Colin Larkin – All Time Top 1000 Albums |publisher=Timepieces.nl |date=1962-10-24 |access-date=2012-02-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140904000631/http://www.timepieces.nl/chart/12172/1994-colin-larkin-all-time-top-1000-albums |archive-date=2014-09-04 |url-status=dead }}</ref> despite the fact that [[Jimmy Page]], [[John Bonham]], [[Jeff Beck]], [[Noel Redding]] and [[Nicky Hopkins]] performed on it and helped write it. 

For his follow-up, ''Hands of Jack the Ripper'', Sutch assembled British rock celebrities for a concert at the [[Carshalton]] Park Rock 'n' Roll Festival. The show was recorded (though only Sutch knew), and it was released to the surprise of the musicians. Musicians on the record included [[Ritchie Blackmore]] (guitar); [[Matthew Fisher (musician)|Matthew Fisher]] (keyboard); [[Carlo Little]] (drums); [[Keith Moon]] (drums); [[Noel Redding]] (bass) and [[Nick Simper]] (bass).

In 2017 his song "Flashing Lights" was featured in ''[[Logan Lucky]]'', directed by [[Steven Soderbergh]].