Keith West

Who is Keith West?

Keith Alan Hopkins, better known by his stage name, Keith West was the lead singer of Tomorrow, a 1960s psychedelic rock band. West composed most of the band's songs. Despite critical acclaim and support from BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel, who featured them on his Perfumed Garden show, the band was not a commercial success.

In 1964, West became lead singer of "In Crowd" a rock band from London, which was then renamed Tomorrow. Another member of that earlier band was the guitarist Steve Howe. In 1967 West became acquainted with Mark Wirtz, a producer who had already created the instrumental title, "A Touch of Velvet, a Sting of Brass". Later on, the melody became the theme music for the German television programs, Beat-Club and Musikladen.

West himself is perhaps better known as a participant of Wirtz's A Teenage Opera. He was the singer of "Excerpt from A Teenage Opera", also known as "Grocer Jack", which reached #2 on the UK Singles Chart in 1967. He also performed "Sam," which reached the bottom end of the UK Top 40 the same year.

In 1968, West released the single "On A Saturday" on Parlophone, which failed to chart in the UK. Other musicians who appeared on the single were the guitarist Howe, bassist Ronnie Wood, and drummer Aynsley Dunbar. It has since been included on the remastered CD version of the Tomorrow album.