Eden Kane was born Richard Sarstedt on 29 March 1942 in Delhi, India, where his father was the accountant to a prosperous tea merchant. His family returned home to Britain in the mid-fifties.
While at school, Richard and his brothers, Peter and Robin, formed their own skiffle group.
But it was as a solo artist that Richard found success. He won a 1960 talent contest and immediately joined forces with the management team of Philip Waddilove and Michael Barclay of Audio Enterprises.
It was at this point that the name change to Eden Kane occurred – taken from the movie Citizen Kane and the biblical Garden of Eden.
Kane’s first single, Hot Chocolate Crazy was sponsored by Cadbury’s, but despite the financial backing of the chocolate conglomerate, the record bombed. It did, however, bring him to the attention of Decca, who released his first commercial single, Well I Ask You.
The disc (named after a popular catchphrase of the time) was a runaway hit and reached #1 within days of release in August 1961. Get Lost – a song in much the same vein – followed, but stalled at #10.
Forget Me Not (1962) bolted to #3, followed by a self-titled LP. The last release of 1962, I Don’t Know Why, was to be Kane’s final hit for two years.
Audio Enterprises went into liquidation and Kane was picked up by manager Vic Billings, who also represented Dusty Springfield, with whom Kane was later reputedly romantically involved.
Billings introduced Kane to Jack Baverstock, A&R Manager at Fontana, who then worked on Kane’s return as a chart artist.
Boys Cry (1964) shot into the British Top Ten. Unfortunately, Kane’s return to the top was to be short-lived, and this single was to be his only success under his new management.
By the end of 1964, Kane had emigrated to Australia, and later to America.
His two brothers, Robin and Peter Sarstedt, enjoyed short recording careers in their own right. They all joined forces for an album titled World’s Apart Together in 1973.
