Tommy Oliver - Your love had taken me that high

Описание: South African artist, born as Tommy Hollamby, on 20 December 1950 on the family farm just outside Rustenburg in the North West Province. He completed his schooling at Rustenburg North Primary, Randgate Primary and Rustenburg High schools. At the age of 8 he started taking singing lessons and made his debut as singer in the Randfontein Town Hall. When he turned 14, his mother gave him an acoustic guitar, and by 16 he was an accomplished guitarist and singer. His first band was called “Teen 4”, although they later changed their name to “The Pipe Pipers”. They regularly appeared at the Tambuti Inn Hotel in Rustenburg.

After school he started working as an inspector on the mines in Rustenburg and then formed the band “Sounds Gravitation” in 1971. They were very popular at The Crazy Horse in Rustenburg. Tommy then started appearing at the Bapsfontein Hotel and at Robinson Lake Resort near Randfontein, and one of the songs he wrote and performed, “I Wanna Live”, was especially popular with the crowds. In April 1973 Tommy Dell convinced him to record the song, and it turned out to be an immediate hit, reaching #3 on the South African Top 20 and charting for 17 weeks.

In 1974 he had another hit with “Just An Everlovin’ Woman” which reached #7 and charted for 10 weeks. The songwriter, Norman Cousins, also received a Sarie Award for “Song Of The Year” in that year. Tommy and his band then regularly appeared at Fiestaland close to the Hartebeespoort dam, and the song “Daddy Daddy”, which he performed with Tony Steyn, was especially popular. In 1974 he appeared on television in Zimbabawe, and also performed “I Wanna Live” in the movie “Die Afspraak”. In 1975 he again appeared in a movie, “Wat Maak Oom Kallie Daar?”, in which he sang 2 songs. During the 1970’s he toured South Africa and Namibia extensively, and in 1981 released his first Afrikaans album, “10 Goue Jare”.

Tommy Oliver had more than his share of setbacks during his life, but always held his head high. In 1986 a leg was amputated after he broke it a few years before and it never healed, and in 2010 he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Notwithstanding the fact that he was bound to a wheelchair for a very long time, he continued performing until he passed away on 16 January 2023, aged 72.

This song is from the album "It's Only Make Believe", released in 1987.