- Clint Holmes
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Clint Holmes (born 9 May 1946), is a singer-songwriter and Las Vegas entertainer. He was born in Bournemouth, Hampshire (now Dorset), England, the son of an African-American jazz musician and a white English opera singer. He was raised in Farnham, a suburb of Buffalo, New York as a child.
Holmes is perhaps best known for his #2 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart "Playground In My Mind" in 1973. The nursery rhyme-styled song features Holmes duetting with producer Paul Vance's son Philip (d. 13 December 2009) on the chorus. "Playground In My Mind" was written by Paul Vance and Lee Pockriss, released in the U.S. in July 1972 but did not reach the Hot 100 until 24 March 1973, where it stayed for 23 weeks.[1] It was granted gold disc status by the R.I.A.A. on 3 July 1973.[1] The single went one better in Canada, topping the RPM 100 national singles charts there for three consecutive weeks in the same year (June 23 - July 7).[2]
Initially a vocal music student at Fredonia State College, Holmes left school for the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. He spent his 3 year enlistment (1967–1969) with the elite United States Army Chorus, and then remained in the Washington, D.C. area to launch his civilian career, singing in nightclubs up and down the East Coast.
Holmes was the announcer for The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers (1986–1988), the initial broadcast offering of the then-new Fox Broadcasting Company.
Holmes has been a Las Vegas show attraction since the early 1970s. In 2006, he closed his headlining show at Harrah's Las Vegas Casino, which renamed its main showroom for him. From 1990–1995, he hosted Honda Campus All-Star Challenge on the BET network, and, after the event became non-broadcast, continued to host the final matches through 2008.
Most of Holmes' Vegas band members also appear in a locally popular R&B/jazz group, Santa Fe and The Fat City Horns.
References
- ^ a b Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. p. 314. ISBN 0-214-20512-6.
- ^ List of RPM number-one singles of 1973. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_RPM_number-one_singles_of_1973
External links
Categories:- 1946 births
- Living people
- African American singers
- American game show hosts
- American people of English descent
- English people of African-American descent
- English people of American descent
- People from Bournemouth
- People from Buffalo, New York
- People from the Las Vegas metropolitan area
- United States Army soldiers
- Epic Records artists
- State University of New York at Fredonia alumni
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