1. Ivor Cutler became known for his regular performances on BBC radio, and in particular his numerous sessions recorded for John Peel's influential eponymous late-night radio programme, and later for Andy Kershaw's programme.
20 Facts About Ivor Cutler
1. 2.
Ivor Cutler appeared in the Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour film in 1967, and on Neil Innes' television programmes.
3.
Ivor Cutler usually read small phrases but read a few short stories.
4.
Ivor Cutler collaborated with pianist Neil Ardley, singer Robert Wyatt, guitarist Fred Frith, and musicians David Toop and Steve Beresford.
5.
Ivor Cutler was born on 15 January 1923 in Govan, Glasgow, into a middle-class Jewish family of Eastern European descent.
6.
Ivor Cutler joined the Royal Air Force as a navigator in 1942 but was grounded for "dreaminess" and worked as a storeman.
7.
Ivor Cutler moved to London where he was employed by the Inner London Education Authority to teach music, dance, drama and poetry to 7-to-11-year-olds.
8.
Ivor Cutler's deeply held views on humanity meant he disliked corporal punishment and on leaving a teaching job he held in the 1950s he cut up his tawse and handed the pieces to the class.
9.
Ivor Cutler began writing songs and poetry in the late 1950s, making the first of many appearances on BBC radio on the Home Service, where he featured on the Monday Night at Home programme on 38 occasions between 1959 and 1963.
10.
Ivor Cutler gained popularity playing songs where he would often accompany himself on either a piano or the harmonium, and this success led to the release of a series of records starting with 1959's Ivor Cutler of Y'Hup EP.
11.
Ivor Cutler appeared in the pop musical film It's All Over Town in 1964, and continued to make appearances on the BBC's programmes during the 1960s, and as a result of an appearance on the television show Late Night Line-Up, he was noticed by Paul McCartney, who invited Ivor Cutler to appear in the Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour film.
12.
The album, taking inspiration from trad jazz and boogie-woogie, sees Ivor Cutler playing the piano as well as his usual harmonium, and is considered the most traditionally musical of all his records.
13.
The collaboration with Wyatt led to Ivor Cutler being signed to Wyatt's record label Virgin Records, for whom Ivor Cutler recorded three albums in the mid-1970s: Dandruff, Velvet Donkey and Jammy Smears.
14.
Wyatt would later cover Ivor Cutler's song "Go and Sit upon the Grass".
15.
Ivor Cutler produced the work as a book, which was published in 1984 with illustrations by Martin Honeysett.
16.
Ivor Cutler contributed the track "Brooch Boat" to the cult 1980 album Miniatures, produced and edited by Morgan Fisher, which consisted entirely of one-minute-long recordings.
17.
Ivor Cutler released the single "Women of the World", recorded with Linda Hirst, through the label in 1983.
18.
Ivor Cutler was a member of the Noise Abatement Society and the Voluntary Euthanasia Society.
19.
John Peel once remarked that Ivor Cutler was probably the only performer whose work had been featured on Radio 1,2,3 and 4.
20.
Ivor Cutler retired from performing in 2004, and died on 3 March 2006, from a stroke, while at his home in London.