Profile

[ Home ] [ Demos ] [ Photo Gallery ] [ Enquiry ] [ Testimonials ] [ Products ]

With over 30 years singing and entertainment experience, in fields as diverse as musical theatre, pop, rock, soul, cabaret and even opera, Archie Hopkins will provide the best possible show and do everything in his power to make your special event that little bit more special.

"I can always remember from an early age beingfascinatedby the old Rat Packmovies. I used to fantasise that I was Frank, Dean or my absolute hero Sammy Davis Jr, but not being short, black, Jewish or one-eyed I settled for Frank or Dean. These guys had every thing style, panache, cash and of course the DAMES. Who wouldn't want to serenade Grace Kelly? That's when the die was cast. I new I wanted to sing Like Sammy or dance like Gene Kelly (another hero) it was total and complete fascination, with a good helping of envy on the side.

 I first strutted the stage at the tender age of 8 and through the years I have had a hand in many productions, in this country and abroad, including theatres like "The Royal Shakespeare Theatre", "The Birmingham Hippodrome" and a tour of the USA. I took to performing in pop bands in my late teens and early 20s, as it was the cool thing to do. I was writing melodramatic songs about unrequited love and how the world is soooo unfair. I tried every kind of popular music, always trying to be current, always seeming to just miss the boat. I went on to sing in an 8-piece soul band, just for the fun and experience of it, when as luck should have it the film "The Commitments" came out, which made us flavour of the month and increased our gigs enormously. It was a great experience.

It was around this time that I started having problems with my voice as the strain of singing 2 or 3 times every week, at the top of my lungs, started to take its toll. I was studying dance at "The Dance Attic" in Putney at the time and was recommended by my dance instructor to see a vocal coach there called David Bacon, who had himself had a long and illustrious career in theatre.

It was an awakening, I can't think there has been any thing in my life that ever made such a difference to how I felt about singing. David taught me vocal technique which, even though it took me some months to get close to a proper sound, once mastered it was like having a door opened. I enjoyed singing and performing before this point but since then its been like a drug, there is a physical reaction and enjoyment in singing which will never leave me.......thank you David, very, very much.

Since then I have had major roles in musicals in provincial theatre, played clubs up and down the country, sang at numerous weddings, a funeral of a dear friend and sat to discuss recording contracts with powerful, yet unheard of, record industry people (some, I have to admit, you might have heard of), but fate never smiled favourably upon me in the major fame department.

For me now it's more to do with the love of the performance, like most people in the entertainment industry I think. Although we do all wish for that one person to come along, recognise our profound talent, pluck us out of obscurity and make us multi millionaires, we still find reward in giving pleasure to others. It really is one of the best feelings to be able to please your audience, and the enjoyment we give makes us feel good too.

Now I have come full circle, although I still would love that big break in a West End show, or musical tour, I have come back to my first love SWING, BIG BAND and JAZZ STANDARDS.

You know, all of the so called "jazz standards" are just great show tunes, songs like "LUCK BE A LADY", "THE LADY'S A TRAMP", "HEY THERE", "ON THE STREET WHERE YOU LIVE", they all come from shows like "Pal Joey", "Guys & Dolls", "The Pyjama Game", "My Fair Lady", the list goes on and on, they had just been adopted by popular vocal performers of the day, like the Rat Pack, with possibly the odd exception. So, I never really left them behind, they came with me and now they're calling me back.

I hope I get the chance to share a little bit of my love for performing some of these great old tunes for you.

 Thanks for visiting, all the best,

Archie