Keith Hampshire

Artist Biography by John Bush Although he was born in London and stayed in New York for a while, Keith Hampshire spent most of his youth in Toronto and Calgary, where he sang in a church choir and received vocal lessons. During high school, Hampshire began performing in local coffeehouses around the Calgary area, but, when rock became popular, he formed his own band, the Intruders. It soon folded, as did Keith and the Bristols, but Keith and the Variations lasted three years. After high school, Hampshire became a Canadian DJ (though he once worked for Amsterdam's pirate Radio Caroline and became popular in England for his Keefer's Uprising morning show). He began recording in 1971 and his singles "Daytime, Night-time" and "First Cut Is the Deepest" were Canadian hits. The latter single was culled from The First Cut (1973). Beginning in the late '70s, Hampshire has worked in commercials, but he did record an album in the early '80s called Variations.