Difference between revisions of "Kimi and Ritz"

Revision as of 16:21, 15 October 2015

Kimi Wong and Richard O'Brien aka Kimi & RItz

Kimi and Ritz was the name of the musical performing duo of Richard O’Brien and then wife, Kimi Wong.

Wong and O’Brien met while performing together in the London stage version of Hair, and were married in 1971. Another Hair performer, John Sinclair, had left the production due to a knee injury and was attempting to start up his own recording studio along with his childhood friend, Andy Leighton. Together, they formed a publishing company, Druidcrest Music, which they signed Richard O’Brien to. Eventually, the three became partners in the business, and created the record label Rich Teaboy Prductions, which they operated under the pseudonym of Andrew O’Bonzo.

As Andrew O’Bonzo. O’Brien made a deal with Epic Records to release two songs that he had written. Released on December 7, 1973, the A-Side of the single was an original Christmas song, "Merry Christmas Baby" sung by Kimi, with some harmonies and a spoken part by Ritz. The B side was a cover of "Eddie" (aka "Eddie's Teddy"), from The Rocky Horror Show, sing by Kimi. The single was sold at the theater where Rocky Horror Show was playing in London.

Their second recording for Epic came in 1974, the teenage tragedy record I Was In Love With Danny (But The Crowd Was In Love With Dean), which they performed as a duet. The B-side was "Pseud's Corner", named after a weekly column in the satirical magazine Private Eye, and featured a solo vocal by O'Brien. Both of these tracks were produced by Rocky Horror’s musical director, Richard Hartley.

The duo recorded what they hoped would be a third single, an updated version of the "Liebesträume" by Franz Liszt, with new lyrics by O'Brien backed with an orchestrated version of "There's a Light" (aka "Over at the Frankenstein Place") with a chorus featuring Belinda Sinclair, who played Janet in the UK stage version of The Rocky Horror Show. This single was not released, though "Over at the Frankenstein Place" turned up in 1979 credited to The Richard O’Brien Crusade as the B-Side to a Belinda Sinclair version of Touch Me (billed as Janet from the Rocky Horror Show) on the Rich Teaboy label.