Keith West
Keith Hopkins (born 6 December 1944, Dagenham, Essex, England), known by his stage name Keith West, is a British rock singer, songwriter and music producer. He is best known for his single "Excerpt from A Teenage Opera" ("Grocer Jack"), which reached No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart.
Also recorded as Keith Hopkins
Keith West
- Name
- Keith West
- Birth Name
- Keith Alan Hopkins
- Born
- 6 December 1944
- Birthplace
- Dagenham, Essex, England
- Occupation
- Singer, songwriter
- Nationality
- United Kingdom.
- Languages
- English.
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Documentary summary
Keith Hopkins (born 6 December 1944, Dagenham, Essex, England), known by his stage name Keith West, is a British rock singer, songwriter and music producer. He is best known for his single "Excerpt from A Teenage Opera" ("Grocer Jack"), which reached No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart.
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wikidata · Q330665 · wikipedia · Keith West
In this article
Biography
Biography
West was also the lead singer of various groups including Tomorrow, a 1960s psychedelic rock band. West wrote most of his own songs (credited to Keith Hopkins), often in collaboration with Ken Burgess. Despite critical acclaim and support from BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel, who featured Tomorrow on his The Perfumed Garden show, the group was not a major commercial success.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Keith West • Birth Name — Keith Alan Hopkins • Born — 6 December 1944 • Birthplace — Dagenham, Essex, England • Occupation — Singer, songwriter • Years Active — Mid-1960s–present • Label — Parlophone, Kuckuck (FRG) • Past Member Of — Tomorrow, The In Crowd, Moonrider
Career
Career
In 1964, West became lead singer of The In Crowd, a band from London, who later changed their name to Tomorrow. The following year The In Crowd recorded three singles for Parlophone. Another member of these groups was guitarist Steve Howe, later of the band Yes. In 1967, West became acquainted with Mark Wirtz, a record producer who had already created the instrumental title "A Touch of Velvet, a Sting of Brass" (1965). The melody later became the theme music for the German television programmes Beat-Club and Musikladen. West was also a participant in Wirtz's A Teenage Opera project: he was the singer of "Excerpt from A Teenage Opera", also known as "Grocer Jack", which reached number 2 on the UK Singles Chart in 1967. He also performed "Sam", which reached the bottom end of the UK Top 40 the same year. In August 1967, Tomorrow released a single of a Hopkins/Howe song titled "Revolution". West released the solo single "On a Saturday" on Parlophone in 1968. Other musicians who appeared on that single were guitarist Howe, bassist Ronnie Wood, and drummer Aynsley Dunbar. It has since been included on the remastered CD version of the Tomorrow album (1999). In 1971, West released a solo album, Wherever My Love Goes, on the German progressive rock record label Kuckuck. It featured his songwriting partner Ken Burgess and steel guitarist Glenn Ross Campbell (ex-The Misunderstood). Two tracks on the album were produced by Andrew Loog Oldham. By the mid-1970s, West was the lead singer of a group called Moonrider, which also featured John Weider, Chico Greenwood (later to perform with Murray Head) and Bruce Thomas. Today, West continues to produce and record music, which is used primarily within the advertising industry. He is also associated with Burns Guitars. In 2021, the official biography of Keith West was published in the book Thinking About Tomorrow – Excerpts from the life of Keith West.
Albums
Albums
• Wherever My Love Goes (1971)
Singles
Singles
• Year — Single — Chart Positions • UK — BEL — DE — NLD — NZ — US • 1967 — "Excerpt from A Teenage Opera" — 2 — 2 — 2 — 1 — 10 — 109 • "Sam" — 38 — — — — — Tip — — — — • 1968 — "On A Saturday" — — — — — — — — — — — — • "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released to that territory
Works and production
Works and production
The following works and productions are recorded by name or by count. It is also recorded that keith West is recorded with the occupation songwriter. Institutional cataloguing adds that keith West is recorded with the occupation singer. Institutional cataloguing adds that keith West is recorded with the occupation musician. Recorded as a citizen of United Kingdom. Institutional cataloguing adds that keith West is recorded with the gender male. Institutional cataloguing adds that keith West was born on 6 December 1944.
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Keith West”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q330665: Keith West
General reference · Wikidata
Citations
References
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reference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
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