Tony Etoria
Tony Etoria is a Welsh singer, songwriter, music producer and actor. He is best known for his 1977 hit I Can Prove It which was a top 40 UK hit. He recorded for other labels like EMI and was also a member of the 1980s bands Decoupage and Osibisa. Etoria also opened up a recording studio in Cardiff called Famous Studios, located in Trade Street, and recorded and produced notable acts. He made appearances and wrote for some Welsh theatre companies and starred frequently in the TV soap Coleg.
1954
Ely, Cardiff, Wales
Jamaican descent
1977- He released the star track I Can Prove It
Late 1970s- Founded the alternative nightclub Mel’s in Cardiff.
He was born in Ely in Cardiff. Etoria said he enjoyed his school years and “fit in well with the Tiger Bay lot.”
At the age of 23, Tony Etoria found pop stardom with his disco hit I Can Prove It. The song reached 21 in the charts in June 1977 and later when Phil Fearon covered it, reached the top 10. At its peak the song was selling around 10,000 copies a day for the top disco label GTO.
Etoria went on to sign major deals with EMI, WEA and R’n’B and joined the Eighties band Decoupage. He later also sang with African disco band Osibisa.
Etoria founded and ran the first alternative nightclub Mel’s in Butetown, Cardiff in the late 1970s. Mel’s has been called the legendary nightclub in Cardiff that catered to the musical needs of South Wales’ ‘reaks and wierdos- all the cool people.’
Etoria was also talented in the acting field, spending several years acting and playing Vic Williams, a barman in the Welsh soap Coleg. He also toured with the Welsh theatre companies Fosters in Gloucester and Cardiff’s Made in Wales and wrote material for companies like Welsh Fargo and On the Edge.
However, Etoria has said that his interest in song writing was always far greater than his interest in the pop game. He launched Famous Studios on Trade Street in Cardiff which produced some successful artists like Screaming Lord Sutch, Super Furry Animals, Yr Anhrefn and the Boo Radleys. Super Furry Animals for example recorded nine UK Albums Chart Top 25 studio albums and have been described as ‘one of the most imaginative bands of our time’ by Billboard.
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Ali Stokes, ‘’I worked with Michael Jackson – when he had a face’ Whatever happened to. . . ? TONY ETORIA.’, South Wales Echo (The Free Library by Farlex, revised 2001) <https://www.thefreelibrary.com/%27I+worked+with+Michael+Jackson+-+when+he+had+a+face%27+Whatever…-a080735923> [accessed 17 February 2022]
John Abbey, ‘Tony Etoria And The ‘X’ Factor’, Blues & Soul (rock’sbackpages, revised 1977) <https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/tony-etoria-and-the-x-factor > [accessed 17 February 2022]
