Brian Protheroe

While Brian Protheroe maintained an enduring presence in British film and theater across more than four decades, he also issued a handful of soft rock albums as a singer and songwriter throughout the 1970s. Foremost among these releases stands the 1974 single “Pinball,” a refined example of post-McCartney pop that climbed to number 22 on the U.K. Singles Chart and gradually attracted a devoted following; the same cult status later attached itself to the four mid-decade albums he recorded for Chrysalis, material later gathered on the 2006 anthology Pinball and Other Stories.

His route into recording grew directly from stage work: cast as a pop performer in a play, Protheroe received a lyric from the playwright that he set to music, prompting Chrysalis to request additional originals and ultimately offer him a contract after hearing “Pinball.” Yet music had already formed part of his life before acting took hold. Born in Salisbury, Wiltshire, he sang in the local church choir and studied both piano and guitar; at seventeen he joined a regional rock band and simultaneously performed with the amateur group The Studio Theatre. Shortly afterward he became a member of Folk Blues Incorporated, which moved to London in 1965 and allowed him to appear in folk clubs. Acting soon followed, beginning in 1966 and leading him through successive theater companies until he joined the Lincoln troupe in 1968, where he met Martin Duncan, a collaborator for several ensuing years.

Steady stage employment continued for the next five years while Protheroe also secured early television roles, appearing in the 1968 series Frontier and The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes in 1973. His decisive break arrived with the thriller Death on Demand, in which he portrayed a pop star; the playwright supplied another lyric, Protheroe composed the music, and the resulting demo convinced Chrysalis to sign him. “Pinball” entered the charts at number 40 in 1974 before reaching its peak position, and the self-titled debut album followed later that year. Pick Up appeared in 1975 and I You in 1976. Although music temporarily overshadowed acting, Protheroe returned to the stage in 1976 with a well-received London production of the rock musical Leave Him to Heaven.

After parting with Chrysalis at the close of 1976, he concentrated once more on performance, taking a small role in Richard Donner’s 1978 Superman while establishing himself as a reliable figure in BBC dramas and on the British stage, moving freely between Shakespeare and spy thrillers. Renewed attention to his earlier recordings surfaced in 1997 when Basta issued Brian’s Big Box; Protheroe himself assembled previously unheard tracks and new songs for the 2005 collection CitySong, and the following year Pinball and Other Stories compiled his 1970s work alongside a few unreleased 1980s pieces.