Harri Kakoulli
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- New wave
- world
- disco
Harri Kakoulli | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Harry Kakoulli |
| Born | 17 December 1952 |
| Genres |
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| Occupations | Musician, producer |
| Instruments |
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| Years active | 1970–present |
| Formerly of | England's Glory, Squeeze |
Harri Kakoulli (born 17 December 1952), sometimes spelled Harry Kakoulli, is a British musician, best known for being the original bass player for Squeeze from 1975 to 1979.[1]
Kakoulli was born in Deptford, South London[2] to a Greek family.[3]
Career
In 1973, Kakoulli, his sister Zena, and Peter Perrett formed the band England's Glory together, and recorded an album that wasn't release upon completion, before disbanding in 1974.[4][5][6]
Kakoulli joined Squeeze in 1975, after the band had struggled on finding a bass player.[1][7] He played on the bands first two studio albums, and their first two big hit songs, "Cool for Cats" and "Up the Junction", both songs peaking at number 2 in the UK charts in 1979, however Kakoulli was fired and replaced by John Bentley in March 1979, before the release of either single and the Cool for Cats album;[1][8] Kakoulli appears on the back cover of the album.[9] His reason for departing Squeeze has never been made official, however the bands website previously claimed that he left "to pursue his disco muse".[10]
In 1980, he released his first solo album, Even When I'm Not; the album, mastered by George Peckham, is mostly-independent, apart from a few guitar and drum tracks by session musicians including Hamish Stuart and Kevin Armstrong.[11][12] From 1981 to 1982, he played in the band True Life Confessions, that included John Dummer from Darts.[13][14]
Kakoulli is now a solo artist and producer, and has worked in making world music since the mid-1980s.[15][16] He has produced albums for The Ukrainians, Jackie Leven, and Jocelyn Brown, and has worked with Sunny Ade and Talvin Singh,[17] and claims to have released over two-thousand singles, five-hundred of those under his own label, HKO records.[16] In 2014, he releaded a single, "Christmas Isn’t Christmas Anymore", with the proceeds going to Freedom Dolls Initiative, a charity to support victims of trafficking.[18]
In a 2014 interview with John Bentley, his replacement in Squeeze, he said that Kakoulli came "out on top in my book" out of all of the bands former bass players.[19] One of Harri's favourite bass players was Rick Danko of The Band.[20]