While the record industry may be relying heavily on adolescent talent in its time of crisis, hope remains for pop music fans of a certain age and rarefied taste who love Josh Groban, but wish he could perform an emergency root canal in a pinch. SonyBMG has signed a 35-year-old singing dentist from north London to a million-pound record deal, a prize he earned after sending them “an operatic version of the Prince anthem ‘Purple Rain.’ ”

With NHS dentists already in disastrously short supply, the patients of one north London surgery will be relieved to learn that their man intends to complete their fillings - despite landing a £1m recording contract.

Andrew Bain’s contract with SonyBMG is a lifetime’s dream come true. He started singing in an Essex church choir at the age of eight, and said he had wanted to be a full time performer since the Christmas he sang the solo verse in Once in Royal David’s City.

The urge to make a terrible joke here about England’s notorious dental situation is overwhelming.

His debut album - which he has promised will not contain “yet another version of Nessun Dorma”, despite a plea from a fan for just that on his MySpace page - is due out in September. He has promised, however, that he will not put down his drill for at least another three months, and said he did regret that the NHS was losing yet another dentist.

Richard Hinkley, a senior executive at the record company, called him “a refreshingly different talent … He is performing opera with a uniquely contemporary touch. He has taken what is traditionally elitist and made it resonate with fans of popular music,” Hinkley said.

Um, hello?

Currently the only song on Bain’s MySpace is a quavery-voiced rendition of David Bowie’s “Life on Mars.” It’s a decent cover with pretty solid production, and there’s no denying that Bain can sing, but it’s a bit like listening to college a cappella covers–technically impressive, yet uncomfortably absurd. But I doubt that will matter once SonyBMG gets this dude’s picture plastered all over the UK:

Hunky!

Recording deal: Say do-re-mi-ah. Operatic dentist lands £1m recording contract
[The Guardian]
Andrew Bain [MySpace]