From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Sun Feb 17, 2002  2:19 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : John Leyton
 
JOHN LEYTON

Born 17 February 1939, Frinton-on-Sea, Essex, England

John Leyton began as an actor and it was as such that he was taken on by
Robert Stigwood who was building up a new theatrical agency. His first
significant booking from this was in the TV series 'Biggles', but better
roles were elusive and Stigwood asked Leyton if he could sing. This led to a
series of auditions with various recording studios including that of
independent producer Joe Meek. Unlike the other companies, Meek was
unconcerned about Leyton's initial lack of singing experience, but was
impressed by the young actor's good looks. Leyton's first release, the
tragedic 'Tell Laura I Love Her' missed out to another version by hitherto
unknown singer, Ricky Valance. Similarly, the Meek inspired 'Girl On The
Floor Above' was also ignored by record buyers and, although John's
confidence as a singer was growing, chances of a career in pop music then
looked thin. However, at this time Leyton had secured the part of 'Johnny
St. Cyr' - a pop star - in a new TV series called 'Harper's West One'. Joe
Meek's close associate Geoff Goddard had just written 'Johnny Remember Me'
and Meek's sound engineering skills gave Leyton's rendition of it a truly
ethereal sound. With Stigwood's influence, arrangements were made for John
Leyton to sing the song as part of the TV drama. In the summer of 1961,
'Johnny Remember Me' went to the top of the British charts. This huge
hit was followed by further recordings from the Meek/Goddard/Leyton
team, and they are certainly among the best examples of work from the
remarkable sound producer. However, by the beginning of 1963 Stigwood
unwisely decided to transfer Leyton to EMI's Abbey Road. The quality of
recorded sound immediately improved and showed that Leyton actually had a
good singing voice, but unfortunately the excitement had also gone along
with the distortion. Luckily for John Leyton, his acting career had taken
off with a part in the film 'The Great Escape'. Despite trying to give
John's music more of a 'group' sound by giving him a backing group, 'The Le
Roys', his chart career faded out by the beginning of 1964. John Leyton
finds time occasionally to return to the stage just to check that his fans
really still do remember him.