Gary Benson (born Harry Hyams) is an English singer and songwriter.

Career

Benson spent eight weeks on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in 1975 with his own composition, " Don't Throw It All Away". The

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

, released on the

State Records State Records is a British independent record label, established by Wayne Bickerton, Tony Waddington and John Fruin in 1975. The label released hits by many successful artists including The Rubettes, Mac & Katie Kissoon and Delegation. In ...

label (State Records STAT10), reached No. 20 on the

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...

, leading to an appearance on

BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 193 ...

's ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

''. The song had originally been recorded by

the Shadows The Shadows (originally known as the Drifters) were an English instrumental rock group, who dominated the British popular music charts in the late 1950s and early 1960s, in the pre- Beatles era. They served as the backing band for Cliff Richard ...

, and they had performed it in the 1975 ''A Song for Europe'' contest, where it finished fourth of six entries. The song was covered in the United States by

the Delfonics The Delfonics were an American R&B/soul vocal group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Delfonics were most popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Their most notable hits include "La-La (Means I Love You)", "Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This ...

in 1978. There are also a number of reggae versions that include a

dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Rou ...

style cut by

Barrington Levy Barrington Ainsworth Levy (born 30 April 1964) is a Jamaican reggae and dancehall artist. Career Levy was born in Clarendon, Jamaica. He formed a band called the Mighty Multitude, with his cousin, Everton Dacres; the pair released "My Blac ...

Olivia Newton-John Dame Olivia Newton-John (26 September 1948 – 8 August 2022) was a British-Australian singer, actress and activist. She was a four-time Grammy Award winner whose music career included 15 top-ten singles, including 5 number-one singles on the ...

recorded a version of the track, including it on her 1976 album ''

Come On Over ''Come On Over'' is the third studio album by Canadian country music singer Shania Twain. It was released on November 4, 1997, by Mercury Records. Produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange, the album became the best-selling country album, the best ...

''. Benson had previously written a finalist for the

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

UK competition, finishing last with the song "Someday", one of the six shortlisted entries performed by Olivia Newton-John. Benson had further attempts at winning the UK ticket to the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

, reaching the UK finals in 1977 with "After All This Time", performed by Wesley, Park and Smith, finishing fifth of 12; in 1981 with "All Cried Out", which he performed himself to place fourth of 8, and was later released on the

WEA The Wea were a Miami-Illinois-speaking Native American tribe originally located in western Indiana. Historically, they were described as either being closely related to the Miami Tribe or a sub-tribe of Miami. Today, the descendants of the ...

label; and in 1993 with "It's Just a Matter of Time" performed by

Sonia Sonia, Sonja or Sonya, a name of Greek origin meaning wisdom, may refer to: People * Sonia (name), a feminine given name (lists people named, Sonia, Sonja and Sonya) :* Sonia (actress), Indian film actress in Malayalam and Tamil films :* Sonia ...

, finishing last of eight entries. Benson tried again in 1998 with Alan Glass on the song "Give It Up" performed by Lisa Millet which finished eighth of the eight songs in the preliminary radio heat. In 1970, Benson's composition " Can't Afford to Lose", recorded by

Jon Lukas Jon Lukas (11 September 1948 – 11 June 2021), known as Woodenman, was a Maltese musician from Paola, Malta. He was the first solo artist in Maltese music history to achieve successful foreign pop chart placements in a number of non-native coun ...

, made it to the top 40 charts in the UK and some other European territories. It also occupied the top place in the pop charts in Lebanon for a full month, holding back the Beatles' "The Long and Winding Road" from reaching the No. 1 spot. Benson's song "

Let Her In "Let Her In" is a song written and recorded by English singer-songwriter Gary Benson, and released as a single in 1973. It was covered by John Travolta in 1976, and was released as the first single from Travolta's self-titled second album. Travo ...

" was recorded by

John Travolta John Joseph Travolta (born February 18, 1954) is an American actor. He came to public attention during the 1970s, appearing on the television sitcom ''Welcome Back, Kotter'' (1975–1979) and starring in the box office successes ''Carrie'' (19 ...

which became a hit in 1976. Several other songs originally written and recorded by Benson were also recorded by Travolta, such as "Can't Let You Go" and "Whenever I'm Away from You", as well as by his brother,

Joey Travolta Joseph Allen Travolta (born October 14, 1950) is an American actor, singer, producer, director and screenwriter. He is the older brother of actor John Travolta. Early life Travolta was born and raised in Englewood, New Jersey, a nearby suburb ...

("Something's Up (Love Me Like the First Time)"). Another of Benson's compositions, " Close to You", was recorded by

Maxi Priest Max Alfred "Maxi" Elliott (born 10 June 1961), known by his stage name Maxi Priest, is a British reggae vocalist of Jamaican descent. He is best known for singing reggae music with an R&B influence, otherwise known as reggae fusion. He was one ...

. In 1976, he composed and sang "You", but it did not reach the UK charts.

Discography

Albums

* ''Reunion'' (1970),

Penny Farthing The penny-farthing, also known as a high wheel, high wheeler or ordinary, is an early type of bicycle. It was popular in the 1870s and 1880s, with its large front wheel providing high speeds (owing to its travelling a large distance for every r ...

PELS506 * ''The Concert'' (1973), Birth Records RAB 5, re-released in 2006 in Japan on CD AIRAC-1239 * ''Don't Throw It All Away'' (1975),

State State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

ETAT3 * ''Gary Benson'' (1975), Penny Farthing PELS548 * ''New World'' (1976), State ETAT10 * ''The Gary Benson Story'' (1977), State ETMP2 * ''Space Album'' (1979) * ''Moonlight Walking'' (1980), Aura Records AUL172 * ''Rushing in to Love'' (1983), Kenwood Records AW-25038 (Japanese release)

Singles

* "Unpredictable Journey" / "His Home Coming" (1966), Astor * "This Man's Got No Luck" (1966), Pye * "Kentucky" (1968), Columbia * "When the Clock Strikes Twelve" (1969),

Bell A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an inter ...

* "Holly" (1970), Penny Farthing * "The Reunion" (1970 / 1975), Penny Farthing * "The Concert" (1973), Birth * "Sausalito" / "

" (1973), Young Blood * " Don't Throw It All Away" (1975), State Records - UK #20 * "Tiffany" (1976), State Records * "You" (1976), State Records * "Let Her In" (1976), State Records * "Sharing You" (1976), State Records * "Can't Let You Go" (1977), State Records * "Loving You Was Easy" (1978), Arista * "Moonlight Walking" (1980), Trio Records * "Dying to Live with You" (1980), Aura * "All Cried Out" (1981),

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

* "Video Games" (1983), Trio Records

References

External links

* Gary Benson mini-biographyat

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...