Leslie David Reed (24 July 1935 – 15 April 2019) was an English songwriter, arranger, musician and light-orchestra leader. His major songwriting partners were

Gordon Mills Gordon William Mills (15 May 1935 – 29 July 1986) was a successful London-based music industry manager and songwriter. He was born in Madras, British India and grew up in Trealaw in the Rhondda Valley, South Wales. During the 1960s and 1970s ...

Barry Mason John Barry Mason (12 July 1935 – 16 April 2021) was an English singer and songwriter. A leading songwriter of the 1960s, he wrote the bulk of his most successful songs in partnership with Les Reed. Mason gained many gold and platinum awar ...

, and

Geoff Stephens Geoffrey Stephens (1 October 1934 – 24 December 2020) was an English songwriter and record producer, most prolific in the United Kingdom in the 1960s and 1970s. He wrote a long series of hit records, often in conjunction with other British so ...

, although he wrote songs with many others such as

Roger Greenaway Roger John Reginald Greenaway, (born 23 August 1938) is an English singer, songwriter and record producer, best known for his collaborations with Roger Cook. His compositions have included "You've Got Your Troubles" and the transatlantic mill ...

, Roger Cook,

Peter Callander Peter Robin Callander (10 October 1939 – 25 February 2014) was an English songwriter and record producer. Active from the 1960s onwards, Callander wrote or co-wrote songs that have been performed by recording artists such as Cilla Black, Tom ...

, and

Johnny Worth John Worsley (21 June 1931 – 6 August 2021), more widely known under the pseudonyms Les Vandyke and Johnny Worth, was an English popular music songwriter from the 1950s to the 1980s, who started his career as a singer. As "Les Vandyke", he wr ...

. Reed co-wrote around sixty charting songs, and is best known for "

It's Not Unusual "It's Not Unusual" is a song written by Les Reed and Gordon Mills, first recorded by a then-unknown Tom Jones, after having first been offered to Sandie Shaw. He intended it as a demo for her, but when she heard it she was so impressed with hi ...

", "

Delilah Delilah ( ; , meaning "delicate";Gesenius's ''Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon'' ar, دليلة, Dalīlah; grc, label=Greek, Δαλιδά, Dalidá) is a woman mentioned in the sixteenth chapter of the Book of Judges in the Hebrew Bible. She is loved b ...

", "

The Last Waltz ''The Last Waltz'' was a concert by the Canadian-American rock group The Band, held on American Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1976, at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. ''The Last Waltz'' was advertised as The Band's "farewell concert a ...

" and " Marching On Together". His songs gained a number of

gold disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

s and

Ivor Novello Awards The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and composing. They have been presented annually in London by the Ivors Academy (formerly the BASCA) since 1956, and over 1,000 statuettes have been a ...

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 ...

noted that "In the mid-1960s, it was unusual for a British singles chart not to list a Les Reed song". He won the

British Academy The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars span ...

Gold Badge of Merit in 1982.

Early life

Reed was born in

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, and grew up there. He was an accomplished musician by the age of 14, playing the piano,

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

and

vibraphone The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist,' ...

. He studied at the London College of Music before joining the Willis Reed Group, with whom he toured for four years. Having been called up for

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The l ...

, he played piano and

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

in the Royal East Kent Military Band. In 1959, he joined

The John Barry Seven The John Barry Seven was a band formed by John Barry in 1957, after he abandoned his original career path of arranging for big bands. Origins Barry contacted three musicians with whom he had served in the Army and three local musicians and in ...

as their pianist.

Songwriting career

In the mid-1960s, Reed began a successful songwriting partnership with

which yielded such hits as "

Tell Me When "Tell Me When" is a song by British synthpop group the Human League, released as the first single from their seventh album, ''Octopus'' (1995). Written jointly by lead singer Philip Oakey and Paul C. Beckett, it was recorded at 'Human League St ...

", a hit for The Applejacks; " Here It Comes Again" for

The Fortunes The Fortunes are an English harmony beat group. Formed in Birmingham, the Fortunes first came to prominence and international acclaim in 1965, when "You've Got Your Troubles" broke into the US, Canadian, and UK Top 10s. Afterwards, they had ...

; "Leave A Little Love" for

Lulu Lulu may refer to: Companies * LuLu, an early automobile manufacturer * Lulu.com, an online e-books and print self-publishing platform, distributor, and retailer * Lulu Hypermarket, a retail chain in Asia * Lululemon Athletica or simply Lulu, a C ...

; and " There's a Kind of Hush", a 1967 success for

Herman's Hermits Herman's Hermits are an English beat, rock and pop group formed in 1964 in Manchester, originally called Herman and His Hermits and featuring lead singer Peter Noone. Produced by Mickie Most, the Hermits charted with number ones in the UK a ...

. During 1964, Reed penned "

" with ex-

Viscounts A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. In many countries a viscount, and its historical equivalents, was a non-hereditary, administrative or judicial ...

member and Tom Jones' manager

, which was Jones' debut recording and gave him a UK number 1. Reed also

arranged In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchest ...

the song and played the piano for the recording. Around this time, Reed struck up a songwriting partnership with

. They wrote a song for

Kathy Kirby Kathy Kirby (born Catherine Ethel O'Rourke; 20 October 1938 – 19 May 2011) was an English singer, reportedly the highest-paid female singer of her generation. She is best known for her cover version of Doris Day's " Secret Love" and for re ...

, "I'll Try Not To Cry", as Britain's entry in 1965 for 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 ...

held in Naples. The song was beaten by " I Belong". The songwriters had a 1967 hit in "Everybody Knows" by

The Dave Clark Five The Dave Clark Five, also known as the DC5, were an English rock and roll band formed in 1958 in Tottenham, London. Drummer Dave Clark served as the group's leader, producer and co-songwriter. In January 1964 they had their first UK top ten sin ...

—who also recorded a Reed–Mason follow-up—and another success in 1968 with "

", again a Top 10 hit for Tom Jones. "Delilah" was originally written for

P. J. Proby P. J. Proby (born James Marcus Smith; November 6, 1938) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. Proby recorded the singles " Hold Me", " Somewhere", and "Maria". In 2008, EMI released the greatest hits album '' Best of the EMI Years 1961 ...

, and later

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

The Sensational Alex Harvey Band The Sensational Alex Harvey Band were a Scottish rock band formed in Glasgow in 1972. Fronted by Alex Harvey accompanied by Zal Cleminson on guitar, bassist Chris Glen, keyboard player Hugh McKenna (1949–2019) and drummer Ted McKenna, thei ...

in 1975. Reed and Mason also wrote "

", which became a million selling UK number one for Engelbert Humperdinck in September 1967. Mason and Reed wrote "Who's Doctor Who?", a

novelty song A novelty song is a type of song built upon some form of novel concept, such as a gimmick, a piece of humor, or a sample of popular culture. Novelty songs partially overlap with comedy songs, which are more explicitly based on humor, and w ...

recorded by ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

'' star

Frazer Hines Frazer Simpson Frederick Hines (born 22 September 1944) is an English actor. He began his career as a child actor and appeared in ''A King in New York'' (1957) with Charlie Chaplin. He later played Jamie McCrimmon in ''Doctor Who'', appearing i ...

in 1967, but it failed to chart. In 1968, the duo scored another UK number 1 hit with

Des O'Connor Desmond Bernard O'Connor (12 January 1932 – 14 November 2020) was an English comedian, singer and television presenter. He was a long-time TV chat-show host, beginning with ''The Des O'Connor Show'' in 1963, which ran for ten years. He a ...

recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, ...

of "

I Pretend "I Pretend" is a song written by Barry Mason and Les Reed and recorded by Des O'Connor. O'Connor's recording of the song became a number-one hit in the UK and Ireland in 1968. Background Les Reed was in Wessex Studios and had just finished a se ...

". That same year, " I've Got My Eyes on You", written by Reed and

Jackie Rae John Arthur Rae, CM, DFC (May 14, 1921 – October 5, 2006) was a Canadian singer, songwriter and television performer. Biography He was born John Arthur Cohen to immigrants in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1921. His father Goodman Cohen was Lithu ...

, was recorded by

Petula Clark Petula Sally Olwen Clark, CBE (born 15 November 1932) is an English singer, actress, and composer. She has one of the longest serving careers of a British singer, spanning more than seven decades. Clark's professional career began during the ...

Ray Conniff Joseph Raymond Conniff (November 6, 1916 – October 12, 2002) was an American bandleader and arranger best known for his Ray Conniff Singers during the 1960s. Biography Conniff was born November 6, 1916 in Attleboro, Massachusetts, United St ...

and

The Vogues The Vogues are an American vocal rock and roll group from Turtle Creek, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh. The original lineup consisted of Bill Burkette (lead baritone), Don Miller (baritone), Hugh Geyer (first tenor), and Chuck Blasko (s ...

. Following Petula Clark's original version,

Connie Francis Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero (born December 12, 1937), known professionally as Connie Francis, is an American pop singer, actress, and top-charting female vocalist of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Called the “First Lady of Rock & Roll” ...

recorded "

Kiss Me Goodbye Kiss Me Goodbye may refer to: * "Kiss Me Goodbye" (Petula Clark song), a 1968 song by Petula Clark * "Kiss Me Goodbye" (Buck Tick song), a 1990 song by Buck-Tick * "Kiss Me Good-Bye", a 2006 song by Angela Aki, used as the ending theme song for '' ...

" on her album '' Connie Francis Sings the Songs of Les Reed'', which featured Reed as producer and pianist; the album was released in November 1969. In 1970, Reed's orchestra recorded "Man of Action" which was used as the theme tune for

Radio North Sea International Radio North Sea International (RNI; ; ) was a European offshore radio station run by the Swiss firm Mebo Telecommunications, jointly owned by Swiss engineer Edwin Bollier and his business partner, Erwin Meister.. The company, registered in Switz ...

until 1974. In 1971, " When There's No You" by Reed and Jackie Rae was recorded by Englebert Humperdinck and became Humperdinck's second of four number ones on the US easy-listening chart, reaching number one in April 1971. In 1972, he co-wrote

Leeds United F.C. Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

's anthem " Marching On Together". At the 1973 Tokyo Music Festival, Reed and Stephens won the Silver Star for "Sandy Sandy", whilst in 1977 Reed and

Tony Macaulay Tony Macaulay (born Anthony Gordon Instone; 21 April 1944) is an English author, composer for musical theatre, and songwriter. He has won the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors Award twice as 'Songwriter of the Year' (1970 an ...

triumphed at the International Song Contest in

Majorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean. The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bal ...

with "You and I". Reed and

were awarded the Grand Prix Award in Seoul for "Everytime You Go". Reed's songs have been recorded by

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

(" Girl of Mine", " Sylvia" and " This Is Our Dance"),

Shirley Bassey Dame Shirley Veronica Bassey (; born 8 January 1937) is a Welsh singer. Best known for her career longevity, powerful voice and recording the theme songs to three James Bond films, Bassey is widely regarded as one of the most popular vocalists ...

(" Does Anybody Miss Me") and

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...

(" That's What Life Is All About"). Reed's film score composition credits include those for ''

The Girl on a Motorcycle ''The Girl on a Motorcycle'' (French: ''La motocyclette'') is a 1968 British-French erotic romantic drama film directed by Jack Cardiff, starring Alain Delon and Marianne Faithfull and featuring Roger Mutton, Marius Goring and Catherine Jourdan ...

'' (1968), ''

The Bushbaby ''The Bushbaby'' is a 1969 American film based on the novel ''The Bushbabies'' (1965) by William Stevenson and adapted by Robert Maxwell. It was directed and produced by John Trent and stars Margaret Brooks and Lou Gossett in the leading roles, ...

'' (1969), '' One More Time'' (1970), ''

George and Mildred ''George and Mildred'' is a British sitcom produced by Thames Television and first aired between 1976 and 1979. It is a spin-off from ''Man About the House'', and starred Brian Murphy and Yootha Joyce as constantly-sparring married couple Ge ...

'' (1980), ''

Creepshow 2 ''Creepshow 2'' is a 1987 American comedy horror anthology film directed by Michael Gornick, and the sequel to ''Creepshow''. Gornick was previously the cinematographer of the first film, and the screenplay was written by George A. Romero who was ...

'' (1987) and ''

Parting Shots ''Parting Shots'' is a 1999 British dark comedy film starring Chris Rea, Felicity Kendal, Oliver Reed, Bob Hoskins, Diana Rigg, Ben Kingsley, John Cleese and Joanna Lumley. It was the final film directed by Michael Winner. Upon release in the ...

'' (1999). Reed composed music for stage-musical productions including ''

The Magic Show ''The Magic Show'' is a one-act musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Bob Randall. It starred magician Doug Henning. Produced by Edgar Lansbury, Joseph Beruh, and Ivan Reitman, it opened on May 28, 1974 at the Cort Thea ...

'' (1974), ''American Heroes'' and ''And Then I Wrote''. In 1994, Reed produced an album for

Max Bygraves Walter William Bygraves (16 October 1922 – 31 August 2012), best known by the stage name Max Bygraves (adopted in honour of Max Miller), was an English comedian, singer, actor and variety performer. He appeared on his own television shows, s ...

to raise money for the Lest We Forget Association. Reed co-composed, with Roger Cook, the score for the 2004 musical ''

Beautiful and Damned ''Beautiful and Damned'' is a musical with a book by Kit Hesketh Harvey and music and lyrics by Les Reed and Roger Cook. Drawing its title from F. Scott Fitzgerald's second novel, it focuses on the turbulent relationship he shared with his wi ...

'', based on the lives of Zelda and

F. Scott Fitzgerald Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940) was an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. He is best known for his novels depicting the flamboyance and excess of the Jazz Age—a term he popularize ...

Awards and honours

His songs gained a number of

s and

. Reed won the

Gold Badge of Merit in 1982. He was honoured as a

Freeman of the City of London The Freedom of the City of London started around 1237 as the status of a 'free man' or 'citizen', protected by the charter of the City of London and not under the jurisdiction of a feudal lord. In the Middle Ages, this developed into a freedom or ...

for his contributions to the music industry. In 1998, Reed was given an

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

Chart hits and other notable songs written by Reed

Recordings

Reed also conducted his own band, The Les Reed Orchestra, and was billed under various names. His orchestra's recordings included: * 1962 - "Dr. Finlay's Casebook (March From "A Little Suite")" – The Les Reed Strings (September 1962,

Piccadilly Records Pye Records was a British record label. Its best known artists were Lonnie Donegan (1956–1969), Petula Clark (1957–1971), the Searchers (1963–1967), the Kinks (1964–1971), Sandie Shaw (1964–1971), Status Quo (1968–1971) and Brother ...

, 7N.35080) * 1963 - "Minuet Mash/Nightfall" – The Les Reed Piano (January 1963, (

, 7N.35097) * 1963 - "On the Scene/High Society" – The Les Reed Piano (May 1963, (

, 7N.35122) * 1964 - "Spanish Armada/Madrid" – The Les Reed Combo (March 1964, (

Fontana Records Fontana Records is a record label that was started in the 1950s as a subsidiary of the Dutch Philips Records. The independent label distributor Fontana Distribution takes its name from the label. History Fontana started in the 1950s as a subs ...

, TF455) * 1964 - "Little Leprechaun/Come Take My Hand" – Les Reed Orchestra (November 1964, (

, H496) * 1965 - "Poor Little Rich Girl/High Bright Sun" – Les Reed Orchestra (February 1965, (

, TF545) * 1965 - "Hot Line/Ten Feet Tall" – Les Reed Orchestra (May 1965, Fontana, TF576) * 1966 - "Good Kings Went Ridiculous/Valley Of The Kings" – Les Reed Orchestra (November 1966, (

, TF765) * 1967 - "Imogene/The Pay Off 28" – Les Reed Orchestra (

Deram Records Deram Records was a subsidiary record label of Decca Records established in the United Kingdom in 1966. At the time, U.K. Decca was a different company from the Decca label in the United States, which was owned by MCA Inc. Deram recordings w ...

, DMA-1013) * 1967 - "Copacabana Girl/Imogene" (

, 85010) * 1967 - "Fly Me To The Sun" (

, SML 1008) * 1967 - "New Dimensions" (

, DML 709) as The Les Reed Sound * 1968 - "Theme From 'Candice'/The Last Waltz" – Les Reed Orchestra (DMA-1019) * 1969 - "Love Is All" (

London Records London Recordings (or London Records and London Music Stream) is a British record label that marketed records in the United States, Canada, and Latin America for Decca Records from 1947 to 1980 before becoming semi-independent. The London nam ...

, SP 44136), with The Eddie Lester Singers * 1969 - "Big Drum/Don't Linger With Your Finger on the Trigger" (

, 7525) * 1970 - "Man of Action/Madrid" Chapter 1, CH 126 * 1971 - "The hit making world of Les Reed" (

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...

, SPA 386) * 1973 - "Man of Action" (

, 6835 122) * 1974 - "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue/The Hawk" – Les Reed Orchestra (

Bell Records Bell Records was an American record label founded in 1952 in New York City by Arthur Shimkin, the owner of the children's record label Golden Records, and initially a unit of Pocket Books, after the rights to the name were acquired from Benny ...

, BELL1342)

Personal life

He was married to June, who predeceased him; the couple had a daughter.

References

External links

*
John Barry Website (with complete Drumbeat listings)"In the Spotlight with Les Reed"
an

internet radio Online radio (also web radio, net radio, streaming radio, e-radio, IP radio, Internet radio) is a digital audio service transmitted via the Internet. Broadcasting on the Internet is usually referred to as webcasting since it is not transmitted ...

program devoted Reed's music * {{DEFAULTSORT:Reed, Les 1935 births 2019 deaths English songwriters English pianists British music arrangers People from Woking Officers of the Order of the British Empire Deram Records artists 21st-century pianists English conductors (music)