Lionel Morton (born Lionel Walmsley, 14 August 1942) is an English former musician and television presenter. Morton was born in

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north-n ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

, England. In the early 1960s, he was the lead vocalist/

rhythm guitarist In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass gui ...

of the

group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic ide ...

the Four Pennies The Four Pennies were an English beat group most notable for their 1964 UK chart-topping song "Juliet". The band achieved four more top 40 hits in the UK, but failed to chart in the United States during the so-called British Invasion. Career ...

. They are best known for their biggest hit single, " Juliet" which reached

number one Number One most commonly refers to: * 1 (number) Number One, No. 1, or #1 may also refer to: Music Albums * ''Number 1'' (Big Bang album), and the title song * ''No. 1'' (BoA album), and the title song * ''No.1'' (EP), by CLC * ''n.1 ...

in 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 May 1964. Morton and his group appeared seven times on the BBC Television

music charts A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include re ...

programme, ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British 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. For most o ...

''. From April 1968 to December 1977, he was a regular presenter on the pre-school children's programme '' Play School''., he also reappeared during 1983/4. In the 1970s he went on to present on ''

Play Away ''Play Away'' is a British television children's programme. A sister programme to the infants' series '' Play School'', it was aimed at slightly older children. It ran from 1971 until 1984, and was broadcast on Saturday afternoons on BBC 2.Alist ...

''. He was formerly married to the

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

Julia Foster Julia Foster (born 2 August 1943) is an English stage, screen, and television actress. Life and career Foster was born in Lewes, Sussex. Her first husband was Lionel Morton, once the lead singer with the 1960s pop band The Four Pennies. She is ...

for five years, with whom he had a daughter Emily.

Discography

UK singles

*1967 "What To Do With Laurie" / "I'll Just Wait Around" (Philips BF 1578) *1967 "First Love Never Dies" / "Try Not To Cry" (Philips BF 1607) *1969 "Waterloo Road" / "Floral Street" (RCA Victor 1875) *1972 "What A Woman Does" / "Listen To The Music" (Cube BUG24) *1974 "Don't Let Life Get You Down" / "Play Away" (BBC BEEB011)

UK albums

*1972 ''Play School'' (BBC RBT 10) *1973 ''Lionel'' (Contour 2870324) *1973 ''Bang on a Drum'' (BBC RBT 17) *1973 ''Play Away'' (BBC RBT 19) *1975 ''Hey You! Songs from Play Away'' (BBC REC 209) *1975 ''Sing a Song of Play School'' (BBC REC 212)

References

External links

Oldies.com biographyBBC.co.uk biography
1941 births Living people People from Blackburn English television presenters BBC television presenters English rock guitarists Rhythm guitarists English rock singers English male singer-songwriters English male guitarists {{UK-musician-stub