Michael James Cox (born 19 March 1940) is a British-born former
pop singer
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...
and actor. As Michael Cox, he had a top-ten
hit
Hit means to strike someone or something.
Hit or HIT may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities
* Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super''
* Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...
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 1960 with "Angela Jones", produced by
Joe Meek
Robert George "Joe" Meek (5 April 1929 – 3 February 1967) was an English record producer, sound engineer and songwriter who pioneered space age and experimental pop music. He also assisted in the development of recording practices like over ...
. He later worked as an actor, and in TV in New Zealand, using both his full name and the name Michael James.
Life and career
He was born in
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
.
After his four younger sisters wrote to
ABC TV demanding that he be given a chance to audition for the pop show ''
Oh Boy!'', he was quickly signed up by producer
Jack Good, and made his first appearance on the show in April 1959 singing
Ricky Nelson
Eric Hilliard Nelson (May 8, 1940 – December 31, 1985) was an American musician, songwriter and actor. From age eight he starred alongside his family in the radio and television series ''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet''. In 1957, he bega ...
's "
Never Be Anyone Else But You".
[Michael Cox: A Brief History]
Good won him a recording deal with
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 ...
, and his first single, "Teenage Love", was written by
Marty Wilde
Marty Wilde, (born Reginald Leonard Smith; 15 April 1939) is an English singer and songwriter. He was among the first generation of British pop stars to emulate American rock and roll, scoring several 1950s hit singles including "Endless Sle ...
and featured
Joe Brown on guitar. However, neither it nor its follow-up "Too Hot To Handle" were hits.
Cox continued to appear on TV, in Good's new show ''
Boy Meets Girls
''Boy Meets Girls'' was a UK popular music TV show which was launched in September 1959 replacing the earlier show '' Oh Boy!''.
The show was presented and produced by Jack Good. Marty Wilde was the principal resident male artist and The Verno ...
'', and Good recommended him to record producer Joe Meek, who at the time was setting up his own label,
Triumph
The Roman triumph (Latin triumphus) was a celebration for a victorious military commander in ancient Rome. For later imitations, in life or in art, see Trionfo. Numerous later uses of the term, up to the present, are derived directly or indirectl ...
. His first record for Triumph was "Angela Jones", a song written by
John D. Loudermilk
John Dee Loudermilk Jr. (March 31, 1934 – September 21, 2016) was an American singer and songwriter. Although he had his own recording career during the 1950s and 1960s, he was primarily known as a songwriter.
His best-known songs include "I ...
which was a hit in the US for
Johnny Ferguson
Johnny is an English language personal name. It is usually an affectionate diminutive of the masculine given name John, but from the 16th century it has sometimes been a given name in its own right for males and, less commonly, females.
Varian ...
. Cox's version of the song, produced by Meek, rose to #7 on the UK singles chart in June 1960.
[ The Triumph label collapsed, and Cox's follow-up, the similar-sounding "Along Came Caroline", also produced by Meek and co-written by Geoff Stephens and Cox under the ]pseudonym
A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...
Michael Steele, was released by the HMV
Sunrise Records and Entertainment, trading as HMV (for His Master's Voice), is a British music and entertainment retailer, currently operating exclusively in the United Kingdom.
The first HMV-branded store was opened by the Gramophone Company ...
label; it reached #41 on the chart and was Cox's only other hit.[ Michael Cox at Discogs.com]
/ref>
/ref>
Cox was more successful in Scandinavia. His ''Stand up
Stand Up may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Stand-up comedy, a comic style in which a comedian performs in front of a live audience
Film
* ''Stand Up'' (2007 film), a film featuring Modi Rosenfeld
* ''Stand Up'' (2008 film), a Brit ...
'' topped the Swedish best-selling charts for four weeks in January/February 1963. Cox successfully toured in Denmark and Sweden with a backing band, as well as in the UK, and continued to record under Meek's direction for several years. He released singles on the HMV, Pye and Parlophone
Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a German–British record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 192 ...
labels, many of which featured leading session musician
Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...
s such as guitarist Big Jim Sullivan
James George Tomkins (14 February 1941 – 2 October 2012), known professionally as Big Jim Sullivan, was an English musician whose career started in 1958.
He was best known as a session guitarist. In the 1960s and 1970s, he was one of t ...
. However, his later recordings were not hits and he gave up his recording career to attend drama school
A drama school, stage school or theatre school is an undergraduate and/or graduate school or department at a college or university; or a free-standing institution (such as the Drama section at the Juilliard School); which specializes in the pr ...
in the mid-1960s.[ In 1966, credited as Michael James Cox, he appeared in the movie '']Where the Bullets Fly
''Where the Bullets Fly'' is a 1966 British comedy spy film directed by John Gilling and starring Tom Adams as Charles Vine and John Arnatt reprising their roles from '' Licensed to Kill''. It also stars Dawn Addams, Tim Barrett and Michael R ...
'', and he also acted in TV plays and commercials. In 1976, he appeared in the filmed version of the musical written by Roger Glover
Roger David Glover (born 30 November 1945) is a Welsh bassist, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the member of the hard rock bands Deep Purple and Rainbow. As a member of Deep Purple, Glover was inducted into the Rock and Ro ...
, ''The Butterfly Ball
''The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast'' is a concept album and subsequent live rock opera appearing in 1974 and 1975 respectively, based on the children's poem of a similar title. The album cover design is from Alan Aldridge's des ...
''.[
Compilations of Cox's recordings were issued on CD by Zircon Records in 1999, and Sequel Records in 2003.
]
References
External links
Discography at 45cat.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cox, Michael
1940 births
Living people
English pop singers
English male singers
Musicians from Liverpool