"I Pretend" is a song written by

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 Les Reed and recorded by

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 as we ...

. 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 session with

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (March 14, 1933 – November 3, 2024) was an American record producer, composer, arranger, conductor, trumpeter, and bandleader. Over the course of his seven-decade career, he received List of awards and nominations re ...

when he met O'Connor coming into the studio to record a jingle. O'Connor asked Reed and Barry Mason write a song for him, which the duo complied and wrote "I Pretend" in an hour. They gave the song to O'Connor, who then asked

Geoff Love Geoffrey Love (4 September 1917 – 8 July 1991) was a prolific British arranger and composer of easy listening and pop versions of film themes, famous in the late 1950s under the stage name Manuel and the Music of the Mountains. Early years ...

to arrange the song so he could record it in two days' time. The song was released and it reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart in July 1968. His recording was released in the United States on

Diamond Records Diamond Records was a record label, based in New York City, which was founded in 1961 by former Roulette Records executive Joe Kolsky. Another Roulette exec, Kolsky's brother Phil Kahl, joined Kolsky in the venture the following year. History S ...

; however, it failed to chart.

Charts

Cover versions

*The only version of the song to chart in the United States was by Mel Carter, whose cover reached No. 38 on the Easy Listening chart in the autumn of 1968.

References

1968 songs 1968 singles Des O'Connor songs Songs written by Les Reed (songwriter) UK singles chart number-one singles Irish Singles Chart number-one singles Songs written by Barry Mason Columbia Graphophone Company singles Song recordings produced by Norman Newell {{1960s-single-stub