John William Hodkinson (29 December 1942 – 9 June 2013), also known as J.W. Hodkinson or J.W. Hodgkinson, was a British rock vocalist. Hodkinson was born in

Leigh Leigh may refer to: Places In England Pronounced : * Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan ** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency) * Leigh-on-Sea, Essex Pronounced : * Leigh, Dorset * Leigh, Gloucestershire * Leigh, Kent * Leigh, Staffor ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, now in

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

, England. After performing as Johnny Goode, with Larry Parnes' "The Big New Rock 'n' Trad Spectacular", and billed as a "Teenage Idol" with Billy Raymond,

Georgie Fame Georgie Fame (born Clive Powell; 26 June 1943) is an English R&B and jazz musician. Fame, who had a string of 1960s hits, is still performing, often working with contemporaries such as Alan Price, Van Morrison and Bill Wyman. Fame is the only B ...

Billy Fury Ronald Wycherley (17 April 1940 – 28 January 1983), better known by his stage name Billy Fury, was an English musician. An early star of rock and roll, he spent 332 weeks on the UK singles chart. His hit singles include " Wondrous Place", " H ...

and

Jimmie Nicol James George Nicol (born 3 August 1939) is an English drummer and business entrepreneur. He is best known for sitting in for Ringo Starr in the Beatles for eight concerts of the Beatles' 1964 world tour during the height of Beatlemania. Elev ...

, in 1961, he recorded, as Tony Allen, the first of a series of 45s for

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), simply branded Philips, is a Dutch multinational health technology company that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, its world headquarters have been situated in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarter ...

, all with arrangements by

Ivor Raymonde Ivor Raymonde (born Ivor Pomerance; 22 October 1926 – 4 June 1990) was a British musician, songwriter, arranger and actor, best known for his distinctive rock-orchestral arrangements for Dusty Springfield and others in the 1960s. Life and ca ...

. In 1966, he sang the theme track for the

United Artists United Artists (UA) is an American film production and film distribution, distribution company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, it was founded in February 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith, Mary Pickford an ...

spy thriller film '' Triple Cross'', starring

Christopher Plummer Arthur Christopher Orme Plummer (December 13, 1929 – February 5, 2021) was a Canadian actor. His career spanned seven decades, gaining him recognition for his performances in film, stage and television. His accolades included an Academy Aw ...

and

Yul Brynner Yuliy Borisovich Briner (; July 11, 1920 – October 10, 1985), known professionally as Yul Brynner (), was a Russian-born actor. He was known for his portrayal of King Mongkut in the Rodgers and Hammerstein stage musical ''The King and I'' (19 ...

. In 1964, he joined The Shubdubs with Jimmie Nicol, Bob Garner, Johnny Harris, Quincy Davis, and

Roger Coulam Roger Keith Coulam, (21 August 1940 in Blackburn, Lancashire, England – 23 October 2005), was a British keyboard session musician, who formed Blue Mink in the autumn of 1969, with Madeline Bell (vocalist), Roger Cook (vocalist), Alan Parker (gu ...

. In the late 1960s, he became a founding member of the pioneering British jazz-rock band If, appearing on their first five albums. When the band's first line-up broke up, in 1972-3, he joined

Darryl Way Richard Darryl Way (born 17 December 1948 in Taunton, Somerset, England) is an English rock and classical musician who was a founding member of Curved Air and co-writer of their Progressive Rock seminal albums from 1970 to 1976. He is best kno ...

's Wolf, and appeared on the album ''Night Music'' (1974).''Night Music'' Review

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

. Retrieved 4 July 2013 In 1975, Hodkinson, alongside

Guy Fletcher Guy Edward Fletcher (born 24 May 1960) is an English musician, best known for his position as one of the two keyboard players in the rock band Dire Straits from 1984 until the group's dissolution, and his subsequent work with Dire Straits fron ...

and

Al Hodge Albert E. Hodge (April 18, 1912 – March 19, 1979) was an American actor best known for playing space adventurer Captain Video and His Video Rangers, Captain Video on the DuMont Television Network from December 15, 1950, to April 1, 1955. He pla ...

, became a founder-member of the

soft rock Soft rock (also known as light rock or mellow rock) is a form of rock music that originated in the late 1960s in the United States and the United Kingdom which smoothed over the edges of singer-songwriter and pop rock, relying on simple, mel ...

band

Rogue A rogue is a person or entity that flouts accepted norms of behavior or strikes out on an independent and possibly destructive path. Rogue, rogues, or going rogue may also refer to: Companies * Rogue Ales, a microbrewery in Newport, Oregon * ...

Discography

;As leader/co-leader *"Time to Swing" - 43361 BE *1961: "When Love Comes to Call" c/w "Mr. Happiness" - Philips PB 1117 *1962: "There Is Always a First Time" - Philips 326539 BF *1963: "That Little Touch of Magic" - Philips BF 1252 *1966: "Triple Cross" - United Artists

With If

*1970: '' If 1'' *1970: '' If 2'' *1971: '' If 3'' *1972: ''

If 4 ''If 4'' is the fourth album released by the English jazz rock band If. It was first issued in 1972 and the last album to feature the original recording line-up. Capitol Records, the band's U.S. label, declined to issue this fourth album. Most ...

'' *1972: ''

Waterfall A waterfall is any point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in seve ...

'' (U.S. version of If 4)

With Darryl Way's Wolf

*1974: ''Night Music''

With Rogue

*1975: ''Fallen Angel'' *1977: ''Let It Go'' *1979: ''Would You Let Your Daughter''

References

1942 births 2013 deaths English male singers English rock singers British soft rock musicians People from Leigh, Greater Manchester If (band) members {{UK-singer-stub