Jerry Lordan (born Jeremiah Patrick Lordan, 30 April 1934 – 24 July 1995) was an English songwriter, composer and singer. He achieved 3 hit singles 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 ...

before focusing purely on songwriting. Amongst his songwriting credits were the chart hits "I've Waited So Long", " Apache", " Wonderful Land", "

Diamonds Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, ...

", and " A Girl Like You".

Career

Born as Jeremiah Patrick Lordan in

Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Padd ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, England, Lordan taught himself to play piano and guitar as a child. He attended Finchley Catholic High School and went into

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 ...

in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

as a

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...

operator. On leaving the RAF in 1955, he held a number of jobs including comedian, singer and in

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

. He began song-writing, and in 1958, with the help of contacts made in the advertising business a demo of one of his songs was heard by a record producer. The song, "A House, A Car and a Wedding Ring" was recorded by

Mike Preston Michael Preston (born Jack Davies; 14 May 1938) is an English international film and television actor, and singer, sometimes credited as Mike Preston. Life and career Preston was born in Hackney, London, England. He was a boxer and then beca ...

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by 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 Decca's president. ...

. It did not sell well, but the song was successfully

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 ...

by the American

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western music ...

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, Dale Hawkins, on the Checker label. A later song, "I've Waited So Long" was recorded by the young

Anthony Newley Anthony Newley (24 September 1931 – 14 April 1999) was an English actor, singer, songwriter, and filmmaker. A "latter-day British Al Jolson", he achieved widespread success in song, and on stage and screen. "One of Broadway's greatest leadin ...

on Decca and got to number 3 in the

in May 1959. He was signed as a singer to

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 19 ...

and had three charting singles in 1960, the most successful being "Who Could Be Bluer?", produced by

George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the " Fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the B ...

. He found real fame as a composer with the

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instr ...

, " Apache". It was originally recorded by Bert Weedon, but Lordan did not like the version. Weedon's label, Top Rank, did not release it immediately. On tour with

The Shadows The Shadows (originally known as the Drifters) were an English instrumental rock group, who dominated the British popular music charts in the late 1950s and early 1960s, in the pre- Beatles era. They served as the backing band for Cliff Richar ...

, Lordan demonstrated the tune to bass player Jet Harris, reportedly picking out the tune on a

ukulele The ukulele ( ; from haw, ukulele , approximately ), also called Uke, is a member of the lute family of instruments of Portuguese origin and popularized in Hawaii. It generally employs four nylon strings. The tone and volume of the instrumen ...

as confirmed by the Shadows on BBC Radio 2 documentary, ''Out of the Shadows''. When the rest of the band heard it, they agreed to record it. It was released in July 1960 and hit number one in August, staying at the top for five weeks. The Shadows' version was voted Top Record of 1960 in the ''

New Musical Express ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music journalism, music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine tha ...

'' Readers' Poll. The tune was also recorded by the Danish guitarist Jorgen Ingmann, who took it to number two in the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1961. Lordan gave up singing for full-time writing. He wrote the Shadows' UK number one hit " Wonderful Land" (1962) and their hits "Atlantis" (which reached number two in 1963) and "Mary Anne" (a rare vocal single from the group). He achieved a further number one, "

" for the ex-Shadows' Jet Harris and Tony Meehan in 1963. Harris and Meehan also recorded his song "

Scarlett O'Hara Katie Scarlett O'Hara Hamilton Kennedy Butler is a fictional character and the protagonist in Margaret Mitchell's 1936 novel '' Gone with the Wind'' and in the 1939 film of the same name, where she is portrayed by Vivien Leigh. She also is t ...

" taking it to number two in the same chart. He wrote other hits for

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...

(" A Girl Like You"), Shane Fenton and

Louise Cordet Louise Cordet (born Louise Boisot, 8 February 1945, England) is an English pop singer who also sang in French, best known as a one-hit wonder for her 1962 single, "I'm Just a Baby". Early life Louise Cordet is the daughter of Captain Marcel Bo ...

("I'm Just a Baby"). By the end of the 1960s, the success was largely over and personal difficulties dogged Lordan through the 1970s. He became involved with the Cornish band The Onyx who under his guidance changed their name to Vineyard and released two singles on Decca and Deram in 1974. Later he made a brief foray in acting, appearing in the 1977 sex comedy, '' Come Play With Me''. The film was directed by his neighbour, George Harrison Marks. In the 1980s Lordan remarried and started to write again, although his songs were never published.

Personal life

Lordan's first marriage was in 1963 to Petrina Forsyth who (credited as Petrina Lordan) wrote

hit "A Place in the Sun" (1966) and also, with Hank Marvin, "Love, Truth and Emily Stone" for

on his album '' Tracks 'n Grooves'' (1970). His second marriage was to Claudine Albus/Hammerschmidt in 1980.General Register Office of England and Wales, Marriages, September quarter 1980, Camden, Vol 14, page 1777.

Death

Lordan died on 24 July 1995 in Shrewsbury Hospital,

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

, from acute renal failure, aged 61. A memorial service was held for him at

St Martin-in-the-Fields St Martin-in-the-Fields is a Church of England parish church at the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, London. It is dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours. There has been a church on the site since at least the mediev ...

on 25 October 1995, during which Bruce Welch of

participated.

References

External links

*
45-rpm.org
* Allmusic discography – songs {{DEFAULTSORT:Lordan, Jerry 1934 births 1995 deaths English composers English songwriters English male singers English people of Irish descent People from Paddington Deaths from kidney failure 20th-century English singers 20th-century classical musicians People educated at Finchley Grammar School 20th-century British male singers British male songwriters