Michael George Farr (30 June 1941 – 18 April 1996), known professionally as Mike Leander, was a British arranger, songwriter and record producer. He worked variously with

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is a British singer and actor. He has total sales of over 21.5 million singles in the United Kingdom and, as of 2012, was the third-top-selling artist in UK Singles Chart histo ...

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

, David McWilliams (" Days of Pearly Spencer"),

Gary Glitter Paul Francis Gadd (born 8 May 1944), better known by his stage name Gary Glitter, is an English former singer who achieved fame and success during the 1970s and 1980s. His career ended after he was convicted of downloading child pornography i ...

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, Marianne Faithfull, Andrew Loog Oldham,

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, Billy Fury, Marc Bolan,

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, Alan Price, Peter Frampton, Keith Richards,

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, Roy Orbison, Ben E. King, the Drifters, and

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. Leander also wrote the score for the films '' Privilege'' (1967) and '' Run a Crooked Mile'' (1969).

Early life

Born in

Walthamstow Walthamstow ( or ) is a town within the London Borough of Waltham Forest in east London. The town borders Chingford to the north, Snaresbrook and South Woodford to the east, Leyton and Leytonstone to the south, and Tottenham to the west. At ...

, East London, Leander won a scholarship to Bancroft's School in Woodford Green, Essex where he was educated from 1952 until 1959.

Career

Mike Leander started his career as an arranger with

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...

in 1963 and Bell Records in 1972 and worked with such musicians as Marianne Faithfull, Billy Fury, Marc Bolan,

, the Small Faces,

, Alan Price, Peter Frampton, Keith Richards,

, Roy Orbison,

, Paul Jones and

. He is perhaps best known as co-writer and producer for

in the 1970s and 1980s. Mike Leander worked as a producer and arranger with Ben E. King and the Drifters on the Atlantic record label. He was later requested by

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

to arrange

' " She's Leaving Home" from the '' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' album, as the Beatles' staple producer and arranger, George Martin, was unavailable at the time. Leander thus became the only orchestral arranger other than Martin to work on the recording of a Beatles basic track. He was executive producer of the Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice concept album '' Jesus Christ Superstar'' and in the late 1960s wrote scores for several films, including '' Privilege'' with Paul Jones and Jean Shrimpton, '' Run a Crooked Mile'' with Mary Tyler Moore and Louis Jourdan and '' The Adding Machine'' with Billie Whitelaw and Milo O'Shea. '' Privilege'' featured the song "I've Been a Bad, Bad Boy", which he wrote and was performed by Paul Jones. It was a number 5 hit in the UK and charted well in several other countries. Leander first worked with singer "Paul Raven" (born Paul Francis Gadd) in 1968 and produced various singles for him on

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc. established in 1972, though MCA had released recordings under that name in the UK from the 1960s. The label achieved success in the 1970s through the 1980s, often by acquiring other ...

(now

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

) and this led to Raven's part on '' Jesus Christ Superstar''. "Raven" later became

and the two began an on/off working relationship that would last until Leander's death. The partnership produced a string of glam rock hits, most of which Leander co-wrote with Glitter, beginning in 1972 with " Rock and Roll, Parts 1 and 2", which reached No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart, No. 1 in France and also the top 10 in many other countries including the US. This was followed by 11 more Top 10 UK singles, including three UK chart-toppers, " I'm the Leader of the Gang (I Am)" (1973), " I Love You Love Me Love" (1973) and " Always Yours" (1974). Leander was the producer on four of Gary Glitter's studio albums, '' Glitter'' (1972), '' Touch Me'' (1973), '' Silver Star'' (1977) and '' Boys Will Be Boys'' (1984), as well as producing Glitter's live album '' Remember Me This Way'' (1974). Leander also produced the singles and albums that were recorded in the studio by the Glitter Band from 1974 to 1977. In the 1980s, Leander wrote the musical '' Matador'', which gave Tom Jones a hit album and single, ''A Boy from Nowhere''.

Personal life

Leander married Penny Carter (b. 1947) in 1974 and they had two children.‘Hot Battle Aids Love' South Bend Tribune 11 October 1970 p. 80 They were together until his death from cancer in 1996.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Leander, Mike 1941 births 1996 deaths People from Walthamstow People educated at Bancroft's School English record producers Ivor Novello Award winners English male songwriters Musicians from London English music arrangers Deaths from cancer in England 20th-century English musicians English conductors (music) British male conductors (music) 20th-century British conductors (music) 20th-century male musicians