Spencer Frederick James (born 15 April 1953) is an English singer and musician. He has been the lead singer of veteran pop band

The Searchers ''The Searchers'' is a 1956 American epic Western film directed by John Ford and written by Frank S. Nugent, based on the 1954 novel by Alan Le May. It is set during the Texas–Indian wars, and stars John Wayne as a middle-aged Civil War v ...

since 1986. James was also a member of the

one-hit wonder A one-hit wonder is any entity that achieves mainstream popularity, often for only one piece of work, and becomes known among the general public solely for that momentary success. The term is most commonly used in regard to music performers with ...

band The First Class that scored a No. 4 hit with the song "

Beach Baby "Beach Baby" is a song by the British band The First Class. Written by John Carter and his wife, Gillian (Jill) Shakespeare, the song became the band's only substantial hit. The subject of the lyrics is not holiday love, but a broken love relati ...

Early life

James grew up in Hayes, Middlesex. Working for Marshall's Music Group, he developed an interest in guitars and began playing and singing in local bands. James improved his stage craft while deputising in the band White Plains. He then moved on to form a band named Duke.

Career

The First Class

The First Class was initially a studio creation featuring the voice of

Tony Burrows Anthony Burrows (born 14 April 1942) is an English pop singer and recording artist. As a prolific session musician, Burrows was involved in several transatlantic hit singles throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, most of which were one-hi ...

. The success of the song "

" (#4 in the US) led to demand for live appearances. A group, including Spencer James, was assembled to perform a number of dates as The First Class. In 1983, The First Class recorded the single "

Gimme Little Sign "Gimme Little Sign" is a 1967 soul song, originally performed by Brenton Wood and written by Wood (under his real name, Alfred Smith), Joe Hooven and Jerry Winn. The charted versions were by Wood, Peter Andre, the Sattalites, and Danielle Briseb ...

" with Spencer James on vocals. The single had some success in the Netherlands.

Nightfly

Formed in 1985 (originally under the name Heyday), Nightfly was a supergroup consisting of Spencer James on lead vocals,

Zak Starkey Zak Richard Starkey (born 13 September 1965) is an English rock drummer who toured and recorded with the Who from 1996 to 2025. He is also the third drummer to have appeared with Oasis. Other musicians and bands he has worked with include Johnny ...

on drums,

Boz Burrell Raymond "Boz" Burrell (1 August 1946 – 21 September 2006) was an English musician. Originally a vocalist and guitarist, Burrell is best known for being the vocalist and bassist of King Crimson from 1971 to 1972 and the original bassist of B ...

(ex-

Bad Company Bad Company were an English rock supergroup formed in London in 1973 by singer Paul Rodgers and drummer Simon Kirke (both ex- Free), guitarist Mick Ralphs (ex- Mott the Hoople) and bassist Boz Burrell (ex-King Crimson). Kirke was the only m ...

) on bass,

Micky Moody Michael Joseph Moody (born 30 August 1950) is an English guitarist, and a former member of the rock bands Juicy Lucy and Whitesnake. He was also a founder-member of Snafu. Together with his former Whitesnake colleague Bernie Marsden he founde ...

(ex-

Whitesnake Whitesnake are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1978. The group were originally put together as the backing band for singer David Coverdale, who had recently left Deep Purple. Though the band quickly developed into their ow ...

) on guitar and Mickey Simmonds on keyboards. Nightfly toured in early 1985 but broke up soon after. James went on to form the Spencer James Band which enjoyed considerable success around the pub circuit of West London. At one gig at

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

's Red Lion they shared the bill with The Searchers.

The Searchers

In December 1985 long-time lead singer of The Searchers,

Mike Pender Michael John Prendergast (born 3 March 1941), known professionally by the stage name Mike Pender, is an English musician. He was an original founding member of Beat music, Merseybeat group The Searchers (band), the Searchers. He is best know ...

, announced that he was leaving the group. Founding member John McNally recalled Spencer James from the Brentford gig and he was recruited as the new lead singer. His mastery of the synthesizer guitar also added authentic strings and keyboard sounds to The Searchers stage performances, emulating their original studio recordings. For more than twenty years, James has completed extensive national and international tours with The Searchers. He has also contributed to the album '' Hungry Hearts'' and a number of live recordings of the band (see Discography).

Discography

With The First Class

Studio albums

Singles

Solo

Despite his hectic schedule with The Searchers, James has found time to record a number of solo albums in his home studio (SJO Music), many of the songs written himself. He also records and produces other acts. * Days Gone By (1987) *''Tides of Time'' *''Love Remains'' *''Breathe In, Breathe Out'' (2004) *''The Age of Reason'' (2011) *Hope For Me Yet (2012) *Chapter & Verse (2016) *Time For Letting Go (2018)

With
The Searchers ''The Searchers'' is a 1956 American epic Western film directed by John Ford and written by Frank S. Nugent, based on the 1954 novel by Alan Le May. It is set during the Texas–Indian wars, and stars John Wayne as a middle-aged Civil War v ...

Albums

Videography

* * * *

References

External links

*
The Searchers websiteThe Searchers discography including James's releases
{{DEFAULTSORT:James, Spencer 1953 births Living people English pop guitarists English male guitarists English pop singers English male songwriters People from Hayes, Hillingdon The Searchers (band) members