follow LeeeJohn1 at https://twitter.com/LeeeJohn1
Having spanned close to 3 decades in the entertainment industry as an artist, LEEE JOHN has been an all round artist, singer, writer, record producer, actor ,and recently a film producer. Leee came to the world's attention with his group IMAGINATION which he founded in the early 80s. Imagination was signed by MORGAN KHAN after hearing the track GOT TO BE GOOD. Produced by Trevor Horn (producer of Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Seal, Grace Jones to name but a few) , the master tape was sent to the states to get reproduced but unfortunately got lost and the outcome looked bleak. Leee was introduced to producer Tony Swain and given a piece of music to write some lyrics and a melody . He went home and came up with what became IMAGINATION's first gold record- the hit single BODY TALK.
With hits such as IN AND OUT OF LOVE, FLASHBACK, MUSIC AND LIGHTS, IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT and JUST AN ILLUSION, millions of singles were sold internationally. IMAGINATION also went platinum worldwide with sales in excess of 30 million albums. As a result IMAGINATION were playing to sold out concerts across the globe. IMAGINATION's songs have also more recently been sampled by a number of major artists including Mariah Carey and The Pharcyde.
Leee and IMAGINATION made their mark not only as musicians but as true masters of stage and performance. They were known for their outrageous costumes and stage shows and as such were invited to perform for the Princes Trust, HRH Princess Diana and Prince Charles, Princess Caroline of Monaco , the Mandela family in South Africa for the charity OPERATION HUNGER and even for the Russian president at the Kremlin.
Leee John’s background originates from North London in the U.K. His parents moved to England in the late 50s early 60s from the sunny island of St Lucia and Leee’s mum Jessie has been working in the North London community for many years earning herself an MBE. Leee went to Gillespie School next to Arsenal football stadium which was one of the first multi-racial schools in London at the time. When Leee's parents split up, Leee went with his father to the USA where Leee embraced the sounds of the black soul music scene. Motown, Stax, jazz and pop all helped developing his skills as an artist. He sang in school and church choirs and got signed in his early teens to WORLDWIDE RECORDS in New York. Returning to the UK in the early 70s, just as the Jackson 5 mania hit the masses, Leee teamed up with old school pal Russell Fraser and formed Russ and Leee, performing at the legendary Rainbow Theatre. While singing and dancing for soul legend Doris Troy they were spotted and signed to SNAZZ RECORDS (distributed by EMI) and managed by Roy Fisher who also managed DAVID BOWIE’S Spider’s From Mars group. Due to Russ and Leee’s short lived single GET UP pt1. Leee received local attention with local music press and magazines and one of Leee s first interviews was in the BLUES AND SOUL magazine.
After fine tuning his skills in many bands, gigging up and down the country and taking part in recording sessions doing backups, Leee took the steps which instigated the formation of what became, with Ashley Ingram, the group IMAGINATION. Wanting to broaden his horizons after many years of touring and recording with Imagination, Leee appeared in Dr Who, hosted the Malibu Disco Dance Championships, hosted his own LWT chat show LEEE’s PLACE, appeared on many comedy sitcoms, variety shows ,and recently developed and co-produced a documentary of The History of U.K Black Music circa 70s/80s entitled FLASHBACK. FLASHBACK profiled the great artists, writers, producers, dancers, DJs etc of the era.
Stretching himself even further, Leee produced alongside Cristal productions and Stefene Peyrolo, his first soul/jazz CD/DVD - FEEL MY SOUL. It was recorded in Rochfort, France and featured the cream of French music artistry including Stefene Huchard, Stefene Kerechi and the UK’s keyboard extradonairre Dr John Watson. The album received many accolades worldwide and has, along with IMAGINATION's music stretched Leee's creative skills.
Now in 2009, Leee is about to release a brand new compilation of remixes entitled SENSUALITY (originally a track off the FEEL MY SOUL album). The DJ Samidee remix of SENSUALITY has been getting mammoth radio play in the USA has just entered the BILLBOARD HOT 50 and is destined to be in the top ten.
The legend lives on.
CONTACT -
Mark Deflorimonte-Uttley
johnboyproductions@hotmail.com
+44 (0)7734434802
LJ Music LTD
Websites
www.leeejohn.com
www.feelmysoul.co.uk
www.flashbackproject.co.uk
www.sos-childrensvillages.org
Join The Leee John Emailing List
Email Address:
