Born in Hull as Elvis was dreaming about appearing on the Ed Sullivan show, the son of an RAF Air Traffic Controller, I had a nomadic childhood, living all over Britain, Germany and as far away as Singapore, settling in London aged 18 where I won the National Folk Contest in 1973. After a lifetime of scattered gigs, some prestigious like the Bluebird in Nashville and London's Barbican, many humble but welcoming like the old Mean Fiddler chain and the Bluebelle in Penge, I'd had enough of the gaps in between. These were often filled with various jobs to put food on the table, while ski-ing up and down the peaks and valleys of the music business, writing songs for other artists, here and abroad, often consumed by a deep yearning for the next opportunity to express myself the most natural way I know. Singing.
These days that same yearning which in the past was often frustrated, is satisfied on a daily basis every morning I pitch up somewhere and plug in my mic. and guitar, as many people are still waking up! And as for my peers, well, most of them are retiring! Now, thanks to the miracle of the internet my voice is being heard and appreciated, in the case of the recent viral videos, by millions of people across the globe.
As of the 5/10/2021 via the WhatweSeee platform, I've had over 10 Million views on Facebook alone. Below is the link to my viral performances, please do have a look by clicking this link below :-
https://www.whatweseee.com/busker-melts-internets-heart/
The yearning now is to be able to perform for those people, in the flesh! To book me for your special occasion, just go to the CONTACT section and email me.
Along the way, I've worked and recorded with some wonderful musicians, producers and songwriters and much of that fruit is on offer here on my four-original cd's. Click on the MY MUSIC heading above to get access to my music on SPOTIFY and iTunes. Below is a more detailed bit of biog........
In '79 I lived and gigged in New York, where our son Fabian was conceived, and returned home to wait tables at the then still-funky Pizza Express in Hampstead,to keep us in nappies. While spinning plates I was represented by the legendary Phyll Rounce at International Artistes and played live on BBC's David Essex showcase with Steve Lodder and Kevin Charles Dunford.
In the Eighties, I toured with Richard and Linda Thompson, being the first-ever solo performer to open on the Barbican stage, for Richard in 1981.
I signed to Albion/Polar Union Music in 1985 and recorded with Jon Kelly and Pete Van Hooke..... In that decade, I also first met Marc Parnell and Paul Nieman, who introduced me to Kuma Harada, after having recorded with Pete Brown ( Cream lyricist) and the great Dick Heckstall Smith, Ed Poole and Robert Bond.
In the nineties with Kuma's help, at Barefoot, I recorded many of the tracks on Heartcore, my first album, with among others Andy Newmark, Max Middleton and Robert Ahwai and also had Alan D'Arby and John Etheridge playing on live gigs.....Some of Heartcore was also recorded at Kitsch studios in Brusselles, produced by Adam Williams, the original co-producer and engineer of The Eurythmics.
In 1996 I formed the Dean Dyson Band with the help of producer Tom Allom, the core of which, over the years, was Chris Newland on guitar, Paul Redfern on bass, Marc Parnell on drums and Ichiro Tatsuhara on percussion.
In 1999, I had the honour of being invited by legendary Yes-guitarist Steve Howe, to perform "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll" on his "Portraits of Bob Dylan" album, which also featured such luminaries as Jon Anderson, Phoebe Snow and P.P.Arnold.
In 2002 I signed toSony/ BMG as a writer, through Johnny Stirling at Musicsoundsbetter Ltd. .... In recent years my songs have been covered internationally with platinum success in the U.S. with Mario Frangoulis and closer to home - most notably in Poland, with Maryla Rodowicz and Krzysztof Krawczyk.
In 2004, On his platinum album To, Co W Zyciu Wazne, I wrote the music for the title track, and Lekarse Dusz, a duet with T-Love, and Przytul Mnie Zycie, a duet with Piasek, and finally Wszystko Mam.
In 2006, the great Maryla Rodowicz recorded Do Cholery and Nikt Z Nas Nie Powinien Byc Sam ( now a Christmas standard) on her album KOCHAC..
In the Noughties, I've co-written with world-class writers, including Scott English, Frank Musker, Jon Cohen, Blair Mackichan, Matteo Saggese, Simon Darlow and Chris Neil.....
Here in the UK,I've written for Amy Nuttall and Becky Jane Taylor. The video of "No Greater Gift",which I wrote with Jon Cohen is viewable on www.amynuttall.com., the song is on her myspace page, as is "By Your Side" on Becky Jane Taylor's page.
Four original albums independently released on my LeoMoon label:- Heartcore 1997; I Found You 2006; One Way Up 2007 The John Leckie Doghouse Recording Sessions 2010, are available on iTunes.
In 2013 I co-wrote nine songs on the NOVASTAR album "Inside Outside" which went to number I in Belgium in 2014, and number 8 in Holland. The first single, "Closer To You" was the third most-played song on Belgian radio in 2014. I had five co-writes on Novastar's follow- up album "In The Cold Light Of Monday" released on the SONY label to great acclaim in late 2018.
