The single had its first airing on Radio One thanks to Annie Nightingale. One of these was “On The Run”, released under the name Scorched Earth in 1974, although some of the others would not see the light of day until 1986. In 1973 Leslie met Ben Findon at Tangerine studios and together they worked on a number of compositions. Which was the UK’s entry in that year’s Eurovision Song Contest.Ī second single “Reach Out A Hand” was released the following year but failed to bring the success he desired, so he returned to the session work. “Nashville Rain” was written and produced by John Worsley and David Meyers who were responsible for Clodagh Rodgers hit “Jack In The Box”. To supplement his income he would perform with various local bands including Shades of Midnight at the Bluecoat Boy public house in Norton Folgate, as well as working as a session singer around the recording studios.Īfter recording as Joshua, Piggy bank and Sam Spade amongst a variety of other pseudonyms, his first single was released under his own name Les Charles in 1971. Whilst serving his apprenticeship in the Spitalfields rag trade, he bought an old Berry piano from one of the sewing machinists with £30 lent to him by his boss Benjamin Sollinger.Īs a fully qualified tailor Leslie worked for Norton and Sons in London’s famous Savile Row. On leaving full time education Leslie had a variety of jobs including mattress making, carpentry and working as a security guard before going to college on a bespoke tailoring course. In 1958 his family immigrated to England in search of work, settling in the East End of London.Īt the age of eleven he attended Stepney Green School for boys in Ben Johnson Road where he was an active member of both the football and cricket teams.ĭuring this time Leslie would spend hours listening to his dad’s transistor radio, being influenced by American soul singers Brook Benton, Sam Cooke and Otis Redding, along with the British sound of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. So impressive were his vocal performances that the school’s head teacher would often enter him into singing competitions. Young Leslie also attended choir practice with his two elder sisters. Leslie Sebastian Charles was born on Saturday 21st January 1950, in Fyzabad on the Caribbean Island of Trinidad.įrom a very early age he was inspired by his dad’s love of Calypso music and was soon playing a small steel drum pan and a blue ukulele, bought for him by a friend of his mother. His determination to succeed and talent have always shone through even the darkest of times, proving that when the going gets tough… the tough really do get going. However, his success is only the tip of the iceberg.įrom humble beginnings to international stardom his road to fame has at times been tinged with despondency. During a career spanning over 25 years, he has sold in excess of 30 million singles and albums worldwide, reaching his pinnacle throughout the 1980’s. He was conferred honorary doctorate of music from the University of Westminster given Lifetime Achievement Award at the MOBO Awards and made a Companion of the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts.Billy Ocean holds the prestigious title of being the biggest selling British black artist of all time. These include singles ‘Get Outta My Dreams, Get into My Car’, ‘Caribbean Queen (No More Love on the Run)’ that won him a Grammy Award, and ‘When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going’ that was used as theme song for the blockbuster hit Michael Douglas film, ‘The Jewel of the Nile’ as also platinum certified albums ‘Suddenly’, ‘Love Zone’ and ‘Tear Down These Walls’. He then went on to produce an array of R&B international pop hits in the 1970s and 1980s. The first single ‘Love Really Hurts Without You’ from his debut album ‘Billy Ocean’ reached # 2 in the UK Singles Chart garnering him early stardom. Billy got hooked to music early and sang regularly in London clubs. Billy Ocean is a noted Trinidadian-English recording artist who spawned chart-topping singles like ‘Caribbean Queen (No More Love on the Run)’ and is considered the most popular British R&B singer-songwriter of the early to mid-1980s.
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