Peter Skellern

Peter Skellern 14 March 1947 17 February 2017 was an English singersongwriter and pianist who rose to fame in the 1970s He had two top twenty hits on the UK Singles Chart Youre a Lady 1972 which typifies his signature use of brass bands and choral arrangements for a nostalgic and romantic feel and Hold On to Love 1975 In the 1980s Skellern formed the band Oasis with Julian Lloyd Webber and Mary Hopkin and established a musical comedy partnership with Richard Stilgoe in cabaret Over his career Skellern wrote and performed music for film television and stage notably writing and starring in Happy Endings a 1981 BBC anthology series of comic musical plays Skellerns songs have been recorded by Andy Williams Davy Jones Brigitte Bardot Ringo Starr and Jack Jones amongst others After developing an inoperable brain tumour Skellern was ordained as a deacon and priest of the Church of England in October 2016 He died four months later Peter Skellern was born in Bury Lancashire to Margaret née Spencer and John Skellern He attended Derby High School and studied piano at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama After graduating with honours in 1968 Skellern struggled to make headway in a career as a concert pianist and instead focused on pursuing popular music Answering a Melody Maker advert Skellern joined the band The March Hare as keyboardist This gave the classicallytrained musician experience in rock and pop The March Hare became Harlan County in 1970 but failed to achieve any success and disbanded Skellern continued to pursue a career in pop represented by the bands manager Johnny Stirling This led to a record deal with Decca for recording and Warner Music for publishing signed on 5 May 1972 Skellerns first song to become a hit was Youre a Lady released on 11 August 1972 The record featured Skellern accompanied by members of the Congregation who had previously recorded the top ten hit Softly Whispering I Love You and the Hanwell Band Youre a Lady reached number 3 on the UK Singles Chart and number 50 in the United States Billboard Hot 100 The accompanying album Youre a Lady and subsequent singles failed to chart Success for Skellern followed three years later with Hold On to Love which reached number 14 on the UK chart He also sang the theme song to the London Weekend Television series Billy Liar 1973 For three years in the 1970s he worked on BBC Radio 4s Stop the Week A noncharting song Too Much Im in Love received radio play In 1978 Skellern had a minor hit with the 1930s Ray Noble song Love Is the Sweetest Thing which featured backing by the Grimethorpe Colliery Band winning the Music Trades Association award for best middle of the road song This followed his departure from Island Records after his previous album Hard Times had failed to chart despite a guest appearance by George Harrison In 1981 he wrote composed and performed in a series of musical playlets for the BBC called Happy Endings Two years later he hosted the Private Lives television chat show He wrote the lyrics for the song One More Kiss Dear from the film Blade Runner 1982 Source Article Peter Skellern from Wikipedia in English licensed under CCBYSA 30