Leigh Ashton
Leigh Ashton (born 11 April 1956 in Manchester, England is a South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

n singer, songwriter, pianist, performer and recording artist from Johannesburg, South Africa. Ashton was born in Manchester, England on the 11 April 1956 and moved to South Africa at the age of 3.

Career

Ashton was signed to David Gresham Productions as a singer songwriter at 19. His first single “Love Me” was released in November 1975. Ashton worked with some of the best musicians in the country at the time including Trevor Rabin. The following year he performed at the very successful “Colosseum Mighty Music Machine” alongside local household names such as Bobby Angel, Bruce Millar, Richard Loring and Sonya Herholdt but he still had yet to achieve his own recognition. In 1977 “Tanya”, one of his own songs, reached no 12 on the official SA charts based on sales – competing with Abba

Abba

ABBA is the name of a former Swedish pop music group.Abba may also refer to:* ABBA , a self-titled album by the Swedish pop music group ABBA* "Abba ", a song by Christian pop and rock artist, Rebecca St...

 and Leo Sayer

Leo Sayer

Leo Sayer is a British singer-songwriter, musician, and entertainer whose singing career has spanned four decades. Sayer became a naturalised Australian citizen in 2009. Sayer was a top singles and album act on both sides of the Atlantic in the 1970s...

. “Tanya” was released on Pye Records later that year in England and Europe. A series of newspaper articles, TV videos, pin up photos and radio interviews followed and he released his third single “Day after Day” another self penned song.

Ashton was offered a bigger recording contract with GRC part of Gallo

Gallo Record Company

Gallo Record Company is the largest record label in Africa. It is based in Johannesburg, South Africa, and is owned by Avusa Limited . The current Gallo Record Company is a hybrid of two rival South African record labels between the '40s and '80s: the original Gallo Africa and G.R.C...

 on the worldwide CBS label and after liasing and negotiating with both companies changed to GRC to work with Hilton Rosenthal who was producing Juluka

Juluka

Juluka was a South African music band formed in 1969 by Johnny Clegg and Sipho Mchunu. Juluka means "sweat", and was the name of a bull owned by Mchunu.-Career:...

at the time. His 4th and 5th singles, “That Girl” and “Christmas Song”, were well received by fans and the record industry, but due to an unfortunate misunderstanding between the record companies, arguments ensued and both companies left the singles with no marketing or moral support. Ashton has over 40 songs that he wrote during that time.

Singles

"Love Me" - 1975
"Tanya" - 1977 (Reached no 12 on the South African Charts)
"Day After Day" - 1977
"That Girl" - 1978
"Christmas Song" - 1978