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Michael George Farr (30 June 1941 – 18 April 1996) professionally known as Mike Leander was an arranger and record producer for Decca Records
Decca Records

Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 in music by Edward Lewis . Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; later the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
 in the 1960s and Bell Records in the 1970s and worked with such artists as Marianne Faithfull
Marianne Faithfull

Marianne Faithfull is an award-winning England singer, songwriter, actor and diarist whose career spans over four decades. Her early work in pop and rock music in the 1960s was overshadowed by her struggle with drug abuse in the 1970s....
, Billy Fury
Billy Fury

Billy Fury , was an internationally successful United Kingdom pop singer from the late 1950s to the early 1960s, and remained an active songwriter until the 1980s....
, Marc Bolan
Marc Bolan

Marc Bolan , was an England singer, songwriter and guitarist whose hit singles, fashion sensibilities and stage presence with T.Rex in the early 1970s helped cultivate the glam rock era, though he preferred to call his music Cosmic Rock, and made him one of the most recognisable stars in United Kingdom music....
, Joe Cocker
Joe Cocker

John Robert "Joe" Cocker OBE is an England rock /blues singer who came to popularity in the 1960s, and is most known for his gritty human voice and his cover versions of popular songs, particularly those of The Beatles....
, The Small Faces
The Small Faces

Small Faces were an England Rock music group from East London, England, heavily influenced by United States rhythm and blues. The group was founded in 1965 by members Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones, and Jimmy Winston ....
, Van Morrison
Van Morrison

George Ivan Morrison Order of the British Empire is a Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter, author, poet and multi-instrumentalist, who has been a professional musician since the late 1950s....
, Alan Price
Alan Price

Alan Price...
, Peter Frampton
Peter Frampton

Peter Kenneth Frampton is an English musician, singer, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist. He was previously associated with the bands Humble Pie and The Herd , among others....
, Keith Richards
Keith Richards

Keith Richards is an England guitarist, songwriter, singer, record producer and a founding member of The Rolling Stones. As a guitarist, Richards is mostly known for his innovative rhythm guitar playing....
, Shirley Bassey
Shirley Bassey

Dame Shirley Veronica Bassey Order of the British Empire is a United Kingdom singer. She performed the theme music to the James Bond films Goldfinger , Diamonds Are Forever , and Moonraker ....
, Lulu
Lulu (singer)

Lulu Kennedy-Cairns, Order of British Empire, , best known by her stage name Lulu, is a Scotland singer-songwriter, actress, model and television personality, who has been successful in the entertainment business from the 1960s through to the present day....
, Jimmy Page
Jimmy Page

James Patrick Page Order of the British Empire is an English guitarist, composer and record producer. He began his career as a studio session guitarist in London and was subsequently a member of The Yardbirds from 1966 to 1968, after which he co-founded the English rock band Led Zeppelin....
, Roy Orbison
Roy Orbison

Roy Kelton Orbison was an influential Grammy Award-winning United States singer-songwriter, guitarist and a pioneer of rock and roll whose recording career spanned more than four decades....
, Brian Jones
Brian Jones

Lewis Brian Hopkin Jones was an England guitarist and founding member of the England rock group The Rolling Stones. Jones was known for his use of multiple instruments, fashionable Mod image, Recreational drug use excesses and his 27 Club....
,and Gene Pitney
Gene Pitney

Gene Francis Alan Pitney was an American singer-songwriter. He was also an accomplished guitarist, piano, drummer and skilled sound engineer. In 2002, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame....
. He is perhaps best known as co-writer and producer for Gary Glitter
Gary Glitter

Paul Francis Gadd is an England glam rock singer and songwriter, better known by his stage name Gary Glitter.Glitter first came to prominence in the glam rock era of the early 1970s....
 throughout the 1970s.

Leander also worked as a producer/arranger with Ben E. King
Ben E. King

Ben E. King is an United States soul music singer. He is perhaps best known as the singer and songwriter of "Stand by Me ," a United States Top 40 hit record in both 1961 and 1987 and a chart-topper in the United Kingdom in 1987, and as one of the principal lead singers of the R&B vocal group, The Drifters....
 and The Drifters
The Drifters

The Drifters are a long-lived American doo wop/R&B vocal group with a peak in popularity from 1953 to 1962, though several splinter Drifters continue to perform today....
 on the Atlantic record label and was the arranger on The Beatles
The Beatles

The Beatles were a rock music and pop music band from Liverpool, England that formed in 1960. During their career, the group primarily consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr ....
' "She's Leaving Home
She's Leaving Home

"She's Leaving Home" is a song, written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon, and released in 1967 on The Beatles album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band....
" from the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is the eighth studio album by the United Kingdom rock music band The Beatles. Recorded over a 129-day period beginning on 6 December 1966, the album was released on 1 June 1967 in the United Kingdom and the following day in the United States....
 album (the only time The Beatles recruited someone other than their producer, George Martin
George Martin

Sir George Henry Martin Order of the British Empire is a United Kingdom record producer, arrangement and composer. He is sometimes referred to as "the Fifth Beatle"?a title that he owes to his work as producer or co-producer of all of The Beatles' original records as well as playing piano on some of The Beatles tracks?and is considered one o...
 to provide orchestration.)

He was executive producer of the Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber

Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an England composer of musical theatre, the elder son of William Lloyd Webber and also the brother of the renowned cellist Julian Lloyd Webber....
/Tim Rice
Tim Rice

Sir Timothy Miles Bindon Rice is an English Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Tony Award and Grammy Award-winning lyricist, author, radio personality and television gameshow panellist....
 concept album Jesus Christ Superstar
Jesus Christ Superstar

Jesus Christ Superstar is a rock opera by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber. It highlights the political and interpersonal struggles of Judas Iscariot and Jesus....
 and in the late 1960s wrote scores for several films, including Privilege with Paul Jones
Paul Jones (singer)

Paul Jones is an England singer, actor, harmonica player, and radio personality and television presenter.In 1962 Jones became resident singer with Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated ....
 and Jean Shrimpton
Jean Shrimpton

Jean Shrimpton is an England Supermodel and actress. Nicknamed "The Shrimp", she was an icon of Swinging Sixties London, possessing some of the gamine features that also made a huge success of the younger Twiggy....
, Run a Crooked Mile
Run a Crooked Mile

Run a Crooked Mile is a made-for-TV thriller in which Louis Jourdan stars as Richard Stuart, an ordinary schoolteacher who, whilst on holiday, is a witness to a murder in a private secluded mansion....
 with Mary Tyler Moore
Mary Tyler Moore

Mary Tyler Moore is an United States Actor and comedian, primarily known for her roles in sitcoms and television.Moore is arguably best known for The Mary Tyler Moore Show , in which she starred as Mary Richards, a 30-something single woman who worked as a news producer at WJM-TV in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and for her earlier role as L...
 and Louis Jourdan
Louis Jourdan

Louis Jourdan is a French film actor. He is known for his roles in several Hollywood films, including The Paradine Case , Gigi , The Best of Everything , and Octopussy ....
 and The Adding Machine
The Adding Machine

The Adding Machine is a 1923 play by Elmer Rice, and is generally considered to be the first American Expressionist play. The story focuses on Mr....
 with Billie Whitelaw
Billie Whitelaw

Billie Whitelaw, Order of the British Empire is a distinguished England actor of both stage and film. The actress has won multiple BAFTA awards and Evening Standard British Film Awards for her film work and has appeared in many prestigious theatrical productions in a career spanning more than fifty years....
 and Milo O'Shea
Milo O'Shea

Milo O'Shea is an Irish people character actor, recognisable for his bushy eyebrows, resounding voice and impish smile.He was raised in Dublin and educated by the Congregation of Christian Brothers at Synge Street CBS, along with his friend Donal Donnelly....
.

Leander first worked with singer Paul Raven in the 1960s and produced various singles for him on MCA Records
MCA Records

MCA Records was an United States-based record label owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part....
 (now Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group

Universal Music Group is the largest business group and family of record labels in the Record industry. With a 25.5% market share, it is one of the Music industry....
) and this led to Raven's part on Jesus Christ Superstar.






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Michael George Farr (30 June 1941 – 18 April 1996) professionally known as Mike Leander was an arranger and record producer for Decca Records
Decca Records

Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 in music by Edward Lewis . Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; later the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
 in the 1960s and Bell Records in the 1970s and worked with such artists as Marianne Faithfull
Marianne Faithfull

Marianne Faithfull is an award-winning England singer, songwriter, actor and diarist whose career spans over four decades. Her early work in pop and rock music in the 1960s was overshadowed by her struggle with drug abuse in the 1970s....
, Billy Fury
Billy Fury

Billy Fury , was an internationally successful United Kingdom pop singer from the late 1950s to the early 1960s, and remained an active songwriter until the 1980s....
, Marc Bolan
Marc Bolan

Marc Bolan , was an England singer, songwriter and guitarist whose hit singles, fashion sensibilities and stage presence with T.Rex in the early 1970s helped cultivate the glam rock era, though he preferred to call his music Cosmic Rock, and made him one of the most recognisable stars in United Kingdom music....
, Joe Cocker
Joe Cocker

John Robert "Joe" Cocker OBE is an England rock /blues singer who came to popularity in the 1960s, and is most known for his gritty human voice and his cover versions of popular songs, particularly those of The Beatles....
, The Small Faces
The Small Faces

Small Faces were an England Rock music group from East London, England, heavily influenced by United States rhythm and blues. The group was founded in 1965 by members Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones, and Jimmy Winston ....
, Van Morrison
Van Morrison

George Ivan Morrison Order of the British Empire is a Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter, author, poet and multi-instrumentalist, who has been a professional musician since the late 1950s....
, Alan Price
Alan Price

Alan Price...
, Peter Frampton
Peter Frampton

Peter Kenneth Frampton is an English musician, singer, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist. He was previously associated with the bands Humble Pie and The Herd , among others....
, Keith Richards
Keith Richards

Keith Richards is an England guitarist, songwriter, singer, record producer and a founding member of The Rolling Stones. As a guitarist, Richards is mostly known for his innovative rhythm guitar playing....
, Shirley Bassey
Shirley Bassey

Dame Shirley Veronica Bassey Order of the British Empire is a United Kingdom singer. She performed the theme music to the James Bond films Goldfinger , Diamonds Are Forever , and Moonraker ....
, Lulu
Lulu (singer)

Lulu Kennedy-Cairns, Order of British Empire, , best known by her stage name Lulu, is a Scotland singer-songwriter, actress, model and television personality, who has been successful in the entertainment business from the 1960s through to the present day....
, Jimmy Page
Jimmy Page

James Patrick Page Order of the British Empire is an English guitarist, composer and record producer. He began his career as a studio session guitarist in London and was subsequently a member of The Yardbirds from 1966 to 1968, after which he co-founded the English rock band Led Zeppelin....
, Roy Orbison
Roy Orbison

Roy Kelton Orbison was an influential Grammy Award-winning United States singer-songwriter, guitarist and a pioneer of rock and roll whose recording career spanned more than four decades....
, Brian Jones
Brian Jones

Lewis Brian Hopkin Jones was an England guitarist and founding member of the England rock group The Rolling Stones. Jones was known for his use of multiple instruments, fashionable Mod image, Recreational drug use excesses and his 27 Club....
,and Gene Pitney
Gene Pitney

Gene Francis Alan Pitney was an American singer-songwriter. He was also an accomplished guitarist, piano, drummer and skilled sound engineer. In 2002, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame....
. He is perhaps best known as co-writer and producer for Gary Glitter
Gary Glitter

Paul Francis Gadd is an England glam rock singer and songwriter, better known by his stage name Gary Glitter.Glitter first came to prominence in the glam rock era of the early 1970s....
 throughout the 1970s.

Leander also worked as a producer/arranger with Ben E. King
Ben E. King

Ben E. King is an United States soul music singer. He is perhaps best known as the singer and songwriter of "Stand by Me ," a United States Top 40 hit record in both 1961 and 1987 and a chart-topper in the United Kingdom in 1987, and as one of the principal lead singers of the R&B vocal group, The Drifters....
 and The Drifters
The Drifters

The Drifters are a long-lived American doo wop/R&B vocal group with a peak in popularity from 1953 to 1962, though several splinter Drifters continue to perform today....
 on the Atlantic record label and was the arranger on The Beatles
The Beatles

The Beatles were a rock music and pop music band from Liverpool, England that formed in 1960. During their career, the group primarily consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr ....
' "She's Leaving Home
She's Leaving Home

"She's Leaving Home" is a song, written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon, and released in 1967 on The Beatles album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band....
" from the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is the eighth studio album by the United Kingdom rock music band The Beatles. Recorded over a 129-day period beginning on 6 December 1966, the album was released on 1 June 1967 in the United Kingdom and the following day in the United States....
 album (the only time The Beatles recruited someone other than their producer, George Martin
George Martin

Sir George Henry Martin Order of the British Empire is a United Kingdom record producer, arrangement and composer. He is sometimes referred to as "the Fifth Beatle"?a title that he owes to his work as producer or co-producer of all of The Beatles' original records as well as playing piano on some of The Beatles tracks?and is considered one o...
 to provide orchestration.)

He was executive producer of the Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber

Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an England composer of musical theatre, the elder son of William Lloyd Webber and also the brother of the renowned cellist Julian Lloyd Webber....
/Tim Rice
Tim Rice

Sir Timothy Miles Bindon Rice is an English Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Tony Award and Grammy Award-winning lyricist, author, radio personality and television gameshow panellist....
 concept album Jesus Christ Superstar
Jesus Christ Superstar

Jesus Christ Superstar is a rock opera by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber. It highlights the political and interpersonal struggles of Judas Iscariot and Jesus....
 and in the late 1960s wrote scores for several films, including Privilege with Paul Jones
Paul Jones (singer)

Paul Jones is an England singer, actor, harmonica player, and radio personality and television presenter.In 1962 Jones became resident singer with Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated ....
 and Jean Shrimpton
Jean Shrimpton

Jean Shrimpton is an England Supermodel and actress. Nicknamed "The Shrimp", she was an icon of Swinging Sixties London, possessing some of the gamine features that also made a huge success of the younger Twiggy....
, Run a Crooked Mile
Run a Crooked Mile

Run a Crooked Mile is a made-for-TV thriller in which Louis Jourdan stars as Richard Stuart, an ordinary schoolteacher who, whilst on holiday, is a witness to a murder in a private secluded mansion....
 with Mary Tyler Moore
Mary Tyler Moore

Mary Tyler Moore is an United States Actor and comedian, primarily known for her roles in sitcoms and television.Moore is arguably best known for The Mary Tyler Moore Show , in which she starred as Mary Richards, a 30-something single woman who worked as a news producer at WJM-TV in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and for her earlier role as L...
 and Louis Jourdan
Louis Jourdan

Louis Jourdan is a French film actor. He is known for his roles in several Hollywood films, including The Paradine Case , Gigi , The Best of Everything , and Octopussy ....
 and The Adding Machine
The Adding Machine

The Adding Machine is a 1923 play by Elmer Rice, and is generally considered to be the first American Expressionist play. The story focuses on Mr....
 with Billie Whitelaw
Billie Whitelaw

Billie Whitelaw, Order of the British Empire is a distinguished England actor of both stage and film. The actress has won multiple BAFTA awards and Evening Standard British Film Awards for her film work and has appeared in many prestigious theatrical productions in a career spanning more than fifty years....
 and Milo O'Shea
Milo O'Shea

Milo O'Shea is an Irish people character actor, recognisable for his bushy eyebrows, resounding voice and impish smile.He was raised in Dublin and educated by the Congregation of Christian Brothers at Synge Street CBS, along with his friend Donal Donnelly....
.

Leander first worked with singer Paul Raven in the 1960s and produced various singles for him on MCA Records
MCA Records

MCA Records was an United States-based record label owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part....
 (now Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group

Universal Music Group is the largest business group and family of record labels in the Record industry. With a 25.5% market share, it is one of the Music industry....
) and this led to Raven's part on Jesus Christ Superstar. Raven later became Gary Glitter
Gary Glitter

Paul Francis Gadd is an England glam rock singer and songwriter, better known by his stage name Gary Glitter.Glitter first came to prominence in the glam rock era of the early 1970s....
 and the two began an on/off working relationship that would last until Leander's death. The partnership produced a string of glam rock
Glam rock

Glam rock , is a sub-genre of rock music that developed in the UK in the post-hippie early 1970s which was "performed by singers and musicians wearing outrageous clothes, makeup, hairstyles, and platform-soled boots." The flamboyant lyrics, costumes, and visual styles of glam performers were a camp , theatrical blend of nostalgia references t...
 hits beginning in 1972 with "Rock and Roll (Parts 1 and 2)
Rock and Roll (Gary Glitter song)

"Rock and Roll", also known as "The Hey Song," is a song performed by United Kingdom glam rocker Gary Glitter that was released in 1972 as a single and on the album Glitter ....
", which reached #2 in the UK, #1 in France and also the top 10 in many other countries including the USA. This was followed by ten more Top 10 UK singles, including three chart-toppers, "I'm the Leader of the Gang (I Am)" (1973), "I Love You Love Me Love
I Love You Love Me Love

"I Love You Love Me Love" was a popular song by Gary Glitter.Written by Gary Glitter and Mike Leander and produced by Mike Leander, "I Love You Love Me Love" was Glitter's second number one single in the UK, spending four weeks at the top of the chart in November 1973, and establishing itself as Britain's best selling single in 1973....
" (1973) and "Always Yours
Always Yours

Always Yours was a popular song by Gary Glitter.Written By Glitter and Mike Leander and produced by Leander, Always Yours was Glitter's third and final number one single in the UK, spending a single week at the top of the chart in June 1974....
" (1974).

In the 1980s he wrote the musical Matador
Matador (musical)

Matador is the title of a 1991 musical theater by Mike Leander and Edward Seago, with a book by Peter Jukes, which tells the story of the rise and fall of a fictional matador, loosely based on Manuel Benitez, El Cordobes....
, which gave Tom Jones
Tom Jones (singer)

Sir Thomas John Woodward Officer of the British Empire , known by his stage name Tom Jones, is a Welsh singer-songwriter, particularly noted for his powerful voice and wide vocal range....
 a hit album and single A Boy From Nowhere.

External links