Les Reed

Leslie David Reed (24 July 1935 – 15 April 2019) was an English songwriter, arranger, musician and light-orchestra leader. His major songwriting partners were Gordon Mills, Barry Mason, and Geoff Stephens, although he wrote songs with many others such as Roger Greenaway, Roger Cook, Peter Callander, and Johnny Worth.

Reed co-wrote around sixty charting songs, and is best known for "It's Not Unusual", "Delilah", "The Last Waltz", "Kiss Me Goodbye," "There's a Kind of Hush," and "Marching On Together". His songs gained a number of Gold discs and Ivor Novello Awards. AllMusic noted that "In the mid-1960s, it was unusual for a British singles chart not to list a Les Reed song".

Songwriting career In the mid-1960s, Reed began a successful songwriting partnership with Geoff Stephens which yielded such hits as "Tell Me When", a hit for The Applejacks; "Here It Comes Again" for The Fortunes; "Leave A Little Love" for Lulu; and "There's a Kind of Hush", a 1967 success for Herman's Hermits. Reed also arranged the song and played the piano for the recording. The songwriters had a 1967 hit in "Everybody Knows" by The Dave Clark Five—who also recorded a Reed–Mason follow-up—and another success in 1968 with "Delilah", again a Top 10 hit for Tom Jones. "Delilah" was originally written for P. J. Proby, and later covered by The Sensational Alex Harvey Band in 1975. Reed and Mason also wrote "The Last Waltz", which became a million selling UK number one for Engelbert Humperdinck in September 1967.

Mason and Reed wrote "Who's Doctor Who?", a novelty song recorded by Doctor Who star Frazer Hines in 1967, but it failed to chart. In 1968, the duo scored another UK number one hit with Des O'Connor's recording of "I Pretend". That same year, "I've Got My Eyes on You", written by Reed and Jackie Rae, was recorded by Petula Clark, Ray Conniff, P. J. Proby and The Vogues.

In 1970, Reed's orchestra recorded "Man of Action" which was used as the theme tune for Radio North Sea International until 1974. In 1972, he co-wrote Leeds United F.C.'s anthem "Marching On Together".

Other charting versions, 1963 - "Minuet Mash/Nightfall" – The Les Reed Piano (January 1963, (Piccadilly Records, 7N.35097) 1964 - "Little Leprechaun/Come Take My Hand" – Les Reed Orchestra (November 1964, (Fontana Records, H496) 1967 - "Copacabana Girl/Imogene" (Deram Records, 85010) 1967 - "Fly Me To The Sun" (Deram Records, SML 1008) 1967 - "New Dimensions" (Deram Records, DML 709) as The Les Reed Sound 1968 - "Theme From 'Candice'/The Last Waltz" – Les Reed Orchestra (DMA-1019)

Personal life He was married to June , who predeceased him; the couple had a daughter.