Lesley Duncan

Lesley Anne Cox

Early life Duncan was born in Stockton-on-Tees on 12 August 1943 and left school while only 14 years old. At 19, while working in a London coffee bar, she and her brother were placed on weekly retainers by a music publisher. Within a year, Duncan had signed her first recording contract, with EMI, and appeared in the film What a Crazy World.

Career "Love Song" Duncan is considered one of Britain's first female singer-songwriters. The live recording of "Love Song" was included on John's Here and There album. John described "Love Song" as "one of the very few" songs he did not co-author but included on an album earlier in his career. "Love Song" went on to be covered by more than 150 other artists, including David Bowie. In 2022, both Duncan and John's versions of the song were featured in the folk horror film Men. This success notwithstanding, and despite their receiving critical acclaim, Duncan's multiple solo albums failed to achieve commercial success.

Duncan famously contributed backing vocals to one of the top selling albums of all time, Pink Floyd's 1973 release The Dark Side of the Moon, which was engineered by Alan Parsons. Later, in 1979, she again worked with Parsons, singing lead vocals on the song "If I Could Change Your Mind" for the Alan Parsons Project album Eve, in her final album appearance.

Discography Albums Sing Children Sing (1971) Earth Mother (1972) Everything Changes (1974) Moon Bathing (1975) Maybe It's Lost (1977)

Compilations Sing Lesley Sing: The RCA and CBS Recordings 1968–1972 (2017) – first two albums and bonus tracks Love Song: Previously Unreleased 1977–86 (2018) Lesley Step Lightly: The GM Recordings Plus 1974–1982 (2019) – last three albums and bonus tracks

UK singles "I Want a Steady Guy" (as 'Lesley Duncan and the Jokers') b/w "Moving Away" (1963) – Parlophone R5034 "You Kissed Me Boy" b/w "Tell Me" (1963) – Parlophone R5106 "When My Baby Cries" b/w "Did It Hurt" (1963) – Mercury MF830 "Just for the Boy" b/w "See That Guy" (1965) – Mercury MF847 "Run to Love" b/w "Only the Lonely and Me" (1965) – Mercury MF876 "Hey Boy" b/w "I Go to Sleep" (1966) – Mercury MF939 "Lullaby" b/w "I Love You, I Love You" (1968) – RCA 1746 "A Road to Nowhere" b/w "Love Song" (1969) – RCA 1783 "Sing Children Sing" b/w "Exactly Who You Are" (1969) – CBS 4585 "Love Song" b/w "Exactly Who You Are" (1970) – Columbia 4-45354 "Sing Children Sing" b/w "Emma" (1971) – CBS S 7493 "Earth Mother" b/w "Love Will Never Lose You" (1972) – CBS S 8362 "Watch the Tears" b/w "Sam" (1974) – GM GMS 016 "Everything Changes" b/w "Love Melts Away" (1974) – GM GMS 022 "I Can See Where I'm Going" b/w "Heaven Knows" (1975) – GM GMS 036 "Could've Been a Winner" b/w "Moonbathing" (1975) – GM GMS 9040 "Maybe It's Lost" b/w "Another Rainy Day" (1977) – GM GMS 9046 "The Sky's on Fire" b/w "Don't Worry 'Bout It" (1977) – GM GMS 9048 "The Magic's Fine" b/w "Paper Highways" (1978) – GM GMS 9049 "Sing Children Sing" b/w "Rainbow Games" (1979) – CBS S8061 (Charity 45) "Masters of War" b/w "Another Light Goes Out" (1982) – Korova KOW 22 "Tomorrow" b/w "Paper Highway" (1986) – R4 FOR 4