Jess Conrad

Jess Conrad OBE (born Gerald Arthur James on 24 February 1936) is an actor and singer from England. As a boy he was nicknamed "Jesse" after American outlaw Jesse James; as there was already an actor named "Gerald James" in Actors Equity, a drama teacher who was a fan of Joseph Conrad suggested the stage name of "Jess Conrad".

Having started his career as a repertory actor and film extra, Jess Conrad was cast in a television play Bye, Bye Barney as a pop singer. He was noticed by Jack Good, who included him in his TV series Oh, Boy, and then was signed to Decca Records and had a number of chart hits, including "Cherry Pie", "This Pullover", "Mystery Girl" and "Pretty Jenny"; also recording for Columbia, Pye President and EMI.

Between the late 1950s and mid-1960s Conrad appeared in a number of films such as Serious Charge (uncredited), The Boys, Rag Doll, (filmed in 1960, and released in 1961); K.I.L. 1 and Konga as well as Michael Powell's The Queen's Guards.

During the 1970s he spent some time in the stage shows Godspell and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and also featured in a cameo role in the Sex Pistols film The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle. In 1977, no fewer than 7 of Jess Conrad's singles were included in the 'World's Worst Record' list, chosen by listeners to Capital FM DJ Kenny Everett's show, and "This Pullover", voted 6th worst song ever, later featured on The World's Worst Record Show, a 1978 LP dedicated to the songs voted for, together with two other Conrad recordings "Cherry Pie" and "Why Am I Living?"

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