Jim Lea (musician)
| Jim Lea | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | James Whild Lea |
| Born |
14 June 1949 Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, England |
| Genres | Rock |
| Occupation(s) |
|
| Instruments |
|
| Years active | 1966–present |
| Associated acts | Slade |
| Website | www |
| Notable instruments | |
|
|
James Whild Lea (born 14 June 1949), commonly known as Jim Lea, is an English musician, most notable for playing bass guitar, keyboards, violin, guitar, and singing backing vocals in Slade, and for co-writing most of their songs.
Lea was born in Wolverhampton, Staffordshire. Influenced by French jazz-violinist Stéphane Grappelli, Lea's first musical love was the violin. His parents owned The Grange pub in Bilbrook where he grew up. He attended Codsall Comprehensive School – now Codsall Community High School. He played in the Staffordshire Youth Orchestra, and gained first class honours in a London music-school practical exam, before moving on to piano, guitar and finally bass guitar. He first played guitar, and then bass, in the schoolboy group 'Nick and The Axemen'.
Lea went for auditions for a local band, 'The 'N Betweens', of which drummer Don Powell, guitarist Dave Hill and vocalist Johnny Howells were already members. When Noddy Holder joined soon after, the foundations for Slade had been laid. Howells later left the band.
Lea was the most trained musician in Slade. He was Slade's principal songwriter, along with Holder. In most cases Lea wrote the melodies, and Holder concentrated on the lyrics.
He was an athletic performer helping with the band's powerful stage presence.
Slade's lack of success during the late 1970s led Lea to wonder if their material would be better received if recorded by another band. In late 1979, Lea formed 'The Dummies' as a side project, with his brother Frank and wife Louise. The group released three singles, "When The Lights Are Out", "Didn't You Use To Use To Be You" and "Maybe Tonight". The first single was a cover, originally appearing on Slade's 1974 album Old New Borrowed and Blue. All three singles received plenty of radio airplay but sales suffered from distribution problems. "Didn't You Use To Use To Be You" was listed in BBC Radio One's 'A' playlist, meaning the song was expected to become a top ten hit. The cover featured Lea's daughter, Bonny. "Maybe Tonight" featured Roy Wood on vocals with Holder, who sang a total of four lines. Later in 1991, an album A Day in the Life of the Dummies was released. It included all the material recorded by the band.
...
Wikipedia