Johnny Wakelin

Johnny Wakelin
Born	1939 (age 77–78) Brighton, Sussex, England
Genres	Rock and roll, reggae, R&B, pop
Occupation(s)	Singer
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	1974–present
Labels	Pye Records

Johnny Wakelin (born 1939 in Brighton, Sussex, England) is an English recording artist with the Pye Records label.

He had his first outings in clubs in his hometown but without big success. Discovered by Pye record producer Robin Blanchflower, the man who launched Carl Douglas to the top of the charts with "Kung Fu Fighting", and working with Steve Elson and Keith Rossiter in addition to Branchflower, Wakelin set about writing songs that would, he hoped, "catch people's eye"

He got the idea of writing a homage to the boxing champion Muhammad Ali who fought on 30 October 1974 in Kinshasa against George Foreman in a matchup known as The Rumble in the Jungle, gaining victory in the eighth round. The song was Wakelin's "Black Superman (Muhammad Ali)" released in late 1974.

In January 1975 the song reached number seven in the UK Singles Chart. It reached number one in Australia and spent six months in the US Billboard Hot 100 in more than one chart run in 1975, eventually peaking at No. 21 in September of that year.

1975 brought a further single, "Cream Puff," backed by "Gotta Keep on Going"; it flopped, but both songs would be incorporated into Wakelin's March 1976 album, Reggae, Soul & Rock 'n' Roll.

A bigger success was "In Zaire" (also about Muhammad Ali) in 1976, which reached the charts in many parts of Europe, with the chorus "And who was the victor in the night? Elijah Muhammad's boy Ali won the fight."

After few further hits ("Africa Man", "You Turn Me On", "Dr. Frankenstein's Disco Party") his success cooled down. He re-recorded his hit "In Zaire" in different versions which had a little success. Furthermore, he stayed active as a songwriter, and continued to release albums.

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