Ken Lewis (songwriter)
| Ken Lewis | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Kenneth Alan James Hawker |
| Born | 3 December 1940 |
| Origin | Small Heath, Birmingham, England |
| Died | 2 August 2015 (aged 74) Cherry Hinton, Cambridge, England |
| Genres | Pop |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter, record producer |
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Years active | 1960s–1970s |
Kenneth Alan James Hawker (3 December 1940 – 2 August 2015) known as Ken Lewis, was an English singer, songwriter and record producer. He is considered one of the more successful songwriters of the 1960s as a result of his collaborations with John Carter. His biggest success was "Can't You Hear My Heartbeat", which was a 1965 US number 1 hit single for Herman's Hermits.
Lewis was born in Small Heath, Birmingham, England. While still at elementary school, Lewis met his future songwriting partner John Shakespeare. They formed a skiffle band in the 1950s called LVI, when they began writing songs together. In 1960 the duo went to London, and presented themselves under their songwriting pseudonyms John Carter and Ken Lewis. Terry Kennedy became their manager and convinced them to start their own band as an outlet for their songs.
In 1961, the first single by Carter-Lewis and the Southerners was released, "Back on the Scene". The band were not successful, and their main claim to fame remains a brief stint that Jimmy Page did as their lead guitarist. The band also featured twice as "guests" on the Beatles' 1963 radio show Pop Goes The Beatles.
In 1964 they met Perry Ford, who worked as an engineer in a small recording studio in Denmark Street, London. They noticed their voices blended well and started recording demos together, resulting in a single on Pye Records, "What More Do You Want" as the Ivy League. Their luck changed when Herman's Hermits recorded "Can't You Hear My Heartbeat" and took it to number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. In the UK it was a smaller hit for Goldie and the Gingerbreads.
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