Singer/pianist Andy Leek had already been knocking about the music biz for a decade by the time his talents came to the attention of former Beatles producer George Martin. In early '89 Leek sent a demo tape of 7 songs to the legendary producer. Martin offered to produce a full length album and within a year Leek had released the album 'Say Something'. The album sold over 250,000 copies worldwide but failed to yield anything in the way of a major hit single. The song that caught my attention at the time was 'Please Please'. I purchased it on 45 (probably the same week it reached #100 on the OZ charts) and was very pleased to finally stumble across a sceond hand copy of the long deleted album 'Say Something' about 15 years later.
A bit of info about the artist himself. Leek had been a one time member of the Kevin Rowland project Dexy's Midnight Runners (along with about two dozen other musicians), and played on the hit single 'Geno' (aged only 16 at the time). He scored a minor UK hit soon after with 'Move On In My Maserati' (must be one of the only songs to include the name of the legendary supercar in its title). He's written songs for Frida (off ABBA) and Tom Jones and scored a number of European hits including the Spanish #1 'Forgotten People'. As of 2005 he was still touring with his backing band The Blue Angels.
It's a pity the song 'Please Please' (which was a social commentary of sorts) didn't fair better on the main chart markets (UK/US). If you'd like an idea as to what music fans in these countries missed, listen to the song via this clip I found on YouTube:
Have a look at Leek's German hit 'All Around The World' from 1996:
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