John "Speedy" Keene

"John Keen" redirects here. For other uses, see John Keen (disambiguation).

John Keen
Birth name	John David Percy Keen
Also known as	John "Speedy" Keen, "Speedy" Keen
Born	March 29, 1945(1945-03-29) Ealing, London, England United Kingdom
Died	March 21, 2002(2002-03-21) (aged 56)
Genres	Rock
Occupations	Musician, Songwriter, Producer
Instruments	Vocals, Hammond organ, keyboards
Years active	1966–2002
Labels	Track, Roadrunner, Cleopatra
Associated acts	The Who, Thunderclap Newman, Rod Stewart, Kenny G, Motörhead, The Lightning Seeds, The Mission

John David Percy Keen (29 March 1945 – 21 March 2002)^[1] also known as John "Speedy" Keene, "Speedy" Keene or John Keen, was a vocalist and keyboard player, best known for his association with the rock band Thunderclap Newman. He wrote "Something in the Air" (1969) for the band, which reached #1 in the UK Singles Chart.^[2]

Career

Keen was born in Ealing, London. Before joining Thunderclap Newman, Keen shared a flat and worked as a chauffeur for Pete Townshend of The Who. He is famous among fans of The Who for writing "Armenia City in the Sky" which was recorded on the album The Who Sell Out (1967).^[1] This was the only song The Who ever performed that was specifically written for the group by a non-member.'Armenia City in the Sky' was, apparently, inspired by a long-lost painting back in the 1960s. His first recorded song, however, was the 'Club of Lights' Reaction single by Oscar. He also notably wrote "Something in the Air" for Thunderclap Newman and recorded 2 solo albums for Track and Island both of which have been released on CD recently by Esoteric (Cherry Red). 'I promise you' from from the second album was used in the American TV series,'The big C'. Keen was later a record producer for The Heartbreakers and Motörhead.

As a session musician Keen played for others such as, Rod Stewart, The Mission and Kenny G. He also provided music for television advertisements and television programmes such as The Zoo. As a writer apart from 'Something in the air' which which has been covered by numerous artists he wrote songs for Oscar (Club of lights), The Swinging Blue Jeans (Somethings coming along), The Amen Corner (Lost and found' & 'Something you got) and Crokodile Tears (Your love).

Keen died of heart failure in March 2002, at the age of 56.^[1]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Thedeadrockstarsclub.com - accessed December 2010
2. ^ "Thunderclap Newman". NME. nme.com. http://www.nme.com/artists/thunderclap-newman#biography. Retrieved 2008-11-15. 

External links

• John "Speedy" Keene at Allmusic

Persondata
Name	Keen, John
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	29 March 1945
Place of birth	Ealing, London, England
Date of death	21 March 2002
Place of death