Dave Dee

Dave Dee
Birth name	David John Harman
Also known as	Dave Dee
Born	17 December 1943(1943-12-17)[1] Salisbury, Wiltshire, England
Died	9 January 2009(2009-01-09) (aged 65) Kingston upon Thames, [Surrey], England
Genres	Pop, rock, beat
Occupations	Musician, singer-songwriter, A&R manager, businessman, fundraiser
Instruments	Vocals, guitar
Years active	1962–2008
Labels	Various
Associated acts	Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich
Website	dddbmt.com

Dave Dee (born David John Harman 17 December 1943 – 9 January 2009), was an English singer-songwriter, musician, A&R manager, fundraiser and businessman. He was the frontman for 1960s pop band Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich.^[2]

Early life

Dave Dee was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire and attended Adcroft School, Trowbridge. Upon leaving school he became a police cadet with the Wiltshire Constabulary and as such was one of the first on the scene of the car crash that resulted in the death of Eddie Cochran and serious injury of Gene Vincent.^[3] He later recounted that he started learning to play the guitar using Cochran's impounded Gretsch over several nights at the station.^[4]

He became a professional musician in 1962. His first group was called ‘Dave Dee and the Bostons’, who toured the UK and Germany and were a support act to The Honeycombs in 1964.^[2] Known for their variety act, which included comedy routines and risque comments interspersed amongst the song, the band came to the notice of Ken Howard and Alan Blaikley, changed their name to Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich, and were signed to Fontana Records, with whom they had a string of hits between 1966 and 1969.^[2]

Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich

Main article: Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich

Later career and death

Dee left the band to become a solo artist in September 1969, and reached No 42 in the charts with his single "My Woman’s Man". He then gave up performing and became an A&R Manager for WEA Records,^[2] during which period he was at least partly responsible for their signing AC/DC, Boney M and Gary Numan. Later he became a businessman and founder committee member for disadvantaged children through the charity Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy, which he helped found and worked with for over 30 years^[3] He also became a Justice of the Peace.^[3] In his later years he lived in Cheshire. He suffered from prostate cancer from early 2001 but continued to perform with his band almost up until his death from that disease in Kingston Hospital, South West London on 9 January 2009.

References

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ ^{a b c d} Larkin C 'Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music' (Muze UK Ltd, 1997) ISBN 0-7535-0149-X p141
3. ^ ^{a b c} Obituary: Dave Dee: Former policeman who surfed the 1960s pop-wave as front man with Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich
4. ^ Ian Kimmet (9 October 2001). "SEANCE WITH A GRETSCH G 6120". http://www.gadflyonline.com/9-10-01/music-eddie-cochran.HTML. 

External links

• The Band's official website
• Dave Dee at the Internet Movie Database

Persondata
Name	Dee, Dave
Alternative names
Short description	Musician, singer-songwriter and businessman
Date of birth	17 December 1941
Place of birth	Salisbury, Wiltshire, England
Date of death	9 January 2009
Place of death	Kingston upon Thames, Greater London, England