Ray St. John

A songwriter, producer, electric/acoustic guitarist and bassist, Raymond St. John is a former member of the soul band Pride - with whom Sade was a member in the early 1980s - and is perhaps best known for co-writing her song "Smooth Operator".

After leaving Pride in 1983, St. John went into hiatus for the next five years before forming the band Halo James with vocalist Christian James and keyboard player Neil Palmer in 1988. Although their debut release "Wanted" (released in September 1989) failed to reach the Top 40, Halo James were tipped by "Smash Hits" Magazine, the "New Musical Express" and "Melody Maker" as one of UK music's bright hopes for the 1990s following the success of their second single release "Could Have Told You So", which reached #6 in the UK Singles Chart in January 1990, became a major success all over Europe, and was also a minor US hit single. However, "Could Have Told You So" was their only hit, and, when their next two singles "Baby" and "Magic Hour" both failed to reach the UK Top 40, the band split up in February 1991; nevertheless, their album "The Witness" was highly acclaimed by the music critics of that era and sold over 100,000 copies in its first year of release, peaking at #18 on the UK Album Chart.

Following the demise of Halo James, St. John remained active as a lyricist and producer for the remainder of the 1990s, going on to write numerous songs for other artists, including several hits in the U.S. and throughout Europe, for performers such as Gabrielle and Snoop Dogg amongst others.

More recently, St. John has become well-known as a songwriter and performer on the country & western and Christian rock music scenes.

External links

* http://www.peermusic.com/artistpage/Ray_St_John.html