Leek began his musical career while still at school in the progressive punk band the Wailing Cocks. The band released two singles on independent label Birds Nest, recorded two sessions for
John Peel's
Radio 1 show,
Kid Jensen Live and
Radio 2's in Concert Live. However, the band's career was cut short by the tragic death of their guitarist and Leek's best friend Alan Boyle. At the age of 21, Leek joined
Dexys Midnight Runners in late October 1979, playing on early recordings such as the hit single "Geno" and four other tracks on their debut album
Searching for the Young Soul Rebels. Just before the band were at No. 1 in the charts with this track, Leek left to be a solo artist, saying that he "Really hating being famous all of a sudden ... Just because I've been on
Top of the Pops doesn't mean I should get any more respect. I didn't want people asking for my autograph all of the time." Two earlier songs Leek had recorded with the Wailing Cocks were then licensed to
Beggars Banquet Records for release as a double-A-sided solo single: "Move On (In Your Maserati)" / "Ruben Decides". These were both played on Radio One and were single of the week in
Sounds. In early 1981, Leek teamed up with fellow ex-Dexys Midnight Runners member
Kevin "Al" Archer in his new band
the Blue Ox Babes in which Leek played piano, harmonium, harmonica and sang backing vocals. Some months later, on the strength of a demo tape of 16 new songs,
Beggars Banquet paid for an album's worth of new material but this lay dormant until their belated release as
Midnight Music on Leek's own
Undiscovered Classics label in 2009. One song from these sessions, "
Twist in the Dark", was recorded by
Frida from
ABBA for her 1984 solo album
Shine, via a recommendation from Leek's friend
Kirsty MacColl.
Frida's version was also issued as a single around the world and she described this song as "her favourite song she had recorded outside of Abba". For the rest of the 1980s, Leek pursued his own career as a musician, as well as writing a musical interpretation of a
Dylan Thomas poem which was recorded and released by
Tom Jones, and acting alongside
Billie Whitelaw and
David Van Day as an aspiring songwriter in the
Tony Klinger-produced 1985 film
Promo-Man. A short-lived deal with indie label
Fascination Records in 1984 led to two singles credited to Leek: "Soul Darling", with Specials producer Dave Jordan, and a version of ABBA's "
Dancing Queen" produced by
Tony Visconti . In 1988, after signing a publishing and management contract with Hit n Run music,
Atlantic Records in New York, Leek was honoured that, after hearing five of his tracks,
George Martin had considered three of the five tracks as potential number ones and he agreed to produce Leek's 1988 album,
Say Something. It was recorded in Martin's
AIR Studios with such musicians as
Steve Howe of
Yes,
Clem Clempson,
Luís Jardim on percussion,
Alan Murphy of
Level 42 on guitar,
Peter-John Vettese (keyboards, from
Jethro Tull), and veteran bassist
Mo Foster's 36-piece orchestra on various tracks and the
London Community Gospel Choir on "Golden Doors". George Martin said that Leek "was one of the greatest artists he had ever produced". The first release from the album was "Please Please". In 2007, a Lebanese DJ/producer called aXess contacted Leek to request he do a
salsa remix of the track "Say Something" which had reached the number 1 position in
Lebanon during the civil war. Leek recorded three further albums,
Eternity Beckons (including the single "All Around the World" which proved popular in Germany), the self-produced
Sacrifice and Bliss (which yielded the single "Forgotten People") and
Waking Up the World (with the single of the same name), all of which were released on his own label.
Eternity Beckons was also briefly available on a small Spanish label, Ouver Records. The song "Forgotten People" was also released on a compilation album which made it to number one in Spain. After a period of studying musical composition at Cardiff University, Leek formed his own "party band", Andy Leek & the Blue Angels, mostly at
charity balls. Leek has also appeared on various TV shows:
The James Whale Show,
Never Mind the Buzzcocks,
Later with Jools Holland and
Children in Need three years running. In 2010, Leek remixed the album
Say Something titled as
Say Something Revisited, released with the single "What's the Problem?". Also in 2013, Leek started releasing his past music on YouTube with many lyric videos created. Leek died following a long battle with
Parkinson's disease on 3 November 2024, at the age of 66. ==Discography==