Early career Goodison signed onto a music label in 1963 under the name Johnny B. Great, a clear play on words to the
Chuck Berry song
Johnny B. Goode. He appears in the 1964 film "Just For You" singing "
If I Had a Hammer" with his own distinctive piano accompaniment. He briefly fronted his own group,
Johnny B. Great and The Quotations. Goodison backed
The Walker Brothers on tour. He also worked for
CBS Records and recorded "Race with the Devil" by
Gun. Taken literally, the song's lyrics convey two lovers who tell each other that no matter what hardships come their way, they will always be together. In general terms, it relates a message of strength in unity. The Brotherhood of Man was later remade into the group that is still active today, for their song "
Save Your Kisses For Me", a song that won the
Eurovision Song Contest 1976.
Later works As well as being a member of Brotherhood of Man, Goodison was also known as the frontman for his later project Big John's Rock and Roll Circus, a group that had a number one hit in South Africa. The band appeared on the show "Saturday Scene" in 1975, and were introduced on the show by
Sally James. He also used the pseudonyms
Peter Simmons and
Peter Simons for co-writing songs. Peter Simmons was actually Goodison's cousins name. In 1975 he co-wrote and co-produced
The Bay City Rollers' second No. 1 "
Give a Little Love" with
Phil Wainman,
Pseudonyms During Goodison's career, he used five different names for recording, producing, and for songwriting, these were: •
Johnny B. Great (play on words to
Johnny B. Goode, 1960s) •
John Goodison (his real name, 1960s-1971) •
Big John (1970s) •
Peter Simmons (1970s-?) •
Peter Simons (his cousin's name, 1970s-?) == Death ==