Seeing Larry Page interviewed on TV back in the 1980s, certainly made an impression on me. Not so much for what he was saying, but more because of the glasses he wore. They were large, very large, tortoiseshell jobs and unknown to me then, were very much his trademark. He was introduced as a music manager and producer if memory serves and in truth, he did look like an archetypal pop manger of those times. All carefully coiffured hair and a nice bracelet or three. But it all went a bit deeper once you scratched that surface. A little digging threw up a fascinating earlier career, in the late 1950s/early 60s Pop years.
As an aside, I recently bought a pair of glasses, and immediately thought of Larry when I first tried them on and he is my subject for this week.
Leonard Davies was born in 1938 in Hayes Middlesex. Leaving school at 15 with no real plan in place, he found work locally, after brief stints on a couple of building sites, with the Gramophone Record Company, better known as EMI. He was soon based in their packing dept. He wasn’t that into music personally at the time and it was in fact his elder sister Barbara, who sadly passed away with TB, who piqued his interest in pop.
He began singing in local pubs and clubs, and changed his name to Larry Page, as a sort of tribute to Al Jolson as played by the actor Larry Parks. Page auditioned for EMI, passed that and was signed by Columbia records as a vocalist, billed under the name of ‘Larry Page The Teenage Rage.’
With help from showbiz reporter Jack Bentley, he was soon out on the package tours of the late 1950s with the likes of Cliff Richard, Tony Crombie and the Basil Kirchin band to name but a few. He also supported Dickie Valentine at the Royal Albert Hall, recorded at Abbey Road and appeared on TV shows like ’65 Special.’
Despite all that going on, he carried on working at EMI and ended up having the odd experience of then seeing his own records on the EMI production line and having to box up his own records going on to record stores.
Despite filling venues, sales of his records, including the first UK cover of a Buddy Holly song in ‘That’ll be the Day,’ failed to trouble the charts. As a street-smart kid, he sensed the natural progression for him was a move into production and management of other acts.
He worked the circuits for a few years and then picked up on a London band called The Ravens. He suggested a name change to The Kinks, for the publicity if nothing else, and moved their sound away from the Blues they were known for, into a more ‘pop’ field concentrating on riffs. And what riffs they were. They of course, then start a great runs of singles and albums, from the majestic ‘You Really Got Me’ onwards, as the song writing of Ray Davies (no relation) hits a fine seam of hits.
Larry fronted his own Larry Page Orchestra, and released the album called ‘Kinda Kinky’. His orchestra was made up of the best session players available, including guitarist Jimmy Page, all playing instrumental versions of hits by The Kinks. He had also set up his Page One Company with his business partner Dick James, the Beatles publisher.
Larry then branched out further to manage The Troggs. They first approached Larry when they were in and around Denmark Street trying to play their tunes to anyone who would listen. Being so busy with The Kinks and sensing jealousy breaking out if he took them on, Page told them to come back in a year’s time.
Which they did, exactly to the day.
This time Larry was ready for them and signed them to a five year deal to Page One. He had found the track ‘Wild Thing’ – originally by Jordan Christopher – and put it the way of The Troggs. He produced their version and it simply went gangbusters, being number one all over the world. Future tunes included ‘A Girl Like You ‘ and of course ‘Love Is All Around’ which became a massive hit later for Wet Wet Wet topping the UK charts for 16 weeks in 1994. That mention will make Mrs Mumper very happy.
Larry continued to have many fingers in many pies and was responsible for breaking the song ‘I Got You Babe’ by Sony & Cher in Europe. His subsequent producing career in the 1970s can best be described as ‘diverse’ but he certainly had an ear for a hit. He signed up the group Shocking Blue’ from Holland and released their song ‘Venus’ on his Penny Farthing record label, which continued where Page One, left off.
He also produced ‘Blue is the Colour’ By Chelsea FC (yet another nice memory for Mrs Mumper) and had a big hit with ‘Beautiful Sunday’ by Daniel Boone. Other music in his production canon included work by Johnny Pearson and his Orchestra, with their music for the hit TV series ‘All Creatures Great and Small.’
Diverse, as I said.
I’m delighted to report that Larry Page is alive and well and on Facebook, and now living in Australia.
The Mumper of SE5
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