Barry Mason
John Barry Mason ( born July 12, 1935 in Wigan, England ) is an English songwriter who has received several gold and platinum awards for his work in the 1960s.
Life
Mason spent his childhood in Blackpool and cherished early desire to become an actor or singer. After his military service, he lived for three years in Hollywood without being able to build there an acting career. After returning to England, he was engaged at the Royal Court Theatre and a small role in the film Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, in which he hit the Adam Faith What Do You Want? sang. After a short time in which he tried his hand as a manager in the pop business, he turned to songwriting.
From 1965, he worked with various composers, among others, with Les Reed, with whom he wrote the song Here It Comes Again for the British group The Fortunes and achieved his first chart success. Originally primarily responsible for the lyric of the songs, Mason participated later in the composition.
His songs have been recorded by well-known artists such as Tom Jones, PJ Proby, David Essex, The Drifters, Rod Stewart, the Dave Clark Five, Petula Clark, Perry Como, Elvis Presley, Engelbert Humperdinck, Charles Aznavour, Tony Christie and Barbra Streisand.
In the 1970s, the success of his songs subsided, so he focused on the writing stage plays.
With Reed in 1972, he wrote the song Marching On Together ( Leeds! Leeds! Leeds! ), The anthem of the English football club Leeds United.
The British Songwriters Association appointed him neunundsiebzigsterfolgreichsten songwriter of the British chart history, having had been sold by his songs over 50 million records.
Until 1998, he received five Ivor Novello Awards.