John Worsley, more widely known under the pseudonyms Les Vandyke and Johnny Worth, was an English popular music songwriter from the 1950s to the 1980s, who started his career as a singer.
13 Facts About Les Vandyke
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Les Vandyke's songs were recorded by various artists, including Petula Clark, Vince Hill, Engelbert Humperdinck, Anthony Newley, Bobby Vee, Shirley Bassey, Herman's Hermits, Marty Wilde, Bobby Rydell, Cleo Laine, Barbra Streisand, Jimmy Justice, John Leyton, Freddie and the Dreamers, Sammy Davis Jr.
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Les Vandyke changed it by deed poll, choosing the name "Worsley" by placing a pin at random on a map of England, which landed on Worsley in Greater Manchester.
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Les Vandyke's father referred to his son as Yannis Skordalides throughout his life.
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Les Vandyke worked in pubs as a semi-professional until he managed to secure a television appearance.
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Les Vandyke recorded for the Embassy Records label, which produced cheap covers of popular hits, usually sold through Woolworth's stores.
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Les Vandyke even recorded covers of his own hit songs.
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Les Vandyke then joined the Raindrops vocal quartet, which appeared on the television programme Drumbeat and subsequent LP.
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Les Vandyke combined Reed's first name with his own telephone exchange, to become Les Vandyke.
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At least two Les Vandyke songs were covered by well-known Australian artists: "Doin' The Mod" by Ronnie Burns's band the Flies and "Dance Puppet Dance" by Little Pattie, which reached number twelve in the Sydney-based pop charts.
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Les Vandyke continued to work as a songwriter, and penned more hit records in the early 1970s.
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AllMusic journalist Bruce Eder states, "Les Vandyke is one of those rare talents in English pop music whose songwriting success crossed several genres and eras, from the end of the 1950s right into the 1970s".
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Les Vandyke died in August 2021 at the age of 90, at his home in Consett, County Durham.