Dave Dee

Dave Dee was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire, and attended Adcroft School of Building, Trowbridge. Upon leaving school he became a police cadet with the Wiltshire Constabulary. He was one of the first on the scene of the April 1960 car crash that resulted in the death of American rock and roll musician Eddie Cochran and serious injury to Gene Vincent.[1] He later recounted that he started learning to play the guitar using Cochran's impounded Gretsch over several nights at the station.[3]

Hartman’s professional career as a singer started in the early 1960s when he formed the group Dave Dee and The Bostons with friends Trevor Ward-Davies, John Dymond, Michael Wilson, and Ian Amey.[4] As The Boston’s, they toured the UK and Germany and were a support act to The Honeycombs in 1964.[5] Known for their variety act, which included comedy routines and risque comments interspersed amongst the song, they were then discovered by Ken Howard and Alan Blaikley. After a disastrous audition for Joe Meek which resulted in Meek throwing his coffee all over his studio in a fit of rage due to the group not wanting to apply to his demands,[6] the group signed on to Fontana Records, and changed their name to Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich as according to their producer Ken Howard: “We changed their name to Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich, because they were their actual nicknames and because we wanted to stress their very distinct personalities in a climate which regarded bands as collectives”.[7]

The band’s first major selling record was Hold Tight. The song peaked at number four on the Official Singles Chart (OSC)[8] and the song was performed on shows such as Top of the Pops, Blue Peter, and Beat-Club. Their other top-ten UK hits included "Hideaway", "Bend It!", "Save Me", "Okay!", "Zabadak!" and "Last Night in Soho".[9] They also scored a number one hit in the UK Singles Chart in 1968 with "The Legend of Xanadu".

Dee left the band to become a solo artist in September 1969.[10] He eventually reunited with Dozy, Beaky, Micky and Tich for a 1974 single, and then later produced (but did not appear on) a 1979 single done by the DBMT quartet. He later began performing live gigs with the band, and continued to record occasionally both with DDDBMT and as a solo act.

Soon after leaving the group, he released the single "My Woman's Man" which reached No. 42 in the UK and No. 58 in Australia. He issued six further solo singles through the end of 1971, all of which failed to chart, and played a Hells Angel in the Marty Feldman comedy film Every Home Should Have One in 1970. He also played himself (billed as 'Record Executive') in the 1980 Sex Pistols mockumentary film The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle. He issued his only solo album, Unfinished Business, in 1995.

After a few charting songs, he then retired from performing and became an A&R Manager for Atlantic, Magnet and WEA Records,[2] during which period he was at least partly responsible for their signing AC/DC, Boney M and Gary Numan.[11]

In 1980, Hartman opened and ran a short lived record company called Double D Records at 25 Burton Street in London.[12][13] Double D Records were also distributors for Pye Records, and they produced twelve singles between 1980 and 1981.[13]

Dee also became a businessman and founder committee member for disadvantaged children through the charity Nordoff-Robbins, which he helped found and worked with for over 30 years.[11]

He also became a magistrate.[1] In his later years, he lived in Mobberley, Cheshire, and fathered twin sons and a daughter. He was married to Joanne Parris when he died.

He suffered from prostate cancer from early 2001, but he continued to perform with his band almost until his death from that disease in Kingston Hospital, Surrey, on 9 January 2009.[14] He was 67.[1]

• The Band's official website
• Dave Dee at IMDb