Biography
Born Reginald Leon Isaac Vapnick in London on 12 December 1920, Dick James began performing as a teenager with several north London dance bands and became a familiar voice at the Cricklewood Palais. He later sang with the Henry Hall orchestra until military service during World War II halted his progress. After demobilisation he joined Geraldo’s orchestra and sang part-time with the vocal group The Stargazers, which scored two number-one singles in the early 1950s. In 1956 Parlophone offered him a solo deal; the resulting singles “Robin Hood,” the theme from the television series backed by a cover of “Ballad Of Davy Crockett,” and “Garden Of Eden” both reached the top twenty. Once his own recording career faded, he turned to publishing. Leveraging his Parlophone ties, he created Northern Songs Ltd to handle the original compositions of John Lennon and Paul McCartney, with Dick James Music managing the company. By the late 1960s, after his association with the Beatles had collapsed, the firm expanded into a full-scale label distributed through Pye. In 1967 he discovered the then-unknown Elton John and signed both the singer and lyricist Bernie Taupin to DJM. All of John’s recordings through 1976 appeared on the label, whose roster also embraced Mr Bloe, whose 1970 single “Groovin With Mr Bloe” became a hit, blues-rock specialist Johnny Guitar Watson, comedian Jasper Carrott, The Rah Band, and actors John Inman and Edward Woodward. Elton John departed in 1976 to launch Rocket Records, prompting extended litigation between the artist and Dick James over royalties earned during his DJM years. Dick James suffered a fatal heart attack on 1 February 1986; thereafter PolyGram (Universal Music) purchased the DJM catalogue, including the early Elton John albums.