Lyn Paul

Lyn Paul (born Lynda Susan Belcher; 16 February 1949) is an English pop singer and actress. She came to fame as a member of the international chart-topping pop group the New Seekers in the early 1970s. She has more recently found success and critical acclaim starring in the long-running West End musical, Blood Brothers.

Paul began her career in show business as a child actress in 1960, while attending regular classes in dance and musical theatre. In the early 1960s she led her own teenage girl band the Crys-Do-Lyns, touring all over Wythenshaw. She subsequently qualified as a teacher of dance. In the late 1960s she changed her name to Tanzy Paul and began a solo career as a pop singer, before joining the well-respected Manchester group the Nocturnes along with Eve Graham, before Graham left to join the New Seekers.

When Sally Graham (no relation) left the New Seekers, Eve Graham recommended Paul as a replacement. Graham sang lead on most of their earlier hits, but Paul was gradually entrusted with a lot of the lead parts. She was the featured vocalist on their 1972 Eurovision Song Contest entry, "Beg, Steal or Borrow" in which they came second. She was also lead vocalist on the 1974 No.1 hit "You Won't Find Another Fool Like Me" and the No.5 single, "I Get A Little Sentimental Over You". Among the group's other works, they recorded the song "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing", adapted from an advertising jingle for Coca-Cola, which sold over 20 million copies and still remains one of the 100 best-selling singles in the UK. They had many other hits; most notably, Harry Chapin's "Circles"; Delaney and Bonnie's "Never Ending Song of Love" and a medley of Pete Townshend's "Pinball Wizard"/"See Me, Feel Me" from The Who's rock opera Tommy. They also headlined at the London Palladium and the Royal Albert Hall. The band were also invited to perform at President Richard Nixon's inauguration ball.

After she left the group in 1974, Paul performed as a solo artist for many years and became a television personality, appearing on many television programmes including: Emergency Ward 10, Skyport, Give Us a Clue, Celebrity Squares and 3-2-1 as well as countless variety programmes. Her first solo single, which spent a frustrating seventeen weeks hovering outside the UK Top 50, was the Golden Globe nominated "Sail the Summer Winds", a John Barry and Don Black composition, which was the theme to the first film produced by Gregory Peck, 1974's The Dove. She had a UK Top 40 hit in 1975 with a song that was originally recorded at the same sessions as I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing. The track was used as the jingle for Coca-Cola in the summer of 1975; it was subsequently recorded as a single by Paul with backing vocals from ex-New Seekers singer Peter Doyle and released as "It Oughta Sell A Million".

During her solo career, she has worked with Andy Williams, Jack Jones, Debbie McGee, Dionne Warwick and with The New Seekers as supporting act for Liza Minnelli, and has won various accolades including the Carl-Alan Award several times. Her other Polydor singles include "Who's Sorry Now", "Love", "Here Comes That Wonderful Feeling" and "Mama Don't Wait For Me". She also released her first solo album Give Me Love in 1975. In 1977, after moving to Pye Records, Paul sang "If Everybody Loved The Same As You" in the Song for Europe UK selection, coming joint sixth. She went on to record "I Don't Believe You Ever Loved Me", a cover of the Doobie Brothers' "Echoes of Love", and a 1980s power-ballad "Make the Night". She released a single "Hold Me" under the name of Future Primitive with her brother Paul (whose name she took as her stage surname) in 1984. She also headlined at many cabaret clubs including: The Cockney Cabaret, the Talk of London, and the Café Royal.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.