Lesley Duncan was an English

English people

The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...

 singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...

, best known for her work during the 1970s. She received a lot of airplay on British radio station

Radio station

Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...

s such as BBC Radio 1

BBC Radio 1

BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...

 and BBC Radio 2

BBC Radio 2

BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...

, but never achieved great commercial success.

Duncan was born in Stockton-on-Tees

Stockton-on-Tees

Stockton-on-Tees is a market town in north east England. It is the major settlement in the unitary authority and borough of Stockton-on-Tees. For ceremonial purposes, the borough is split between County Durham and North Yorkshire as it also incorporates a number of smaller towns including...

. Her songs included "Everything Changes" and "Sing Children Sing". Elton John

Elton John

Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...

 duetted with her in a version of "Love Song" similar to her own, on his album Tumbleweed Connection

Tumbleweed Connection

Tumbleweed Connection is the third album by English international recording artist Elton John. It is a concept album based on the Country and Western/Americana themes. All songs are written by Bernie Taupin and Elton John with the exception of "Love Song" by Lesley Duncan. It was recorded at...

. She appeared onstage with John in a 1974 concert at the Royal Festival Hall

Royal Festival Hall

The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,900-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge. It is a Grade I listed building - the first post-war building to become so protected...

 to perform the duet once again. The live recording of "Love Song" was included on John's Here and There album. The version on Tumbleweed Connection remains one of the few songs composed solely by someone other than John and Bernie Taupin

Bernie Taupin

Bernard John "Bernie" Taupin is an English lyricist, poet, and singer, best known for his long-term collaboration with Elton John, writing the lyrics for the majority of the star's songs, making his lyrics some of the best known in pop-rock's history.In 1967, Taupin answered an advertisement in...

 or one of their regular collaborators, to appear on a formal Elton John studio album.

Duncan contributed backing vocals

Backing vocalist

A backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...

 to Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...

's The Dark Side of the Moon

The Dark Side of the Moon

The Dark Side of the Moon is the eighth studio album by English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released in March 1973. It built on ideas explored in the band's earlier recordings and live shows, but lacks the extended instrumental excursions that characterised their work following the departure...

album

Album

An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...

 as well as singing lead on the song "If I Could Change Your Mind" on the Alan Parsons Project

The Alan Parsons Project

The Alan Parsons Project was a British progressive rock band, active between 1975 and 1990, consisting of singer Eric Woolfson and keyboardist Alan Parsons surrounded by a varying number of session musicians....

 album Eve. As well as writing and singing her own material, Duncan was a backing vocalist in the mid to late 1960s, most notably for Dusty Springfield

Dusty Springfield

Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'BrienSources use both Isabel and Isobel as the spelling of her second name. OBE , known professionally as Dusty Springfield and dubbed The White Queen of Soul, was a British pop singer whose career extended from the late 1950s to the 1990s...

 and the The Walker Brothers

The Walker Brothers

The Walker Brothers were an American 1960s and 1970s pop group, comprising Scott Engel , John Walker , and Gary Leeds...

. She can be seen on many of the performances featured in the BBC DVD "Dusty At The BBC". She co-wrote three songs with Scott Walker

Scott Walker (singer)

Scott Walker, born Noel Scott Engel on January 9, 1943 is an American singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and the former lead singer of The Walker Brothers. Despite being American born, Walker's chart success has largely come in the United Kingdom, where his first four solo albums...

 for the Walker Brothers.
Lesley Cox (Duncan) died on 12 March 2010, on the Isle of Mull

Isle of Mull

The Isle of Mull or simply Mull is the second largest island of the Inner Hebrides, off the west coast of Scotland in the council area of Argyll and Bute....

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, where she lived.

UK singles

• "I Want A Steady Guy" (as 'Lesley Duncan and the Jokers') b/w "Moving Away" - 1963 - Parlophone
  Parlophone
  Parlophone is a record label that was founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch was formed in 1923 as "Parlophone" which developed a reputation in the 1920s as a leading jazz label. It was acquired in 1927 by the Columbia Graphophone Company which...
  
   R5034
• "You Kissed Me Boy" b/w "Tell Me" - 1963 - Parlophone R5106
• "When My Baby Cries" b/w "Did It Hurt" - 1963 - Mercury MF830
• "Just For The Boy" b/w "See That Guy" - 1965 - Mercury MF847
• "Run To Love" b/w "Only The Lonely And Me" - 1965 - Mercury MF876
• "Hey Boy" b/w "I Go To Sleep" - 1966 - Mercury MF939
• "Lullaby" b/w "I Love You, I Love You" - 1968 - RCA 1746
• "A Road To Nowhere" b/w "Love Song" - 1969 - RCA 1783
• "Sing Children Sing" b/w "Exactly Who You Are" - 1969 - CBS 4585
• "Love Song" b/w "Exactly Who You Are" - 1970 - Columbia 4-45354
• "Sing Children Sing" - 1971 - CBS/64202 and Edsel/EDCD696
• "Sing Children Sing" b/w "Emma" - 1971 - CBS/S7493
• "Earth Mother" - 1972 - CBS/64807 and Edel/EDCD712
• "Earth Mother" b/w "Love Will Never Lose You" - 1972 - CBS/S8362
• "Watch The Tears" b/w "Sam" - 1974 - GM GMS 016
• "Everything Changes" b/w "Love Melts Away" - 1974 - GM GMS 022
• "I Can See Where I'm Going" b/w "Heaven Knows" - 1975 - GM GMS 036
• "Could've Been A Winner" b/w "Moonbathing" - 1975 - GM GMS 9040
• "Maybe It's Lost" b/w "Another Rainy Day" - 1977 - GM GMS 9046
• "The Sky's On Fire" b/w "Don't Worry 'Bout It" - 1977 - GM GMS 9048
• "The Magic's Fine" b/w "Paper Highways" - 1978 - GM GMS 9049
• "Sing Children Sing" b/w "Rainbow Games" - 1979 - CBS S8061 (Charity 45)
• "Masters Of War" b/w "Another Light Goes Out" - 1982 - Korova KOW 22
• "Tomorrow" b/w "Paper Highway" - 1986 - R4 FOR 4

UK albums

• 1969: Black Flower
• 1971: Sing Children Sing
  Sing Children Sing
  Sing Children Sing is an album by English singer-songwriter Lesley Duncan, released in 1971."Love Song" was covered by Elton John on his album Tumbleweed Connection.-Track listing:All songs by Lesley Duncan unless otherwise noted....
  
  
• 1972: Earth Mother
• 1973: Reading Festival '73
• 1974: Everything Changes
• 1975: Moonbathing
• 1977: Maybe It's Lost
• 1980: Only You (from the album Exiled)

External links

• Website devoted to Lesley Duncan
• Lesley Duncan obituary by David V Barrett in The Guardian
  The Guardian
  The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
  
  , 23 March 2010
• Lesley Duncan: singer and songwriter, obituary in The Times
  The Times
  The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
  
  , March 29, 2010
• Lesley Duncan: Singer and songwriter who worked with Elton John and Pink Floyd, obituary by Richard Stanley in The Independent
  The Independent
  The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
  
  , 12 April 2010