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Joe Leeway | |
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![]() Leeway c. 1985 | |
Background information | |
Birth name | Joseph Martin Leeway |
Born | 15 November 1955 |
Origin | Islington, London, England |
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Occupation(s) |
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Years active | 1980–89 |
Labels | Arista |
Formerly of | Thompson Twins |
Joseph Martin Leeway (born 15 November 1955) is a British musician and songwriter, who is best known as being a member of the pop band Thompson Twins, [1] joining the band in 1981 after being one of their roadies.
Leeway was born to an Irish mother and Nigerian father, and from the age of two, was fostered by an English family in Dartford, Kent. He grew up mostly in Manchester, in the North West of England. At college he studied English and Drama, then began teaching English, which is how he met Tom Bailey. He joined a theatre group in Cardiff after failing to establish his own company. He spent a year with the Young Vic theatre before working with Thompson Twins as a roadie at Bailey's invitation.
Playing bongos and congas, he appeared on Thompson Twins debut studio album A Product Of... (Participation) (1981). By the time the band recorded their second studio album Set in 1982, Leeway had begun contributing to the songwriting process; he wrote by himself two songs for the album, and sang lead vocals on three tracks.
At that time in 1982, the Thompson Twins' membership changed radically. They had been at the time of Set an ever-changing group of musicians, featuring seven members; band leader Tom Bailey then reduced the band to a trio by firing everybody except Alannah Currie and Leeway. Leeway's main role in the new line-up was to assist in writing the songs, contribute backing vocals and design the group's stage shows due to Leeway's background in theatre.
Thompson Twins enjoyed at least three solid years of worldwide commercial success, beginning with the 1983 studio album Quick Step & Side Kick (released in the US as simply Side Kicks) followed by Into the Gap in 1984, and Here's to Future Days in 1985.
After these three studio albums, their recording contract with Arista Records was up for renewal and after the extensive world tour following the release of the latter album, Leeway chose to leave the band for a number of personal reasons, mostly due to difficulties with the group's management. However, the departure from the rest of the trio was amicable.
After leaving the band, Leeway dabbled in solo work. He recorded a demo tape of original material, but ultimately an album never materialised. He appeared in the 1989 James Ivory film Slaves of New York as musician Johnny Jalouse. Leeway's part in the film was originally a prominent supporting character, but this was changed when most of his scenes were cut. The actress with whom he had filmed most of his scenes was fired from the film, and their scenes together were cut. Leeway can still be seen in the film singing one of his original songs, "Mother Dearest", in the nightclub scene; the recording is not on the soundtrack album.
The experience with Slaves of New York seemed to stall Leeway's career as an actor permanently, but he continued to work in sound design for films as well as commercials for Nike and Pepsi.
As of 2006 [update] , Leeway resided in Los Angeles, and worked in the field of hypnotherapy. He was on the staff at the Hypnosis Motivation Institute (HMI) in Tarzana, Los Angeles, and was also a certified trainer in neuro-linguistic programming.
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Alannah Joy Currie is a New Zealand artist based in London. She is a musician and activist, best known as a former member of the pop band Thompson Twins.
A Product of... is the first studio album by the English pop group the Thompson Twins. It was released in June 1981 on the T Records imprint, a label created by the band and distributed through the Fame/EMI label. At the time of its release, the band were a six-piece group that did not include later member Alannah Currie. In comparison to the glamour of their later years, the group had a somewhat scruffy image during this period, because they were very poor and living in squats in London.
Set is the second studio album by English pop band Thompson Twins. Released in February 1982, it was the second album they recorded for their own T Records imprint, which was released by Arista Records/Hansa.
Into the Gap is the fourth studio album by British pop group Thompson Twins, released on 17 February 1984 by Arista Records. The album was recorded during 1983 at Compass Point Studios, in Nassau, Bahamas, and was produced by Alex Sadkin who had produced the band's previous studio album, Quick Step & Side Kick (1983).
Here's to Future Days is the fifth studio album by the British pop group Thompson Twins, released on 20 September 1985 by Arista Records. It was the third and final release for the band as a trio, which was their most successful and recognisable line-up. It peaked at No. 5 on the UK Albums Chart and No. 20 on the US Billboard 200.
Close to the Bone is the sixth studio album by the British pop group Thompson Twins, released on 6 April 1987 by Arista Records. Only the duo of Tom Bailey and Alannah Currie remained; this was the first album the group made without Joe Leeway. It was produced by Bailey and Rupert Hine.
Greatest Hits is a compilation album by British pop band Thompson Twins, released in 1996 on the Arista Records label.
"Hold Me Now" is a 1983 song by British band the Thompson Twins. Written by the band members, the song was produced by Alex Sadkin and the group's lead vocalist Tom Bailey. The song is a mid-tempo new wave song that uses a varied instrumentation, including keyboards, a xylophone, a piano and Latin percussion. It was released in November 1983 as the first single from their fourth studio album, Into the Gap.
"Doctor! Doctor!" is a song performed by the British new wave band Thompson Twins. It is the second single from the band's fourth studio album, Into the Gap (1984). It was written by Tom Bailey, Alannah Currie and Joe Leeway, and prominently features a keyboard solo. Following the successful chart performances of the Into the Gap single "Hold Me Now", "Doctor! Doctor!" was released in the UK on 27 January 1984 as the album's second single.
"Lay Your Hands on Me" is a song by the British band Thompson Twins, written by Tom Bailey, Alannah Currie, and Joe Leeway. Released as a single in the UK in 1984, a different version of the song appeared on their 1985 album Here's to Future Days.
"King For A Day" is a 1985 song by the British band the Thompson Twins. It was released as the third single from the band's fifth album Here's to Future Days.
"Don't Mess With Doctor Dream" is a 1985 song by the British band Thompson Twins. It was released as a single from their album Here's to Future Days, and peaked at No. 15 in the UK, spending six weeks on the chart. Written by bandmembers Tom Bailey, Alannah Currie and Joe Leeway, it is an anti-drug song warning of the dangers of drug addiction. It was the first Thompson Twins single to be co-produced by Nile Rodgers. A promotional music video was made for the single which was directed by Godley & Creme along with Meiert Avis.
Roll Over is a 1985 song by the Thompson Twins. It was intended for release as a single from the band's album Here's To Future Days, but was recalled and withdrawn from shelves the same day of release with the remaining copies destroyed. Some copies made it onto the market before being recalled. After a bout with nervous exhaustion which left him with no reflexes, lead vocalist Tom Bailey took it as a bad omen and decided against the release of the song. Subsequently, it was only released on the North American versions of the album. The versions found on the single are different mixes than the final album version which was co-produced by Nile Rodgers.
"Sister Of Mercy" is a song by the British pop group Thompson Twins. It was originally included on the group's 1984 album Into The Gap, though a remixed version was released as the fourth single from the album in the summer of 1984. The single peaked at #11 in the UK, spending ten weeks on the UK singles chart.
Science Fiction is the debut solo studio album by English singer Tom Bailey, best known as the lead singer of pop band Thompson Twins. It was released on 13 July 2018. A limited-edition double CD hardback mediabook version of the album was also released, featuring a bonus disc with seven alternative versions and remixes, and a companion book.