Leapy Lee
Birth nameGraham Pulleyblank
Also known asLee Graham
Born (1939-07-02) 2 July 1939
Eastbourne, England[1]
GenresPop, country
Occupation(s)Singer
Instrument(s)Vocals
Years active1968–2014
LabelsMCA (United Kingdom)
Decca (US)

Lee Graham (born Graham Pulleyblank, 2 July 1939), better known by his stage name Leapy Lee, is an English singer, best known for his 1968 single "Little Arrows," which reached No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart,[2] and was a Top 20 country and pop hit in the United States and Canada.

Career

The song "Little Arrows", written by Albert Hammond and Mike Hazlewood, was also the title track of his first album, released in 1968 on Decca Records. It reached No. 71 in the Billboard 200 album chart.[3]

"Little Arrows", released in the UK by MCA Records, became a hit, reaching No. 2 in the charts. In the US, the record reached No. 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and No. 11 on the country chart. The record made No. 1 on the Canadian country music chart. It sold over three million copies worldwide, and was awarded a gold disc.[4] Although he never reached the US pop charts again, Lee had two more country hits there with "Good Morning" in 1970 and "Every Road Leads Back To You" in 1975.

Between 1999 and 2001, Lee and his family (notably the twins in later editions), featured prominently in the BBC television series Passport to the Sun, fronted firstly by Liza Tarbuck then by Nadia Sawalha. Around 2006, Lee was a regular columnist with the Euro Weekly News, an English language newspaper based on the Costa del Sol in Spain.[5]

Lee released a 40th anniversary EP, Little Arrows II, on 1 March 2010.[6] In 2014 he appeared on the Channel 5 television show, OAPs Behaving Badly.[7]

Personal life

Lee was born Graham Pulleyblank in Eastbourne, East Sussex, on 2 July 1939.[1] He performs as Leapy Lee,[8] and also uses the names Lee Graham and Leapy Lee Graham.[9]

In July 1970, Lee was arrested after a brawl at a Berkshire pub in which a relief manager was wounded.[10] Lee was sentenced to three years for unlawful wounding, and his friend Alan Lake (an actor and the third husband of actress and singer Diana Dors)[11] received eighteen months for his role in the brawl.[12]

Discography

Albums

Year Album Chart positions Label
US Country US
1968 Little Arrows 3 71 Decca
1970 Leapy Lee — —
1976 Every Road Leads Back to You — — Bell
2010 Little Arrows II — — HalfpennyStudios.com

Singles

Year Single Peak chart positions Album
US Country US CAN Country CAN UK[2] AUS
1962 "It's All Happening" — — — — — — —
1966 "King of the Whole Wide World" — — — — — —
1967 "The man on the flying trapeze"[13] — — — — — —
1968 "Little Arrows" 11 16 1 8 2 2 Little Arrows
1969 "It's All Happening" (re-release) — — — — — 90 —
"Here Comes the Rain" — — — 62 — 80 Leapy Lee
"Little Yellow Aeroplane" — — — — — 63
1970 "Good Morning" 55 — — — 29 96
1971 "Just Another Night" — — — — — 87 —
1971 "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight" — — — — — —
1973 "Helena" — — — — — —
1974 "Every Road Leads Back to You" 82 — — — 55[upper-alpha 1] — Every Road Leads Back to You

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Chart position is from the official UK "Breakers List".

References

  1. 1 2 UK Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, Jul–Sep 1939 ; Page 60: PUL-PUR
  2. 1 2 Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 316. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  3. ↑ Jason Ankeny (2 July 1942). "Leapy Lee | Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
  4. ↑ Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. pp. 242–243. ISBN 0-214-20512-6.
  5. ↑ "Alexei Sayle: The World According To Me – Commentators – Voices – The Independent". Comment.independent.co.uk. 1 September 2006. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
  6. ↑ "iTunes Store". Itunes.apple.com. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
  7. ↑ "TV highlights 10/07/2014". The Guardian. 10 July 2014. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  8. ↑ "Leapy Lee (Graham Pulleyblank)". National Portrait Gallery. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  9. ↑ "Leapy Lee Graham". Instagram. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  10. ↑ Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 1443. ISBN 0-85112-939-0.
  11. ↑ Paul, Donnelly (1 January 2003). Fade to black : a book of movie obituaries. Omnibus. ISBN 9780711995123. OCLC 265032249.
  12. ↑ Pilditch, David (18 February 2019). "Legend Dors "hid knife to cover up for her husband"". Daily Express. Retrieved 25 September 2021 – via PressReader.
  13. ↑ "Big L charts". radiolondon.co.uk. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
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