Jeremy Taylor

b. 24 November 1937, Newbury, Berkshire, England. Singer-songwriter Taylor went to Trinity College, Oxford, where he read French and Italian. He left England to take up a teaching post in Johannesburg, South Africa, where he spent his spare time singing in coffee bars, as well as writing short stories and plays. Painter Harold Rubin suggested that Taylor try his hand at songwriting, which he did, later composing original songs for the show Wait A Minim! The show became even more successful following Taylor’s success with his single ‘Ag Pleez Deddy’ which reached number 1 in the South African charts. The show went on tour, so Taylor left his job, and toured South Africa and Rhodesia for two years. He then released a solo album, simply called Jeremy Taylor, which proved equally successful, despite being banned by the South African Broadcasting Corporation. Taylor then appeared in Minim ’Bili (Zulu for Minim The Second). The show came to London as Wait A Minim!, and the cast recording was released by Decca Records. Around the same time, Taylor released Always Something New Out Of Africa. This encompassed a range of musical styles and a variety of unusual African instruments. He left Wait A Minim! before it departed for the USA and with Sydney Carter he recorded Live At Eton, before leaving the college, where he was teaching at the time. Taking to the folk circuit full-time, Taylor released Jeremy Taylor His Songs, and made regular appearances on BBC 2’s Late Night Line Up and on BBC Television. Granada television presented him in At Last It’s Friday, a show featuring topical news items. His songs were used by Anglia television for the Survival series, while the BBC used his material for Bird’s Eye View among other programmes. He was given his own television series, Songs From The Two Brewers, and together with John Wells, he wrote the music for Joan Littlewood’s production of Mrs. Wilson’s Diary. From 1974, after the double album release with Spike Milligan, the two toured for two years presenting their own show. After this period, Taylor recorded two albums, Jobsworth, and Come To Blackpool, the former containing the now classic title track. In 1980, Taylor was allowed back into South Africa, where he lived on his farm in Broederstroom, and during his time there wrote and presented a series of one-man shows. He moved back to Britain in June 1994 and is performing occasionally again.