With record sales of over 30 million plus albums, award-winning artist Leee John of '80s crossover soul hit-makers Imagination has had an astonishing career. The artist will perform at The Grove in Newcastle on Wednesday, 30th October 2024, performing their greatest hits and tracks from his diverse solo career.
Speaking about the year so far, Leee said: “I've been touring since March and May. We did a small UK tour, but every week, I've been doing 10,000 to 15,000 people festivals. I was in Switzerland; in Lausanne - we did a big festival with Level 42. And the next week after, I did a TV special, just before the Olympics, and we filmed in this big castle.”
The demand for Leee’s shows has been high. “I have not stopped,” said Leee. “It's been great because I was told by a lot of people there is a backlog from the lockdown, people that had already been booked, and they were trying to obligate what was happening.
And then this year it's been like a flood of stuff.” Leee adds: “Even though I'm touring here, I'm definitely jumping across the universe, consistently doing that because I'm doing different projects, music projects, as well as film projects. So I'm doing quite a variety of different things - it keeps me very active.”
To coincide with the 40th Anniversary of Leee John and his group Imagination, the ‘Flashback Greatest Hits 2024 UK Tour’ continues following their successful Spring tour dates earlier reflecting an incredible musical career of songs spanning four decades.
But how does the artist feel about reaching this musical milestone in their career? “I'm still on the train. I've got all the other things that I still want to do. I still think I haven't obtained certain things that in my lifetime I wanted to do,” said Leee.
Imagination aside, the artist has more significant anniversaries to celebrate in the not-too-distant future. “Next year is 20 years since I did my jazz album,” said Leee. “We're going to be celebrating that with my quartet. I'm going to be doing some special shows for that.”
When you think of 80s pop music, perhaps one show that might spring to mind is Top of the Pops. Imagination were regular visitors on the show. Body Talk became the song which garnered the group’s first appearance on the show. “Ihadn't been on TV before,” he says. “Performing on Top of the Pops was a nerve-wracking experience. “There was so much pressure put on me that I cried,” recollects Leee.
The impact of performing on TOTP was far-reaching. “I didn't see it until afterwards, on a video, because we had promotion to do. And everyone was talking about it. The next day, it was like - oh, my God,” said Leee. “So, it was a wonderful feeling, and the power of television at that time.”
Of course, Imagination had a whole raft of chart hits with songs such as ‘In and Out of Love’, ‘Flashback’, ‘Just An Illusion’, and ‘Music and Lights’. With Leee’s impending tour, the artist is working on the setlist for the show, including favourites and rarities.
“Well, there are songs that some of the fans request, like New Dimension. And recently, there's been loads of DJs sampling it and putting it in all the dance breaks and stuff, and so I would put that in,” said Leee.
“And Looking at Midnight, which I never used to play at all, we've kind of stuck it in a medley. The groove I always loved, and we’ve emphasised it even more. Burning Up, people want to hear that.”
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Leee adds: “You kind of know which songs really will work. And we do things a little bit faster sometimes.”
Leee John is looking forward to returning to the North East on tour this week. “I love Newcastle because they're die-hard fans out there.
They really stick with you. They know the B-sides, the album tracks, the outfits,” said Leee. “They know where you've been last week, and why don't you sing this song? Which is great because it keeps my mind working.”
Leee John of Imagination will bring their ‘Flashback Greatest Hits 2024 UK Tour’ to The Grove in Newcastle on Wednesday 30th October. For ticket information and further details, please visit www.Leeejohn.com.
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