Categories

Artist info

Real Vocalists

arrow Do you like the likes of Diana Krall and Michael Buble?  Then we think you will love this selection of vocalists.  
arrow Take a listen to some of these artists now, most who are masters of their craft, and treat yourself to some fantastic artists whose music is all available now at low prices!
arrow We also pay tribute to some of the legends who have forwarded the good music cause, and helped keep great music alive.

Get involved!

Have your say! Click here

Search site

Sample this artist

You'll need to load Flash Player to see this player

We recommend

Beautiful Ballad Years
Sadly, this album is no longer available in the shops.  However, should you wish to purchase a copy, please click here to send us an email and we'll send details to you of how you can obtain one.
Real vocal artist
Great Britain

arrow blue MIKE REDWAY

Mike Redway

 arrow blue Radiocafé's view

Mike Redway is one of our truly great vocalists. Having been a backing singer for years, he successfully made the transition to solo artist, proving what a talented singer-songwriter he is. He even deputised for Sinatra on a Tony Hatch produced recording which sadly never saw the light of day - such a shame, his vocals were every bit as good as Frank's.

Few will know that, along with the likes of Shirley Bassey and Tom Jones, Mike was vocalist on a James Bond theme - he was the singer on the vocal of the original "Casino Royale" theme tune.  Not only was this written by the legendary Burt Bacharach, but Bacharach also conducted the session too!  While the orchestral theme by Herb Alpert and Dusty Springfield's "Look of Love" are recognised as modern classics, incredibly Mike did not even get a credit for his superb vocal recording.

Casino Royale album coverFor many years, Mike remained a favourite on Radio 2, featuring as the lead vocalist on numerous recordings and concerts with the BBC Radio Orchestra and the BBC Big Band. His own show, "Those Beautiful Ballad Years", treated us to the winning combination of Mike together with one of the UK's leading arrangers, Neil Richardson. The results were simply magical. 

Sadly, the BBC has moved in a different direction, which means that we may never hear the likes of Mike and Neil on our radios again.  It is such a shame that a whole new generation may be deprived of such a talented and unique singer. 

Fortunately, Mike owns the recordings that featured on the show.  We are proud to present some of these here so you can hear for yourself what wonderful recordings these are, and the incredible combination of Mike Redway and Neil Richardson. 

We are also extremely delighted to have Mike on board the Campaign For Real music, as one of its founder members. If - like us - you would like to hear more music like Mike's back on Radio 2, please click on the link below to share your views with us. In the meantime, while mainstream radio overlooks a huge slice of our musical heritage, we at Radiocafe will be doing our very best to keep alive some of the very finest music ever made.

arrow CLICK HERE TO "TALK" ABOUT THIS ARTIST »

  arrow blue You should like this artist if you like any of these...

arrow Bing Crosby
arrow Vic Damone
arrow Jack Jones
arrow Andy Williams

  arrow blue Artist profile

Mike started his career singing on working men’s clubs in and around his home town of Leeds with an act called “The Demijeans”. The act was spotted by a BBC Manchester producer (James Casey) who contracted them to appear on “The Jimmy Clithero show and “The Albert Modley Show”.

Mike moved to London in 1961 to work as a song plugger at Chappell Music. After auditioning for the BBC Mike got his first break as a solo artist with the BBC in a radio series called “Sing It Again”.

Mike joined the Rabin Band for a short period before moving in to the session world as a session singer. It was here that he met Mike Sammes and became involved as a backing singer on many of the big hit records of the sixties and seventies with: The Beatles, Tom Jones, Engleburt Humperdinck Andy Williams, Barbara Streisand, Johnny Mathis, Howard Keel, Henry Mancini and many other famous artists.

Terry Wogan - Floral Dance, produced by Mike RedwayMike left the session world to further his solo career as a singer-song writer. Many people will recall his records being played by Terry Wogan, Jimmy Young, Gloria Hunniford, Steve Race and other BBC radio presenters.

In the late sixties Mike appeared in a very successful television series called “One More Time”. Among the many happy memories in Mike’s career the outstanding achievement was to have his own BBC radio series “Those Beautiful Ballad Years”.

Mike is also a fantastic songwriter and producer (he even produced Terry Wogan's infamous floral dance!).  He continues to write wonderful music, and runs his own record label, Redrock Music Limited.

 arrow blue Discography

arrow Moonlight and Love Songs, 1991
arrow Those Beautiful Ballad Years, 1989
arrow ...further details to be added soon...

 arrow blue Click HERE to have your say on this artist

Music talk
If you would like to discuss this artist, correct any mistakes, add anything to this review or come on board as one of our musical editors, then visit our "Talk" section now. You can also post all your comments, read other articles, and have your say on the state of today's music in our interactive talk site.
arrow CLICK HERE TO HAVE YOUR SAY »
arrow BACK TO VOCAL GEMS »