Goodbye Mr. Conn…
It is with great sadness that I report the death of Leslie Conn. Les passed away at his home after suffering a heart attack on Saturday morning, the eve of his 79th birthday.
You all know how important Les was during the early stages of David’s career, securing him his first record contract for Liza Jane, a song which Les was also credited with writing and producing.
We’ve mentioned the recording on these pages many times, (06.05.2004 NEWS: HAPPY 40TH ANNIVERSARY TO DAVID AND LIZA JANE & 03.02.2008 NEWS: BOWIE 45 SELLS FOR $3,550 ON EBAY – THE BUYER TALKS & 05.03.2008 NEWS: WATCH OUT FOR LIZA JANE COUNTERFEITS & 05.28.2008 NEWS: LIZA JANE DEMO 45 FETCHES $3,000 – PLUS MORE FAKE STUFF) and David remained fond enough of the song to re-record it for the aborted Toy album and he even tackled the song during a live show in June 2004, on the 40th anniversary of the single release of Liza Jane.
On a personal note, I had visited Les at his Maida Vale flat just a couple of weeks before his death, and it quickly became clear how he had helped many fledgling artists off the starting blocks.
However, despite being a formidable talent scout, he never stood in the way of their progress and instead he would frequently hand over the reigns to somebody better positioned to help these artists.
Another thing about Les was that he never once doubted that David would find major and lasting success, and, if for nothing else, he must be applauded for recognising that spark and for helping to fan it into the roaring fire it would eventually become.
Goodbye Les, you will be missed.