Ivy League
  • Real Name: John Sheakspeare (Carter)
  • Birth Date: October 20th 1942
  • Birmingham
  • James Hawker (Ken Lewis)
  • December 3rd 1942
  • Birmingham
  • Perry Ford (Bryan Pugh)
  • 1940
  • Lincoln

    • John Carter and Ken Lewis had previously been the inspiration behind the uncharted Carter-Lewis And The Southerners. The pair were skilled songwriters who had first tasted success with Mike Sarne's 'Will I What' which featured Billie Davis. There is no doubt that their ear for a good pop song had at least as much to do with their success as their experience as singers. They had developed a close harmony style similar to that adopted by the Hollies and always put on a good vocal performance. In fact the group became a vehicle for publishing the songs that stemmed from the Carter-Lewis partnership along with competent contributions from Ford.

    However, John Carter decided that he'd had enough and was replaced by a friend called Tony Burrows following the release of their fifth single. Tony Burrows had previously sung with the Kestrels in the company of Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway. This enabled the group to keep going until Ken Lewis too decided to pull out. The Ivy League had one further hit without their two accomplished songwriters before being transformed into the 'Flowerpot Men' with messrs Carter and Lewis fulfilling the roles of managers. The new group was almost as short lived as 1967's 'summer of love' and soon disappeared. Carter and Lewis then pursued their careers as writers of songs and jingles, never emerging again into foreground 'pop'.

    1950s & 1960s 45rpm UK Discography

    • Listings include UK 45 singles releases only
    • Collector's Items are shown In Red

    Piccadilly 7N35200 1964 What More Do You Want/ Wait A Minute  
    Piccadilly 7N35222 1965 Funny How Love Can Be/ Lonely Room #8 
    Piccadilly 7N35228 1965 That's Why I'm Crying/ A Girl Like You #22 
    Piccadilly 7N35251 1965 Tossing And Turning/ Graduation Day #3 
    Piccadilly 7N35267 1965 Our Love Is Slipping Away/ I Could Make You Fall In Love  
    Piccadilly 7N35294 1966 Running Round In Circles/ Rain Rain Go Away  
    Piccadilly 7N35326 1966 Willow Tree/ One Day #50 
    Piccadilly 7N35348 1966 My World Fell Down/ When You're Young  
    Piccadilly 7N35365 1967 Four And Twenty Hours/ Arrivederci Baby  
    Piccadilly 7N35397 1967 Suddenly Things/ Tomorrow Is Another Day  
    Pye 7N17386 1967 Thank You For Loving Me/ In The Not Too Distant Future  

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