(Kenny Lynch - Bob Wackett)
New Zealand
#2 New Zealand
Single on His Master’s Voice by popular New Zealand singer and TV star, real name Bogdan Kominowski (b.1945). He charted highly in NZ: his six hits went 1, 1, 2, 1, 5, 6. Opportunity and Thanks To You charted #1 three months apart in 1967, and in 1968 Why Or Where Or When made #1.
Mr Lee Grant became a pop superstar in New Zealand largely through his residency on the TV show C’mon 67. In 1968 he went to the UK, where he recorded some singles as Lee Grant (and one under his real name), but he eventually concentrated on acting. As Bogdan Kominowski he has been seen on stage (Phantom of the Opera), on TV (he had a continuing role in Brushstrokes) and in films (A View to Kill, Jack Ryan:Shadow Recruit): see his filmography at IMDb.
Lee Grant was also the name of a well-known Auckland actress and singer. Mr Lee Grant told Sydney’s Sun-Herald in February 1968 that he found this out only after he had adopted the name Lee Grant, so “he started calling himself Mr Lee Grant and she started calling herself Miss Lee Grant“. (There was also an American film and TV star called Lee Grant.)
Further reading: 1. Mr Lee Grant page at Bruce Sergent’s NZ Music site. 2. AudioCulture’s page on Mr Lee Grant is packed with scans and photos. 3. “Mr Lee Grant’s Opportunity to Wed”.The New Zealand Herald, 26 May 2013 (spotted by Terry Stacey).
(Kenny Lynch - Bob Wackett)
UK
Original version
Single on His Master’s Voice September 1967 by Kenny Lynch (1938-2019), a versatile and successful singer-songwriter from Stepney in London. He wrote Movin’ Away with his frequent collaborator the drummer Bob Wackett.
Kenny Lynch charted in Britain with versions of US hits such as Mountain Of Love (1960, #33 UK, originally by Harold Dorman), Up On The Roof (1962, #10, The Drifters), and Stand By Me (1963, #39, Ben E. King).
He toured with The Beatles in 1963 and recorded Misery, the first release of a Beatles song by a non-Beatle, released just before The Beatles’ own version appeared on Please Please Me.
Lynch’s own career as a songwriter has some remarkable highlights, with songs recorded by such top names as Dusty Springfield, The Drifters and Cilla Black. He co-wrote The Small Faces’ Sha La La La Lee (1966, #3 UK) with the major American songwriter Mort Shuman, as well as two songs on their first album, one of them written with another notable American, Jerry Ragavoy.
See also Kenny Lynch – There’s Never Been A Girl (1962), covered in Australia by The Allen Brothers as There’s Never Been A Girl Like You.
Johnny Tillotson’s You Can Never Stop Me Loving Me (1963, #18 USA), is a cover version of a Kenny Lynch record that had charted at #10 in the UK a couple of months earlier (written by Ian Samwell & Jean Slater).
Further reading: 1. Kenny Lynch biography by Richie Unterberger at All Music. 2. Biography and other content at KenBootheMusic.com.
(Kenny Lynch - Bob Wackett) UK
Later version
Single on Studio 1 July 1968.
Ska/rocksteady singer Ken Boothe (b. 1948) had a number of hits in Jamaica in the 60s, mainly on the Studio One label, before recording in the UK for Trojan. He had a #1 UK hit on Trojan with his version of Bread’s Everything I Own (1974).
See Steve Huey’s biography of ‘Jamaica’s answer to Wilson Pickett’ at All Music.
Pop ArchivesAustralia's premier song history site since 2004
Website by Lyn Nuttall. © Lyn Nuttall 2004-2026. Chart positions courtesy of Gavin Ryan’s Australian Chart Books and Dean Scapolo’s Complete NZ Music Charts. Special thanks to Terry Stacey for information, corrections and suggestions. Thanks also to Tony Watson, Philippe Edouard, Dave Overett.., More…