John Paul Joans

Born in Somerset, the 6'6" tall Davidge started performing in the mid-1950s under the name Reg Gray, and appeared in the 1958 film Tom Thumb.^[2] His career struggled to the extent that he was imprisoned three times in the 1950s, once for fraud, once for stealing a pork pie worth 1s 2d (at which time he had no fixed abode), and once for trying to steal a record player in order to pay for the fare for a gig in Burnley. One probation officer said that he "did not think there was much likelihood of his getting regular work".^[3][4]

In 1963^[5] he adopted the stage name John Paul Joans and his break came when he won Best Club Act award in the Granada Television talent show Firstimers in 1967^[6] and earned a contract with Harvey Lisberg, the manager of Herman's Hermits.

In 1970, Lisberg put Joans together with Strawberry Studios in Stockport to write a Christmas song and Joans wrote a single - "The Man From Nazareth" - with Kevin Godley, Lol Creme, and Eric Stewart, who had already had a hit as Hotlegs and would be 75% of 10cc.^[7] The song was a spoken word routine to the Hotlegs backing, in the vein of "Ringo" by Lorne Greene, and got to number 41 in the charts at the end of 1970, but a complaint from John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin (on the basis that the American release printed his name as J.P. Jones)^[8] led to a reprinting of labels and the single lost momentum.

It did however re-enter the charts after a missing week and peaked at number 25,^[9] helped by Joans performing on Top Of The Pops on 14 January 1971, while the song was out of the charts.^[10]

Capitol Records signed up Joans and released two singles simply under the name John, but neither charted. A 1972 single in support of striking miners - by which time Joans was on the Polydor Records label - was only played twice on the British Broadcasting Corporation because of its political slant, resulting in Joans' manager - and wife - Maureen announcing that she was banning the BBC from playing it in future.^[11]

However Joans' main career was in stand-up comedy, with topical and often controversial routines,^[12] and having a "gift for ad lib".^[13] Bob Monkhouse said he was "brilliantly bitter and hilariously tasteless...with a considerable gift for persuading the audience to adopt his very funny view of life", and has been called the first alternative comedian in Britain.^[14]

Sometime in 1955, the then Reginald John Davidge separated from his first wife, who retained custody of their two children. Joans separated from his second wife in 1975; she retained custody of their two children. Joans moved to London in 1976^[15] and in 1977 gave up performing in order to work as a promoter for the Peace People in Belfast, organizing entertainment shows in Northern Ireland.^[16]

However, in February 1977, Joans was critically injured after being run over by a Land Rover,^[17][18] the effects of which altered his personality to the extent that, when visiting an ex-wife in Dewsbury after she had suffered an injury, he "snatched" his son^[19] and refused to allow him to return to his mother for 11 weeks; he was given a 6-month suspended sentence.^[20]

Joans retreated to private life and married his carer Sheila, finally receiving compensation for the car accident in 1985^[21] and regaining his full speech capabilities in 1993. He briefly came out of retirement for charity shows in 1997.^[22] Joans died in Somerset in 2011.

• "The Man From Nazareth"/"Got To Get Together Now" (RAK RAK 107, 1970) - UK charts no. 25

• "The Ten Lost Tribes Of Israel"/"Good Morning Old Man Time" (Capitol Records CL 15678, 1971)
• "Jody And The Kid"/"Colours" (Capitol CL 15701), 1971)

• "The Miners' Song"/"Colourful Man" (Polydor 2058 211, 1972)

• "The Fear Of Love"/"Cold Road" (Polydor 2058 298, 1972)^[23]