Unfortunately for Maus and Leeds, the celebrated Philips producer and A&R man John Franz centred the lavish, string-laden Walkers sound around the rich baritone of Scott Walker, whose swift elevation to the role of pin-up relegated his fellow “siblings” to sidesmen.
In retrospect, the Walkers were the first “boy band”, but for Leeds – unable to appear on their best-selling records due to contractual reasons – and Maus, whose vocals essentially backed Engel, the group became a straitjacket for its members own artistic ambitions.
Gary Leeds was born in Glendale, California, on March 9 1942, the only child of a shopkeeper, Don Gibson, and his wife Violet; they divorced when the boy was an infant. When Violet married an oil company manager, Jack Leeds, Gary adopted his surname.
Having drummed in high school bands, Leeds was studying to become a pilot when he formed a group called the Standells as Hollywood was engulfed by the Twist dance craze. One of their fellow performers at the Peppermint West club was Proby, who took Leeds to England for a couple of months; the trip was cut short when the drummer’s work permit expired.