In 1985, Bronski Beat covered the song in a medley with " I Feel Love" and " Love to Love You Baby" in a collaboration with Marc Almond. Released as a single, it reached number 3 in the UK chart and earned Geoff Goddard a platinum disc with sales over 300,000. [11] Colin Larkin, ed. (1997). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music (Conciseed.). Virgin Books. p.753. ISBN 1-85227-745-9. Beautiful Dreamer (His Master's Voice 7EG8843) – " Beautiful Dreamer" / "On Lovers Hill" / "I'll Cut Your Tail Off" / "Lovers Lane"

But Auntie Beeb could do nothing to stop the creepiest of all these fatal 45s: John Leyton’s “Johnny Remember Me”, which, despite the BBC censor, went to number 1 in July 1961, stayed there for six weeks, then left behind its own trail of tears. The multiple untimely deaths of those surrounding him became known as “the curse of Joe Meek”. Burt and Goddard died within a month of each other in 2000, aged only 57 and 62 respectively. Meek’s greatest rival Phil Spector, whom Meek imagined to have bugged his studios to copy his techniques, murdered actress Lana Clarkson at his Los Angeles mansion in 2003. The date was February 3. Breihan, Tom (9 May 2018). "The Number Ones: The Tornados' "Telstar" ". Stereogum . Retrieved 10 June 2023. ...Meek found his calling by making strange, damaged pop songs like John Leyton's "Johnny Remember Me" and the Honeycombs' "Have I The Right"...

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In 2012 the journalist Tom Ewing described the song as "the weirdest and most gripping British record to hit the top yet", with Leyton's vocal "clutching at your sleeve, desperate to tell a story of loss and madness. Meek turns the drums into phantom horsemen and fills the record's dark spaces with melodrama – a keening female voice on the chorus rounds the effect off." [7] Covers [ edit ] The song was covered in French in 1963 by Les Chats Sauvages (lead singer Mike Shannon) as "Johnny Rapelle-Toi". [ citation needed] [ importance?] JOHN LEYTON | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com . Retrieved 7 December 2021.

The creation and success of the song plays a significant role in the 2009 film Telstar: The Joe Meek Story in which Goddard is portrayed by Tom Burke and Leyton by Callum Dixon Twentieth Century Fox put me under contract and I started work with Richard Attenborough and Britt Ekland on Guns At Batasi, just after I’d completed a singing tour supported by The Rolling Stones. Leyton as a singer is best known for his hit song " Johnny Remember Me" (written by Geoff Goddard and produced by Joe Meek), [2] which reached number one in the UK Singles Chart in August 1961 despite being banned by the BBC for its death references. [3] His follow-up single, "Wild Wind", reached number two in the same chart.Robertson, Peter (26 March 2016). "Where are they now...? Johnny Remember Me singer John Leyton". Express.co.uk . Retrieved 5 December 2021. Alongside singing, Leyton's acting career saw him appearing in television and films throughout the 1960s. His films included The Great Escape, Guns at Batasi, Von Ryan's Express and Krakatoa, East of Java. In 2009 he also had a small role in the film Telstar, a biopic based on Joe Meek's life in which Leyton himself was portrayed by Callum Dixon. [4] Career [ edit ]