Jona Lewis had a hit with "Stop the Cavalry" at Christmas in 1980. It is one of the songs that gets played every year at Christmas time
Jona Lewis was born John Lewis in Southampton, UK in March 1947. He started in the music business as a session pianist and then joined the group Brett Marvin and the Thunderbolts in the late 1960s. Although they had lots of live success, they only had one chart hit – "Seaside Shuffle" in 1972. This was released under the name "Terry Dactyl and the Dinosaurs" and reached number 2 in the charts.
He had other hits in the late 1970s, but it was for "Stop the Cavalry" that he has become the most famous, a song that wasn't originally intended to be a Christmas song when it was released in November 1980, but the record company spotted the reference to Christmas in the lyrics and since then it has become one of Britain's most familiar Christmas songs.
It is the royalties from the annual playing of this song as well as some wise property investments that has provided Jona Lewis with the means to live a comfortable lifestyle ever since.
The tune and style of "Stop the Cavalry" has since been parodied for a series of TV adverts for John Smith's beer and in 2005, Jona joined up with other stars who had had big Christmas hits in a Channel 4 project that involved the recording of a new song "Bring Back the Christmas Number One".
Jona Lewis was born John Lewis in Southampton, UK in March 1947. He started in the music business as a session pianist and then joined the group Brett Marvin and the Thunderbolts in the late 1960s. Although they had lots of live success, they only had one chart hit – "Seaside Shuffle" in 1972. This was released under the name "Terry Dactyl and the Dinosaurs" and reached number 2 in the charts.
He had other hits in the late 1970s, but it was for "Stop the Cavalry" that he has become the most famous, a song that wasn't originally intended to be a Christmas song when it was released in November 1980, but the record company spotted the reference to Christmas in the lyrics and since then it has become one of Britain's most familiar Christmas songs.
It is the royalties from the annual playing of this song as well as some wise property investments that has provided Jona Lewis with the means to live a comfortable lifestyle ever since.
The tune and style of "Stop the Cavalry" has since been parodied for a series of TV adverts for John Smith's beer and in 2005, Jona joined up with other stars who had had big Christmas hits in a Channel 4 project that involved the recording of a new song "Bring Back the Christmas Number One".