Josef Locke

In 1992 the Peter Chelsom film Hear My Song was released, a fantasy based on the notion of Locke returning from his Irish exile to complete an old love affair and save a Liverpool-based Irish night-club from ruination, with Locke played by Ned Beatty. Trading recordings is what helped John become more well known in the early days. Kildare, emerging for the occasional charity concert and reappearing in Blackpool in 1968, making his last public appearance in the 1970s. He also does this to encourage fan interaction. When his differences with the tax people were eventually settled, Locke retired to Co. He does this to give fans the opportunity to recreate the live experience. Eventually he fled the country for Ireland, where he lay low for several years. The legal details are here (http://www.thejmtp.com/info/policy.html).

In 1958 after appearing in five Royal Variety Performances, and while still at the peak of his career, the British tax authorities began to make substantial demands that Locke declined to meet. John allows audio taping at most live performances, and he also allows for the non-commercial trading of those recordings. His other songs were mostly a mixture of Irish ballads such as I'll take you home again Kathleen, Dear old Donegal and Galway Bay, excerpts from operettas including The Drinking song, My Heart and I, and Goodbye, along with familiar Italian favourites such as Come back to Sorrento and Cara Mia. Influenced by Jimi Hendrix and SRV, it has been argued that John's electric guitar playing is truly what makes him a musical genius and what makes him gain respect from his peers. In 1947, too, Locke released Hear my song, Violetta, which became forever associated with him. Although John has maintained a reputation for being a sensitive singer-song writer, his real talent lies in his excellent guitar playing. He was signed to the Columbia label in 1947, and his first releases were the two Italian songs Santa Lucia and Come back to Sorrento. Some of his most popular and well-known songs include "Clarity", "Bigger Than My Body", "No Such Thing" and "Your Body Is a Wonderland".

He made his first radio broadcast in 1949, and subsequently appeared on TV programmes such as Rooftop Rendezvous, Top of the Town, All-star Bill and The Frankie Howerd Show. Mayer has toured with many groups, including Maroon 5, Guster, Counting Crows, The Wallflowers, and Teitur. The renowned Irish tenor John McCormack (1894-1948) advised him that his voice was better suited to a lighter repertoire than the operatic one he had in mind, and urged him to find an agent -- thus he found the noted impresario Jack Hylton (1892-1965) who booked him, but couldn't fit his full name on the bill, thus Joseph McLaughlin became Josef Locke. He began his career in earnest there, quickly making a name for himself in the local coffeehouse and club circuit. Known as The Singing Bobby, he became a local celebrity before starting to work the UK variety circuit, where he played 19 seasons in the northern English seaside resort of Blackpool. He soon realized that instead of studying music, he was more interested in writing and playing it, and chose to cut his studies short in favor of moving to Atlanta, Georgia. He started singing in local churches in the Bogside at the age of seven, and as a teenager added two years to his age in order to enlist in the Irish Guards, later serving abroad with the Palestine Police, before returning in the late 1930s to join the Royal Ulster Constabulary. After playing the guitar for several years, Mayer enrolled in the Berklee College of Music in Massachusetts at the age of 19.

Born in Londonderry, now in Northern Ireland, he was the son of a butcher and cattle dealer, and one of nine children. While in high school, he was in a band called Villanova Junction with Joe Beleznay, Tim Procaccini, and Rich Wolf. Josef Locke was the stage name of Joseph McLaughlin (23 March 1917 - 15 October 1999), a tenor singer who was enormously popular in Britain and Ireland in the 1940s and 1950s. After two years of practice, he started playing at blues bars and other venues in the area. When a neighbor gave him a Stevie Ray Vaughan tape, Mayer discovered the blues and learned how to play the guitar. Mayer listened to pop music, but it was not until the age of thirteen that his inspiration for playing the guitar began.

Born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Mayer grew up in Fairfield, Connecticut and attended Fairfield High School. He dedicated that award to his Grandma, Annie Hoffman, who passed away in May of 2004. He also took home the Grammy Award for Song Of The Year which is awarded to song writers, for the song "Daughters". He beat out, Elvis Costello, Josh Groban, Prince and Seal.

In 2003 he won the Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for the 2002 release of the single "Your Body Is a Wonderland." In February of 2005, he also won a Best Male Pop Vocal Performance Grammy for his song "Daughters" of the album "Heavier Things". John Clayton Mayer (born October 16, 1977 in Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA) is a singer-songwriter who plays pop music. As Is 2004 Live Album, also a series of iTunes downloable tracks. Heavier Things 2003 Studio Recording.

Any Given Thursday 2003 Live Album. Room for Squares 2001 Studio Recording. Inside Wants Out 2002 Label Release. Inside Wants Out 1999 Indie Release.

Lo-Fi Masters Demo 1999 Indie Release. Villanova Junction Demo 1995 Indie Release.