Mickie Most

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Mickie Most (real name Michael Peter Hayes) was born in Aldershot (England) in June 1938. His early ambition was to be a singer, and when he emigrated briefly to South Africa in the early 60s, he enjoyed 11 consecutive Number 1's as Mickie Most and The Playboys with covers of songs such as Johnny B Goode and Rave On.

By 1962 he was back in England and had turned to record production where he found his real talent. His most notable success was The Animals' House Of The Rising Sun although he produced all the original Animals recordings as well as Lulu, Herman's Hermits, The Jeff Beck Group, all of Donovan's earlier records, and Terry Reid's first album.

His uncanny ability to pick a hit song made him the most successful record producer in Britain during the 60s and 70s and he went on to form his own label called RAK, which was to produce many of the finest British records of the 1970s. He also became a celebrity judge on the TV talent show New Faces.

After Kim Wilde gave him one of his final successes on RAK he sold the label and its extensive back catalog to EMI in 1983 in a multi-million-pound deal that made Most one of the richest men in Britain. His ventures back into music after that were infrequent, although he did produce Johnny Hates Jazz (whose line-up included his son, Calvin Hayes).

Most died at home on 30 May 2003 of mesothelioma (a cancer caused by exposure to asbestos). He was cremated at Golders Green crematorium in North London.