Brad Newman (born Charles Melvyn Thomas in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, 6 December 1938,[1] died in Spain on 18 January 1999) was an English singer-songwriter and pianist who, in 1962, reached number 47 in the UK Singles Chart with the song "Somebody to Love".
[6] More success followed after they became the resident group on the BBC pop show Drumbreat,[7] which also starred Adam Faith, the John Barry Seven, Vince Eager and Billy Fury.
After another seasonal theatre show at Weymouth, Dorset with Morecambe and Wise and a tour with Cliff Richard, the trio broke up after which Thomas decided to go solo.
[2][8] Before he launched his own solo career, under the pseudonym Brad Newman, he went to the Isle of Wight in 1961 to play piano in the residents' bar at the Sandringham Hotel, Sandown.
After his third self-penned single, "Stay By Me", failed to chart Newman turned to a Goffin and King number, "Point of No Return", for his fourth release.
He did his best to produce a contemporary sound but Fontana was past funding the lavish orchestral backing that the song warranted and he had to make do with a small combo and his own piano playing.
[13] In 1967, Newman returned to the Isle of Wight and opened at The Vancouver Bar on Sandown sea front,[citation needed] with himself on piano and Bert Reed on drums.