Peter Skellern obituary

With his lyrics and vocal stylings echoing those of George Formby, Hoagy Carmichael and Noël Coward, and his penchant for brass band arrangements, Peter Skellern, who has died of cancer aged 69, sometimes seemed a man out of tune with the prevailing pop music trends of the 1970s and 80s. Nevertheless, after his breakthrough with the 1972 hit record You’re a Lady, he drew loyal audiences for his frequent radio and television appearances and his many tours with another witty singer and composer, Richard Stilgoe.

Skellern was born in the Lancashire mill town of Bury to Margaret (nee Spencer) and John Skellern. It was a musical family, and after attending the Derby high school, Bury, he won a place to study the piano at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. Skellern graduated in 1968 but instead of attempting a career as a concert pianist, he formed a progressive rock group, March Hare, with Barrie Guard, later a composer for television and Cliff Richard’s musical director. Skellern composed Have We Got News For You, the group’s only recording, after which they changed name to Harlan County and style to country pop.

Harlan County disbanded in 1970 and Skellern found work as a hotel porter in Shaftesbury, Dorset, while continuing to compose songs. One of these, You’re a Lady, found its way to the Decca company which promptly signed Skellern to a recording deal. The heartfelt ballad, with accompaniment by the Grimethorpe Colliery Band, was issued in summer 1972 and swiftly rose to No 3 in the hit parade. It was later recorded by a wide range of singers including Brigitte Bardot (with Laurent Vergel) and Davy Jones of The Monkees. You’re a Lady was also the title of the first of his 15 albums, which included Holding My Own (1974), Astaire (1980) and Sentimentally Yours (1996).

Although his only other Top 20 hit was Hold on to Love in 1975, Skellern was now set on a career of live shows and broadcasts. For several years in the 70s he was a regular on the Radio 4 show Stop the Week, for which he wrote and performed topical songs. There were also television series, including Happy Endings (1982), which took the form of six mini-musicals.

Skellern’s popularity as a middle-of-the-road performer was recognised when he made the first of two appearances at the 1982 Royal Variety Performance (the second was in 2000). Also on the bill was Stilgoe, another songwriter who combined sharp wit with gentle satire, and in 1985 the two began an 18-year collaboration with a two-man show, Stilgoe and Skellern. Stilgoe’s acerbic lyrics were a perfect foil for Skellern’s more gentle humour.

Alongside the tours and television appearances, Skellern continued to compose for television and the stage. He wrote and sang the theme for the series Billy Liar (1973-73) and composed the signature tune for The Life and Times of Henry Pratt (1992). He also co-wrote One More Kiss Dear with Vangelis for the soundtrack of the 1982 film Blade Runner. In 2013, with the playwright Roger Hall, he wrote the musical show You Can Always Hand Them Back, about the experience of being grandparents.

In 1984 Skellern formed Oasis, a “supergroup” with the singer Mary Hopkin and cellist Julian Lloyd Webber, which issued one album but did not perform in public. When another band of the same name emerged a few years later, Skellern was scathing, calling the Gallagher brothers “louts”, and adding: “While it’s obvious that they revere the Beatles, the Beatles were bright people and never rude.”

Skellern was a committed Christian, who had played the church organ and led the choir at St Michael’s, Bolton, as a schoolboy. He later wrote religious music including a Nativity Cantata for the Aeolian Singers of Hemel Hempstead and conducted a choir in Polruan, Cornwall, where he settled in 2001. He was accepted for ordination training in 2014 but was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour shortly afterwards. He completed his training and became a minister last October when the archbishop of Canterbury approved his simultaneous ordination as deacon and priest.

Skellern is survived by his wife, Diana, his children, Timothy and Katherine, and four grandchildren.