James Whild Lea (born 14 June 1949) is an English musician, most notable for playing bass guitar, keyboards, piano, violin, guitar, and singing backing vocals in Slade from their inception until 1992, and for co-writing most of their songs. Career Early life Lea was born in Wolverhampton, England. Influenced by French jazz-violinist Stéphane Grappelli, Lea's first musical love was the violin which he began playing aged 10. His parents Frank Lea and Edna Whild owned The Grange pub in Bilbrook where he grew up. He attended Codsall Comprehensive School – now Codsall Community High School. He joined the Staffordshire Youth Orchestra in 1961, and gained first class honours in a London music-school practical exam, before moving on to piano, guitar and finally bass guitar. He first played guitar, and then bass, in the schoolboy group 'Nick and The Axemen'. 'N' Betweens to Slade Lea aged 16 went for auditions for a local band, 'The 'N Betweens', of which drummer Don Powell, guitarist Dave Hill and vocalist Johnny Howells were already members. He was accepted and left school immediately. When Noddy Holder joined soon after, the foundations for Slade had been laid. Howells later left the band. In December 1966, the 'N' Betweens signed to EMI and their first single "You Better Run" was produced by Kim Fowley. Chas Chandler, former member of the Animals and former manager/producer for Jimi Hendrix, spotted and signed them for Fontana Records in 1969, and their name was changed to Ambrose Slade. An album titled Beginnings was recorded. It was during 1969 that Lea wrote "How Does It Feel" at home, on an old out-of-tune piano with half of the keys not working. In 1969, Ambrose Slade adopted a skinhead image and changed their name to Slade. Following their first chart entry with "Get Down and Get with It" in 1971, Chandler encouraged the band to write their own material, and the song-writing partnership of Lea and Holder commenced. In most cases Lea wrote the melodies, and Holder concentrated on the lyrics. On the follow-up to "Get Down and Get with It", "Coz I Luv You," Lea played violin. Lea had the most formal musical training of the original Slade band members. In 1979, Lea formed Cheapskate Records with his brother Frank and made records under the name of The Dummies. In 1981, Lea began record production and produced some of Slade's recordings. Following their