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Jim Lea, legendary British singer-songwriter, chooses the Tracks of My Years with music from The Four Tops, Kate Bush, Jimi Hendrix and Fleetwood Mac. Jim is most notable for playing bass guitar, keyboards, piano, violin, and guitar, and singing backing vocals in Slade from their inception until 1992, and for co-writing most of their songs. He was born in Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, 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'. In a Q&A session for his official website in March 2017, Jim disclosed his three favourite Slade songs were "How Does It Feel", "Far Far Away", and "Coz I Luv You". He also identified "When the Lights Are Out" from Old New Borrowed and Blue as an album track he would have liked to have seen released as a Slade single. At the end of last year he released a newly remixed single called 'Am I The Greatest Now' and continues to be one of the most played artists on radio across the world.