Les Emmerson, a singer and songwriter from the 1970s band Five Man Electrical Band, died Dec. 10, of COVID-19 in a hospital near his home in Ottawa. He was 77.
Monik Emmerson, his wife, announced his death to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. According to her, her husband was double-vaccinated and had underlying health problems. Last month, the singer was diagnosed with COVID.
Its irresistible chorus (“Sign/Everywhere a Sign/Blockin’ out the Scene/Breakin’ my Mind”) and witty humor (“So, I took off my cap and said, Imagine that/Huh? me workingin’ for you!” “Signs” was recorded in 1970 by the Canadian band, at the heights of the hippie movement. It became an international hit after a shorter version, which lasted just three minutes, was released the following year.
SWEET VALLEY HIGH TV SERIES ADAPTATION AT WORKS AT CW FROM FAKE EMPIRE, ASHLEY WIGFIELD & CHERNIN Entertainment
The single reached #3 on Billboard’s Singles Chart and was eventually sold over 1.5 million times.
Ted Gerow, the keyboardist of the group, told the CBC that “Suddenly it broke” in Seattle and other areas. It just kept spreading.
Emmerson got the idea for the song while on a California road trip. He saw the billboards that obstructed the beautiful views.
Although the Five Man Electrical Band had other hits in Canada, “Signs”, the group’s only international hit, was a huge success and is still a popular oldies radio station. Fatboy Slim used the song in his 2005 album “Don’t let the Man get you down.”
