Leon Haywood

American singer

Otha Leon Haywood (February 11, 1942 – April 5, 2016) was an American funk and soul singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for his 1975 hit single "I Want'a Do Something Freaky to You", which has been frequently sampled by musicians such as Dr. Dre (for his 1992 hit "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang") among others.

Born in Houston, he listened to the blues as a child and started playing piano at the age of three. Haywood was also part of two session bands organized by Los Angeles disc jockey Magnificent Montague which issued the instrumental hits "Hole in the Wall" (R&B No. 5/Pop No. 50, 1965) under the name of the Packers, and "Precious Memories" (R&B number 31, 1967) billed as the Romeos. He also established in 1967 a production company, Evejim, named after his parents. Haywood recorded, without too much success for the Fat Fish (Hollywood, Ca.) label in 1966 and 1967. Two singles from that source were given a UK release at the time on the Decca distributed Vocalion label but gathered few sales – "Skate a While" and "Ain't No Use". He found only sporadic success as a singer, including with "It's Got to Be Mellow" and "Keep It in the Family". Haywood is credited with writing the 1981 hit "She's a Bad Mama Jama" by Carl Carlton, which he produced in his own studio. After a few more chart singles, for Casablanca Records and Modern Records, Haywood's output failed to excite the public's taste. In the late 1980s, he became associated in an executive/production capacity with the Los Angeles based Edge Records. From the 1980s, he produced blues albums by Jimmy McCracklin, Clay Hammond, Ronnie Lovejoy, Buddy Ace and others on his own Evejim Records label.

Year Single Chart Positions Record label US Pop US R&B UK 1965 "She's With Her Other Love"Leon Hayward 92 13 — Imperial 1967 "It's Got to Be Mellow" 63 21 — Decca 1968 "Mellow Moonlight" 92 35 — 1974 "Keep It in the Family" 50 11 — 20th Century "Long As There's You (I Got Love)" — 63 — "Sugar Lump" 108 35 — "Believe Half of What You See(And None of What You Hear)" 94 21 — 1975 "Come an' Get Yourself Some" 83 19 — "I Want'a Do Something Freaky to You" 15 7 — 1976 "Just Your Fool" 102 26 — "Strokin' (Pt. II)" 101 13 — "The Streets Will Love You to Death Part 1" 107 63 — Columbia 1977 "Super Sexy" — 54 — MCA 1978 "Double My Pleasure" — 91 — "Fine and Healthy Thing" — 84 — "Party" — 24 — 1980 "Don't Push It Don't Force It" 49 2 12 20th Century "If You're Lookin' for a Night of Fun(Look Past Me, I'm Not the One)" — 67 — 1983 "I'm Out to Catch"Leon Haywood featuring Karen Roberts — 27 — Casablanca "T. V. Mama" — 83 — 1984 "Tenderoni" — 22 — Modern "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.