meek's first single with john leyton, a cover of ray peterson's u.s. hit "tell laura i love her", was recorded in late 1960. originally intended for release on meek's triumph label, that label had by now folded and the recording was instead leased to the top rank label, owned by the rank organisation. another british version by ricky valance though, was more successful. a follow-up single, "girl on the floor above" (october 1960) was ignored.