The act enjoyed huge success in the UK with a string of number ones

A Doncaster businessman who helped created novelty pop act Jive Bunny and The Mastermixers has died at the age of 84.

John Pickles formed the act in 1989 and they went on to have three UK number ones with Swing The Mood, That's What I Like and Let's Party.

Mr Pickles, whose family ran an electrical shop on the Great North Road in Woodlands, also recruited his son Andrew and Doncaster DJ and producer Les Hemstock to create Jive Bunny, whose records combined previous hits with modern sampling and electronics.

Jive Bunny’s record label Mastermix announced: “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of John Pickles, founder and freator of The Music Factory Entertainment Group, Mastermix and Jive Bunny.

“John was a leader, an entrepreneur, a businessman, and an incredibly talented songwriter.

“He was a true pioneer in the music industry, whose creativity, vision and passion for music touched the lives and careers of so many people around the world.

“And for the most fortunate of us, he was Dad.”

The group also had a UK top 10 album in Jive Bunny The Album and scored five UK top 10 hits, including their number ones.

The Jive Bunny album covers and music videos featured a cartoon rabbit, with costumed actors also making promotional appearances as the character.

They became only the third act to reach No. 1 with their first three singles, following on from Gerry and the Pacemakers in 1964 and Frankie Goes to Hollywood in 1984 - and took the shortest time to achieve the feat.

It all kicked off with Swing The Mood in the summer of 1989.

With liberal use of Glenn Miller's In the Mood, the song, which sampled Elvis Presley, Little Richard and Chubby Checker, topped the UK charts for five weeks – and also became a huge hit in a string of other countries – and Jive Bunny mania began.

Andy and John repeated the formula which had taken Swing the Mood to number, this time using the Hawaii Five-O theme as the basis for That’s What I Like, which spent three weeks at the top in October 1989.

And the chart hat trick was completed a few weeks later when Let’s Party, a mash-up of Christmas songs also made it to the pinnacle.

Despite selling thousands of records all over the globe, the Jive Bunny story was not to last as follow-up singles and albums failed to emulate the success of the band’s debut.