Legendary pop producer Mickie Most died on Friday night at his Totteridge mansion after battling a rare form of lung cancer for more than a year.

Mr Most, who was 64, sold 400million records and enjoyed 22 number one hits in America and 15 in Britain, including House of the Rising Sun by The Animals, and I'm Into Something Good by Herman's Hermits. He also produced hits such as Boom Bang-a-Bang for Lulu, and Sunshine Superman for folk legend Donovan.

In the 1970s, he had a string of number one and top ten hits on his own RAK record label with artists such as Mud, Suzi Quatro and Hot Chocolate, and became a household name as a critical panel member on TV talent show New Faces.

Former record label boss David English, who lives in Mill Hill, was a contemporary of Mr Most's.

"I did know him very well," said Mr English. "I was at Decca in 1970 when Mickie was writing and producing. He was terrific, like England's version of Phil Spector, a very prolific writer and producer.

"He was a terrific man, brilliant, he had a brillant ear. He was very clever at spotting a hit.

"He had the intuition, he knew when he had a hit record. It's not always easy to find the hit when you've got 16 tracks to choose from. He was just a great record man."