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Article - The Adam Faith Story, 1940 - 2003
Geoff
Leonard and Pete Walker - March 8, 2003
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Adam
Faith and John Barry
1960, Abbey Road Studios |
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In
an interview in Disc magazine published in June 1959, following
the release of his third (and ultimately unsuccessful) single, Adam
Faith declared that his ambition was to become an actor/director
- not a singer. Nine years, thirty-five singles, twenty-four chart
entries, fifteen EPs, seven albums later; he finally decided to
leave the record industry to concentrate fully on fulfilling his
thespian dream. Over the next thirty-four years, Faith was to achieve
at least the major part of this long-held ambition by becoming one
of Britain's most popular stars of stage and screen. However, during
his singing career with EMI, he vied with Cliff Richard as the UK's
most popular male singer and pop-idol.
Adam
Faith was born Terry Nelhams in Acton, London on June 23rd 1940,
the third of five children. He attended John Perryn secondary modern
school, Acton, and from the age of twelve was soon able to demonstrate
his entrepreneurial skills by means of a series of paper rounds,
which enabled him to finance his own clothes budget. This was augmented
further when he started selling papers from a pitch to enable him
to pay for more than, 100 worth of other 'gear'. This gear included
a record player and an impressive bicycle, both costing around,
28; a large sum indeed by nineteen-fifties standards. All this was
achieved before he left school, at which point he embarked on his
first full-time job as an odd-job boy for a silk screen printer
close to his home.
After
only a few weeks with this company, he heard of a vacancy for a
messenger boy at Rank Screen Services and was taken on at
the princely sum of, 3.50 per week dedicating himself to the task
of obtaining a transfer to the studios. However, after a year elapsed
without any sign of his move, he left to join a company in Wardour
Street, Soho, known as T.V. Advertising Ltd. This was a period
when he, like many of his peers, was bitten by the skiffle bug which
was then sweeping Britain. His first great idol was Lonnie Donegan
who inspired him to form his first group with colleagues from work.
They called themselves 'The Worried Men' after one of their most
popular numbers, 'Worried Man Blues'. According to Nelhams, they
played all the local Soho expresso coffee bars - Mars, The Cat's
Whiskers, Orlando's, The Skiffle Cellar and of course the famous Two I's, where they eventually became resident.
Nelhams
was soon becoming exhausted, which was not surprising in view of
his extra curricular activities. He had been promoted to assistant
cutter at T.V. Advertising and not only did he combine evening performances
with his day job, but he also decided to take managerial responsibility
for the group's affairs. Jack Good's Six-Five Special T.V.
programme had a reputation for originality. One idea was to broadcast
a show direct from the Two Is. Naturally, as the resident
band, The Worried Men opened and closed the programme, valuable
exposure, and, ultimately, Nelham's first big break.
Good
was impressed with Nelhams' performance but not necessarily with
the group as a whole. He invited him back on the show as a solo
singer, convinced of his potential as Britain's answer to James
Dean. Nelhams, encouraged by this optimism, gave up his job as a
film cutter and turned professional. Good not only secured him a
recording contract with EMI's HMV label on the strength of
the T.V. appearance, but also helped him choose the now familiar
name, Adam Faith. Faith's debut disc combined '(Got a) Heartsick
Feeling' with 'Brother Heartache & Sister Tears', and was
released in January 1958. It received very little publicity either
in the form of music press coverage or from EMI's own advertisement
department. Not surprisingly it failed to make any impression on
the charts. Despite all Good's confidence in him, he failed to make
any immediate impression on television either, but gave him another
opportunity when he booked him to appear in his stage show version
of Six-Five Special. 'The John Barry Seven' were also
on the bill and this brief first meeting with Barry was later to
prove of vital importance. However, the stage show wasn't the success
Good envisaged, and after just four performances, Faith found himself
out of work.
Faith,
as ever the survivor, swallowed his pride and made the painful decision
to abandon his show-biz career by returning to the film cutting
world. Despite this, HMV released his second single in December
of the same year, a cover of Jerry Lee Lewis' 'High School Confidential',
backed with 'Country Music Holiday'. Apart from scant attention
in the music press, mainly to the effect that he was covering a
Jerry Lee song, it attracted no publicity whatsoever. After a couple
of temporary jobs back in the business, he found a job as a cutter
at the National Studios at Elstree. It was while he was there
he received a phone call from John Barry in March of 1959, inviting
him to audition for Drumbeat. This new programme was an attempt
by BBC television to counter ATV's popular Oh Boy! show.
After sufficiently impressing producer Stewart Morris, he landed
an initial contract for three shows which was later extended to
the full 22 week run. Drumbeat commenced in April and the
following month, Faith, although out of contract with HMV, was once
again heard on vinyl; performing one track, 'I Vibrate', as part
of a six-track E.P. released by the Fontana label. Fontana's
publicity claimed this to be "a direct recording from a BBC telecast!"
Fortune
once again smiled on Faith when Barry introduced him to his own
manager, the redoubtable Eve Taylor. Taylor, whose father was a
show-business impresario of some renown, was steeped in the tradition
and was herself part of a comedy and tap-dancing act during the
thirties. Since becoming an agent she had established a reputation
for never accepting anything less than the best for her clients,
and many an errant theatre manager had experienced the lash of her
biting tongue! She readily agreed to take him on, and immediately
set about changing his image and appearance, securing him another
recording contract, initially with Top Rank.
His
only record for them ('Ah, Poor Little Baby' / 'Runk Bunk')
was released on the 6th June, with only the former side benefiting
from an arrangement and accompaniment by John Barry. Both sides,
incidentally, were produced by Tony Hatch, just prior to his appointment
as an A & R manager at Pye/Piccadilly Records. Unfortunately,
the record once again failed to attract the pop pundit, but on this
occasion Faith was clearly hindered by a total absence of publicity
caused by the release date unluckily coinciding with a national
printing strike! Despite the failure of his first three records,
Faith was becoming very well known and popular through his Drumbeat appearances. Acting still held a sway for him, and in August he
announced his intention of taking drama and elocution classes, in
order to enhance his acting potential. It was about half-way through
the Drumbeat series when Faith attracted the attention of film producer
George Willoughby, who was searching for a young pop singer to appear
in his new film, 'Beat Girl', then in pre- production stage. Although
Faith had little record success up till then, Willoughby was struck
by his stage presence and so signed him on the strength of this.
The script called for Faith to sing a couple of songs. As Barry
was by then arranging not only Faith's recordings but also his live Drumbeat material, it came as no surprise when the film company
asked him to write the score to accompany Faith's big screen debut
- Barry's own very first steps into the world of film music composing.
His
success on Drumbeat enabled Eve Taylor to secure him another recording
contract - this time with Parlophone. The quest for suitable material
to launch the Parlophone debut began in earnest and was eventually
resolved out of a friendship built up on Drumbeat. A study of the
Drumbeat scripts reveal how Faith had initially concentrated on
singing a large proportion of cover versions; the majority, up-tempo
slices of American rock 'n' roll. A significant turning point ensued
when he asked to perform his own version of the current Cliff Richard
hit - 'Living Doll'. It became apparent to Barry that Faith's vocal
delivery was more attractive in a gentler mode, and, as a result
of this discovery, decided to concentrate on delivering this kind
of material. Nevertheless, before this first Parlophone single was
issued, Faith made his label debut on the live Drumbeat album,
recorded on the 10th May at Abbey Road Studios, London and released
two months later. On this LP, the rock 'n' roll influence remained.
Faith sang three numbers - 'Say Mama', 'C'mon Everybody' and 'Believe
What You Say' all accompanied by John Barry.
The
Drumbeat LP also showcased the performing talents of one Johnny
Worth, a member of The Raindrops vocal trio. Worth was to
become the final piece in the Parlophone backroom jigsaw that catapulted
Faith from contender to champion in the pop market place. Worth,
born in Battersea, London on 21st June 1931, began working as a
draughtsman prior to his compulsory two years national service.
On returning to civvy street, he was determined to stay out of office
work and make his name as a singer. Like many singers, he also aspired
towards song-writing although his first three attempts were rejected
out of hand by music publishers. However, when Faith, striking up
a friendship with him on the Drumbeat set, asked if he had any material
suitable for recording, Worth approached JB7 pianist Les Reed to
help him arrange a demo of one of these initial songs - 'What Do
You Want?'. Barry has always been credited with the idea of using
pizzicato strings (inspired by Buddy Holly's "Raining In My Heart"),
but according to Worth, this was entirely his own brainchild. Because
he was still under contract to Oriole, Worth felt the need to adopt
a pseudonym whilst writing songs and so was born Les Vandyke. This
was derived by combining Reed's own first name with Worth's London
telephone exchange!
Barry
was suitably impressed enough with the demo to commence working
on an arrangement for the song using that same Buddy Holly influenced
pizzicato style. According to Faith, the singing style he adopted
for this now legendary recording, was based on coaching he received
from Roy Young, another Drumbeat cast member. Having heard Faith
rehearsing it during a shared car journey, he made a number of suggestions,
in particular persuading him to alter his pronunciation of 'baby'
to 'bay-beh'. 'What Do You Want?' (c/w 'From Now Until
Forever') was recorded at Abbey Road studios on September 25th
1959 - a mere month after Drumbeat ended. At the same time Faith
was also signed to appear in an episode of Rediffusion's No Hiding
Place TV series. Norman Newell, Faith and Barry's A & R
manager, was unable to produce the recording session. As a result,
assistant John Burgess took the helm in his absence, and was to
do so for the remainder of Faith's EMI career. According to Barry,
on hearing the record, one of EMI's executives publicly declared
his disapproval, vowing that Barry would on no account ever be allowed
to take part in any more sessions! After the recording Barry admitted
that both he and Faith were despondent following previous commercial
failures. This time they were determined to impose their own personal
tastes far more emphatically than they had done previously, when
the flavour of the day tended to override aesthetic considerations.
Despite
favourable reviews of 'What Do You Want?', on its 24th October release
date in both The New Musical Express and Disc, manager
Eve Taylor still insisted that Faith's future lay in acting. Keith
Fordyce, writing in the former, praised Barry's arrangement and
choice of instrumentation - Jack Good, columnist in its rival, applauded
the production, tipping chart success on both sides of the Atlantic.
EMI, perhaps scenting success, mounted a strong advertising campaign
- promoting the single far more vigorously than either of Faith's
first two HMV releases.
In
the following issue of Disc, Eve Taylor, recognising good
copy when she saw it, claimed Faith had definitely made his last
record to concentrate on acting, citing his appearance in a ninety-minute
drama for Rediffusion TV at the end of year, as evidence. Despite
this, 'What Do You Want?' was given a considerable boost when it
was played and voted a unanimous hit on BBC TV's Juke Box Jury,
and when Faith sang it live on an edition of ATV's Boy Meets
Girl.
On
the 14th November, the first tangible sign of chart recognition
was apparent when The Record Mirror's 'British Only' chart
listed 'What Do You Want?' as a new entry at number nine. Clearly,
interest was growing, to a point when it entered the N.M.E. charts at number eighteen the following week. Adam Faith, singer,
had clearly arrived. His mentor, Jack Good, whilst applauding his
success, claimed his acting actually improved his singing. He also
mentioned that the song was initially rejected by Johnny Kidd, although
Worth denied this, maintaining that he had refused permission for
Kidd to use it when the singer had wanted to give it a rock 'n'
roll treatment. Another surprise arrived with the revelation that
the orchestral backing consisted of just four strings, with two
tenor saxes suggesting the sound of a cello.
By
December, Faith was number one in the N.M.E. charts. He confessed
to being terrified of becoming just another overnight sensation
and was therefore determined to continue to develop his acting skills
by way of special training at the Royal Court Theatre. He admitted
to enjoying Frank Sinatra, 'Peter Gunn', Sibelius' 1st Symphony
and playing golf - tastes considered rather esoteric and sophisticated
for a typical teenager of the period! At this stage, he still lived
at home in Acton with his parents, an older sister, a twin brother
& sister - another brother having already married and left the
roost.
Any
one-hit wonder will tell you of the problems associated with finding
an equally memorable follow up. Not surprisingly, the Faith management
decided to rely on the Worth / Barry team for inspiration, and this
proved a wise move. At the recording session, John Burgess again
took charge of production, since Norman Newell was afraid of upsetting
a winning formula. On the 15th January, 'Poor Me' was released
with 'WDYW' still at number two in the charts! Faith had finished
recording his Beat Girl songs just three days previously
and had signed to appear in another film - Moment Of Truth.
The following day, he received a silver disc for 'What Do You Want',
awarded for sales of 250,000 and appeared on BBC Radio's Saturday
Club, following this with a guest appearance on the Beverley
Sister's TV show on 25th January, where he sang 'Poor Me'. This
song, another originally rejected by several music publishers in
its original incarnation as 'Poor Man', shot to number one in the
U.K. charts, despite some criticism from Buddy Holly fans. It was
felt by some that Faith and Barry were contriving a backing and
singing style that leaned far too heavily on the late lamented singer.
The first Faith hit was compared principally to 'It Doesn't Matter
Anymore' while 'Poor Me' was likened to 'Heartbeat'. Barry certainly
never denied the accusation although it is probably fairer to say
he adopted rather than copied the sound; an individual sound which
itself was soon to be widely imitated throughout the popular music
scene.
After
the success of 'Poor Me', Faith - the 'reluctant' pop-singer - revealed
how much he wanted to sustain his chart success! His new film, now
retitled Never Let Go, commenced filming on 22nd February,
and starred Peter Sellers and Richard Todd. With his newly acquired
wealth generated from two number one singles, he announced his plan
to buy a new car, a new house for his parents and to invest the
rest! (a significant move in light of his subsequent financial success).
He also revealed that 'Poor Me' took longer to make than 'WDYW'
and outlined details of his first album project. At this juncture,
he signed to embark upon his very first variety tour yet fitted
time in to record a couple of tracks for EMI's 'Fings Ain't What
They Used To Be' LP - 'Big Time' and 'Carve Up'. His own debut album, Adam, was scheduled to be recorded in March, touring schedule
permitting.
On
the 18th March, Faith commenced filming on location in Shepherd's
Bush, while his former record company, Top Rank, re-advertised 'Ah
Poor Little Baby' in an attempt to cash in on his popularity. He
finally admitted that he did want to combine singing with an acting
career, and signed for a twelve week summer season at Blackpool's
Hippodrome from 24th June. For the duration of the summer season,
he was joined by 'The John Barry Seven', who had their own spot
in addition to backing him. They were to accompany Faith on numerous
other occasions over the next couple of years, and it is worth mentioning
their regular line-up during this period: JOHN BARRY / BOBBY CARR
(Trumpet), VIC FLICK (Lead Guitar), DOUGIE WRIGHT (Drums), MIKE
PETERS (Bass), LES REED (Piano), JIMMY STEAD (Baritone Sax) and
DENNIS KING (Tenor Sax).
At
a presentation for another silver disc, this time for sales of 'Poor
Me', Faith commented at length on John Barry's contribution to his
success and didn't, at this stage, envisage making records without
him. His third Parlophone 45, 'Big Time' / 'Someone Else's Baby', was released on the 8th April while 'Poor Me' was still at fifteen
in the charts, and was advertised as a double 'A' side, in an attempt
to demonstrate Faith's versatility. 'Big Time' was an archetypal
big band show stopper taken from Lionel Bart's musical, Fings
Ain't What They Used To Be. Here was Faith in quite a different
guise. The flip, however, owed more to the usual formula, though
on this occasion, Faith's enunciation of 'baby' was even more exaggerated.
The song was written mainly by Perry Ford, with some help from Johnny
Worth, who, at this point, revealed his rather curious way of composing
- using an old out-of-tune piano given to him by his father-in-law.
Needless
to say, another big hit ensued with Faith just denied his third
consecutive number one by the Everly Brothers' 'Cathy's Clown'.
It is tempting to speculate that perhaps he would have achieved
a notable hat-trick of number ones had it not been for the additional
competition, somewhat ironically, from Johnny Worth himself! Not
content with the composer royalties from Faith's massive record
sales, and with his Oriole contract now at an end, he recorded his
own cover versions for one of Oriole's subsidiary labels, Embassy,
whose distribution was confined to the huge Woolworth chain.
As these records were considerably cheaper than those put out by
the majors, and always consisted of two current hits (albeit cover
versions) sales were quite respectable.
A
mere week after the release of Faith's third single, he appeared
on another fresh recording - the soundtrack LP to the film, BEAT
GIRL - at a time when the film had yet to surface in the cinema.
This attracted more excellent reviews and reached the top ten in
the U.K. album charts. Though this was in the main a John Barry
instrumental album, three songs were sung by Faith and this fact
alone could only have enhanced sales. One of these songs, 'The Beat
Girl Song', written by Barry and Trevor Peacock, failed to appear
in the film itself. However, another - 'Made You' - was to form
part of the next Faith single released in June.
Directly,
prior to this, Faith received the ultimate show-biz accolade when
he was invited to perform in the Royal Variety Show on Monday 16th
May. It was the first of the series to be televised (on the 22nd
May) and was presented at the Victoria Palace, London. Faith, dressed
completely in white, sang 'What Do You Want' & 'Play It Cool',
then changed into top hat and tails for the grand finale. A glance
at the review of the show indicates that Faith was the most favourably
received on a bill which also included Cliff Richard and Lonnie
Donegan, although the twenty guinea-a-head audience didn't really
appreciate the 'teenage spot' in the show.
'When
Johnny Comes Marching Home' was recorded on 25th May, with Faith
and the JB7 travelling down to London from Shrewsbury to do so.
Three days later, Never Let Go was favourably reviewed in
the music press, and premiered on 2nd June at the Leicester Square
Odeon, London. This, Faith's second film, starred Peter Sellers
in a rare villainous role alongside Richard Todd and Elizabeth Sellars.
Faith, himself, played the part of Tommy Towers - a small-time tearaway.
On this occasion, his only musical contribution was to sing 'Johnny'
over the end titles. Barry adapted the traditional American folk
song, while Lionel Bart, oddly, credited under the pseudonym John
Maitland, updated the lyrical content. At this point, Beat Girl was still waiting in the queue of X certificate films to be released.
'Made
You' / 'When Johnny Comes Marching Home' was released on 17th
June, a week after Faith turned down an offer to act in Irish
Jade, another George Willoughby production. The first pressing
of 'Made You' amounted to a phenomenal 80,000 copies, based on initial
enquiries through dealers and was aided and abetted by publicity
resulting from Faith's appearance on ITV's Cool For Cats and Saturday Club. Once again, the single was released with
Faith's previous record - on this occasion 'Someone Else's Baby'
- still firmly entrenched in the top twenty. By now, Faith was also
receiving good notices for his concert performances (most notably
at the Blackpool Hippodrome), while in the NME's June chart survey,
he even overtook Cliff Richard! Both sides of the new release made
the top ten, despite a BBC airplay ban for 'Made You', on the grounds
of exhibiting a lewd and salacious lyric!
On
Sunday 14th August the much delayed recording of Adam finally
started with Faith and the JB7 travelling down to London from Blackpool
overnight. A six-hour session ensued which was repeated the following
Sunday. During a discussion after the session, Faith revealed a
desire to do a TV and West End play as well as becoming an LP artist,
while John Barry announced his intention of toning down the pizzicato
effect on Faith's next single. This was released on September 9th,
combining 'How About That' with 'With Open Arms'.
Apparently, manager Evelyn Taylor, jokingly suggested to Worth that
he should write a song entitled ‘How About That Then?' in recognition
of one of her most well-used phrases. Worth duly obliged, more as
a joke than anything else, yet didn't tell anyone until he'd finished
it. The finished product, shortened to 'How About That', became
another huge hit for the team. Barry, commenting on the arrangement
said, "I've used strings and rhythm as before for the main side,
but kept the pizzicato down to a minimum." However, the difference
was not all that apparent, although the 'b' side, a Burt Bacharach
/ Hal David composition, featured the distinctive sound of a tuba.
During
the following month, Eve Taylor revealed in an interview how impressed
she was with Faith's mature outlook towards stardom, ever eager
to seek advice. For example, on her suggestion, he readily agreed
to work on stage without the John Barry Seven, knowing full well
he would not always be able to rely on them. In a music paper poll,
'How About That' was voted third best disc of the year, behind Apache & Please Don't Tease. Faith himself was voted eighteenth
most popular world musical personality, seventh world male singer,
third British vocal personality and second British male singer.
His success was splendid news for film producer George Willoughby,
who was looking for a means of promoting Beat Girl, on the
eve of its impending release. Although Faith had a sizeable part
in this film he was by no means its star. Nevertheless, Willoughby
was able to exploit his pop-star status by selling Beat Girl on
his name. It finally opened at the London Pavilion on 28th October,
to very mixed reviews, though Faith's own performance and the music
were highly commended.
Christmas
1960 was fast approaching and, in keeping with the tradition of
the day, Faith went into rehearsals for pantomime, where he was
signed to play the bosun's mate in Dick Whittington at Wimbledon.
The panto opened on Christmas Eve, and it was there where Faith
revealed a desire to widen the scope of film roles offered to him.
After playing two rebellious characters, he was conscious of becoming
typecast.
With
the pantomime role in mind, his management team decided to issue
a novelty Christmas song with the added advantage of being suitable
for inclusion in his singing spot. The session took place, as usual,
at Abbey Road on 30th October. For once, Johnny Worth composed neither
side. The 'A' side, Lonely Pup, was written by Scottish bandleader
Archie Alexander. Freddy Poser of Mills Music explained how this
came about: "Archie brought it in to me and wanted a decision on
the spot. I liked it so I took a chance and accepted it with Adam
in mind. When I took it round and showed it to him, Eve Taylor and
John Barry, they all flipped for it at once." The 'B' side, 'Greenfinger',
was written by Jack Lewis. True to form, the record again made the
top ten, but Barry's arrangement for 'Lonely Pup' was criticised
by Nina and more particularly by her singing partner Frederik on
the BBC TV programme, Juke Box Jury. When asked to comment
on this, Faith said that he felt the duo were out of touch with
the current music scene.
The
album Adam was released on 4th November to much acclaim -
as much for the inventiveness of musical director John Barry's arrangements,
as for Faith's own performances. The breadth of chosen material
ranged from standards as diverse as 'Summertime', 'Hit The Road
To Dreamland' and 'Singin' In The Rain' to more contemporary
songs, such as Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman's 'I'm A Man', Johnny
Worth's 'Fare Thee Well My Pretty Maid', and Howard Guyton's 'Wonderful Time'.
December
brought two more significant events in the ever-changing world of
Adam Faith. Firstly he bought a Hampton Court house for, 6000, where
he moved with the rest of his family from the Acton council house.
Secondly, he was invited and agreed to appear on BBC TV's controversial
yet prestigious Face To Face programme - a major coup this,
for Faith. Transmitted live on December 11th, Faith surprised many
a viewer by dint of his resolution and alertness in the face of
some tough questioning from presenter John Freeman.
Dick
Whittington duly opened with the very first performance lasting
a marathon three and a half hours, culminating in a 25 minute impromptu
concert, during which time he performed most of his hits. He opened
with the recent Bob Luman hit, 'Let's Think About Living' and ended
with 'Lonely Pup', on which he was joined by children invited from
the audience. Johnny Worth specially altered some of the lyrics
to fit in with the pantomime's plot. Drawing a spectacular 1960
to a close, Faith and Barry appeared on Christmas Eve's Saturday
Club, at a time when both his current E.P. and L.P. were top five
in their respective charts.
1961
got off to a fine start when, on the 13th February, Faith received
a silver disc for sales of 'Lonely Pup' from Sir Joseph Lockwood.
He was also reported to be considering an offer to appear in a film
going into production on 30th March entitled On The Fiddle,
although nothing transpired of this. January also saw Faith bouncing
back after the somewhat lack-lustre critical response to his Christmas
record, with a double 'A' sided Johnny Worth penned effort, 'Who
Am I?' / 'This Is It'.
Don
Nicholls, of Disc, writing in the vernacular of the day,
enjoyed the record: "'Who Am I?' is a very brisk romancer which
lilts along brilliantly to a strings and chorus backing (the Vernons
Girls) directed as always by John Barry. I like the wide open noise
of this half. Faith's performance is as good, perhaps better than
ever. 'This Is It' is also riding a quick pace with strings a-plucking
and chorus ah-ahing in the rear. Tune's a simple one, and the lyric
matches. Polished arrangement and performance lift it high. With
either half - another hit." Although this review is undeniably couched
in the non-critical style evocative of its time, it does, however,
clearly illustrate Faith's elevated status in the music industry
during 1961. As predicted, both sides climbed into the top ten bringing
the Faith/Barry/Worth team to the fore once more. Faith celebrated
its success by consulting Sir Gordon Richards about the feasibility
of buying a race-horse.
During
March, Faith recorded 'Something's Cookin'' at Shepperton Studios
for the soundtrack of the film, The Kitchen. Written by Worth,
but this time accompanied by Johnny Dankworth, it was surprisingly
overlooked for commercial release; all the more surprising given
Faith's considerable fan-base. On 5th March he appeared at the N.M.E
poll-winners concert (televised on 25th March by ATV) and on 12th
March was the mystery guest on BBC TV's What's My Line. At
the concert, he sang 'Wonderful Time', 'Singin' In The Rain', 'What
Do You Want?', 'Worried Man', 'Lonesome Traveller', 'Who Am I?'
& 'When Johnny Comes Marching Home'.
The
release of the next single, 'Easy Going Me' / 'Wonderin''- on
22nd April 1961, saw Faith renew his acquaintance with Lionel Bart,
who wrote the 'A' side. All the characteristic ingredients were
evident but, in the midst of some luke-warm reviews, the record
only reached number 12. From certain quarters of the music press,
criticism was levelled at the arrangement. Faith's records and arrangements
were, it was suggested, becoming a little too predictable and formalised.
Nevertheless, the record remained in the charts for ten weeks. Faith's
new film, What A Whopper, started filming at Pinewood on
23rd May, where, in spite of emphatic denials, he was linked romantically
with actress Juliet Mills, following sightings of them out together.
On the 23rd June, in celebration of his 21st birthday, Disc presented him with a special E.P. record containing spoken tributes
from Barry, Worth, Newell, Taylor, Good & Cliff Richard.
His
subsequent single released on 14th July, was clearly a response
to the criticism attached to the previous release, for what was
noticeable on 'Don't You Know It', was the complete absence
of pizzicato strings. Suddenly, here was an Adam Faith 45 that didn't
possess the archetypal Faith sound. Experimentation was the key
buzzword on this release, one which was dominated by Ted Taylor
on clavioline. In truth, the song was simply stylised in the standard
pop form of the day in typical ‘Runaway’ style. Faith
couldn't please everyone, however, as some reviewers this time round
accused him of being too gimmicky. The flip-side, 'My Last Wish',
was the first occasion on which Barry and Johnny Worth combined
to write a song. Ultimately, the record made exactly the same progress
chart-wise as its predecessor.
Following
his 21st birthday, Faith decided to re-negotiate contracts originally
signed for him by his parents, as he was now no longer a minor in
the eyes of the law. He signed a ten year agreement with Eve Taylor,
after she persuaded him otherwise - he apparently wanted a much
longer term! For his Holiday show - a seven week tour of
coastal towns beginning at Southampton on 3rd July - The Red
Price Combo provided the backing, as the JB7 were not on the
bill. In September, during the same month he started recording his
new album (Adam Faith), he embarked upon a new venture, a
fortnight in cabaret. Backed by the JB7 rhythm section during a
fifty minute set and watched by many celebrities, his debut in this
field proved successful despite his misfortune in slipping, then
falling over after his opening number on the very first night. His
short cabaret run was followed by a one-hour TV spectacular on 30th
September for ATV.
Adam
Faith's third film, the comedy What A Whopper, was premiered
during the summer although the title song was not considered strong
enough for single release. Instead he chose a song from the film,
entitled 'The Time Has Come' written, as usual by Johnny
Worth. This reached number four in the charts, and fared better
than the film, which opened at the Rialto, London on 28th September,
to a terrible pasting from the press. In reaching number eleven
in November, 'The Time Has Come', ended a six weeks absence from
the charts - his longest gap since 'What Do You Want?'. Faith was
reported to be still very keen on pursuing a film career, but not
on embarking on a stage musical. A recording of ATV's All Kinds
Of Music, was accompanied by the welcome news that the N.M.E. December poll results placed him at number nine in the world musical
personality ratings, sixth world male singer, first British musical
personality (ahead of Richard & Donegan) and second British
male singer (behind Richard). 'The Time Has Come' was even voted
seventh best British disc of the year; Faith's hard core following
were obviously NME readers!
The New Musical Express, itself, responded to criticism from
Faith fans that the paper had previously treated him unfairly in
relation to their coverage of Cliff Richard and Elvis Presley, by
printing a track by track review of his next album - which they
loved! The fourteen-track LP included three songs composed by writer/actor
Trevor Peacock, who, like Johnny Worth, had first encountered Faith
on the set of Drumbeat when he acted as compere. Among the tracks
were Peacock’s 'As Long As You Keep Loving Me', 'Watch
Your Step' (the subsequent single), 'A Help-Each-Other-Romance',
'Sho Know A Lot About Love', and an excellent version
of Buddy Holly's 'I'm Gonna Love You Too'.
The
arrival of 1962 coincided with a distinct change of approach, with
the release on 20th January of a ballad, 'Lonesome'. Admittedly
the flip, a raucous vocal version of the recent JB7 instrumental, 'Watch Your Step', was more in character but in 'Lonesome',
Faith took an artistic gamble in promoting this slower number as
the 'A' side. Most reviewers welcomed the change of mood and couldn't
see the disc failing at all, whilst a few wondered how Faith's following
would react. In the event the record peaked at number 12 and spent
9 weeks in the charts and so the gamble could be said to have paid
off. Certainly Faith was reported as being happy with the change.
By
this time, Faith was very much part of pop's cognoscenti. He was
booked for the N.M.E. Poll winners concert on 15th April, and declared
his intention of forming a new unit to accompany him for this and
subsequent engagements. On the 28th January, he appeared on BBC
TV's Meeting Point and discussed both religious and moral
issues with the Archbishop of York - Dr. Donald Coggan; some subsequent
reports of these talks erroneously attribute them to the Face
To Face programme. The interview was later covered in Time magazine. In view of his frequent television, radio and recording
sessions, Faith decided he needed a London retreat and duly purchased
a flat in the West End.
On
February 12th, he recorded the Johnny Worth song, 'You Can Do
It If You Try', but this was never released in any form at the
time. This was probably due to the impending release of Peter Gordeno's
own vocal version, using a very similar Barry arrangement.
In
March Faith undertook an eleven day nature cure at a Surrey rest
home. He had not stopped touring and recording for eight months
and was completely fatigued. Tiring though these tours may have
been, Vic Flick, lead guitarist and eventual leader of the John
Barry Seven, fondly recalls days when the Seven were backing Faith
on tour. In particular, he recalls many occasions when drummer Dougie
Wright (who bore a passing resemblance to Faith) teased Faith's
patiently waiting female following to the point of ecstatic frenzy
whenever he momentarily appeared from out of a dressing room window,
as they were convinced they had caught a glimpse of the man, himself!
On another occasion, Flick remembers an incident when Faith and
the members of the band, armed themselves with water pistols, hid
behind the stage curtains and soaked comedian Don Arrol in the middle
of his act. However, drummer Wright was not so amused when the prank
was turned on him - whilst he was in the midst of a frenetic drum
solo! Flick recently remarked that these high spirits were their
way of avoiding travel fatigue. A few years later, 'The Who', with
their own solution to letting off steam, developed the water treatment
theme a little further by driving cars into Hotel swimming-pools!
At
the Surrey retreat, Faith absorbed the script for his next film
project, Mix Me a Person, which was due to start filming
immediately after this short period of recuperation. He also revealed
that he was writing a comedy script with his agent, Colin Berlin.
Recording sessions, however, always took priority. On 29th March,
therefore, Faith embarked upon further recordings with the John
Barry Orchestra, some destined for Mix Me A Person. His new
single, 'As You Like It' coupled with the tongue-in-cheek 'Face To Face' was released on 28th April, and climbed to
number five, ensuring Faith his thirteenth consecutive hit - one
more than his main rival Cliff Richard had achieved at this stage.
Eve Taylor announced that he would star as Aladdin in pantomime
that Xmas in Bournemouth.
On
24th May he appeared on Dan Farson Meets and on 23rd June, Thank Your Lucky Stars. August dawned with good reviews
for Mix Me A Person which opened in London. This, his fourth
film, was a thriller in which his character (Harry Jukes) spent
a great deal of time behind bars. He did manage to sing a couple
of songs, however, en route; the title song and a version of 'La
Bamba' both emanating from that March session with Barry.
One
of the biggest news items in the music industry that autumn stemmed
from the surprise decision from the Barry and Faith camp to sever
musical links - a purely amicable arrangement designed to enable
both parties to develop alternative projects. Barry explained the
motives behind this move more fully in an interview with Record
Mirror's Peter Jones: "In the early days, Johnny Worth, Adam and
I were concentrating on one thing, Adam's records. We were after
bread. We were all starting in the business and we were all ambitious.
But towards one end only. We were all in the same boat but eventually
you reach a climax in all that channelled activity. I'd say it is
impossible for three people to stick together permanently in this
way. You are bound to develop into different adult channels. We
wanted financial gains. When you've got those, you can relax and
choose your work. It's a matter of sitting back and considering
precisely what you want to do in your career. Do you want to be
tied by the boundaries of pop music? Do you want to include all
kinds of music? Or all art forms? As an artist, a musician, you
can learn something from all forms.....From literature, films and
comedy. So no, it wasn't a surprise I left. But you might say it
was a surprise I stayed so long."
Once
the successful Barry/Faith/Worth triumvirate was finally laid to
rest, Faith, in essence, became a singer in regular search of a
new direction. From that moment on, he tended to follow the prevailing
musical trend rather than set new ones; a fact borne out with each
subsequent release. The 'Adam Faith Sound' clearly belonged to a
different era. Nevertheless, Faith saw this as a means of moving
with the times and although each release did reflect current tastes,
he still succeeded in releasing a succession of fine records.
Johnny
Keating was the arranger selected to follow in Barry's illustrious
footsteps. Their session produced 'Don't That Beat All',
arranged in the style of the black American 'hully gully' sound,
dubbed 'Country Gully' by Johnny Worth, who had previously written
successfully in this style for Eden Kane. The film theme song, 'Mix
Me A Person', constituted the flip-side, while, at the same
time a new album was being planned, to incorporate new backings
and arrangements at Faith's insistence. A new BBC TV series, Adam
Faith Sings Songs Old And New, commenced on 19th September -
six half-hour shows, all telerecorded the previous evening. Keating
acted as the orchestral arranger while The Roulettes, making
their TV debut, were introduced as Faith's new on-stage backing
group.
The
Roulettes initially consisted of: John Rogers (leader) - bass guitar,
Bob Henrit - drums, Peter Thorpe - lead guitar, and Alan 'Honk'
Jones - saxophone. However, the sax was soon replaced by rhythm
guitarist Henry Stracey, who also played bass guitar, piano &
banjo. Despite the Juke Box Jury panel voting the new single a miss,
it duly entered the charts on 30th August and in peaking at number
eight, became Faith's tenth top-ten record, remaining in the charts
for a total of eleven weeks. It was reported that the new album, From Adam With Love, scheduled for Christmas, would contain
tracks in the country and western idiom; a policy presumably influenced
by Ray Charles' dramatic impact in that vein during 1962.
Faith
flew to Australia on 21st October with John Leyton for an 18 day
tour that also encompassed New Zealand & Hong Kong, returning
to his new home in Esher, Surrey; a 'manor-type' house set in an
acre of landscaped garden. The house itself included a ground floor
billiards room and a blue-carpeted bedroom housing a white, silk-covered
king-sized bed - with an adjoining wardroom. What's more, he employed
a butler, maid, gardener and valet! How times had changed from those
childhood days in Acton.
24th
November saw the simultaneous release of his next single, 'Baby
Take A Bow', with the 12 track From Adam With Love album.
Other tracks included 'Ballad Of A Broken Heart', '(I'm) Knocking
On Wood' (the 'B' side of 'Baby Take A Bow'), 'Learning To
Forget' and 'You 'N' Me'. On discussing his new single, Faith
admitted that the arrangement for 'Baby Takes A Bow' owed a debt
to the style of John Barry, but didn't necessarily believe this
was a regressive step. Both sides, on which Faith was again accompanied
by Johnny Keating, were written by Johnny Worth, but it stalled
at number twenty-two. Faith attributed his poor chart placing to
the recent bad weather (fog and smog). Climatic changes notwithstanding,
it slipped out of the charts after only six weeks and was Faith's
least successful record since his career took off. Incidentally,
"Baby Take A Bow" was to be the last Faith hit composed by Johnny
Worth, although he continued to write hits for other artists during
the remainder of the sixties. Faith ended 1962 back on stage in
panto at Bournemouth, starring in Aladdin.
Faith
released his first single of 1963 on 25th January, coupling 'What
Now', written by Finnish songwriter James Jacques, with 'What Have I Got?', penned by Johnny Worth. After the relative
failure of his last single, Faith was grateful for the opportunity
of singing it on Thank Your Lucky Stars the day after its
release, but the record proved less successful than its predecessor
in terms of both chart placing (thirty-one) and time spent in the
charts (five weeks). Meanwhile, The Roulettes, who had released
their own first record, an instrumental version of 'La Bamba' the
previous October, underwent another change of personnel, when Russell
Ballard took over from Henry Stracey. He was actually recruited
to play keyboards but proved so accomplished a guitarist that he
was soon sharing lead parts with Peter Thorpe. They were forced
to make one final change two months later, after the tragic death
of bassist John Rogers, killed in a car crash; with John 'Mod' Rogan,
who hailed from West Hartlepool, taking over.
By
now, the Beatles were emerging as a considerable force on the British
pop scene. Faith, like many established acts of the period, was
forced to sit up and take notice! Certainly Johnny Worth was all
too aware of the competition. He had just taken delivery of a brand
new E-type Jaguar car when he heard Please Please Me and
recalls this as the point when he realised that life in the cut-throat
world of song-writing was sure to become far more difficult for
him. As a result, even more care than usual was taken over the choice
of Faith's next single, the release of which was delayed until the
22nd June. 'Walkin' Tall' / 'Just Mention My Name' emerged
as the final choice and was once again arranged by Johnny Keating.
Despite all the care and attention given to this selection, the
record fared only marginally better than 'What Now' peaking at number
twenty-three. Faith, with the Roulettes in tow, started a Bridlington
summer season on 24th June, undeterred, and was said to be in line
for the title role in a forth-coming West-End musical, Tom Sawyer,
written & scored by Tom Boyd, despite previous misgivings expressed
about this genre.
Now
that the Mersey sound was beginning to dominate the charts, there
was a definite need for some fresh thinking and a change of strategy.
Manager Eve Taylor decided to team Faith with a promising but untried
songwriter from Dagenham, Chris Andrews, who'd previously appeared
with his group, Chris Ravel and The Ravens on early editions
of Oh Boy!, and who had paid his dues undertaking a long
and arduous club residency in Hamburg. He rewarded her faith in
him by composing 'The First Time', released on 6th September,
which became Faith's biggest hit for over a year. The 'b' side, 'So Long Baby', was composed, somewhat surprisingly, by veteran
band-leader Cyril Stapleton! Faith vigorously and successfully promoted
'The First Time' with appearances on Saturday Club on 27th
October and ITV's Comedy Bandbox on 9th November. This single
marked the first occasion on which he worked with the Roulettes
in the studio, although Keating remained in charge of the overall
accompaniment.
In
spite of the presence of the Roulettes on the single, however, his
new LP, For You, was to feature thirteen cover versions of
familiar pop hits, in an orchestral setting. Among the tracks chosen
were 'My Kind Of Girl'. 'Let There Be Love' & 'Lazy River'.
As a representative example from this LP, 'Forget Me Not' is included in this package; a Johnny Worth song which had been
a hit for Eden Kane the previous year. On the 4th October, Faith
left for the U.S.A. where he recorded two more Chris Andrews tracks
intended for the Tom Sawyer musical - Talk To Me' & 'Promise
Of Love'. However, shortly after he returned, the production of Tom Sawyer was postponed indefinitely due to the lack of
a suitable theatre in London.
Faith's
recording schedule continued unabated, and on December 7th EMI released
not only the next 45, 'We Are In Love' / 'Made For Me', both
sides penned by Chris Andrews, but also the aforementioned album.
He also announced his intention of starring in the New Years Eve
edition of Ready Steady Go. The overtly Beatle-like 'We Are
In Love' consolidated the impetus generated by 'The First Time',
by reaching number eleven, and running up a total of twelve weeks
in the charts. The December N.M.E. poll, placed Faith as
fourteenth most popular world male singer, twenty-fifth world musical
personality and fourth British male singer. Faith was clearly riding
the Mersey wave with some aplomb. What's more he was invited to
appear on Sunday Night at the Prince of Wales on 22nd December
and Sunday Night at the London Palladium on 29th December
- his first appearance there for three years.
The
Faith/Andrews combination was retained for both sides of his new
single, 'If He Tells You' (which reached number 25 in the
charts). The Roulettes were required once more for backing purposes,
although Ralph Carmichael rather than Johnny Keating took up the
arranging mantle for the 'b' side, 'Talk To Me'. The record
was released at the beginning of March as a precursor to a fully
fledged Andrews composed LP. Entitled On The Move, this album
demonstrated Faith's complete confidence in Andrews' song-writing
ability. However, he did himself few favours when he suggested to
Eve Taylor that Andrews should also start writing for Sandie Shaw,
a singer discovered and introduced to Taylor by Faith himself. Despite
three more minor Andrews-inspired hits, it seemed that the writer
was now concentrating his best efforts for Miss Shaw. Hindsight
proves that this was the right direction to take.
Released
in May, 'I Love Being In Love With You' disappointingly spent
a mere six weeks in the U.K. charts. However, its poor performance
on this side of the Atlantic was offset by the success of its "B"
side, 'It's Alright', in the American Billboard charts
where it reached number 31, thereby securing for Faith his only
real success there to date. He attributed its popularity to its
exposure on American television's Shindig, a show devised
by his old mentor Jack Good, who preferred 'It's Alright''s fashionable
Mersey sound. Americans bought it in sufficient quantities to justify
Good's faith in the song.
Faith's
next release, like its predecessor another Andrews song, was lifted
from the new album. The fact few fans decided to buy it suggested
that they already owned the LP. In order to arrest this current
downward chart spiral, Faith took a different tack direction by
covering Bacharach/David song, 'A Message To Martha', on
which he was accompanied by new musical director Ken Woodman -who
was also working with Sandie Shaw. Bacharach and David were one
of pop's hottest tickets in 1964. Record companies, on this side
of the Atlantic, plundered their back catalogue to provide quality
material for UK acts determined to make an initial chart impact;
Cilla Black and Sandie Shaw among them. Faith was therefore clearly
playing safe, with what turned out to be a fine rendition. In fact,
it restored him to the top twenty over the Christmas period and
was his biggest hit since 'The First Time'. The song was also included
on an e.p. entitled A Message - From Adam, along with the
Chris Andrews composition, 'Come Closer'.
His
partnership with Chris Andrews was revived in February 1965, for
the release of 'Stop Feeling Sorry For Yourself' / 'I've Gotta
See My Baby'. Although reasonably placed at twenty three, it
was becoming evident that Faith, himself, was rapidly becoming disenchanted
with the pop-world. He announced his intention of going into repertory
in an effort to re-establish his acting credentials, which had necessarily
taken a back seat of late. Nevertheless, he continued to record
for Parlophone and on the 23rd March, released 'Hand Me Down
Things', written by American Andrew Sparks, coupled with 'Talk
About Love', another Andrews song. This single completely failed
to capture the imagination of the record-buying public. Perhaps
he simply chose the wrong song on this occasion, for it might have
been a very different story had he chosen instead, another Andrews
song, 'I'll Stop At Nothing', (included on a recent E.P., Songs And Things). Within a few weeks of hearing it, Sandie
Shaw recorded and released her own version which duly reached the
top five!
In
April 1965, Faith took the unusual step of releasing a live album, Faith Alive - live in the sense of being recorded with no
overdubs in front of a specially invited audience at Abbey Road
Studios. On this LP, Faith was backed solely by the Roulettes, and
of the fourteen tracks, only five emanated from Andrews’ pen.
The others comprised of 'classic' rock 'n' roll songs such as 'Little
Queenie' and 'Heartbreak Hotel', together with an acknowledgement
to the Beatles in the form of a version of 'I Wanna Be Your Man'.
This album proved extremely popular and actually reached number
fourteen in the album charts.
'Someone's
Taken Maria Away', provided Faith with another minor hit in
June, but the decline in his popularity was ably demonstrated the
following month, when for the first time since 1960, he was unplaced
in a music paper poll listing top world male vocalists - though
he did manage to scrape into the British section. Although The Roulettes
played on 'Someone's Taken Maria Away', and the subsequent single, 'I Don't Need That Kind Of Lovin'', this turned out to be
their swan-song. On the 7th October, they announced their decision
to concentrate on their own recording career. As Bob Henrit recalls:
"Adam was moving more into ballads, and anyway we felt that we needed
to be a fully-fledged band in our own right, not just a backing
group."
A
Roulette-less Faith found increasing difficulty in finding suitable
material to resuscitate his faltering career. Neither 'Idle Gossip'
nor 'To Make A Big Man Cry' were strong enough to worry his rivals,
although 'If Ever You Need Me', (the former's 'B' side) illustrated
his interpretive skills as a vocalist. Perhaps Faith's heart lay
in a completely different field of entertainment. Music had become,
subconsciously at any rate, little more than a perfunctory chore.
Nevertheless, his spirited cover of Bob Lind's 'Cheryl's Goin'
Home' restored him to the top fifty, albeit briefly, and proved
to be Faith's final chart placing as the lure of the grease paint
beckoned.
Other
releases continued unabated, however. Among 1967's recordings were, 'What More Can Anyone Do' (his final Chris Andrews song), 'Cowman Milk Your Cow' (an early Bee Gees composition), John
D. Loudermilk's 'To Hell With Love' and Tony Romeo's 'Close
The Door'. However, for Faith, the event which overshadowed
all others that year, was undoubtedly his marriage to former dancer,
Jackie Irving. Quite possibly his biggest commercial coup was in
persuading Sandie Shaw to perform and record 'Puppet On A String'
- a decision she was later to regret. Not only did it become the
winner of the Eurovision Song Contest, but it also reached number
one in the U.K. and in a plethora of other European countries. Faith
convinced her it was in her best interests to sing it, after she
had fallen out with Eve Taylor over its merits as a song. Her gratitude
to Faith for his advice was somewhat tempered, however, when Taylor
revealed much later that he had a financial interest in her and
the song's publishers! Clearly Faith's aptitude for spotting an
investment opportunity had not diminished.
Adam
Faith released his last single for EMI in 1968, 'You Make My
Life Worthwhile'. Arranged and conducted by Ken Woodman, it
was an excellent recording which deserved a better fate, but with
Faith opting to make his stage debut playing Feste in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, he was in no position to promote it. In view
of this, both he and EMI decided to part company; Faith, the actor,
was consigning Faith, the pop star, to the annals of music history.
Faith's
success on stage and screen was hardly unexpected, given his thirst
for knowledge and capacity for hard work. He decided to learn stage
craft from first principles in repertory theatre, out of which a
number of small parts initially emanated. This stood him in good
stead, when he was given a more substantial role in Night Must
Fall, playing opposite Dame Sybil Thorndike. In effect, this
amounted to his big break; his stage equivalent of appearing on
'Drumbeat'! In the autumn of '69 he took the lead in a touring version
of Billy Liar, and eighteen months later found renewed television
fame in the title role of Budgie.
Apart
from one comeback album for Warner Bros in 1974, (borne, one suspects,
out of a desire to celebrate in song his full recovery from a near
fatal car crash a year earlier) and an original cast recording he
made of the musical version of Budgie in 1988, Faith has
since concentrated almost solely on acting and has gone a considerable
way to achieving his ambition expressed so lucidly back in 1959,
prior to his nineteenth birthday.
During
the seventies, he impressed both movie-goers and critics alike with
convincing performances in Stardust and McVicar, and
also found time to immerse himself in the management side of the
rock industry. Budding agent and song-writer Dave Courtney (who
Faith knew as a result of his association with The Roulettes) introduced
him to former busker Leo Sayer. Instantly impressed by Sayer's vocal
prowess and song-writing ability, he immediately set out a strategy
for launching his protégée, and, as a direct spin-off,
also produced a solo album for The Who's Roger Daltry, which
contained a selection of Sayer/Courtney songs.
The
eighties saw Faith once again reinvent himself in the public eye,
this time in the form of a self-appointed financial guru and even
wrote a column for THE MAIL ON SUNDAY, aptly titled 'Faith
In The City', which epitomised the "get rich quick" philosophy espoused
in that Thatcher-drenched decade. It ended on something of a sour
note when he was prevented from issuing a free fact sheet which
promised to make its recipients millionaires! This was also a period
when Faith was often heard to be scathing about his own recording
legacy, holding it chiefly responsible for scuppering his attempts
at securing a lasting acting career. As guest at a dinner party
where his old hits were being played, he was chastised by the host
for criticising them so harshly, for rubbishing the very music he
had enjoyed as a youth. Faith was rather taken aback by this accusation
and was forced to re-appraise his feelings for his pop career.
Judging
from subsequent comments made in the media, he has clearly done
so. On the eve of the release of a brand new album, 'Midnight Postcards',
(released in November '93), he told The Daily Mail that he
was no longer dismissive about his pop star roots and saw no incongruency
in combining an acting with a singing career. "I retired from singing
20 years ago so I could be an actor. I had begun to hate my pop
association because I so wanted to act. In those days you couldn't
really do both. Now I realise that the two things I do best are
singing and acting. I'm only sorry that it has taken me so long
to combine the two."
On
stage for some years he performed the title role in Alfie around the provinces, played the narrator in A Chorus Line and very recently toured the UK in Love & Marriage. Often
in demand for television, following his initial success with Budgie,
in the nineties he starred in the highly successful BBC TV drama, Love Hurts, with Zoe Wannamaker; and in 2002 he made the
less popular The House That Jack Built – also
for the BBC.
He
had a heart by-pass operation in the early eighties, but had enjoyed
reasonable health from then onwards. However, the failure of his
cable TV channel, The Money Channel, a couple of years ago,
resulting in his bankruptcy, may have taken its toll. He was planning
a one-man stage performance tour of Britain next year, in which
he would act out his career, including some of the songs which launched
his career. He died at the age of 62 from a heart attack, after
a performance of Love & Marriage, in Stoke-On-Trent.
Geoff
Leonard and Pete Walker
March
2003. |
