Billy Fury: The Sound of Fury

0:00:07 > 0:00:09# Hey, baby

0:00:09 > 0:00:11# Whoa-whoa whoa-whoa

0:00:11 > 0:00:12# I love you

0:00:12 > 0:00:14# Yeah-yeah yeah-yeah

0:00:14 > 0:00:16# I want you

0:00:16 > 0:00:18# Whoa-whoa whoa-whoa

0:00:18 > 0:00:20# Need your love... #

0:00:21 > 0:00:24Billy stood out. He was a star.

0:00:24 > 0:00:27He had 29 hit singles.

0:00:27 > 0:00:29Everybody wanted to look like him.

0:00:30 > 0:00:36There's still people paying homage to Billy Fury. He was fantastic.

0:00:39 > 0:00:43A nice guy who pretty well did what was suggested to him.

0:00:43 > 0:00:46# Just give me one sweet chance... #

0:00:46 > 0:00:49His songs were fantastic, his voice was beautiful,

0:00:49 > 0:00:53charisma oozing out of every pore in his body.

0:00:53 > 0:00:57Billy had it all and although he rocked like the clappers onstage,

0:00:57 > 0:00:58he would collapse afterwards.

0:01:00 > 0:01:04His light had gone out around him. I knew he was on his way.

0:01:04 > 0:01:05# Maybe tomorrow

0:01:05 > 0:01:07# Whoa-whoa whoa-whoa

0:01:07 > 0:01:09# There'll be no sorrow

0:01:09 > 0:01:11# Yeah-yeah yeah-yeah... #

0:01:33 > 0:01:36# One kiss goodbye

0:01:36 > 0:01:39# Last kiss, it meant goodbye... #

0:01:43 > 0:01:49Liverpool was a pretty bleak place, bleak and lonely.

0:01:49 > 0:01:54The black buildings and soot

0:01:54 > 0:01:57and very melancholy in a way.

0:01:57 > 0:02:00It was kind of biblical bleak.

0:02:00 > 0:02:04I mean, the storms and the light shafts cutting through

0:02:04 > 0:02:09and the sea hitting up against that sea wall.

0:02:09 > 0:02:12Before rock and roll and before that sort of mid-'50s, late '50s period,

0:02:12 > 0:02:15it was dull. It was grey.

0:02:15 > 0:02:19It was monochrome in music, in films, in everything.

0:02:19 > 0:02:21There were no sort of British heroes.

0:02:21 > 0:02:25Billy Fury was perfectly placed chronologically to be

0:02:25 > 0:02:28a rock and roll baby and he was also geographically placed.

0:02:28 > 0:02:31When he was first born in Smithdown Road Hospital,

0:02:31 > 0:02:33I had the name of Kenneth.

0:02:33 > 0:02:36I couldn't remember a boy's name,

0:02:36 > 0:02:38and he was going to be Kenneth,

0:02:38 > 0:02:41and me husband came home on leave.

0:02:41 > 0:02:44This nurse said to him, "Do you want to see the Wycherley baby?"

0:02:44 > 0:02:48When he came back, he said to me, "Where did you get Kenneth from?"

0:02:48 > 0:02:51I said, "Oh, you can change it."

0:02:51 > 0:02:55He said, "It's going to be Ronnie" but it could have been Kenneth Fury.

0:02:55 > 0:02:58He was just like any other kid, you know, he was the older brother.

0:02:58 > 0:03:00He done the same as any other kids do.

0:03:00 > 0:03:04Well, what they were like was two devils.

0:03:04 > 0:03:05Just general things that kids do,

0:03:05 > 0:03:09you know, get in a bit of mischief, obviously, because you did.

0:03:09 > 0:03:11But they were mateys.

0:03:11 > 0:03:14I think I was maybe six or seven.

0:03:14 > 0:03:17I remember a sudden absence of him in the house

0:03:17 > 0:03:20and where he was was actually in hospital.

0:03:20 > 0:03:27Both my boys... Both had rheumatic fever as children, both of them,

0:03:27 > 0:03:30and it leaves them with a weak heart and kidney trouble.

0:03:30 > 0:03:32Which I didn't understand, cos I was only a kid,

0:03:32 > 0:03:36but I just thought, "Great, I've got this bedroom to meself."

0:03:36 > 0:03:39Well, when he was 11, he went to piano lessons

0:03:39 > 0:03:45and he wanted to play the quick stuff on the piano, and the teacher

0:03:45 > 0:03:51slapped him on the wrists with the rule and said, "You can't do that."

0:03:51 > 0:03:55And his first piece of music was Oh Mein Papa.

0:03:55 > 0:03:59# Oh, mein Papa... #

0:03:59 > 0:04:02This is where we grew up all around here.

0:04:02 > 0:04:03I don't think many people know

0:04:03 > 0:04:06that Billy Fury went to that school, to be truthful.

0:04:06 > 0:04:10That's when he bought a guitar and he started playing the guitar.

0:04:10 > 0:04:15Mostly he done a lot of learning the guitar in the bedroom,

0:04:15 > 0:04:18things like that, and he managed to have a piano.

0:04:18 > 0:04:21Sometimes he'd get his father when he was on leave.

0:04:21 > 0:04:24My dad used to say, "That's getting on my nerves, that,"

0:04:24 > 0:04:27you know, he says, "that twanging thing going all the time."

0:04:27 > 0:04:34Any piece of paper he'd pick up and he'd write so many words on it,

0:04:34 > 0:04:38so he was thinking of songwriting even at 11.

0:04:39 > 0:04:41In the 1950s, it was very difficult

0:04:41 > 0:04:45to get American rhythm and blues records, and blues records.

0:04:45 > 0:04:47The word "teenager" really wasn't

0:04:47 > 0:04:49coined until about 1950.

0:04:49 > 0:04:53If you were a person of 17, 18, you were a young version of your father.

0:04:53 > 0:04:56The first sports jacket that I bought was something similar

0:04:56 > 0:04:59to what my father had because you wanted to look like him.

0:04:59 > 0:05:03Liverpool rock and roll fans were very lucky because they had

0:05:03 > 0:05:05the services of the Cunard Yanks.

0:05:05 > 0:05:10That was the name given to the men who worked on the boats that

0:05:10 > 0:05:13went back and forth between Liverpool and New York.

0:05:13 > 0:05:17A lot of Liverpool boys would get jobs in the merchant navy,

0:05:17 > 0:05:20and they would bring back records from America,

0:05:20 > 0:05:21so they'd hear them first.

0:05:21 > 0:05:24And this is how people in the Liverpool area got to hear

0:05:24 > 0:05:29the Chuck Berry records and other blues records and R&B records.

0:05:29 > 0:05:34It wasn't like today. You had to really search this stuff out.

0:05:34 > 0:05:37Now you can just go on the internet and source it,

0:05:37 > 0:05:39but in those days it was like a pilgrimage

0:05:39 > 0:05:41and it was a wonderful journey.

0:05:49 > 0:05:52Ken Colyer goes over to New Orleans, he'd jump ship,

0:05:52 > 0:05:54he's working with the merchant navy

0:05:54 > 0:05:56and when he's there he hears all this music

0:05:56 > 0:05:58which is called spasm music, which is basically

0:05:58 > 0:06:03people playing in houses with tin pans and with washboards.

0:06:03 > 0:06:07When he comes back and he's working with Chris Barber,

0:06:07 > 0:06:09he tells them about this form of music that he's heard about.

0:06:09 > 0:06:12They said, "What's it called?" He says, "It's called spasm music."

0:06:12 > 0:06:15Everybody says, "You can't call it spasm music, it sounds really rude,"

0:06:15 > 0:06:18and somebody, it may have been Lonnie Donegan, maybe Chris Barber,

0:06:18 > 0:06:21somebody comes up with the name skiffle.

0:06:21 > 0:06:23# I'm blowin' down this old dusty road, dusty road

0:06:23 > 0:06:27# I'm a-blowin' down this old dusty road

0:06:27 > 0:06:31# I'm a-blowin' down this old dusty road, Lord, Lord... #

0:06:31 > 0:06:37Skiffle was the first real exciting music that we could go and see.

0:06:37 > 0:06:40We'd been big-banded up to then.

0:06:40 > 0:06:43Skiffle is the beginning of the British rock and roll revolution,

0:06:43 > 0:06:46so if you look at people we think of as being the classic innovators,

0:06:46 > 0:06:48if we look at Tommy Steele,

0:06:48 > 0:06:50he's thought of as the first rock and roll star. Actually,

0:06:50 > 0:06:53he comes out of something which is sort of proto-rock and roll.

0:06:53 > 0:06:56At the same time you've got Lonnie Donegan as well.

0:06:56 > 0:06:58# I may be right, I may be wrong

0:06:58 > 0:07:01# I know you're going to miss me when I'm gone

0:07:01 > 0:07:04# Now, the Rock Island Line is a mighty good road... #

0:07:04 > 0:07:08Skiffle music is a music that could be very cheaply made.

0:07:08 > 0:07:09Cheap acoustic guitars,

0:07:09 > 0:07:13you could go to the chandler and get a washboard, for example,

0:07:13 > 0:07:15which you played with thimbles.

0:07:15 > 0:07:20You could get a dustbin and put a pole in it and have a bass,

0:07:20 > 0:07:24so it was a group that you could get together for just a few pounds.

0:07:24 > 0:07:28He wanted to go to sea. The tugs was the nearest thing for him.

0:07:28 > 0:07:33Dad had a friend of his who worked on the tugs and basically

0:07:33 > 0:07:36it was me dad who got him the job on the boats, who put a word in.

0:07:36 > 0:07:40When I went on the tug boats, I learnt a few Lonnie Donegan numbers

0:07:40 > 0:07:42and we used to play these when we had nothing to do,

0:07:42 > 0:07:44in between tides or something.

0:07:44 > 0:07:47# Well, the Cumberland Gap, the Cumberland Gap

0:07:47 > 0:07:48# 15 miles on the Cumberland Gap

0:07:48 > 0:07:50# The Cumberland Gap, the Cumberland Gap

0:07:50 > 0:07:54# 15 miles on the Cumberland Gap. #

0:07:54 > 0:07:58It looked sort of playable, what he was doing,

0:07:58 > 0:08:02and it captured the imagination of so many young people,

0:08:02 > 0:08:05young people barely in their teens at that time,

0:08:05 > 0:08:07to want to sort of play or pick up a guitar,

0:08:07 > 0:08:11have a connection with it, to have a connection with the music.

0:08:11 > 0:08:15And very, very quickly, skiffle becomes rock and roll.

0:08:18 > 0:08:19# Yeah!

0:08:24 > 0:08:28# Well, I think I'll start a layabout trade union

0:08:28 > 0:08:31# So we can stand together for our rights

0:08:31 > 0:08:33# Hey!

0:08:33 > 0:08:36# And if they never give us satisfaction

0:08:36 > 0:08:40# There'll be nothing left for us to do but strike. #

0:08:40 > 0:08:46As a rock and roller, I really have never sort of discovered

0:08:46 > 0:08:51what rock and roll is, because you get so many variations on it.

0:08:51 > 0:08:54I mean, in a way, you could say some of the skiffle was rock and roll,

0:08:54 > 0:08:56which I first started playing.

0:08:56 > 0:08:58You could say Johnnie Ray's stuff is rock and roll

0:08:58 > 0:09:01because he's done stuff that in the meantime Elvis has done,

0:09:01 > 0:09:03like Such A Night, for example.

0:09:03 > 0:09:05# The moon was bright, ooh, how bright

0:09:05 > 0:09:07# It really was such a night... #

0:09:07 > 0:09:11I've never thought, "Well, I'm not doing skiffle now, I'm doing rock and roll."

0:09:11 > 0:09:13It's just, "I'm doing a different type of music."

0:09:13 > 0:09:15In hindsight, all these years later,

0:09:15 > 0:09:17Johnnie Ray was the one who first influenced me

0:09:17 > 0:09:20about doing a different type of music to that which I was used to,

0:09:20 > 0:09:23which was being a chorister in a church choir.

0:09:23 > 0:09:25The whole thing about rock and roll was that when it came out it

0:09:25 > 0:09:28was told wrongly, it was told by the tabloids as being this

0:09:28 > 0:09:31outrageous thing where teenagers went mad and were uncontrolled.

0:09:31 > 0:09:33It was all bollocks. It wasn't like that.

0:09:33 > 0:09:35Most of us were at school.

0:09:35 > 0:09:36Why did she protest?

0:09:36 > 0:09:39She said that it was causing an obstruction

0:09:39 > 0:09:43and the children were acting like hooligans.

0:09:43 > 0:09:46- ARCHIVE NARRATOR:- Bill Haley and his Comets on a personal appearance tour

0:09:46 > 0:09:50had whipped up the enthusiasm of their German fans into a frenzy.

0:09:50 > 0:09:51# Shake, rattle and roll

0:09:51 > 0:09:54# I said shake, rattle and roll

0:09:54 > 0:09:58# Well, you'll never do nothing to save your doggone soul

0:10:00 > 0:10:04# Wearin' those dresses, your hair done up so nice

0:10:07 > 0:10:10# Whole lot of shakin' goin' on

0:10:10 > 0:10:15# Yeah, come along, baby, baby, you can't go wrong... #

0:10:15 > 0:10:18I was there really from the birth of rock and roll.

0:10:18 > 0:10:20I was born in 1944, so

0:10:20 > 0:10:23middle '50s I was still at school,

0:10:23 > 0:10:3013, 14, and Jerry Lee, Chuck Berry, Eddie Cochran, the Everly Brothers,

0:10:30 > 0:10:35Buddy Holly, Presley, these were 100% our heroes.

0:10:35 > 0:10:39Shake it one time for Jerry Lee Lewis! Yeah!

0:10:39 > 0:10:44# Come on over, baby, we got the bull by the horns

0:10:44 > 0:10:47# Yeah, ain't fakin'

0:10:47 > 0:10:50# A whole lot of shakin' goin' on... #

0:10:51 > 0:10:53# Well, Johnny is a joker

0:10:53 > 0:10:54# He's a bird

0:10:54 > 0:10:56# A very funny joker

0:10:56 > 0:10:57# He's a bird

0:10:57 > 0:10:59# But when he jokes my honey

0:10:59 > 0:11:00# He's a dog

0:11:00 > 0:11:02# His joking ain't so funny

0:11:02 > 0:11:04# What a dog

0:11:04 > 0:11:07# Johnny is a joker that's a-trying to steal my baby

0:11:07 > 0:11:08# He's a bird dog. #

0:11:09 > 0:11:12# I'm gonna tell this world that you're mine, mine, mine, mine

0:11:12 > 0:11:15# I chew my nails, I twiddle my thumbs

0:11:15 > 0:11:17# I'm getting nervous but it sure is fun

0:11:17 > 0:11:19# Come on, baby, driving me crazy

0:11:19 > 0:11:24# Goodness gracious, great balls of fire. #

0:11:24 > 0:11:25APPLAUSE

0:11:25 > 0:11:28It was on the radio. It was probably Radio Luxembourg.

0:11:28 > 0:11:30It would have been, cos the BBC wouldn't play it.

0:11:30 > 0:11:33I was doing my homework, so I was probably just 16...

0:11:33 > 0:11:3515, 16, and doing my homework

0:11:35 > 0:11:38and she said, "This next record has been requested by..." blah-blah-blah

0:11:38 > 0:11:41"..and it's by this man who sounds as though he's singing

0:11:41 > 0:11:44"from the bottom of a well and his name is E...Elvis Presley."

0:11:44 > 0:11:46And Heartbreak Hotel came on.

0:11:46 > 0:11:49# Well, since my baby left me

0:11:49 > 0:11:51# I found a new place to dwell

0:11:51 > 0:11:54# Well, it's down at the end of Lonely Street

0:11:54 > 0:11:57# At Heartbreak Hotel... #

0:11:57 > 0:12:00It was like something that had come down from the moon.

0:12:00 > 0:12:03It was so totally unlike anything I had ever heard before.

0:12:03 > 0:12:06Dylan, Lennon, Ringo, Paul, they all heard Elvis

0:12:06 > 0:12:09and thought, "This is different, this is what we are."

0:12:09 > 0:12:12I put down my pen and I was never the same again. I was not

0:12:12 > 0:12:15going to go and work in a bank or an insurance company. That was it.

0:12:15 > 0:12:18# ..There in the gloom... #

0:12:18 > 0:12:20Until Elvis, I wasn't in love.

0:12:20 > 0:12:22Then I was totally obsessed.

0:12:22 > 0:12:24We went to see a film which had just come out.

0:12:24 > 0:12:26It was called The Girl Can't Help It

0:12:26 > 0:12:30with Little Richard, Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran.

0:12:30 > 0:12:32# She can't help it, the girl can't help it

0:12:32 > 0:12:35# If she wink an eye the bread slices turn to toast

0:12:35 > 0:12:37# She can't help it, the girl can't help it

0:12:37 > 0:12:39# If she got a lot of what they call the most

0:12:39 > 0:12:42# She can't help it, the girl can't help it

0:12:42 > 0:12:45# The girl can't help it if she was born to please

0:12:45 > 0:12:47# She can't help it, the girl can't help it... #

0:12:47 > 0:12:49# When I climb one, two flight, three flight more

0:12:49 > 0:12:52# Five, six, seven, flight, eight flight more... #

0:12:52 > 0:12:54Eddie Cochran came on and a few of the fellas said,

0:12:54 > 0:12:57"Wow, you really look like Eddie Cochran." I was rather flattered

0:12:57 > 0:13:00as I liked the kind of things that Eddie Cochran was doing.

0:13:00 > 0:13:04It was Twenty-Flight Rock, I think, so I started to grow sideboards

0:13:04 > 0:13:06and do my hair like Eddie Cochran.

0:13:06 > 0:13:09At the same time I was also influenced by Elvis Presley,

0:13:09 > 0:13:11James Dean, and of course Gene Vincent.

0:13:11 > 0:13:16# And she's the woman that loves me so, say

0:13:16 > 0:13:20# Be-bop-a-lula, she's my baby

0:13:20 > 0:13:26# Be-bop-a-lula, I don't mean maybe

0:13:26 > 0:13:30# Be-bop-a-lula, she-he-he's my baby doll

0:13:30 > 0:13:34# My baby doll, my baby doll... #

0:13:34 > 0:13:36Let me hear you!

0:13:36 > 0:13:38When rock and roll arrived

0:13:38 > 0:13:42he started changing into the teddy boy style.

0:13:42 > 0:13:46Me dad wouldn't let us dress with teddy boy tight trousers on,

0:13:46 > 0:13:48tight jeans on and all that sort of stuff.

0:13:48 > 0:13:54And he used to go out and get his rock and roll stuff on.

0:13:54 > 0:13:56Me dad was like, pretty strict, me dad.

0:13:56 > 0:14:01And his father come and found him one day and he got a thrashing.

0:14:01 > 0:14:03As far as Billy Fury is concerned,

0:14:03 > 0:14:06you didn't really have rock and roll stars at that point.

0:14:06 > 0:14:08You didn't have what we now think of as a pop star.

0:14:08 > 0:14:12In a very strange way, until Elvis comes along,

0:14:12 > 0:14:16the idea of the proper full-on 360-degree star

0:14:16 > 0:14:20who does nothing but be a rock star is really a little bit alien.

0:14:20 > 0:14:23Intelligent people didn't like rock and roll, you know,

0:14:23 > 0:14:26people like me, grammar school boys who went to university -

0:14:26 > 0:14:29"God, how could you like rock and roll? It's for morons!"

0:14:29 > 0:14:32When I was at the LSE, the university I went to,

0:14:32 > 0:14:34I would hide the NME inside the Guardian

0:14:34 > 0:14:37because I was so embarrassed to be seen reading it.

0:14:37 > 0:14:39On 20th March 1958, Buddy Holly and the Crickets

0:14:39 > 0:14:42are playing the Philharmonic Hall in Liverpool

0:14:42 > 0:14:46and you find that so many of the people who later played

0:14:46 > 0:14:50in Mersey beat groups went along to the Philharmonic Hall, to that show,

0:14:50 > 0:14:54and they saw Buddy Holly with a Fender Stratocaster guitar.

0:14:54 > 0:14:58Nobody in Britain had seen a Fender Stratocaster guitar

0:14:58 > 0:15:01and it just looked wonderful, and so they came out

0:15:01 > 0:15:04and they walked down the hill thinking, "We want to go electric."

0:15:04 > 0:15:08I went there with two mates of mine who played guitars at the time.

0:15:08 > 0:15:10We came out and they said,

0:15:10 > 0:15:12"Let's form a rock and roll group."

0:15:12 > 0:15:14I said, "All right, fine. What do I play?"

0:15:14 > 0:15:16They said, "You play drums", so that was it.

0:15:16 > 0:15:20As soon as Elvis took off, it was in the papers a lot, you know?

0:15:20 > 0:15:24We felt in Britain, or some people felt, we had to have our own star.

0:15:24 > 0:15:26# Old-time cave dweller lived in a cave

0:15:26 > 0:15:28# Here's what he did when he wanted a rave

0:15:28 > 0:15:30# He took a stick and he drew on the wall

0:15:30 > 0:15:32# Man, I've heard he had himself a ball

0:15:32 > 0:15:34# Rock with the caveman... #

0:15:34 > 0:15:39Tommy Steele was the one who was chosen - by God knows who.

0:15:39 > 0:15:43Rock With The Caveman may have been the worst record ever made.

0:15:43 > 0:15:46# Writers never lie, it's where they got the saying "starry-eyed"

0:15:46 > 0:15:48# Rock with the caveman... #

0:15:48 > 0:15:51Tommy Steele got four weeks at the Astor Green,

0:15:51 > 0:15:53which was owned by Bertie Green in London,

0:15:53 > 0:15:57and all the photos in the newspaper showed you this rock and roller

0:15:57 > 0:16:00surrounded by people... Women in cocktail dresses

0:16:00 > 0:16:03and guys with big cigars and the dickie bows and tuxedos,

0:16:03 > 0:16:06and he was there for a month. He absolutely tore it apart.

0:16:06 > 0:16:07They loved him.

0:16:07 > 0:16:09# Shake with the caveman... #

0:16:09 > 0:16:11British rock and roll, generally speaking,

0:16:11 > 0:16:12very early on, it wasn't good.

0:16:12 > 0:16:15We didn't get it right and we didn't understand it.

0:16:15 > 0:16:19The silly part about it is that the Americans thought we were great,

0:16:19 > 0:16:21our rock and roll was great.

0:16:21 > 0:16:26The only really great rock and roll came from Memphis or New Orleans

0:16:26 > 0:16:30or maybe the doo-wop people from New York,

0:16:30 > 0:16:33and I wouldn't listen to the English rock and roll. I didn't like it.

0:16:33 > 0:16:36I thought, "We can't do this, it's got to be American!"

0:16:36 > 0:16:38And then Cliff Richard came along.

0:16:38 > 0:16:41MUSIC: Nine Times Out of Ten by Cliff Richard

0:16:42 > 0:16:47# Well, nine times out of ten, baby, I told you

0:16:47 > 0:16:50# And I aim to tell you just nine times again

0:16:51 > 0:16:56# Hey, just how much I aim to hold you

0:16:56 > 0:16:59# Again and again and again

0:17:00 > 0:17:05# Little girl, it's nine times out of ten you have refused me

0:17:05 > 0:17:08# And say that you refuse me nine times again

0:17:10 > 0:17:14# But I won't stop until you choose me

0:17:14 > 0:17:18# Again and again and again. #

0:17:18 > 0:17:23Poor Cliff has been sort of laughed at for 30, 40 years in a way,

0:17:23 > 0:17:26for not being a real rock and roller, and I heard Move It.

0:17:26 > 0:17:27That was a great record.

0:17:27 > 0:17:30# Come on, pretty baby, let's move it and groove it

0:17:32 > 0:17:36# Well, a-shake a-baby shake, well, honey, please don't lose it... #

0:17:36 > 0:17:39And there's a lead guitar played by Ernie Shaw on that,

0:17:39 > 0:17:41and it was fantastic.

0:17:41 > 0:17:45It was a kind of duet between the singer and the lead guitarist,

0:17:45 > 0:17:48and that, to me, was rock and roll.

0:17:48 > 0:17:49It wasn't Tommy Steele.

0:17:51 > 0:17:54MUSIC: Slippin' and Slidin' by Little Richard

0:17:56 > 0:17:59# Slippin' and a-slidin' Peepin' and a-hidin'

0:17:59 > 0:18:02# Been told a long time ago

0:18:02 > 0:18:05# Slippin' and a-slidin' Peepin' and a-hidin'

0:18:05 > 0:18:08# Been told a long time ago

0:18:08 > 0:18:10# I've been told, baby, you've been bold

0:18:10 > 0:18:12# I won't be your fool no more... #

0:18:32 > 0:18:36# Well, she comes from Tallahassee

0:18:36 > 0:18:38# She's got a hi-fi chassis

0:18:38 > 0:18:41# Maybe looks a little sassy

0:18:41 > 0:18:45# But to me she's real classy

0:18:45 > 0:18:51# Yeah, my Tallahassee lassie down in F-L-A

0:18:51 > 0:18:53# Well, she's romping to the Drag

0:18:53 > 0:18:55# The Cha-cha, Rag-a-mop

0:18:55 > 0:18:56# Stomping to the Shag

0:18:56 > 0:18:58# Rock the Bunny Hop... #

0:18:58 > 0:19:01And then of course it was then the Billy Furies

0:19:01 > 0:19:03and the Vince Eagers and people like that came along

0:19:03 > 0:19:06and Larry Parnes, I suppose, really,

0:19:06 > 0:19:10was sort of the main protagonist, if you like, for putting

0:19:10 > 0:19:12these rock and roll shows on.

0:19:12 > 0:19:16Larry Parnes at the time had signed up Tommy Steele,

0:19:16 > 0:19:19Marty Wilde and Vince Eager

0:19:19 > 0:19:23and he was looking to build his so-called stable of stars.

0:19:23 > 0:19:25I started with Tommy Steele.

0:19:25 > 0:19:29Tommy was my first artist when I went into management

0:19:29 > 0:19:32and everything progressed from there on.

0:19:34 > 0:19:36After Tommy Steele, I signed Marty Wilde.

0:19:36 > 0:19:40# Deceiving me, grieving me

0:19:40 > 0:19:43# Leaving me blue

0:19:43 > 0:19:49# Jezebel, it was you

0:19:49 > 0:19:56# Well, if ever the devil's plan was made to torment man

0:19:56 > 0:19:57# It was you

0:19:59 > 0:20:01# Jezebel, it was you

0:20:03 > 0:20:11# Twould be better had I never known a lover such as you

0:20:13 > 0:20:17# Forsaking dreams and all

0:20:17 > 0:20:24# For the siren call of your arms

0:20:24 > 0:20:31# Jezebel... #

0:20:31 > 0:20:33Early in 1958, Billy decided

0:20:33 > 0:20:37he wanted to make a demonstration record of his songs,

0:20:37 > 0:20:41and he went to Percy Phillips' studio in Kensington

0:20:41 > 0:20:44and this is about a mile outside the city centre.

0:20:44 > 0:20:47What is particularly interesting is that a couple of weeks later,

0:20:47 > 0:20:50John Lennon and Paul McCartney with The Quarrymen go there as well,

0:20:50 > 0:20:55so within a couple of weeks, Percy Phillips recorded both the Beatles

0:20:55 > 0:20:58and Billy Fury, which is an extraordinary coincidence,

0:20:58 > 0:21:01and Billy Fury recorded six songs.

0:21:01 > 0:21:06It's just incredible, really, what Billy did, especially in the '50s,

0:21:06 > 0:21:10because he wasn't looking back on the Beatles or looking back

0:21:10 > 0:21:11on this one or that one,

0:21:11 > 0:21:14and the records in the charts were pretty rubbish then.

0:21:14 > 0:21:16It was, you know, How Much Is That Doggie In The Window?

0:21:16 > 0:21:22He makes this record and wants to do something with it,

0:21:22 > 0:21:26and his mother writes to Larry Parnes and says,

0:21:26 > 0:21:31"My son is very good. He'd like to make a record for you."

0:21:31 > 0:21:36I decided to go across and try to sell some of these songs

0:21:36 > 0:21:38I'd been writing, to Marty Wilde.

0:21:38 > 0:21:41I loved the fact that Billy believed in his songs.

0:21:41 > 0:21:43I loved the fact that he was...

0:21:43 > 0:21:45not trying to sell himself.

0:21:45 > 0:21:48He was trying to sell his songs. He wanted them songs to be heard.

0:21:48 > 0:21:54Now, that's the story, from Billy, because he was so self-effacing,

0:21:54 > 0:22:00but in a letter that I once had from Margo, who worked with Billy,

0:22:00 > 0:22:05she said that he practised his moves with her, with a guitar,

0:22:05 > 0:22:10and that she had got him gigs in and around working men's clubs

0:22:10 > 0:22:14in Wavertree and other places in Liverpool. Now,

0:22:14 > 0:22:17those are not the actions of someone who wants his songs recorded.

0:22:17 > 0:22:20They're the actions of a guy who knows he looks cool,

0:22:20 > 0:22:23knows he looks great, and who really wants to be a rock and roller.

0:22:23 > 0:22:26Unlike the Beatles, who had done hundreds of gigs

0:22:26 > 0:22:30before they made a record, Billy Fury had hardly done any.

0:22:30 > 0:22:31It was a horrible day.

0:22:31 > 0:22:35It was really dank and there was this drizzle you can't see,

0:22:35 > 0:22:38really horrible day, and this lad comes up to me.

0:22:38 > 0:22:39He's got his collar turned up.

0:22:39 > 0:22:43I said I was looking for Marty Wilde. He asked my reason. I said,

0:22:43 > 0:22:47"Well, I have some songs which he might be interested in recording."

0:22:47 > 0:22:50Well, when I saw him I thought, "Wow, he's good-looking."

0:22:50 > 0:22:52He reminded me of a cross between...

0:22:52 > 0:22:56He was a mixture of Elvis, Eddie Cochran and James Dean.

0:22:56 > 0:22:58He looked like a pop star, to be honest.

0:22:58 > 0:23:01I tell Larry, I said, "There's a guy outside, he's written some songs,

0:23:01 > 0:23:05"he's sent them to you. His name's Ronnie Wycherley. He wants to know if you heard them."

0:23:05 > 0:23:08He said, "Oh... Oh, fetch him in."

0:23:08 > 0:23:12So I went out and I said, "Mr Parnes will see you", so I took him in

0:23:12 > 0:23:16and you could see Larry's eyes light up, as did Marty's.

0:23:16 > 0:23:20I mean, Marty will tell you now, there was an aura about him.

0:23:20 > 0:23:23He came in very humble, very meek, very mild, beautiful lad,

0:23:23 > 0:23:26lovely nature, and he said, "I've written these songs"

0:23:26 > 0:23:29and so Larry said, "Well, let me hear the songs", so really,

0:23:29 > 0:23:31he hadn't come as a singer.

0:23:31 > 0:23:34He'd come to play Larry the songs he had written

0:23:34 > 0:23:36and the first one he sang was Maybe Tomorrow.

0:23:36 > 0:23:39# I love you, baby

0:23:40 > 0:23:42# I really care

0:23:44 > 0:23:47# I need your loving

0:23:47 > 0:23:56# So hear my prayer

0:23:57 > 0:24:00# Maybe tomorrow... #

0:24:00 > 0:24:04We're stood there, we're going, "Wow!"

0:24:04 > 0:24:07I mean, we looked at each other and he just looks the part.

0:24:07 > 0:24:09You think, "Where's he been?"

0:24:09 > 0:24:12And there were some girls there that were going crazy,

0:24:12 > 0:24:15banging on the window and going crazy.

0:24:15 > 0:24:16So that's when Larry Parnes said,

0:24:16 > 0:24:18"Well, you should go on the stage now and sing."

0:24:18 > 0:24:20And he said, "I'll do it."

0:24:20 > 0:24:23It's great, isn't it? Sink or swim!

0:24:23 > 0:24:25But that's what you need!

0:24:25 > 0:24:28You've got to have gall, you know, how are you going to survive?

0:24:28 > 0:24:32As I started to sing, I was so nervous that my knees were shaking

0:24:32 > 0:24:36and everyone thought, "Wow, who's this guy with the shaking knees?"

0:24:36 > 0:24:39- And he just absolutely stole the show.- The girls went wild for him.

0:24:39 > 0:24:41I think he did one of his own songs,

0:24:41 > 0:24:45maybe an Elvis song, something like that. He did a couple of songs

0:24:45 > 0:24:48and that's when Larry Parnes said, "This kid is going to be big."

0:24:48 > 0:24:51Larry Parnes asked me if I would like to join the show,

0:24:51 > 0:24:56rehearse with one of the bands and carry on with the tour.

0:24:56 > 0:24:59I can remember him coming home that night.

0:24:59 > 0:25:01I can remember him saying, "Dad, let me go, let me go.

0:25:01 > 0:25:02"Please let me go."

0:25:02 > 0:25:06Anyway, they said, "You know, you'll have to take care of yourself."

0:25:06 > 0:25:09He said, "Well, I've got to try, I've got to try, let me go."

0:25:11 > 0:25:13So, erm, they let him go.

0:25:13 > 0:25:18We picked him up outside a pub at about 11 o'clock in the morning.

0:25:18 > 0:25:22He came to Stretford, did the show at Stretford.

0:25:22 > 0:25:24We did the show that night. Again, he stole the show.

0:25:24 > 0:25:27And when we got back to London, it wasn't five minutes

0:25:27 > 0:25:30before Larry had got him a contract with Decca.

0:25:30 > 0:25:33Ronnie Wycherley went off and the next time I saw him -

0:25:33 > 0:25:35he was Billy Fury.

0:25:42 > 0:25:47There's Ron Wycherley, 17, known to his fans as Billy Fury.

0:25:49 > 0:25:53Roy Taylor, 18, alias Vince Eager.

0:25:54 > 0:26:00John Askew or Johnny Gentle, 22, from Merseyside.

0:26:00 > 0:26:05And Duffy Power, real name Raymond Howard, 17.

0:26:05 > 0:26:09Pride, Gentle, Fury, Eager, why do you choose names like that?

0:26:09 > 0:26:11Well, this means something, you see?

0:26:11 > 0:26:13For example, with Fury, Billy is nice and friendly

0:26:13 > 0:26:17and Fury is a little bit ferocious, so it gives him the mean streak.

0:26:17 > 0:26:19And Johnny Gentle is...?

0:26:19 > 0:26:22Johnny's a quiet one, that's why he's Johnny Gentle.

0:26:22 > 0:26:26And Vince is always ready to give a very good show

0:26:26 > 0:26:28and that's why he's Eager, that's Vince Eager.

0:26:28 > 0:26:30It didn't happen overnight.

0:26:30 > 0:26:32I mean, he did well on Oh! Boy.

0:26:32 > 0:26:34Maybe Tomorrow got into the top 20.

0:26:34 > 0:26:36Margo did OK.

0:26:36 > 0:26:40Colette was the first single that got into the top 10.

0:26:40 > 0:26:45# Don't forget we have a date, Colette

0:26:45 > 0:26:49# How I love you, Colette... #

0:26:49 > 0:26:54Larry tried to work it like the Six-Five Specials were

0:26:54 > 0:26:58and those sort of shows, where the artists one after another

0:26:58 > 0:27:00came on the stage.

0:27:00 > 0:27:02You know, one guy would come on and do two numbers

0:27:02 > 0:27:05then he'd go off and someone else would come on and do two numbers.

0:27:05 > 0:27:06That's the way he worked it.

0:27:06 > 0:27:08He had an eye for that.

0:27:08 > 0:27:11I mean, Dickie Pride could rock like there's no tomorrow.

0:27:11 > 0:27:13Particularly with Slippin' And Slidin'.

0:27:13 > 0:27:15Billy and Dickie were great mates

0:27:15 > 0:27:19and Vince Eager was also a great rock and roller.

0:27:19 > 0:27:21And it was a bit of a treadmill.

0:27:21 > 0:27:25The whole thing with us was we wanted to play.

0:27:25 > 0:27:27That's what we wanted to do, I wanted to play drums

0:27:27 > 0:27:30and the guys wanted... We wanted to be musicians.

0:27:30 > 0:27:33And we had to go through the crap to do it, you know.

0:27:33 > 0:27:38# Angel face, angel face, angel face

0:27:38 > 0:27:42# Darling, I love you... #

0:27:42 > 0:27:47The gigs or the appearances would be organised in such a way

0:27:47 > 0:27:50that it was, to you and I today, illogical.

0:27:50 > 0:27:54There was one instance where we actually were in Edinburgh

0:27:54 > 0:27:56one night and the Isle of Wight the next.

0:27:56 > 0:27:59So we were actually travelling overnight in the coach.

0:27:59 > 0:28:01And we got...

0:28:01 > 0:28:04We actually got to the show half an hour before the opening.

0:28:04 > 0:28:07You know, by the time we got there and I was actually onstage playing

0:28:07 > 0:28:12and eating sausage and chips out of a bag off the side of the drums.

0:28:12 > 0:28:16Between numbers, having a quick bite of the sausage and chips.

0:28:16 > 0:28:19That's the way it was. We never really travelled with Billy.

0:28:19 > 0:28:22We were in, as we used to call it, the vomit box which was the coach.

0:28:22 > 0:28:25You know, but he used to travel by car.

0:28:25 > 0:28:28Obviously had his own roadie who used to drive him about.

0:28:28 > 0:28:31# Of another

0:28:31 > 0:28:35# Christmas Day

0:28:35 > 0:28:38# Oh, Lord

0:28:38 > 0:28:42# Will you please help me? #

0:28:42 > 0:28:44He wasn't a diva, if you like.

0:28:44 > 0:28:46He was down to earth.

0:28:46 > 0:28:47The same as Marty was the same.

0:28:47 > 0:28:50Most of the guys in those days were the same. You never...

0:28:50 > 0:28:52They weren't allowed to be, to be honest.

0:29:04 > 0:29:07# Well, darling, I love you

0:29:07 > 0:29:10# Baby, yeah, I care

0:29:10 > 0:29:13# I really need your loving, baby

0:29:13 > 0:29:14# Babe, I want you near

0:29:14 > 0:29:17# Oh, yeah, indeed

0:29:17 > 0:29:19# It's you I need... #

0:29:19 > 0:29:21He has some, you know, rock hits

0:29:21 > 0:29:25and of course he records one of the most famous albums of all time.

0:29:25 > 0:29:27Sound Of Fury?

0:29:27 > 0:29:29Great LP.

0:29:29 > 0:29:30Wrote every song.

0:29:30 > 0:29:33It's a ten inch record, five songs on each side.

0:29:33 > 0:29:37I remember getting it, my father gave it me for Christmas

0:29:37 > 0:29:39and it cost 22 shillings.

0:29:39 > 0:29:41Well, The Sound Of Fury is a classic album.

0:29:41 > 0:29:45If you're into rock and roll, you must have this album.

0:29:45 > 0:29:47Otherwise you're a liar!

0:29:48 > 0:29:52He fused country with blues, rockabilly and rock and roll.

0:29:52 > 0:29:54No-one else was doing that.

0:29:54 > 0:29:56Marty was writing his own stuff, like Bad Boy.

0:29:56 > 0:29:59Johnny Kidd was writing some great stuff.

0:29:59 > 0:30:01More or less rock and roll or pop,

0:30:01 > 0:30:05but Billy had the ability to draw on all of those areas of music

0:30:05 > 0:30:09and make something definitive and make something really special.

0:30:09 > 0:30:11He was a modest guy and he didn't want to appear big headed

0:30:11 > 0:30:13and didn't want to look...

0:30:13 > 0:30:16He didn't want it to look as though he'd written all ten songs,

0:30:16 > 0:30:20so some of the songs are written under the name Wilbur Wilberforce,

0:30:20 > 0:30:22but Billy wrote all ten songs on the album.

0:30:22 > 0:30:25At the time, I thought, oh, so he's written his own songs. Fine!

0:30:25 > 0:30:29We didn't realise what a special thing that was.

0:30:29 > 0:30:32Sort of made a precedent then for bands to write their own songs.

0:30:32 > 0:30:36Rather than to rely on the Tin Pan Alley songwriters of the time.

0:30:37 > 0:30:43# Baby, don't leave me this way

0:30:43 > 0:30:45# Don't leave me this way

0:30:45 > 0:30:47# Hold it, honey

0:30:47 > 0:30:51# You promised me you'd never go astray

0:30:51 > 0:30:52# Never go astray... #

0:30:52 > 0:30:55I think it's a milestone in rock and roll.

0:30:55 > 0:30:58The album is always considered a classic

0:30:58 > 0:31:00and Joe Brown played guitar on it.

0:31:00 > 0:31:02I went along with my guitar.

0:31:02 > 0:31:05I listened to it and then I said, OK, let's take one.

0:31:05 > 0:31:07I'll play it on the guitar here.

0:31:07 > 0:31:09Played it and as we went through it,

0:31:09 > 0:31:12I played it through and the guy says, that was great.

0:31:12 > 0:31:14It wasn't like you went into the studio and created something.

0:31:14 > 0:31:15You created something

0:31:15 > 0:31:18and then a recording studio would record it for you.

0:31:18 > 0:31:21It was the sound of the actual album that was different.

0:31:21 > 0:31:24It was the nearest you'd ever get to American rock and roll.

0:31:24 > 0:31:26# Well, I gave you my advice

0:31:26 > 0:31:28# But you don't care

0:31:28 > 0:31:33# I told you not to fool around with me

0:31:33 > 0:31:37# But you're as cold as ice and you don't care

0:31:37 > 0:31:40# Go on, away with you, honey

0:31:40 > 0:31:43# And don't come back to me... #

0:31:43 > 0:31:46You could hear me learning it, as it were, as I went through it

0:31:46 > 0:31:51and that way it got better and better as the track went through.

0:31:51 > 0:31:55What Jack Good tried to do was recreate the sound

0:31:55 > 0:31:59of Sam Phillips's studio making those rockabilly records in Memphis.

0:31:59 > 0:32:04The Sound Of Fury as an album was raw.

0:32:04 > 0:32:07It was before everyone got too conscious of trying to be clever

0:32:07 > 0:32:09about what they were putting in the album.

0:32:09 > 0:32:11It's all in the hands of the producer.

0:32:11 > 0:32:15If he can maintain and retain that original thought,

0:32:15 > 0:32:17then it's a good record.

0:32:17 > 0:32:19There's nothing against doing it like they do it now,

0:32:19 > 0:32:20but it's not really for me.

0:32:20 > 0:32:22And that's what Jack did.

0:32:22 > 0:32:23They did it in a day.

0:32:23 > 0:32:25Ten-track album in a day!

0:32:25 > 0:32:27They produced the best record ever, LP.

0:32:27 > 0:32:30The idea that somebody could have recorded something

0:32:30 > 0:32:32pretty much straight through is astonishing

0:32:32 > 0:32:34and tells you just how well they were playing.

0:32:34 > 0:32:38We went in the studio and played it once or maybe twice.

0:32:38 > 0:32:41And then the guy said, "OK, we'll take one."

0:32:41 > 0:32:46So they took one and then he says, "That's fine. That's good."

0:32:46 > 0:32:50So I put my guitar in the case, I went into the control booth

0:32:50 > 0:32:52and I said to the bloke, "Can we hear it?"

0:32:52 > 0:32:55"Oh, no," he said. "We've taken this tape off now."

0:32:55 > 0:32:58He took the tape of the machine, put it in the box,

0:32:58 > 0:33:00wrote on the box and it was gone.

0:33:00 > 0:33:01We never even heard it!

0:33:01 > 0:33:03# Bye-bye, baby

0:33:03 > 0:33:04# Bye-bye to you

0:33:04 > 0:33:06# Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba

0:33:06 > 0:33:08# Bye-bye, baby

0:33:08 > 0:33:09# Guess what I'm gonna do

0:33:09 > 0:33:11# I'm gonna swing around, honey

0:33:11 > 0:33:13# Gonna turn my back on you... #

0:33:13 > 0:33:16I love Turn My Back On You because it's a perfect example

0:33:16 > 0:33:20of UK rockabilly, although the term wasn't coined at that time,

0:33:20 > 0:33:23being the equal of virtually anything

0:33:23 > 0:33:24that came out of the States.

0:33:24 > 0:33:27I mean, how did he do that? It's incredible.

0:33:27 > 0:33:31Jack Good decided that the bass was very, very important there

0:33:31 > 0:33:34and he thought, we are not going to be able perhaps to get this

0:33:34 > 0:33:36American bass sound right,

0:33:36 > 0:33:40so what he did was he got a stand-up bass player and he got

0:33:40 > 0:33:44an electric bass player, so there's actually two basses on the record.

0:33:44 > 0:33:46One of my favourite songs of all time.

0:33:46 > 0:33:48I can't...

0:33:48 > 0:33:50speak enough about it.

0:33:50 > 0:33:52Bizarre, two basses on it.

0:33:52 > 0:33:55One being slapped and one being played.

0:33:55 > 0:33:56If you take that song,

0:33:56 > 0:34:01the live rehearsals or the live version from the show was well,

0:34:01 > 0:34:05and then you look at that classic picture of Billy rehearsing

0:34:05 > 0:34:09for Boy Meets Girls with Joe Brown and they're rehearsing that number,

0:34:09 > 0:34:13and in this picture, Billy's got the angular thrust of the pelvis,

0:34:13 > 0:34:16he's got the collar turned up to his jacket,

0:34:16 > 0:34:21he's got that quiff with just a few strands hanging...

0:34:21 > 0:34:26and his lips are curled in virtually a feral snarl.

0:34:26 > 0:34:30And he is the epitome of Elvis-style rock and roll.

0:34:30 > 0:34:34I mean, it's blood red and he looks so cool on it.

0:34:34 > 0:34:38It was, as Jack Good said, the soul, the musical soul of Billy Fury.

0:34:38 > 0:34:40He sent his record.

0:34:40 > 0:34:45The Sound Of Fury, and he said, don't give it to anybody else.

0:34:45 > 0:34:48He must have been thinking he wasn't going to get another one.

0:34:56 > 0:34:57The teenagers came along.

0:34:57 > 0:35:00They wanted to have their own identity as such

0:35:00 > 0:35:02and they had their own music,

0:35:02 > 0:35:05they had their own film stars with Marlon Brando and James Dean...

0:35:05 > 0:35:09Rock and roll came in at 1956 and there was a film

0:35:09 > 0:35:11called It Came From Outer Space.

0:35:11 > 0:35:14And someone like Little Richard seemed like that.

0:35:25 > 0:35:27# I woke up this morning

0:35:27 > 0:35:28# Lucille was not in sight

0:35:28 > 0:35:30# I asked my friends about her

0:35:30 > 0:35:32# But, no, all their lips were tight... #

0:35:32 > 0:35:36It was a whole era of rock and roll films.

0:35:36 > 0:35:39And of course, during those, you'd see somebody,

0:35:39 > 0:35:42there'd be a bit of dancing going on, and then you'd look at it

0:35:42 > 0:35:45and there used to be a girl, Mad Madeline I used to call her.

0:35:45 > 0:35:48I used to get old Mad Mad in and we'd practise and I'd say,

0:35:48 > 0:35:50"No, no, no, it went like this somehow."

0:35:50 > 0:35:52And then you'd fiddle about.

0:35:52 > 0:35:55I was working for an ad agency and all of a sudden,

0:35:55 > 0:35:57people started using this weird phrase,

0:35:57 > 0:35:59"teenagers having disposable income."

0:35:59 > 0:36:02So although the disposable income of teenagers might not

0:36:02 > 0:36:05be very much, the average household has no disposable income, ie,

0:36:05 > 0:36:07the money was spent before it was earned.

0:36:07 > 0:36:10So the fact that you had a quid in your pocket

0:36:10 > 0:36:13or maybe two quid in your pocket

0:36:13 > 0:36:16meant you were a desirable object for advertisers.

0:36:16 > 0:36:18Five shillings a week pocket money.

0:36:18 > 0:36:20Which went on records, of course.

0:36:20 > 0:36:21American records.

0:36:21 > 0:36:24All of a sudden, it wasn't just Radio Luxembourg,

0:36:24 > 0:36:27Saturday morning was rock and roll pop music

0:36:27 > 0:36:30and then Saturday evening on television became pop music.

0:36:30 > 0:36:34All of a sudden, the top of the bill wasn't Al Martino

0:36:34 > 0:36:38or someone my parents loved, but was actually someone that I liked.

0:36:38 > 0:36:41# Yeah, yeah

0:36:41 > 0:36:42# No, no

0:36:42 > 0:36:44# Yeah, yeah

0:36:44 > 0:36:46# No, no

0:36:46 > 0:36:47# Yeah, yeah... #

0:36:47 > 0:36:52This was the heart of all the activities for us rock and rollers.

0:36:52 > 0:36:56It was certainly a lively place and one that anybody who

0:36:56 > 0:37:00was between the age of 15 and 22 wouldn't want to miss.

0:37:00 > 0:37:02There was a coffee bar called The Freight Train

0:37:02 > 0:37:04which was owned by Charles McDevitt.

0:37:04 > 0:37:08That is where, in the cellar, Johnny Kidds' Shakin' All Over was written.

0:37:08 > 0:37:11# Shakin' all over...

0:37:18 > 0:37:22# Just the way that you say good night to me... #

0:37:25 > 0:37:29# Rocking at the 2 I's

0:37:29 > 0:37:31# We're rocking at the 2 I's... #

0:37:31 > 0:37:33This place, the 2 I's coffee bar.

0:37:33 > 0:37:36You'd go through the coffee bar, at the back there was a little door

0:37:36 > 0:37:38that led you downstairs to the cellar.

0:37:38 > 0:37:41It was a small cellar which only held about 80 people

0:37:41 > 0:37:44but I've seen as many as 110 in there and nobody could move.

0:37:44 > 0:37:46Without this little coffee bar,

0:37:46 > 0:37:49there possibly wouldn't be any rock and roll in Britain today.

0:37:49 > 0:37:52It's where people like myself, Tommy Steele, Cliff Richard,

0:37:52 > 0:37:56The Shadows, Hank and Bruce, Brian Bennett, Clem Cattini...

0:37:56 > 0:37:58So many guys started in the 2 I's coffee bar.

0:38:02 > 0:38:04I liked Marty Wilde and Billy, I really did like them.

0:38:04 > 0:38:07I thought they had energy and they were important

0:38:07 > 0:38:09because they were emblematic of my generation.

0:38:09 > 0:38:11They were the same age as me.

0:38:11 > 0:38:16I will never forget growing up with all those rock and rollers.

0:38:16 > 0:38:18And it doesn't matter what era you come from,

0:38:18 > 0:38:22you still love the music of your teens.

0:38:22 > 0:38:25Things that get you when you're 15...

0:38:25 > 0:38:28stay with you for life, and the records stay with you for life

0:38:28 > 0:38:29because you can never again be that age

0:38:29 > 0:38:32and you have the same feelings and the emotions and the romance

0:38:32 > 0:38:36of it and the excitement of being young, just being young.

0:38:36 > 0:38:38There was a programme called All That Jazz

0:38:38 > 0:38:40and Billy was singing I'd Never Find Another You.

0:38:40 > 0:38:43I looked at that and I'd had a mild interest in pop

0:38:43 > 0:38:45because I'd heard various songs on the radio,

0:38:45 > 0:38:47Billy and Elvis in particular, but when I saw that,

0:38:47 > 0:38:51I just suddenly wanted to be Billy Fury.

0:38:51 > 0:38:59# Don't ever worry that I'll leave you

0:38:59 > 0:39:03# That's such a foolish thing to do

0:39:06 > 0:39:10# How could I ever go

0:39:10 > 0:39:13# When in my heart I know

0:39:13 > 0:39:19# I'd never find another you?

0:39:22 > 0:39:28# I might find other arms to hold me

0:39:29 > 0:39:34# But they would only leave me blue

0:39:37 > 0:39:41# The thrill of your embrace

0:39:41 > 0:39:44# Is what is I can't replace

0:39:44 > 0:39:48# I'd never find another you

0:39:51 > 0:39:57# Though there are times when we may quarrel

0:39:59 > 0:40:03# I can't stay mad at you for more

0:40:03 > 0:40:07# Than just a minute or two, now

0:40:07 > 0:40:15# I know I never want to leave you

0:40:15 > 0:40:22# Cos if I search my whole life through

0:40:22 > 0:40:26# I know there'd only be

0:40:26 > 0:40:30# A second best for me

0:40:30 > 0:40:34# I'd never find another you

0:40:37 > 0:40:45# I know I never want to leave you

0:40:45 > 0:40:53# Cos if I search my whole life through

0:40:53 > 0:40:57# I know there'd only be

0:40:57 > 0:41:01# A second best for me

0:41:01 > 0:41:06# I'd never find another you

0:41:08 > 0:41:14# I'd never find another you. #

0:41:26 > 0:41:28PHONE RINGS

0:41:29 > 0:41:31Hello, Larry Parnes speaking.

0:41:31 > 0:41:33I think that Larry was one of the first to have an

0:41:33 > 0:41:36eye on the future, to see that youngsters could make it.

0:41:36 > 0:41:39He was also very good with press.

0:41:39 > 0:41:41At one stage, Billy visited his father,

0:41:41 > 0:41:44that's when he got bitten by the dog on the cheek.

0:41:44 > 0:41:47Which Parnes then turned into this publicity about

0:41:47 > 0:41:51a Liverpool gang stubbing a cigarette out on Billy's cheek.

0:41:51 > 0:41:54Larry Parnes almost could have been a boxing promoter.

0:41:54 > 0:41:56You know, the camel coat and everything else.

0:41:56 > 0:41:59So Larry Parnes came out of the Jack Solomons boxing promoter school.

0:41:59 > 0:42:02And instead of moving into boxing, moved into music.

0:42:02 > 0:42:04I think if we can bring him along steadily,

0:42:04 > 0:42:06he may be very big in the business in the future.

0:42:06 > 0:42:09- 'Thank you very much, Mr Parnes.' - Thank you.

0:42:09 > 0:42:12To be honest, he didn't know much about music anyway.

0:42:12 > 0:42:15So he left the music to the musicians to sort out ourselves,

0:42:15 > 0:42:16and the singers.

0:42:16 > 0:42:19In the pop world, you had Larry Parnes, you had Tito Burns,

0:42:19 > 0:42:21you had Don Arden.

0:42:21 > 0:42:25And they were really looking after their businesses first of all.

0:42:25 > 0:42:28Not really paying the artists all that they should have done.

0:42:28 > 0:42:32And indeed, Cliff Richard walked away from Tito Burns

0:42:32 > 0:42:35when Tito asked him to do a charity show,

0:42:35 > 0:42:40and Cliff found out that actually Tito was being paid £500

0:42:40 > 0:42:41for this appearance.

0:42:41 > 0:42:45But it wasn't really until you get the Beatles coming along,

0:42:45 > 0:42:48with Brian Epstein, that you get a manager

0:42:48 > 0:42:51who was truly for his artist.

0:42:51 > 0:42:54At one point, Larry actually wanted to manage me.

0:42:55 > 0:43:00And there were discussions going on between him and my manager.

0:43:00 > 0:43:02And while the discussions were going on,

0:43:02 > 0:43:04we turned up to the next gig, and my name,

0:43:04 > 0:43:08instead of being down the bottom there, was two thirds of the way up.

0:43:08 > 0:43:10I think he was trying to encourage us,

0:43:10 > 0:43:13to show what would happen if he was managing me. I didn't go.

0:43:13 > 0:43:14So the next gig we turned up,

0:43:14 > 0:43:16the name had been put down the bottom of the poster again.

0:43:16 > 0:43:19One night, I could be top of the bill.

0:43:19 > 0:43:23It could be Vince Eager, underneath, Billy Fury, Dickie Pride,

0:43:23 > 0:43:25or Terry Dene, or whoever.

0:43:25 > 0:43:27Then the next night, it could be Billy Fury top of the bill,

0:43:27 > 0:43:31and you right down at the bottom, no bigger than the admission prices.

0:43:31 > 0:43:34I've got some sort of admiration for him in the fact of

0:43:34 > 0:43:36the money that he ploughed back into the business.

0:43:36 > 0:43:38Which I know he did, we had a lot of shows.

0:43:38 > 0:43:41We did a lot of these tours around the country,

0:43:41 > 0:43:43which cost money, obviously.

0:43:43 > 0:43:47Larry was like a mother hen.

0:43:47 > 0:43:50And he was very... He was a very clever guy.

0:43:50 > 0:43:53He tried his damnedest at first to see me off.

0:43:53 > 0:43:55I think he saw me as a threat.

0:43:55 > 0:43:56Perhaps I was!

0:43:57 > 0:44:00So we didn't get on at all.

0:44:00 > 0:44:04But in the end, we used to go on holiday with him.

0:44:04 > 0:44:08He took us all over the world.

0:44:08 > 0:44:11It became a very nice situation.

0:44:11 > 0:44:14Larry was gay, and he must've had a lot of laughs

0:44:14 > 0:44:18when he thought about Dickie Pride - I mean, what a name that is!

0:44:18 > 0:44:21In fact, it's said that Larry chose these names

0:44:21 > 0:44:24because it was what he thought they'd be like in bed.

0:44:24 > 0:44:27I got the worst of the bunch, names-wise, without a doubt.

0:44:27 > 0:44:30When you hear, "Ladies and gentlemen, please meet Billy Fury!

0:44:30 > 0:44:33"Marty Wilde! Tommy Steele!

0:44:33 > 0:44:34"And Vince Ea..."

0:44:34 > 0:44:37And it rolls into one, so it wasn't a good name.

0:44:37 > 0:44:40But he came up with these names, and I thought the names suited,

0:44:40 > 0:44:43particularly Billy and Marty. I think they suited them brilliantly.

0:44:43 > 0:44:46Because both guys, offstage, were such lovely,

0:44:46 > 0:44:48boy-next-door type of characters.

0:44:48 > 0:44:50On stage, they were dynamic.

0:44:58 > 0:45:05Of all the English rock and roll innovators, Billy stood out.

0:45:05 > 0:45:10He would walk onto the stage, and it was electrifying. Everything.

0:45:10 > 0:45:15He was just incredible. He would walk on and stand there for a while.

0:45:15 > 0:45:17And then suddenly...

0:45:17 > 0:45:19become Billy.

0:45:19 > 0:45:23# Well, just because you think you're so pretty

0:45:23 > 0:45:27# And just because your momma thinks you're hot

0:45:27 > 0:45:31# And just because you think you've got something

0:45:31 > 0:45:34# That nobody else has got

0:45:35 > 0:45:39# You caused me to lose all my money

0:45:39 > 0:45:43# You left and called me old Santa Claus

0:45:43 > 0:45:47# Well I'm telling you, baby, I'm through with you

0:45:47 > 0:45:50# Because, well, just because

0:45:51 > 0:45:55# Well, there will come a time when you could be lonesome

0:45:55 > 0:45:59# And there's-a come a time when you'll be blue

0:45:59 > 0:46:03# And there's-a come a time when old Santa

0:46:03 > 0:46:07# He won't pay your bills for you

0:46:07 > 0:46:11# You caused me to lose my money

0:46:11 > 0:46:15# You left and called me old Santa Claus

0:46:15 > 0:46:19# Well I'm telling you, baby, I'm through with you

0:46:19 > 0:46:22# Because, well, just because. #

0:46:22 > 0:46:26It was like somebody had just plugged an electric bolt into him.

0:46:26 > 0:46:27It was such a difference.

0:46:27 > 0:46:30I stood in the wings so many nights and watched him.

0:46:30 > 0:46:33Because he was mesmerising. The energy was just beaming off him.

0:46:33 > 0:46:35I made a point of trying to see him on stage,

0:46:35 > 0:46:37every time he came to this area.

0:46:37 > 0:46:40Because we hadn't really seen what Elvis Presley was like,

0:46:40 > 0:46:43live on stage. You know, we'd only seen him in the movies.

0:46:43 > 0:46:46But I'd seen Billy Fury on stage, that's entirely different.

0:46:46 > 0:46:48He's generating something that Cliff, Marty, Adam

0:46:48 > 0:46:50just couldn't generate.

0:46:50 > 0:46:53And he always could generate some kind of real excitement.

0:46:53 > 0:46:57I remember Joe Brown saying that he didn't realise how sensual

0:46:57 > 0:46:59and charismatic Billy was.

0:46:59 > 0:47:02Until one day he broke down on the way to the theatre.

0:47:02 > 0:47:06And Billy had had to go on instead of me, to close the first half.

0:47:07 > 0:47:09And I went into the theatre while he was on.

0:47:09 > 0:47:12And I'd never felt such an electric atmosphere.

0:47:12 > 0:47:14Because I'd never seen him.

0:47:14 > 0:47:17I'd never seen Billy Fury from the front, ever.

0:47:17 > 0:47:19The only time I'd ever seen him was either

0:47:19 > 0:47:22playing in the band for him, or it was from the side of the stage.

0:47:22 > 0:47:25He had this wonderful way of moving, which of course, Presley had.

0:47:25 > 0:47:29And he had all sorts of idiosyncrasies.

0:47:29 > 0:47:33Flicking hands here, and flicking hips there.

0:47:33 > 0:47:37# Well, I just want to be in that number

0:47:37 > 0:47:40# I said, when the saints go marching in. #

0:47:43 > 0:47:45That look in his eye, that you'd see,

0:47:45 > 0:47:48if you look at any of the old footage of him.

0:47:48 > 0:47:51He had that confidence,

0:47:51 > 0:47:52but yet...

0:47:52 > 0:47:54Like a little, lost boy.

0:47:54 > 0:47:57You wanted to just wrap him up and take him home.

0:47:57 > 0:48:00And the girls, you know, the girls went crazy for him.

0:48:00 > 0:48:03The guys wanted to be him, the girls wanted to be with him.

0:48:03 > 0:48:04He loved the screams.

0:48:04 > 0:48:06And when he heard those girls screaming, it drove him

0:48:06 > 0:48:08to give everything for that particular number.

0:48:08 > 0:48:11To see it on stage, and it's your brother...

0:48:11 > 0:48:13It was just unreal. The feelings were unreal.

0:48:13 > 0:48:16You don't know whether to laugh or cry or smile what.

0:48:16 > 0:48:20As a rock and roll, live performer,

0:48:20 > 0:48:22I would certainly put Billy Fury at the top.

0:48:22 > 0:48:25There's a clip of Billy in Oh Boy!, doing Don't Knock Upon My Door.

0:48:25 > 0:48:27And you can tell he means business.

0:48:27 > 0:48:31This doesn't sound like some wimpish, British rock and roll star.

0:48:31 > 0:48:32This sounds like the real deal.

0:48:32 > 0:48:34And once Jack Good got a hold of him,

0:48:34 > 0:48:36he was saying things to Billy like,

0:48:36 > 0:48:39"Now, you've got to hit the deck here, like that."

0:48:39 > 0:48:44And Billy would lie on the floor, grab hold of the microphone,

0:48:44 > 0:48:46pretend he was making love to it.

0:48:46 > 0:48:49We did the Theatre Royal, Dublin.

0:48:49 > 0:48:52And it was... Billy was doing his movements,

0:48:52 > 0:48:54and the guy comes, "Excuse me, sorry -

0:48:54 > 0:48:58"if you wiggle your bottom once more, we'll pull the curtain down."

0:48:58 > 0:49:01So the next night, Billy does that, and down comes the curtain.

0:49:01 > 0:49:03His father was very annoyed with him about that.

0:49:03 > 0:49:07But it helped to make him a great star.

0:49:07 > 0:49:10And in Scotland, the same sort of thing happened.

0:49:10 > 0:49:14Where this guy stood in front of him and says,

0:49:14 > 0:49:17"If ye wiggle yer arse once more, I'll punch yer heid in."

0:49:19 > 0:49:22His first really big hit was Halfway To Paradise.

0:49:30 > 0:49:37# I want to be your lover

0:49:37 > 0:49:44# But your friend is all I've stayed

0:49:44 > 0:49:52# I'm only halfway to paradise

0:49:52 > 0:50:00# So near, yet so far away. #

0:50:00 > 0:50:04Shortly after Halfway To Paradise was a huge hit for Billy Fury,

0:50:04 > 0:50:09Tony Orlando came to the UK as a support act on the Bobby Vee tour.

0:50:09 > 0:50:11And I saw him at the Liverpool Empire.

0:50:11 > 0:50:13Tony Orlando came on, and he said,

0:50:13 > 0:50:16"I'm now going to do Halfway To Paradise,"

0:50:16 > 0:50:20which had been a big American hit for him, but had meant nothing here.

0:50:20 > 0:50:22And the audience started booing him!

0:50:22 > 0:50:24Which was highly unfair,

0:50:24 > 0:50:29because Billy Fury had actually pinched Tony Orlando's song.

0:50:29 > 0:50:32Billy knew that he couldn't write songs that were

0:50:32 > 0:50:36up to the standards of those Carole King and Gerry Goffin songs.

0:50:36 > 0:50:39But he did say later, "They got heavy with me,

0:50:39 > 0:50:41"and they forced me into doing American covers."

0:50:41 > 0:50:44And that was virtually his words.

0:50:44 > 0:50:46And of course, that's where the success really came.

0:50:46 > 0:50:49You know, 29 hit singles, and most of those were ballads.

0:50:49 > 0:50:53# Away from harm, in my baby's arms

0:50:55 > 0:50:56# A wondrous place. #

0:50:56 > 0:50:59Jack Good saw Wondrous Place could be given

0:50:59 > 0:51:03a treatment like Elvis Presley's Crawfish, from King Creole.

0:51:03 > 0:51:05Really sultry and sexy.

0:51:05 > 0:51:09And he said to Billy, "Less is more."

0:51:09 > 0:51:11He said, "When you do this on stage,

0:51:11 > 0:51:13"we'll just have a single spot on you,

0:51:13 > 0:51:18"just shining up your face, and your hand with a cigarette."

0:51:18 > 0:51:22And he said, "When you get to 'Ah, wondrous place,'

0:51:22 > 0:51:24"you just flick a bit of ash on the floor."

0:51:24 > 0:51:27# I want to stay and never go back... #

0:51:27 > 0:51:29He'd knock ash off his ciggie...

0:51:29 > 0:51:30# Wondrous place. #

0:51:30 > 0:51:32..and then he'd sing "wondrous place".

0:51:32 > 0:51:34The place used to be in an uproar.

0:51:34 > 0:51:37My favourite tango - and I mean this -

0:51:37 > 0:51:39my favourite tango, Jealousy.

0:51:40 > 0:51:43HE HUMS THE TUNE

0:51:43 > 0:51:47Oh, yes! I'm getting a tingle in my loins just thinking about it!

0:51:47 > 0:51:50# Our hearts were broken. #

0:51:50 > 0:51:52It would be A Thousand Stars, without any doubt at all.

0:51:52 > 0:51:54I think it was an outstanding record.

0:51:54 > 0:51:57It's also quite a big record.

0:51:57 > 0:52:00It's got shades of Phil Spector in it.

0:52:00 > 0:52:03# A thousand stars in the skies

0:52:03 > 0:52:07# Make me realise. #

0:52:07 > 0:52:10I love Last Night Was Made For Love.

0:52:10 > 0:52:14I loved his version of I'll Save The Last Dance For You.

0:52:14 > 0:52:17I like him doing a song called Last Kiss.

0:52:17 > 0:52:19His B-sides were always good.

0:52:19 > 0:52:23# Last night was made for love

0:52:23 > 0:52:27# But where were you? #

0:52:29 > 0:52:33I went all the way to see a show of his, I went by myself.

0:52:33 > 0:52:34And when I got there,

0:52:34 > 0:52:36I'd brought a programme.

0:52:36 > 0:52:39And I went upstairs into the circle.

0:52:40 > 0:52:43And I sat and watched the show right through.

0:52:43 > 0:52:48And at the end, I was going like that with the programme.

0:52:48 > 0:52:51So he'd see me. And he spotted me.

0:52:51 > 0:52:55And I went downstairs to go backstage.

0:52:55 > 0:53:01And this burly fella said to me, "Where you going?"

0:53:01 > 0:53:04"You can't go in there."

0:53:04 > 0:53:06So I said, "I'm his mother."

0:53:06 > 0:53:10He said, "Oh, come off it."

0:53:10 > 0:53:12He said, "We get all this stuff."

0:53:12 > 0:53:19He said, "Billy Fury's mother, sister, auntie and this."

0:53:20 > 0:53:25So a door opened, and Johnny Leyton - who was his manager then -

0:53:25 > 0:53:31came and he said, "It's all right, Mum, I know it's you. Come on."

0:53:31 > 0:53:34From the very off, when I started working for him,

0:53:34 > 0:53:37I realised that Billy was a big star.

0:53:37 > 0:53:41When we used to take Larry's car and go up to the West End,

0:53:41 > 0:53:45at 1am and drive around, and have girls following us,

0:53:45 > 0:53:48you go in to a cafe and they put you in a corner, and all of a sudden

0:53:48 > 0:53:50it's full and everybody's watching you,

0:53:50 > 0:53:52that's how you know you've made it.

0:53:52 > 0:53:56I can only imagine that Billy and Vince and Joe going out.

0:53:56 > 0:54:01They must have felt great going around, rolling into town

0:54:01 > 0:54:04and thinking, "Yeah, we're going to knock their socks off."

0:54:04 > 0:54:09I did a coming-out party for the Currys family,

0:54:09 > 0:54:11the people that own Currys.

0:54:11 > 0:54:14And I did this coming-out party.

0:54:14 > 0:54:17And when I came off stage and went through, I went to my room -

0:54:17 > 0:54:21they gave me one of the rooms. And there were two girls in bed.

0:54:21 > 0:54:24And I said, "I've always liked my curries, let's go for it!"

0:54:24 > 0:54:27That's the sort of thing that used to happen!

0:54:27 > 0:54:30Larry gave me a good name when he said Eager. Because I was.

0:54:30 > 0:54:36Girls trying to get into bedrooms and all sorts of strange goings-on.

0:54:36 > 0:54:39And some you let in, and some you didn't.

0:54:39 > 0:54:44I went to my dustbin one day -

0:54:44 > 0:54:47and we were in the middle of nowhere -

0:54:47 > 0:54:50I took the lid off, and there was a girl in there.

0:54:50 > 0:54:52And this was the first time really

0:54:52 > 0:54:55England had really seen screaming kids like that.

0:54:55 > 0:54:57It'd never been seen before.

0:54:57 > 0:55:00It was a time you'd go into a cafe or restaurant,

0:55:00 > 0:55:04and a crowd would develop and cause problems.

0:55:04 > 0:55:07So we got to the theatres, and we'd stay in our dressing rooms.

0:55:07 > 0:55:11We had to come out of the theatre, and we were going home.

0:55:11 > 0:55:17And we were swamped by the girls.

0:55:17 > 0:55:20And they really meant mischief.

0:55:20 > 0:55:23I had never seen it before, it was quite frightening.

0:55:23 > 0:55:25As soon as our car was spotted,

0:55:25 > 0:55:27they'd all run from wherever they were.

0:55:27 > 0:55:31I remember, one time, they were running down the street like this,

0:55:31 > 0:55:34from round the corner, and he came out of this one exit.

0:55:34 > 0:55:36And in the end, the girls grabbed him

0:55:36 > 0:55:41and I undid his cardigan and in we got and ran again for it.

0:55:41 > 0:55:46It was like living in a nightmare, really. It wasn't glamorous.

0:55:46 > 0:55:48We had to move from the house that we were in,

0:55:48 > 0:55:50because it just became unbearable.

0:55:50 > 0:55:53Because every time he did the Empire, they'd all get on buses

0:55:53 > 0:55:57and cars and taxis and the whole street would be full of girls.

0:55:57 > 0:56:01I felt embarrassed about it, for the female race, quite frankly.

0:56:01 > 0:56:04Because they were just ridiculous.

0:56:04 > 0:56:07They just went mental.

0:56:07 > 0:56:09Like they were on something.

0:56:09 > 0:56:12It was one of the worst experiences of my life.

0:56:12 > 0:56:14And he lived it all the time.

0:56:14 > 0:56:16It could be quite a rough life on the road,

0:56:16 > 0:56:18with jealous boyfriends and husbands.

0:56:18 > 0:56:21Joe Brown was accepted by both the girls and by the fellas.

0:56:21 > 0:56:25But Billy Fury was smouldering, really sexy,

0:56:25 > 0:56:30and, therefore, some of the teddy boys didn't like the fact

0:56:30 > 0:56:33that their girlfriends were screaming for him.

0:56:33 > 0:56:36It wasn't a peaceful life at all.

0:56:36 > 0:56:39Until we moved further and further and further out.

0:56:39 > 0:56:41And finally, we were living in the middle of nowhere.

0:56:41 > 0:56:44And, of course, America, for us, was fine, because nobody knew him.

0:56:44 > 0:56:47Neither Billy Fury nor the Tornados went to America.

0:56:47 > 0:56:50What is interesting is that, in 1962,

0:56:50 > 0:56:53he had the Tornados as his backing group.

0:56:53 > 0:56:56And the Tornados had an instrumental hit with Telstar.

0:57:01 > 0:57:04It went to number one in America.

0:57:04 > 0:57:07And they were going to go to America and do some dates there,

0:57:07 > 0:57:09like the Ed Sullivan show.

0:57:09 > 0:57:13And Larry Parnes said, "You can't go to America without Billy Fury.

0:57:13 > 0:57:15"You've got to take Billy with you."

0:57:15 > 0:57:17And the promoters and the like said,

0:57:17 > 0:57:19"We don't want Billy Fury, we don't know who he is."

0:57:19 > 0:57:21He wants one of the top British singers.

0:57:21 > 0:57:25- Could you recommend somebody? - Yeah, that'd be Billy Fury.

0:57:25 > 0:57:28- That'd be Billy who?- Billy Fury.

0:57:28 > 0:57:31Billy Fury? You're kidding!

0:57:31 > 0:57:33You mean there's a guy walking around with a name like that?

0:57:33 > 0:57:36LAUGHTER

0:57:36 > 0:57:37Well, I think he's the greatest.

0:57:37 > 0:57:39"That's Love."

0:57:39 > 0:57:42Well, now, that is a sensible title, That's Love.

0:57:42 > 0:57:47You wouldn't, by any remote chance, happen to know how this song goes?

0:57:47 > 0:57:50- Well, kind of.- Kind of?

0:57:50 > 0:57:54Would you, by some remote chance, be able to sing a little of it for me?

0:57:54 > 0:57:57- I'd like to hear it. - Sure, great.- Come on.

0:58:04 > 0:58:07# Someday, somehow

0:58:07 > 0:58:10# I know we'll make-a that vow

0:58:10 > 0:58:13- # That's love - That's love

0:58:13 > 0:58:15# Baby, I know that's love. #

0:58:24 > 0:58:27He was so charismatic. Yet he was two people.

0:58:27 > 0:58:32There was Billy Fury, the rock and roll legend, that is now an idol.

0:58:32 > 0:58:35And there was Billy Fury, the human being.

0:58:35 > 0:58:39They were two different people, two totally different people.

0:58:39 > 0:58:43I hated talking to anyone, because I was even too shy to speak,

0:58:43 > 0:58:45believe it or not.

0:58:45 > 0:58:49He was very confident. Very confident. In the dressing room.

0:58:49 > 0:58:52But as soon as people came in... When Hal was there,

0:58:52 > 0:58:56Hal was like his right-hand man. He would be himself.

0:58:56 > 0:58:59But when someone else came in the room,

0:58:59 > 0:59:02this little-boy-lost act came on.

0:59:02 > 0:59:05And people would run and get him things.

0:59:05 > 0:59:08"I'll go and find you a bottle of lemonade."

0:59:08 > 0:59:10And they'd go for miles to the nearest shop

0:59:10 > 0:59:12to come back so Billy had a glass of lemonade.

0:59:12 > 0:59:16He'd push the boundaries, and he would be controversial.

0:59:16 > 0:59:18But then he would be shy and timid.

0:59:18 > 0:59:22Of course, the girls loved that, it was the perfect combination.

0:59:22 > 0:59:24It was just something he'd developed as a little boy.

0:59:24 > 0:59:28He found out how to manipulate people to get what he wanted.

0:59:28 > 0:59:30I didn't put him on this pedestal that a lot of people did,

0:59:30 > 0:59:33because I spent more time with him off stage

0:59:33 > 0:59:34than I did watching him on stage.

0:59:34 > 0:59:38So I felt that I knew the real Billy Fury,

0:59:38 > 0:59:41which was the fun-loving, giggly guy,

0:59:41 > 0:59:43doing the daft stuff we used to do.

0:59:43 > 0:59:48This woman came up to Billy and said,

0:59:48 > 0:59:50"Didn't you used to be Billy Fury?"

0:59:50 > 0:59:52He said, "No, love - Marty Wilde."

0:59:52 > 0:59:54I thought that was so funny, you know!

0:59:54 > 0:59:58He was a totally simple, working-class boy.

0:59:58 > 1:00:02He was at home with music. That was his life.

1:00:02 > 1:00:05The fact that all this other had come along, along the way,

1:00:05 > 1:00:07had really got nothing to do with Billy at all.

1:00:07 > 1:00:10Very quiet, very nice. Very polite.

1:00:10 > 1:00:13I mean, really, really polite. But disconnected.

1:00:13 > 1:00:16For example, don't remember him coming and having a meal with us.

1:00:16 > 1:00:20He struck me as being very lonely and insecure.

1:00:20 > 1:00:23The trouble is, being a star like he was,

1:00:23 > 1:00:28and mobbed wherever he went, he became very, very introverted.

1:00:28 > 1:00:32He cut himself off from everything.

1:00:32 > 1:00:34There are many instances of him

1:00:34 > 1:00:38not wanting to do more than one number instead of two.

1:00:38 > 1:00:39Not turning up.

1:00:39 > 1:00:42Billy Fury did have some problems with his health.

1:00:42 > 1:00:45From time to time he did have to cancel appearances.

1:00:45 > 1:00:48But he was also very much a person who

1:00:48 > 1:00:51depended upon his own whims.

1:00:51 > 1:00:54And if he didn't feel like performing that particular day,

1:00:54 > 1:00:55then he wouldn't do it.

1:00:55 > 1:00:57Don't think he ever thought in any way ahead, or thought

1:00:57 > 1:01:01what his career was going to do. He just got through the days.

1:01:01 > 1:01:06In July 1962, Billy Fury didn't do a particular show.

1:01:06 > 1:01:09And Larry Parnes sent along Marty Wilde in his place.

1:01:09 > 1:01:11But the BBC wasn't happy with that,

1:01:11 > 1:01:13because they'd asked for Billy Fury.

1:01:13 > 1:01:17And you'll see there's a note here from production that says

1:01:17 > 1:01:21that neither Fury or Wilde are to be booked for six months.

1:01:21 > 1:01:24And that seems, to me, to be very unfair on Marty Wilde.

1:01:24 > 1:01:27# All the people down the street, whoever you meet

1:01:27 > 1:01:29# Say I'm a bad boy

1:01:31 > 1:01:33# Say I'm a bad boy

1:01:35 > 1:01:37# Say I'm a bad boy. #

1:01:37 > 1:01:43In my days, rock and roll became respected as part of show business.

1:01:43 > 1:01:46It became professional music.

1:01:46 > 1:01:49The artists in it became professional.

1:01:49 > 1:01:53This is a memo sent from the light entertainment booking manager

1:01:53 > 1:01:57to the assistant solicitor - so it's going up the chain, really -

1:01:57 > 1:01:59complaining about Billy Fury.

1:01:59 > 1:02:02And what has happened is that Larry Parnes has

1:02:02 > 1:02:06come round to see Patrick Newman and brought a bottle of champagne

1:02:06 > 1:02:09and said he's very sorry for Billy's behaviour.

1:02:09 > 1:02:12And it says here, "Mr Parnes duly appeared yesterday

1:02:12 > 1:02:17"and he told me of the simple country boy Billy Fury was.

1:02:17 > 1:02:19"And he's really only interested in bird-watching -

1:02:19 > 1:02:24"in the purest sense of the word - and goldfish and animals."

1:02:24 > 1:02:26Always his animals. Always the animals.

1:02:26 > 1:02:27The animals were always there.

1:02:27 > 1:02:31I've Gotta Horse, to me, it was a bit of a laugh, really.

1:02:31 > 1:02:37Because Billy Fury, the rock and roll fella, doing a song

1:02:37 > 1:02:41# I like animals much more than human beings! #

1:02:41 > 1:02:43I thought, that's funny, that.

1:02:43 > 1:02:46Billy, what makes you want to be a Derby owner, then?

1:02:46 > 1:02:49First of all, I wanted to really start in motor racing,

1:02:49 > 1:02:52but Larry, my manager there, was so upset about the whole thing

1:02:52 > 1:02:56that he suggested horse racing. So it's a racing of some kind.

1:02:56 > 1:02:57Do you know anything about horse racing?

1:02:57 > 1:03:00Not very much. I follow, but never back very much, you know.

1:03:00 > 1:03:03- You ever seen this horse in action? - No, I haven't, no.

1:03:03 > 1:03:05I'm told it's shortened in odds since you took it over.

1:03:05 > 1:03:08Is this because your fan club are putting money on it?

1:03:08 > 1:03:09I don't know, really!

1:03:09 > 1:03:13- Do you advise us to back your horse? - Erm...

1:03:13 > 1:03:14No, buy my records instead!

1:03:14 > 1:03:16At 100/1, Anselmo -

1:03:16 > 1:03:20bought the week before by pop singer Billy Fury for 8,500.

1:03:21 > 1:03:25Billy was walking around with a holdall which was

1:03:25 > 1:03:30full of a Chihuahua and all her puppies.

1:03:30 > 1:03:33So there must have been at least eight dogs in the bag.

1:03:33 > 1:03:38And Sheba, his stray Alsatian, and Rusty, his Great Dane.

1:03:38 > 1:03:43When it came to animals, we were just ridiculous. We had so many.

1:03:43 > 1:03:44God.

1:03:45 > 1:03:48The whole place was full of birds anyway.

1:03:49 > 1:03:51In aviaries and things like that.

1:03:51 > 1:03:54I mean, he'd start feeding first thing in the morning.

1:03:54 > 1:03:57Of course, when he was on tour, it would take me all day to feed them.

1:03:57 > 1:04:01He had the affection for wildlife right from the start.

1:04:01 > 1:04:05Even when they were living in a small, terraced house.

1:04:05 > 1:04:08He was feeding birds and suchlike in the back garden.

1:04:08 > 1:04:11And, as Hal Carter said, Billy was never happier than

1:04:11 > 1:04:14sitting in a hide in the pouring rain with a pair of binoculars.

1:04:14 > 1:04:16He was a complete ornithologist.

1:04:16 > 1:04:19He used to go all over the place, just bird spotting.

1:04:19 > 1:04:21We liked Jamaica.

1:04:21 > 1:04:24We went to a hotel in Ocho Rios, which is right out of the way,

1:04:24 > 1:04:26and got to know all the beach boys.

1:04:26 > 1:04:30And they took us to their houses, that were like huts, really.

1:04:30 > 1:04:33And I think that was our happiest time,

1:04:33 > 1:04:35when we were in the West Indies.

1:04:35 > 1:04:37You got lovely wacky baccy there.

1:04:37 > 1:04:41I mean, the best you can get, in Jamaica.

1:04:41 > 1:04:42Jamaica.

1:04:42 > 1:04:45The marijuana came first, before everything.

1:04:45 > 1:04:49And I think it was something that was literally

1:04:49 > 1:04:52life-holding-onto for him.

1:04:52 > 1:04:55He was taken ill in the studio, and the doctor said,

1:04:55 > 1:04:58"Do you know that he smokes marijuana?"

1:04:58 > 1:04:59And I went, "Hmm?"

1:04:59 > 1:05:01Because you didn't know what to say in those days.

1:05:01 > 1:05:03And I said, "Yes, yes."

1:05:03 > 1:05:08And he said, "If he doesn't, and if he stops, he will die.

1:05:08 > 1:05:09"It's keeping him alive."

1:05:09 > 1:05:13I think he knew that that heart was doing funny things. So he smoked.

1:05:15 > 1:05:17And he did smoke all the time.

1:05:17 > 1:05:21Before he got out of bed, he would roll a joint.

1:05:21 > 1:05:25And I'd get in the bath, and where you had the soap,

1:05:25 > 1:05:30there'd be joint ends, dead, stubbed out in there, you know?

1:05:30 > 1:05:31And he did propose to me,

1:05:31 > 1:05:35and I thought, "I don't think I could live like this."

1:05:35 > 1:05:38It was a bit surreal.

1:05:38 > 1:05:42But I think that was to do with Billy smoking so much.

1:05:42 > 1:05:46But he was not totally of this world.

1:05:46 > 1:05:51# Last kiss, and then goodbye

1:05:51 > 1:05:54# One kiss goodbye

1:05:54 > 1:05:59# Last kiss, and then goodbye. #

1:05:59 > 1:06:00He was a flirt,

1:06:00 > 1:06:03but he wasn't one of these that would switch from one to the other.

1:06:03 > 1:06:05He had more regular girlfriends than any of us.

1:06:05 > 1:06:09He wasn't like some of us - including myself - wham, bam, thank you ma'am.

1:06:09 > 1:06:10But he was very loyal, very respectful.

1:06:10 > 1:06:13And he treated them like ladies. I admired him for that.

1:06:13 > 1:06:16I never had an argument with Billy.

1:06:16 > 1:06:19Not that I can remember, anyway.

1:06:19 > 1:06:22I don't think Billy had the energy to have an argument.

1:06:22 > 1:06:24He used to get fed up with things.

1:06:24 > 1:06:26I think it probably happened with his women, at the time,

1:06:26 > 1:06:28he got fed up with them.

1:06:28 > 1:06:29You know, decided to change.

1:06:29 > 1:06:34By the time, when he went - we're having a perfectly normal evening.

1:06:34 > 1:06:37I think he'd gone to go and get some milk or something.

1:06:37 > 1:06:38He just never came back!

1:06:40 > 1:06:43He was such a strange creature.

1:06:44 > 1:06:48But it kind of fitted that he'd have relationships that

1:06:48 > 1:06:50I didn't even know about.

1:06:50 > 1:06:53This one was now not going anywhere.

1:06:53 > 1:06:57And maybe he did want to get married and settle down, I don't know.

1:06:57 > 1:07:00You weren't in contact with a real person.

1:07:00 > 1:07:04We had a very good life for quite a long time.

1:07:04 > 1:07:05And then...

1:07:08 > 1:07:10I think it was me that got fed up, really.

1:07:10 > 1:07:13I think it was my fault, everything that broke me up.

1:07:13 > 1:07:15Because I really got...

1:07:15 > 1:07:18I wanted a life again.

1:07:18 > 1:07:19# My baby, baby, baby

1:07:19 > 1:07:21# She's-a gone from me

1:07:21 > 1:07:23# My baby, baby, baby

1:07:23 > 1:07:25# She's-a gone from me

1:07:25 > 1:07:29# She left me here alone, alone and so blue

1:07:29 > 1:07:33# It's just my baby, baby, baby, she was so untrue

1:07:33 > 1:07:35# My baby, she's gone

1:07:35 > 1:07:37# I don't know what to do

1:07:37 > 1:07:40# What to do, what to do. #

1:07:47 > 1:07:51All these young, aspiring kids in the rock and roll era,

1:07:51 > 1:07:53they just wanted to perform.

1:07:53 > 1:07:56And they would sign a contract, they didn't care.

1:07:56 > 1:07:59If someone came along and said, we're going to put you on

1:07:59 > 1:08:02Six-Five Special, or whatever, you'd sign your life away.

1:08:02 > 1:08:04First one for Larry to sign was Tommy Steele.

1:08:04 > 1:08:08Then he took on Tommy's brother Colin. Then he took Marty.

1:08:08 > 1:08:10There he took myself, then Billy.

1:08:10 > 1:08:12Then Dickie Pride, and then Duffy Power,

1:08:12 > 1:08:14were on totally different contracts.

1:08:14 > 1:08:17Tommy Steele, Marty Wilde, Colin Hicks

1:08:17 > 1:08:19and myself were all on percentage.

1:08:21 > 1:08:25When Billy started, it was Billy, Dickie, Duffy, Johnny Gentle.

1:08:25 > 1:08:32The other guys - Joe Brown, even Joe was - they were on salaries.

1:08:32 > 1:08:37I was managed by Robert Stigwood. And I was paid £1,000 a week.

1:08:37 > 1:08:39Billy found out about it.

1:08:39 > 1:08:41And I don't think he was too happy about that.

1:08:41 > 1:08:42I don't know what Billy was on.

1:08:42 > 1:08:46Knowing Larry Parnes, he was probably on about 50 quid a week!

1:08:46 > 1:08:49Nothing like that. It was £20 a week, and that was it.

1:08:49 > 1:08:51And pay your own expenses.

1:08:51 > 1:08:55- VINCE:- Part of the contract, what it said was that Larry Parnes had

1:08:55 > 1:08:58power of attorney over the said artist.

1:08:58 > 1:09:01Billy, myself, Marty, whoever.

1:09:01 > 1:09:02And what happened with me was

1:09:02 > 1:09:04I'd made about four records that had sold well.

1:09:04 > 1:09:07I hadn't had any major hits, but I'd done well.

1:09:07 > 1:09:09And I said, "When I going to get some record royalties?"

1:09:09 > 1:09:12He said, "You'll never get record royalties." I said, "Why?"

1:09:12 > 1:09:13He said, "Because they're mine."

1:09:13 > 1:09:17I said, "No, the contract said a penny or ha'penny a record."

1:09:17 > 1:09:20He said, "No, you'll also notice on the contract,

1:09:20 > 1:09:22"it states I have power of attorney.

1:09:22 > 1:09:25"So I say you don't get record royalties." And we didn't.

1:09:25 > 1:09:28In all those stories you heard about somebody picking up a kid

1:09:28 > 1:09:32out of the street and manufacturing a rock and roll singer,

1:09:32 > 1:09:34in a way, a lot of that was true.

1:09:34 > 1:09:37# What do you want if you don't want money?

1:09:37 > 1:09:40# What do you want if you don't want gold?

1:09:40 > 1:09:44# Say what you want, and I'll give it you, darling

1:09:44 > 1:09:46# Wish you wanted my love, baby. #

1:09:46 > 1:09:50There were some stables that were really manipulated.

1:09:50 > 1:09:53They were just paid a wage,

1:09:53 > 1:09:58and they worked for 40 weeks of the year.

1:09:58 > 1:10:00At, I don't know, 50 quid a week, or something.

1:10:00 > 1:10:02And they really were manipulated.

1:10:02 > 1:10:06Larry Parnes decided that he would pay people so much per week.

1:10:06 > 1:10:10And with Billy, I think it was £20 a week to start with.

1:10:10 > 1:10:12Which was more than he was getting on the tug boats.

1:10:12 > 1:10:15But Billy was writing his own songs,

1:10:15 > 1:10:17Billy was doing a lot of shows.

1:10:17 > 1:10:19I came along, I was getting more money than him.

1:10:19 > 1:10:24There he is, top of the bill, touring all over England,

1:10:24 > 1:10:26and he was getting peanuts.

1:10:26 > 1:10:29Larry Parnes didn't like people having days off.

1:10:29 > 1:10:32If they were on tour, he liked them to work seven days a week.

1:10:32 > 1:10:35Because if they were having a day off, they weren't earning anything.

1:10:35 > 1:10:37Joe Brown did something like

1:10:37 > 1:10:4114 months without a night off for £20 a week.

1:10:42 > 1:10:46Joe Brown, who'd got a very strong constitution,

1:10:46 > 1:10:48said he collapsed after three years,

1:10:48 > 1:10:51because he'd been working day in, day out for Larry Parnes.

1:10:51 > 1:10:52I mean, the money was absolute rubbish.

1:10:52 > 1:10:54I was sleeping in the coach most nights.

1:10:54 > 1:10:57Make the coach driver - which wasn't supposed to be -

1:10:57 > 1:11:01he used to pick me up and drive me to local baths to have a wash.

1:11:01 > 1:11:04Joe Brown, when he wanted some money once, he went on a Friday afternoon

1:11:04 > 1:11:07to the office to get paid, and he couldn't get any money.

1:11:07 > 1:11:11He used to ride up on a motorbike. And he had a crash helmet.

1:11:11 > 1:11:13He put his crash helmet on,

1:11:13 > 1:11:15and he started banging against the doors, going,

1:11:15 > 1:11:18"Larry! Give me the bloody money!"

1:11:18 > 1:11:20I was with a manager called Larry Parnes,

1:11:20 > 1:11:22who had a reputation for being a bit tight.

1:11:22 > 1:11:25I'll never forget when we recorded Picture Of You,

1:11:25 > 1:11:27which went to number one in most charts,

1:11:27 > 1:11:29and I never got given one, I had to buy one.

1:11:29 > 1:11:32I mean...!

1:11:32 > 1:11:35And I never got any royalties off of it either.

1:11:35 > 1:11:39# But the only sight I want to view

1:11:39 > 1:11:43# Is that wonderful picture of you

1:11:46 > 1:11:50# On a streetcar or in the cafe

1:11:50 > 1:11:55# All of the evening and most of the day

1:11:55 > 1:12:00# My mind is in a maze, what can I do?

1:12:00 > 1:12:05# I still see that picture of you. #

1:12:05 > 1:12:08We were doing a show at the Liverpool Playhouse

1:12:08 > 1:12:09called Be-Bop-A-Lula.

1:12:09 > 1:12:13It was based on the 1960 British tour by Gene Vincent

1:12:13 > 1:12:17and Eddie Cochran, of which Billy Fury was the third top.

1:12:17 > 1:12:21Larry Parnes' partner rang me up and said,

1:12:21 > 1:12:23"Larry's coming up for the opening night."

1:12:23 > 1:12:26He said, "There isn't going to be anything in this show

1:12:26 > 1:12:27"that will embarrass Larry, is there?"

1:12:27 > 1:12:32I said, "No, the only thing that he mightn't like is that they

1:12:32 > 1:12:36"do talk on tour about how little money they're getting."

1:12:36 > 1:12:39Larry then rang me up and he said, "I don't mind that,

1:12:39 > 1:12:43"it's just like schoolchildren having a go at the headmaster."

1:12:43 > 1:12:46The Oh Boy! show was Marty's show. He was the headliner.

1:12:46 > 1:12:51Until Larry had a fall out with Jack Good over Marty's wardrobe.

1:12:52 > 1:12:56Marty was pulled from the show, and Cliff dropped into his slot,

1:12:56 > 1:12:58and it became more of Cliff's show than it was before.

1:12:58 > 1:13:02Larry absolutely screwed up Marty terribly by doing that.

1:13:02 > 1:13:04Because it let Cliff in the door.

1:13:04 > 1:13:08# Let the rumours come and go

1:13:08 > 1:13:12# We'll prove to everyone

1:13:14 > 1:13:18# We'll still carry on as though

1:13:18 > 1:13:24# Our love affair has just begun. #

1:13:24 > 1:13:27We used to nick money off Larry's dressing table,

1:13:27 > 1:13:28because he hadn't give us any money.

1:13:28 > 1:13:31If it hadn't have been for a little Italian restaurant

1:13:31 > 1:13:33on the ground floor, they looked after us, gave us free spaghetti,

1:13:33 > 1:13:36I think we might have starved to death.

1:13:36 > 1:13:38He was mean in a lot of ways.

1:13:38 > 1:13:41I think I must have blotted out all the horror.

1:13:41 > 1:13:47Because in the last few years of his life, we were very, very close.

1:13:47 > 1:13:50And I was devastated when he died, really.

1:13:50 > 1:13:55So, when you search your soul, you know that you loved him, really.

1:13:55 > 1:13:58Even though he was such a bastard.

1:13:58 > 1:14:01We used to drive up to town in Larry's car without Larry knowing.

1:14:01 > 1:14:04And we'd come round this part of London, or the West End,

1:14:04 > 1:14:06and we would go up and down here.

1:14:06 > 1:14:10And it was, on one occasion,

1:14:10 > 1:14:14just around the corner where we were stopped by a policeman who said,

1:14:14 > 1:14:16"You're going the wrong way down a one-way street."

1:14:16 > 1:14:18And I said, "Well, I'll turn round."

1:14:18 > 1:14:21But I couldn't find reverse, it was a column shift.

1:14:21 > 1:14:22And Billy was saying,

1:14:22 > 1:14:25"Come on, he's going to arrest us, he's going to arrest us!"

1:14:25 > 1:14:28So I managed to get the car started. But we went straight ahead

1:14:28 > 1:14:31and put the metal - what do they call it? - the pedal to the metal,

1:14:31 > 1:14:33or whatever it is. Put our foot hard down,

1:14:33 > 1:14:35and we got out the way, we didn't get in trouble.

1:14:35 > 1:14:37But we'd just to get up to all sorts of things.

1:14:37 > 1:14:40And this used to be, as I say, packed with cars,

1:14:40 > 1:14:43and with girls, and with guys looking for girls.

1:14:43 > 1:14:45How would I criticise myself?

1:14:45 > 1:14:48Perhaps I should have been

1:14:48 > 1:14:54a little more selfish towards my bank balance.

1:14:54 > 1:14:57Later on, after the whole Billy Fury thing has blown up,

1:14:57 > 1:15:01and he's been famous, and he's disappeared from the spotlight,

1:15:01 > 1:15:04actually, the thing that then is the perfect vehicle for him

1:15:04 > 1:15:06are films again.

1:15:06 > 1:15:08In That'll Be The Day, playing a character

1:15:08 > 1:15:11who is a rock and roll star, makes perfect sense.

1:15:11 > 1:15:14We thought, we've got to get some people of the era

1:15:14 > 1:15:16who can play those parts.

1:15:16 > 1:15:20And the thing about using actors and things is, OK, you can

1:15:20 > 1:15:21get an actor to do it.

1:15:21 > 1:15:23But if you get the real thing, they're better.

1:15:23 > 1:15:26Billy, at one point, felt maybe we were sending him up.

1:15:26 > 1:15:29We weren't sending him up, what we were doing is depicting an era.

1:15:29 > 1:15:30And I remember having a discussion with him.

1:15:30 > 1:15:33I said, look, you've got to understand that from the perspective

1:15:33 > 1:15:37of making the film - that was 1972 - what was going on at that point -

1:15:37 > 1:15:40'56, '57 - does look weird.

1:15:40 > 1:15:42It does look over the top, it does look strange.

1:15:42 > 1:15:44The red coats and everything else.

1:15:44 > 1:15:45We were down on the Isle of Wight,

1:15:45 > 1:15:47we'd recorded the backing tracks,

1:15:47 > 1:15:48and he had to sing something.

1:15:48 > 1:15:51And he wouldn't do it in front of the band.

1:15:51 > 1:15:53He wanted to do it by himself.

1:15:53 > 1:15:54And I wondered whether that was

1:15:54 > 1:15:57because he felt they were all very hip guys - Keith Moon

1:15:57 > 1:16:01and all those sort of people - maybe he felt he was kind of old.

1:16:02 > 1:16:04He did go into a bit of a... not so much a depression,

1:16:04 > 1:16:05he just went very, very quiet.

1:16:05 > 1:16:08And said, "I've got a nasty feeling I'm being sent up."

1:16:16 > 1:16:20But there must be a great film to be made about these people, who were

1:16:20 > 1:16:25so big, and suddenly the light went out and they were nothing.

1:16:25 > 1:16:28And when you get up in the morning, you think,

1:16:28 > 1:16:30"Last year, I was the biggest thing in the world.

1:16:30 > 1:16:32"And now nobody wants me."

1:16:32 > 1:16:35# Rise in the morning

1:16:35 > 1:16:38# You're not around

1:16:38 > 1:16:42# Searching all over

1:16:42 > 1:16:45# You can't be found

1:16:45 > 1:16:48# And then in the evening

1:16:48 > 1:16:51# By the moonlight

1:16:51 > 1:16:55# I'll hold you, darling

1:16:55 > 1:17:01# I'll hold you tight. #

1:17:01 > 1:17:03I met him in 1982, twice.

1:17:03 > 1:17:07The first time, he was just so worn out.

1:17:07 > 1:17:09And he'd just performed with the Mick Green Band.

1:17:09 > 1:17:11It was a great show.

1:17:11 > 1:17:13And he was absolutely drained and exhausted.

1:17:13 > 1:17:15And he was standing there,

1:17:15 > 1:17:18and the queue went all the way back through the nightclub.

1:17:18 > 1:17:20And he was there signing autographs.

1:17:20 > 1:17:22He really should have been sat down, and more care taken

1:17:22 > 1:17:25of him on that night, to be honest, because he looked absolutely wiped.

1:17:25 > 1:17:29It just didn't seem right for Billy Fury to be performing

1:17:29 > 1:17:33in a little cabaret club with just a three-piece backing group.

1:17:33 > 1:17:35He was bigger than that.

1:17:35 > 1:17:38But he just had to work, and there was nothing he could do about it.

1:17:38 > 1:17:41His light had gone out around him. You know?

1:17:41 > 1:17:45I knew he was on his way.

1:17:45 > 1:17:48I saw him once during that time.

1:17:48 > 1:17:51I think it was a Baileys in Leicester or Watford

1:17:51 > 1:17:52or one of those gigs.

1:17:52 > 1:17:54And he was brilliant.

1:17:54 > 1:17:57He was his old self, if not better.

1:17:57 > 1:18:01I saw him again on December 4th, and it was to be his last public gig.

1:18:01 > 1:18:05And he looked really good. He sounded good, hell of a performance.

1:18:05 > 1:18:07He ended with Johnny B Goode.

1:18:07 > 1:18:09I thought I'd died and gone to heaven -

1:18:09 > 1:18:11there's Billy Fury with a guitar, singing Johnny B Goode,

1:18:11 > 1:18:14and he was rocking out, and he looked great. And we were hopeful.

1:18:14 > 1:18:16We knew he was unwell, and we thought,

1:18:16 > 1:18:18hey, maybe things aren't so bad.

1:18:18 > 1:18:21But with a heart condition, one day you're up, next day you're down.

1:18:21 > 1:18:24And then, in the January, we lost him.

1:18:24 > 1:18:27It was devastating for me when he died, really.

1:18:27 > 1:18:30You don't ever stop loving somebody, do you?

1:18:32 > 1:18:36# You don't know

1:18:36 > 1:18:40# How I feel

1:18:40 > 1:18:42# You don't know

1:18:42 > 1:18:48# My love is real

1:18:48 > 1:18:51# If I tell you

1:18:51 > 1:18:55# You might say

1:18:55 > 1:18:59# That I should not

1:18:59 > 1:19:03# Feel this way. #

1:19:03 > 1:19:06There was always something of the tragedy

1:19:06 > 1:19:09hanging around Billy, actually.

1:19:09 > 1:19:13There was just that air of something that you can't always pick...

1:19:13 > 1:19:16You don't quite know what it is from someone.

1:19:16 > 1:19:18It was sort of hovering in the air.

1:19:18 > 1:19:22Because he was a bird-watcher, he would go out and get wet through.

1:19:22 > 1:19:26And that's why he had the heart trouble, really.

1:19:26 > 1:19:29He would stay out until he dried.

1:19:29 > 1:19:32Which, of course, was fatal, really, in a way.

1:19:32 > 1:19:33A seagull was hurt.

1:19:35 > 1:19:39And he carried it the full length of the promenade to the RSPCA.

1:19:41 > 1:19:47And all his suit down there was covered with yellow.

1:19:47 > 1:19:52And I found the suit wringing wet when he came home.

1:19:52 > 1:19:55And I said to him, "What have you been doing?"

1:19:55 > 1:19:58And he never told me until after,

1:19:58 > 1:20:02that he carried this seagull the full length of the promenade.

1:20:04 > 1:20:06Because it was hurt.

1:20:06 > 1:20:13# Maybe you don't care

1:20:13 > 1:20:19# Baby, that's what I fear. #

1:20:21 > 1:20:24He's left us with some great memories.

1:20:24 > 1:20:26He's left us with some great songs.

1:20:26 > 1:20:31And he's left us remembering, what I like to think, was just a great era.

1:20:31 > 1:20:33It was a very, very exciting era.

1:20:33 > 1:20:36I think his legacy is the records he made and the songs that he wrote.

1:20:36 > 1:20:40And I honestly think, and I still say it to this day,

1:20:40 > 1:20:43that if Billy had the management that Cliff had,

1:20:43 > 1:20:46Billy would have been as big, if not bigger.

1:20:46 > 1:20:50The guy from the Arctic Monkeys, Alex, with his quiff, his movements

1:20:50 > 1:20:56and whatever - they're all little acknowledgements to Billy Fury.

1:20:56 > 1:20:59This has to be his legacy, The Sound Of Fury 10".

1:20:59 > 1:21:02It's a wonderful record, and I'm a fan.

1:21:02 > 1:21:04When I was in Liverpool, doing the Strictly tour, and I was

1:21:04 > 1:21:08walking round the docks, there's a fantastic statue of Billy Fury.

1:21:08 > 1:21:10And there was half a dozen women putting flowers.

1:21:10 > 1:21:13And I said, "What's going on?" They said, "It's his birthday."

1:21:13 > 1:21:18So there's still people paying homage to this guy.

1:21:18 > 1:21:19He was fantastic.

1:21:21 > 1:21:27# My heart is breaking for the way you left me

1:21:27 > 1:21:30# I'm feeling aching, baby

1:21:30 > 1:21:32# Please, don't forget me. #

1:21:32 > 1:21:33We opened the statue.

1:21:33 > 1:21:36I was approached to see if I had any ideas

1:21:36 > 1:21:38as to who could unveil a statue of Billy.

1:21:38 > 1:21:43And I said, well, the only person really to do it is Jack Good.

1:21:43 > 1:21:44Because Jack loved Billy.

1:21:44 > 1:21:47He produced The Sound Of Fury, he should do it.

1:21:47 > 1:21:50Jack doesn't do anything, he's becomes so reclusive.

1:21:50 > 1:21:52And he said, "I tell you what, Vince,

1:21:52 > 1:21:54"because it's Billy, I'll do it."

1:21:54 > 1:21:59Me and Albie went down, and we were thrilled to bits.

1:21:59 > 1:22:04It is a statue now that will give a bit of remembrance of him.

1:22:04 > 1:22:07We're all very proud, and it's going to be here forever, you see.

1:22:07 > 1:22:10Because it has been given to the people of Liverpool, this statue.

1:22:10 > 1:22:14The statue is introducing the public to Billy and his music.

1:22:14 > 1:22:17They see this statue of this energetic young man,

1:22:17 > 1:22:21and they go and find out about him. Listen to the music.

1:22:21 > 1:22:23And they realise what a great pop star he was.

1:22:23 > 1:22:26It's a good statue, better than the one of John Lennon.

1:22:26 > 1:22:30At last, he's getting some fame. He's getting the recognition he really deserved.

1:22:37 > 1:22:39# Oh, honey

1:22:39 > 1:22:41# How I pray

1:22:41 > 1:22:44# That phone will ring today. #

1:22:44 > 1:22:47You don't really want this place to be just Beatles city, we want

1:22:47 > 1:22:50to do something for the other people that came from this city.

1:22:50 > 1:22:54Billy Fury Way, I mean, considering Billy wasn't from London,

1:22:54 > 1:22:57it's a hell of an acknowledgement.

1:22:57 > 1:23:02It's a nice thing for people to go and visit. Billy Fury fans.

1:23:02 > 1:23:04And there's a lot of them, all over the country, have seen it.

1:23:04 > 1:23:07So with London having that,

1:23:07 > 1:23:11Liverpool, I would have thought, should definitely have something.

1:23:11 > 1:23:14So, come on, councillors, get it sorted.

1:23:14 > 1:23:17Interesting to know whether the Beatles phenomenon could

1:23:17 > 1:23:20have happened or would have happened had it not been for the ground

1:23:20 > 1:23:22that was broken before them by Billy, Marty, Adam.

1:23:22 > 1:23:24One of the great images of Billy Fury

1:23:24 > 1:23:26is with his arms outstretched, like that.

1:23:26 > 1:23:28And if you look at the statue from a distance,

1:23:28 > 1:23:31you've got that position, with the arms outstretched.

1:23:31 > 1:23:34And it looks great. It's such a distinctive pose of Billy Fury's.

1:23:34 > 1:23:37It captures everything about Billy, really.

1:23:37 > 1:23:40And all the force comes from a twist in his foot.

1:23:40 > 1:23:43And it goes right through to his arms, like lightning, or something.

1:23:43 > 1:23:46Going right through his foot, right through his hands,

1:23:46 > 1:23:47it all happens in a split second.

1:23:47 > 1:23:53# Well, all right

1:23:53 > 1:23:57# I told a lie. #

1:23:57 > 1:24:00You know, he's a great ballad singer.

1:24:00 > 1:24:01And that's how he was a rocker.

1:24:01 > 1:24:03When he did the live shows, he rocked.

1:24:03 > 1:24:08He wasn't a mirror image of someone else. He was unique.

1:24:08 > 1:24:10He was emblematic of a period.

1:24:10 > 1:24:13In exactly the same way that Dusty Springfield was.

1:24:13 > 1:24:16If you're really interested in that period, you couldn't make

1:24:16 > 1:24:18a movie, not even a short movie, that didn't include him.

1:24:18 > 1:24:21Youngsters love Elvis, they love the Beatles.

1:24:21 > 1:24:25And, frankly, they should love Billy, because he was a pioneer.

1:24:25 > 1:24:28There was probably more tribute acts to Billy Fury

1:24:28 > 1:24:30than any other British artist.

1:24:30 > 1:24:33I'm co-producing a show called Be-Bop-A-Lula.

1:24:33 > 1:24:36We feature four icons in it, which is

1:24:36 > 1:24:38Roy Orbison,

1:24:38 > 1:24:39Eddie Cochrane,

1:24:39 > 1:24:41Gene Vincent

1:24:41 > 1:24:43and Billy Fury.

1:24:43 > 1:24:46For the kids coming to see the show, they don't care.

1:24:46 > 1:24:48They don't care whether it's Halfway To Paradise

1:24:48 > 1:24:51or Gonna Type A Letter or Don't Knock Upon The Door.

1:24:51 > 1:24:55They just think, "What is it? Wow! Proper rock and roll."

1:24:55 > 1:24:59So his music is still being kept alive in one way.

1:24:59 > 1:25:01And people ask, "Who was this fella?"

1:25:01 > 1:25:05And of course, he was the greatest British rock and roll star.

1:25:05 > 1:25:07Maybe the only British rock and roll star.

1:25:07 > 1:25:10See, a lot of people can look well, they can sound well,

1:25:10 > 1:25:12but they don't have that magic.

1:25:12 > 1:25:15And Billy Fury had magic.

1:25:15 > 1:25:19# All right, goodbye

1:25:19 > 1:25:24# All right, goodbye. #

1:25:31 > 1:25:32APPLAUSE

1:25:32 > 1:25:35# I'm Alabamy bound

1:25:35 > 1:25:39# I'm no heebie-jeebie hanging around

1:25:39 > 1:25:43# I got the meanest ticket man, oh, man

1:25:43 > 1:25:45# All I'm worth

1:25:45 > 1:25:48# To get my tootsies in that upper berth

1:25:48 > 1:25:51# To hear that choo-choo sound

1:25:51 > 1:25:55# I know that soon I'm going to cover ground

1:25:55 > 1:25:58# So I can shout it so the world can know

1:25:58 > 1:26:01# Here I go

1:26:01 > 1:26:04# I'm Alabamy bound

1:26:04 > 1:26:07# I'm Alabamy bound

1:26:07 > 1:26:11# Oh, I'm no heebie-jeebie hanging around

1:26:11 > 1:26:14# I got the meanest ticket man, oh, man

1:26:14 > 1:26:16# All I'm worth

1:26:16 > 1:26:19# To get my tootsies in that upper berth

1:26:19 > 1:26:22# To hear that choo-choo sound

1:26:22 > 1:26:26# I know that soon I'm going to cover that ground

1:26:26 > 1:26:29# And then I'll shout it so the world can know

1:26:29 > 1:26:32# Lordy, here I go

1:26:32 > 1:26:34# I'm Alabamy

1:26:34 > 1:26:36# I'm Alabamy

1:26:36 > 1:26:41# I'm Alabamy bound. #