Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup
Arthur Crudup was born in 1905 in Jackson, Mississippi, and grew up in Forest, a town 40 miles west. He worked mainly as a sharecropper, but also as a levee worker, logger and sanitation worker. He...
View ArticleAnthony Newley
Anthony George Newley was born on 24 September 1931. He grew up around Hackney in the East End of London and began acting in his teens. He attended the Italia Conti Stage School and starred in movies...
View ArticleAnne Shelton
Anne Shelton, the singer with the wholesome girl-next-door appeal, came to be known as the “Forces’ Favourite” on wartime radio. She provided an instant hit with her weekly radio programme for the BBC,...
View ArticleAndy Williams
Howard Andrew Williams was born in Iowa and started singing professionally with his three older brothers – Bob, Don and Dick – as the Williams Brothers Quartet. They worked in night clubs and on radio...
View ArticleAmes Brothers, The
The Ames Brothers were a singing quartet from Massachusetts (USA) who became famous in the 1950s for their traditional pop music hits. The Ames Brothers consisted of Joe (1921 – 2007), Gene (1923 –...
View ArticleAlma Cogan
Born in London, Cogan’s chart career ran from 1954 to 1961 as she sang innumerable hits on the cusp of the rock era. Dubbed “The Girl With A Giggle In Her Voice”, she was the highest paid British...
View ArticleAlan Freed
The Disc Jockey widely believed to have first coined the phrase “rock ‘n’ roll” began life as a jazz trombonist with a band called Sultans Of Swing (it may have been them that Dire Straits were singing...
View ArticleAl Martino
Jasper Cini was born in 1927 and became a friend and disciple of Mario Lanza. Changing his name to Al Martino in the late 1940s when he started his career as a romantic Italian baritone, his...
View Article2i’s Coffee Bar
The 2i’s Coffee Bar was an integral part of British pop music history. Situated at 59 Old Compton Street, Soho (London) it was originally owned by two brothers called Irani (hence the name “two I’s”)...
View Article“5” Royales, The
The “5” Royales began life in the 1940s as a gospel group called The Royal Sons Quintet but rechristened themselves The Royals after going secular and signing to New York’s Apollo label in 1952. But...
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