Tommy Steele

Infobox musical artist
Name = Tommy Steele


Img_capt = Tommy Steele
Img_size = 125px
Landscape =
Background = solo_singer, actor
Birth_name = Thomas William Hicks
Alias =
Born = birth date and age|1936|12|17|df=yes
Bermondsey, London, England
Died =
Origin =
Instrument = Guitar, Banjo
Voice_type =
Genre = Rock and Roll
Occupation = Singer, Actor
Years_active = 1956 —
Label = Decca, Columbia, RCA Victor
Associated_acts = The Steelmen
URL = http://www.tommysteeleinternationalfanclub.com/
Current_members =
Past_members =
Notable_instruments =

Tommy Steele OBE (born 17 December 1936 in London, England) is an English entertainer. Steele is widely regarded as Britain's first teen idol and rock 'n' roll star. Born Thomas Willam Hicks in Mason Street, Bermondsey, London, England, his cheeky Cockney image and boy-next-door looks won him success as a musician, singer and actor.

inger

Before landing a singing career, Steele tried his hand at a number of odd jobs and had a brief spell as a merchant seaman. Like many singers of his era he never did National Service, having failed the medical examination because, at 18 years old, he was diagnosed as suffering with cardiomyopathy (According to his autobiography "Bermondsey Boy" he failed the medical because he had Flat Feet!) While on leave or during dock strikes, he played guitar and banjo and sang in The 2i's Coffee Bar in Soho, both as a solo performer and with Wally Whyton's Vipers Skiffle Group. When a ship Steele was serving on docked in the U.S.A., he heard the music of Buddy Holly and fell in love with rock 'n' roll, turning his back on the British skiffle craze. He was discovered by free lance photographer John Kennedy, who believed Steele could be Britain's answer to Elvis Presley. Later co-manager Larry Parnes is incorrectly credited with creating the stage name 'Tommy Steele.' It was Steele who adapted the surname of his Scandinavian paternal grandfather, Thomas Stil-Hicks (pronounced Steel-Hicks), adding another E to the spelling.

Steele shot quickly to fame in the UK as the frontman for a rock and roll band, The Steelmen, after their first single, "Rock With The Caveman," reached number 13 in the UK singles charts in 1956. Steele and other British singers would pick known hits from the United States, record their cover versions of these songs and release them in the UK before the American versions could enter the charts. Most of Steele's 1950s recordings were covers of American hits, such as "Singing the Blues" and "Knee Deep in the Blues". Although Steele never proved a serious threat to Presley's popularity in the UK, he did admirably well on the 1950s British pop charts and "Singing the Blues" got to Number 1. (Guy Mitchell was number 1 with "Singing the Blues" on 4 January 1957 and Tommy Steele on 11 January 1957.)

ecret meeting with Elvis Presley in England

For many years it was thought that Elvis Presley had never set foot in England, and had only ever spent a few minutes on the tarmac at Prestwick Airport airport in Scotland where his military plane, en route to the United States after completing his military service in West Germany, stopped to re-fuel. However, on 21 April 2008, in a (BBC Radio 2) interview with theatre impresario Bill Kenwright, it emerged that Presley, then 23, had in fact visited England for a day, after striking a phone conversation with Steele in London in 1958. According to Kenwright: "Elvis flew in for a day and Tommy showed him round London. He showed him the Houses of Parliament and spent the day with him". Kenwright admitted on 22 April 2008 that he was not sure whether he should have told the story. Tommy Steele said: “It was two young men sharing the same love of their music. I swore never to divulge publicly what took place and I regret that it has found some way of getting into the light. I only hope he can forgive me."

Officials at Prestwick Airport immediately issued a statement requesting proof, photographic, or otherwise, of the said meeting. Until such proof is provided, they shall continue to regard Prestwick Airport as the only place in Britain where Elvis Presley ever set foot, the marker, photographs, and special lounge at the said airport being a vivid reminder to the credibility to that claim.

[ [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/04/22/nelvis122.xml News - Telegraph ] ] [ [http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/bizarre/article1072800.ece Elvis Presley | secret England trip | Tommy Steele | The Sun |HomePage|Showbiz|Bizarre ] ]

Lamar Fike, a former member of the Memphis Mafia, who lived with Presley at the time, has posted a claim on www.elvisinfonet.com that it was him, not Presley who visited London and Tommy Steele for a day in 1958.

Actor

The increase in home-grown musical talent during the 1960s allowed Steele to progress to a career in stage and film musicals, leaving behind his pop idol identity. In the West End he appeared in the title role of "Hans Christian Andersen". On film, he recreated his London and Broadway stage role in "Half A Sixpence", and played character roles in "The Happiest Millionaire" and "Finian's Rainbow", although many critics found his personality to be somewhat overwhelming on screen. In this latter film, probably his best known appearance in the movies, he co-starred with Petula Clark and Fred Astaire.

In 1983, Steele directed and starred in the West End stage production of "Singin' in the Rain" at the famed London Palladium. In 1991 he toured with "Some Like It Hot" the stage version of the Jack Lemmon and Marilyn Monroe film. In 2003, after a decade-long hiatus, save his one man shows "An Evening With Tommy Steele" and "What A Show!", he toured as Ebenezer Scrooge in a production of "Scrooge: The Musical", an adaptation of "Scrooge". Following this return, he reprised his role at the Palace Theatre, Manchester over Christmas 2004, and brought the production to the London Palladium for Christmas 2005. In 2008 at the age of 71 Tommy toured in the lead role of the stage musical Dr Dolittle.

Author and other talents

In the early 1980s, Steele wrote and published a book titled "The Final Run", a novel about World War II and the evacuation of Dunkirk.

He also wrote a children's novel, entitled "Quincy", about a reject toy trying to save himself and his fellow rejects in the basement of a toy store from the furnace the day after Christmas. This was turned into a film in 1979, in which Steele played Quincy and Mel Martin played Quincy's girlfriend doll, Rebecca.

He has developed a talent as a sculptor and two of his major works are on public display: "Bermondsey Boy" at the Rotherhithe Civic Centre, and "Eleanor Rigby" which he sculpted and gave to the city of Liverpool as a tribute to The Beatles. The statue stands in Stanley Street, Liverpool, not far from The Cavern Club.

A "Daily Mail" article on 26 August 2006 previewing Steele's new autobiography (see below) states that Steele has another sculpture featuring two rugby players on display at England's rugby stadium at Twickenham. It also states that Steele is an artist of some note and has exhibited at the Royal Academy.

Steele's autobiography was published in September 2006 and is entitled "Bermondsey Boy: Memories of a Forgotten World" (London: Joseph) ISBN 0-7181-4972-6

Personal life

Steele married Ann Donoghue in 1960. They have one daughter, Emma.

Discography

Partial discography. [ [http://www.tommysteeleinternationalfanclub.com/TOMMYSTEELEDISCOGRAPHY.htm Tommy Steele Discography] Accessed February 2007.]

ingles

With the Steelmen
* "Rock With the Caveman"/ "Rock Around the Town" - UK singles chart no. 13 (Decca 1956)
* "Doomsday Rock"/ "Elevator Rock" (Decca 1956)
* "Singing the Blues"/ "Rebel Rock" - UK charts no. 1 (Decca 1956)
* "Knee Deep in the Blues"/ "Teenage Party". - UK charts no. 15 (Decca 1957)
* "Butterfingers"/ "Cannibal Pot" - UK charts no. 8 (Decca 1957)
* "Shiralee"/ "Grandad’s Rock" - UK charts no. 11 (Decca 1957)
* "Water, Water"/ "A Handful of Songs" - UK charts no. 5 (Decca 1957)
* "Hey You!"/ "Plant a Kiss" - UK charts no. 28 (Decca 1957)
* "Happy Guitar"/ "Princess" - UK charts no. 20 (Decca 1958)
* "Nairobi"/ "Neon Sign" - UK charts no. 3 (Decca 1958)
* "Only Man on the Island"/ "I Puts the Lightie On" - UK charts no. 16 (Decca 1958)

Solo
* "It’s All Happening"/ "What Do You Do?" (Decca 1958 )
* "Come On, Let’s Go"/ "Put a Ring on Her Finger". - UK charts no. 10 (Decca 1958)
* "A Lovely Night"/ "Marriage Type Love" (Decca 1958)
* "Hiawatha"/ "The Trial" (Decca 1959)
* "Tallahassee Lassie"/ "Give, Give, Give" - UK charts no. 16 (Decca 1959)
* "You Were Mine"/ "Young Ideas" (Decca 1959)
* "Little White Bull"/ "Singing Time" - UK charts no. 6 (Decca 1959)
* "What a Mouth"/ "Kookaburra" - UK charts no. 5 (Decca 1960)
* "Happy Go Lucky Blues"/ "Girl with the Long Black Hair" (Decca 1960)
* "Must Be Santa"/ "Boys and Girls" - UK charts no. 40 (Decca 1960)
* "My Big Best Shoes/ The Dit Dit Song (Decca 1961)
* "Writing on the Wall"/ "Drunken Guitar" - UK charts no. 30 (Decca 1961)
* "Hit Record"/ "What a Little Darling" (Decca 1962)
* "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?"/ "Butter Wouldn’t Melt in Your Mouth" (Decca 1963)
* "He’s Got Love"/ "Green Eye" (Decca 1963 )
* "Flash Bang Wallop"/ "She’s Too Far Above Me" (Decca 1963)
* "Egg and Chips"/ "The Dream Maker" (Columbia 1963)
* "Half a Sixpence"/ "If the Rain’s Got to Fall" (RCA 1965)
* "Fortuosity"/ "I’m a Brass Band" (Vista 1967)
* "King’s New Clothes"/ "Wonderful Copenhagen" (Pye 1974)
* "Half a Sixpence"/ "If the Rain’s Got to Fall" (Safari 1984)
* "Singing the Blues"/ "Come On, Let’s Go" (Old Gold 1985)13

Filmography

*"The Tommy Steele Story" (1957)
*"The Duke Wore Jeans" (1957)
*"Tommy the Toreador" (1959)
*"Light Up the Sky!" (1960) known as "Skywatch" in the US
*"It's All Happening" (1963) known as "The Dream Maker" in the US
*"Half a Sixpence" (1967)
*"The Happiest Millionaire" (1967)
*"Finian's Rainbow" (1968)
*"Twelfth Night" (1969) (made for TV)
*"Where's Jack?" (1969)
*"The Yeomen of the Guard" (1978)
*"Quincy's Quest" (1979)

ee also

*Lionel Bart
*Mike Pratt

References

* http://www.geocities.com/shakin_stacks/tommysteele.txt
*imdb name|0824687
* [http://www.scroogethemusical.co.uk/ "Scrooge: The Musical" website]
* http://www.rockabilly.nl/artists/tommysteele.htm

External links

* [http://www.tommysteeleinternationalfanclub.com/ Official Tommy Steele Fan Club]
* [http://www.45-rpm.org.uk/dirt/tommys.htm Biography info. www.45-rpm.org.uk]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/northamptonshire/stage/2004/scrooge_steele.shtml BBC "The man who brought rock to Britain"]
* [http://www.thestage.co.uk/features/feature.php/10322 The Stage, Steele interview]