From his humble beginning's in Liverpool to world stardom, many compared him to Elvis, James Dean and Eddie Cochran to name a few. Read the story of how one Liverpool lad became the one and only Billy Fury...
All I did was squirm a bit,” Billy Fury was to claim later. But in 1959, no-one had seen anything like it. As Picturegoer magazine wrote: “To the throb of guitars he sings the opening bars. Then with deliberate calculation, he winds his left leg around the microphone, tilts it back, softly caresses the base with his right hand, then over goes the microphone until it lies full- length on the stage – with Fury on top of it.” It sent the audience wild and Billy was hailed as England's answer to Elvis.
Not bad for a lad from Liverpool who less than a year before had been working in the docks. Back then, still Ronald Wycherley, he was in a skiffle group and had started writing his own songs. Armed with these he made his way backstage when the Larry Parnes Extravaganza featuring Marty Wilde came to Liverpool. Ron was hoping that Marty might record his songs – but when pop-impresario Parnes heard him sing he uttered the unbelievable words, “If I say you're going on stage in eight minutes, will you say yeah?” Ron did – although he was shaking with fear. The teenage audience loved him. That night Ron signed a contract, agreed to his name change and the next morning Billy Fury was part of the Larry Parnes touring stable of stars.
Did you know... Billy was part of the Eddie Cochran UK tour and Eddie was so impressed by him he intended to arrange an American tour for Billy – but Eddie’s death in a car crash meant it never happened
It's only make believe
Another Parnes protege, Vince Eager, called Billy a ‘James Dean lookalike’. And blond Billy, who off-stage was actually quite shy, hadthat same mixture of sex appeal and vulnerability. He became a regular on teen show Oh Boy and his first self-penned release, Maybe Tomorrow, got to No.18 in the charts.
Britain's teenagers were clamouring for their own music and culture and Larry Parnes’ home-grown rock ‘n’ rollers filled that need. And it also filled businessman Larry Parnes' pockets. His young stars were put on a wage, and while clothes, cars and hotels were all provided free they had little idea of the money they were making for him. They also followed a punishing touring schedule that saw them criss-crossing the UK 48 weeks out of 52. This would become an increasing problem for Billy as his health had never been strong. Rheumatic fever as a child had led to long spells in hospital. Today he'd be given antibiotics, but Billy, born in 1940, was left with permanent heart damage and a reckless attitude to life once he overheard a doctor telling his mother he might not live to 30.
Halfway to Paradise
His immediate problem though was that sexy stage act. An outraged theatre manager in Dublin brought the curtain down on him and newspapers started to carry adverse headlines about Billy corrupting the morals of Britain's young. He was ordered to clean up his act and his record company Decca decided to try a gentler image. In 1961 he recorded the soulful Halfway to Paradise, which shot to No.3, followed by Jealousy (No.2) and I'd Never Find Another You (No.5).
Billy was a pop sensation who achieved 11 top ten hits. His popularity was such that he was being smuggled into venues and hotels. He may have stopped making love to the microphone onstage but he still knew how to send his audience wild as his girlfriend of the time Lee Middleton recalled: “At one point he used to come to the front of the stage, light a cigarette, pull on it and do all this moody bit before the curtain opened. The girls would scream themselves hoarse.”
But increasingly shows would have to be cancelled due to Billy's poor health. He even collapsed on stage. He was undoubtedly being overworked by Larry Parnes, but he didn't help himself. In 1964 he starred in the film I've Gotta Horse, with Amanda Barrie. They started an affair and she recalls, “When Billy moved in, he brought a suitcase stuffed with socks, a few stray animals, a gun and a shoebox full of marijuana. Our main source of sustenance was rum and coke.” Not a good diet for a man with a weak heart.
Alright, goodbye
But there was another side to Billy – he was a passionate animal lover and bought himself a farm where he looked after sick animals, even turning the swimming pool into a bird sanctuary.
It was just as well he had this haven because the pop world was changing due to four fellow Liverpudlians – The Beatles. Billy survived longer than most, with In Thoughts of You reaching No.9 in 1965.
But after that, real chart success eluded him. Following major heart surgery in 1971, Billy retreated to a farm in the Welsh mountains where he bred horses. His love-life settled down when he met Lisa Rosen, who gave him much-needed emotional and financial stability – following a bankruptcy which Billy blamed on Larry Parnes mismanagement.
His precarious health didn't stop him putting in a wonderful cameo in the film That'll Be the Day playing Stormy Tempest and he toured with Marty Wilde, making the most of the Seventies rock ‘n’ roll revival. But in March 1982 he collapsed and nearly died – with Lisa heroically driving him from Wales to London. Doctors didn't think he would survive. But he did.
This led to an outpouring of love from fans and Billy was planning a new tour and album when he collapsed again at home on January 27, 1983. Billy's spirit was unquenchable – but his heart just couldn't hold out. At just 42, our greatest home-grown rock ‘n’ roller sadly made it all the way to paradise.