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Dickie Valentine
Born Richard Bryce on November 4th 1929 in London, Dickie Valentine was a child actor.
He trained as a singer and got his big break with the Ted Heath band.
His successful 'crooning' career began to wane in the late 1950s and by 1960 his chart career was over.
He remained a popular live performer and appeared regularly on TV.
Sadly, he died in a car crash on 6th May 1971.
Dickie Pride
The "Sheik Of Shake". Born on 21st October 1941 in Thornton Heath, Croydon. In 1958 Dickie was spotted by Russ Conway in a pub in Tooting where he was singing.
The next week Conway took pop impresario Larry Parnes and Lionel Bart to see him. They were so impressed that Parnes decided to sign him on the spot. Dickie became a full time pop singer on the Parnes tours but later fell out with him.
Dickie wanted more demanding material to sing but Parnes insisted he sung the same three rock numbers every night. His increasingly erratic behaviour led to Parnes dropping him.
A troubled life followed with sporadic TV appearances and tours.
He married in 1962 but work was still hard to come by and so he took a job as a storeman.
In 1965 his only son was born and the same year Dickie became addicted to heroin. In 1967 he was referred to a mental hospital where doctors decided to give him a lobotomy.
Early in 1969 he tried to make a comeback as a singer but took heroin again.
He was found dead in bed on 26th March 1969 after an accidental overdose of sleeping tablets. Such a tragic loss.
Dean Webb
Dean Webb was born Michael Eaton in Reading, Berkshire, in 1940 and was educated at St. Annes Roman Catholic School in Caversham.
He changed his name, basing his surname on Cliff Richard's real name.
Before becoming a singer, he was, for a while, an apprentice blacksmith in Reading town centre.
Dean was on the same tour as Eddie Cochran when Eddie was tragically killed in a road accident near Bath in 1960.
If you're reading this Mike, you've got a lot of friends in the Reading area who would love to see you again!
NAVIGATE
THE STRINGBEAT YEARS
Now available!
The Stringbeat Years: Songs accompanied by John Barry
Now available, a 4-CD box-set comprising of 144 tracks, a 24-page booklet (replete with period photographs and comprehensive notes) and including ten bonus tracks (among them the CD debut of the first ever cover version of a John Barry instrumental composition).
Featuring – for the first time – the film versions of ‘Mix me a Person’, ‘The Time has Come’, and ‘What a Whopper’ (slightly shortened). There’s also an unique opportunity to hear the original version of ‘Ah, Poor Little Baby’, making its premiere appearance on CD.
The box-set is limited to 500 copies and is only £16.99 post-free in the UK, so don’t miss out! It is available direct from this website!
£16.99 post-free in the UK
£19.99 anywhere else in the world
Order now!
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Track listing
HIT AND MISS: THE STORY OF THE JOHN BARRY SEVEN
Thoroughly and painstakingly researched over a number of years, it features contributions from several ex-members of the band and from friends and relatives of John Barry.
Comprising of over 360 pages, it is packed with an array of rare photos of the band, and the singers they often supported, as well as some unique images of memorabilia and documentation from that era; some never previously published, many more seldom seen.
Even if you are not necessarily a devotee of The John Barry Seven per se, the book offers a fascinating historical insight into the British music scene of the period and, more importantly, provides an essential read for anybody remotely interested in discovering more about John Barry’s formative career.
The book’s cover price is £30, but anybody ordering direct from us will receive a 33% discount, reducing the cost to £19.99.