Biography

After the war, he began working in a sewing-machine plant in Leeds, but singing was always his first love and he managed to get a second job, performing in the evenings with the Johnny Addlestone Band at the club the Starlight Roof.

Romantic balladeer who had a number 1 hit in Britain in 1956 with "No Other Love", which went on to become his signature tune.

His only ever success on the album charts was a recording of the songs from the film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang which was a budget release on the specialist MFP label and thus only eligible for the separate budget charts in 1970.

He continued to appear in variety shows and summer seasons and by the 1990s he had developed a new career on radio as the voice of BBC Radio 2's Sounds of the Fifties series, a nostalgic look back at the decade which even gave him the opportunity to play several of his own records.

He died on the 21st of February, 2001, aged 75, but not forgotten by everyone as in 2007, his old label, EMI Gold (which had formally been the MFP label) released a double CD of his work, Ultimate Collection with 50 tracks including most of his hits.