INTRODUCTION TO THE SOUND OF FURY
(OFFICIAL BILLY FURY FAN CLUB) AND MAGAZINES 1997-2018.
At long last
we have decided to put our magazines on-line, beginning with the first twenty,
and we are grateful to Alan Coombe for facilitating this. They ran from April
1997 to the end of 2015 as three 40-42 pagers per year, switching to two 60
pagers per year until December 2018. Production costs, increased postage, the
spectre of necessary repetition, stress, team and dependents ill-health, waning
membership and frankly most of us being plumb worn out, meant it was time to
stop. We felt that the magazines would become collectable as those more hard to
find ones from the Fury Sound are to some fans, but as Harry Whitehouse founder
of billyfury.com and the Peaksoft CD label once told me “Your magazines are a
social history of events and people forming a part of the Billy Fury story and
in particular the world following his passing, and therefore should be
preserved.” Billy Fury fans owe Harry a debt of gratitude for all of his work
in promoting Billy and especially in getting various CD releases out. Although
now retired, his CDs are still largely available via billyfury.com. It will be
miraculous indeed if the complete set of printed magazines survive intact for a
future Antiques Road Show-in the almost totally electronic (and for me)
appalling future with minimalist ‘hard’ possessions and space at a
premium-everything on-line etc. So here we are-online! We no longer have
regular income as there are no subscriptions so we ask those wishing to have
hard copies of our newsletter to pay a small sum to cover the cost of printing
and despatch.
We are, in
addition, hoping to save on billyfury.com all of the work done by Harry and
those who assisted him from around the same period as the Sound of Fury. If anyone from fan clubs prior to the tenure
of The Sound of Fury has information about them and wishes to contact us with
relevant information, corrections or additions they are most welcome.
Brief history.
Billy Fury
had a great number of UK fan clubs during his sixties hey-day and even when he
had moved to EMI/Parlophone at the end of 1966 there was still a fan club branch
in London run by Michael Husband who still attends the fan gatherings at Mill
Hill; where he is a mine of information. Around 1971-73 whilst working abroad
(Hong Kong),I joined a club run from Dorset by Tony and Jackie Read but only
received a couple of magazines and that was it until 1983. I have just
discovered that in 1974, Janice Hopkins, appointed as fan club secretary was
typing standard replies to fan letters, using the letter head address of
Billy’s parents. Billy signed the letters only with his first name, and
apparently supplied most of the information in the letters. In one line Billy
says, “The fan club is supervised by myself, and one of the Midlands branch
leaders, Phil Wright.” When Billy passed away in January 1983 his then manager was
Tony Read. For a while during 1982 he had been a friend of mine (and was to be
again for several years from the summer of 1983 onwards after we patched things
up), and he got Alan and Carol Chapman (who knew both Billy and his long-term
partner Lisa Rosen (later Voice), to form The Fury Sound. Tony had mentioned it
earlier in passing to me but given my choice of career it would have been
totally impractical for me to be involved in running a fan club. There was
still around that time, as I saw on correspondence at Tony’s place, mention of Phil
Wright who, together with his wife, was it Marie? , had, as we saw above, been
a major light in the Midlands fan club until, presumable, Billy’s retirement in
1977. I never did find out why they
didn’t seem to be prominent during the comeback in 1981/82 or why they didn’t carry
on after the sad events of 1983. I would guess it may have been all too much
emotionally after being so involved with the very much live Billy-their sadness
would have been acute, like so many of us, but worse because they would have
known him better than most of us. I once wrote to their published Midlands
address asking if they still had copies of one of Billy’s birthday shows which
was sold on cassette by the club-but perhaps they had moved because I got no
response (If anyone out there has a copy of the tape do please contact the
website or the Sound of Fury and if the Wright’s have tales to tell we would
like to hear them here at The Sound of Fury). The Wright’s (not to be confused
with our present dynamic duo Wendy and Phil), were to a degree still involved
and in contact with Tony during 1982 and now I wish that I had made more effort
via Tony to meet them. I spent so much
time going round the record and resales shops in the Midlands during the mid to
late 70’s it’s a wonder that I did not
see an advert for the Midlands Billy fan club. Perhaps the saddest aspect to
this fan club has been the loss of ‘Fury Friends’ over the years-something that
never gets easier, and which really does diminish each and every one of us who
has known them. Sadly we have not always been able to do them justice by way of
a full tribute-but that in no way means we valued them or miss them. any the
less.
Mill Hill fan gatherings at Salcombe
Gardens.
These
started I believe in April 1983 but at the beginning there was no formal get together
after the graveside meet. What began to happen is that Frank Bull would invite
some fans back to his flat over the undertakers in Enfield where he worked.
With Billy memorabilia everywhere and a jukebox fans felt welcome. The first
time I met Frank after 1982 I actually stayed over the night before Mill Hill; it
would have been around 1985/86 I suppose, and by then I believe Frank had
organised the Church Hall at Salcombe Gardens in Mill Hill. By 1989 I was buying photos from Billy’s mum,
copying them and adding in my own bought that year in auction. Money went with
Jean to Alder Hey Children’s ward and she bought receipts back to show us. I
even raffled some of Billy’s clothing bought from Tony Read-and put photos in
raffles, to supplement Jean’s prizes. The Fury Sound was present in the hall but
sold only from a car boot. Eventually having to leave Salcombe Gardens because
of a religious surge /demand having priority, understandably, over a rockers
fan club, was disappointing given the memories, mostly good, that we all
had-and the cosiness of the small hall, but we are at home on The Ridgway now,
despite the increased cost to us. Many if not most magazines feature reviews of
Mill Hill and other regular gatherings and although they may seem repetitive
they do provide a social record of those who were present and active in their
support Britain’s finest performer of his generation.
The bench seat and the grave
At some
stage in 1983 I believe, a group of fans with the family, paid for a bench seat
to be placed opposite the grave. I think it was driven by the Harris family,
from what Frank Bull once told me. It was replaced by The Sound of Fury in the
early 2000’s and a new one is planned. The grave in 1983 comprised only the
head stone and the earth mound. Starting around 1986 I think Frank Bull,
working with Hal Carter, Billy’s mum, and other friends of Jean’s such as Mo
Bowden, Rita Smalley, Jackie Clark and others, obtained the permission from the
Rosen family to place a surround and photos on the grave. Rita used to work for
Lisa and is a warm and great friend to all of us in the team and the fans.
Thanks to Frank the photos were crafted in Italy and the pictures chosen by
Billy’s mum, with us all gathered around helping to decide. Jean opted for one
from the 60’s and one from the 80’s. The fans of course contributed the money.
Due to vandalism the pictures had to be replaced a few years later, as did the original
dove.
The Fury Sound
The long-running
Fury Sound (1983-1995 I estimate) produced a nice informative little magazine
and promoted Billy with good taste, providing fans with the records missing
from their collections. The Chapman’s (whom
I respected greatly but disagreed with on some of their policy) also worked
with Tony Read and Magnum Force label in giving us two LPs, Loving You and
Sticks’n’ Stones, featuring some tracks we knew with half as many wonderful unreleased tracks and which later
co-joined to become The Rough Diamonds and Pure Gems CD. That excellent title was
voted for by fan club members. I voted but for a different title-cannot recall
which. Whilst loving the material (mostly
given to me on tape by Tony back in the summer 0f 1982), I have always hated
the cover photo cheaply used on both albums and the CD. It’s a boy next door
one from many years prior to the EMI period, and any album cover should always
reflect the content (to at least within a year). In truth Alan and Carol would probably have
had little or no control over the cover shot-in much the same way that years
later Decca would not-at my request, pull the arty blue cover on the otherwise
excellent Love Songs CD (crying out for years now for reissue with a nicer
cover). I still love playing the EMI material in the car during the summer-
especially whilst driving through beautiful Dorset not far from Tony’s old farm
house-because every time it connects me even today with 1982-Tony, Billy and
the most memorable year of my life.
First Billy Fury Website-Nalle
Westman.
I thought
that around the time the Sound of Fury was being formed in late 1996, there was
an excellent website set up by Nalle Westman from Finland. Come to find out, my
memory of the dates it was created seems to be false, because according to the
site it was on-line on 15/5/98. In the
event, this site won a legacy choice award for best Sixties site-I thought for
either late in 1996 or in 1997. Now I am not sure-except that it was awarded,
by 1998 at the latest. Sometime after
1998 Nalle disappeared from view –we had only just met him during his trip to
Billy’s resting place, and all efforts to make contact since have failed. Nalle
was helped by Mo Bowden with her knowledge of Liverpool locations and other
things pertaining to young Billy-she had been a fan in Liverpool with lots of great
memories of seeing Billy. Our treasurer Jean Prosser also helped and Clare and probably
Jackie whilst I assisted with things like the discography. Around 1997/98 Harry
Whitehouse started billyfury.com, as the syndicate was presumably happy with
Nalle’s site, or slow off the mark,
missing an opportunity. None of us had the expertise or time anyway and in the
event we ended up working quite closely with Harry. About two years ago I quite
accidentally found Nalle’s website on line, preserved. If you can find it its
worth a visit, for the Liverpool trail etc. Just put in Billy Fury website
nallew>fury and it comes up at the top of the list. I would like to express
our gratitude to Nalle wherever he may be and apologise for obviously not
impressing him when we met at Mill Hill. I remember thinking even then that I
should have done more to show him our appreciation of his work-which was
considerable, and he should not be forgotten. If not done already we should
link our billyfury.com to his site. Of course he may have become ill or worse. The
site was allegedly updated in 2000 I think, by someone-Nalle or a friend or
family member I suppose. Sometimes over the years we have known really dedicated
fan club members including Mill Hill regulars, lose contact and efforts to find
out about them have drawn a blank.
The Billy Fury Appreciation Society
During the mid-90s I was at a Billy Fury
Tribute event run by Ian Brady at a hotel in Hitchin I think- cannot be sure.
Linda and I were then very close to Billy’s mum Jean and sat at her feet
watching singer Paul Neon (now sadly lost to us) do his stuff. At some point
during the day/evening friends of Jean,Peter and Brenda Basnett) (who knew
Billy) asked me if I would set up a Billy Fury fan club on behalf of Billy’s mum.
I was flattered but said that Alan and Carol were doing a good job and that it
would not, in my view, be fitting right then for me to do so. Not long after
several people, including Jean, Hal Carter, Jerry Vincent and my mate of many years,
the much missed Frank Bull set up The Billy Fury Appreciation Society, which I
joined, not wanting to miss out. The Society only lasted for about three of
four newsletters I think. Where my copies are I don’t currently know. What I do
know is that all fans should have been more grateful back then and even now for
the dedication to Billy displayed by the Chapman’s.
The Sound of Fury Syndicate
Eventually, towards the end of 1996, almost
certainly October, during a gathering at Mill Hill, six of us decided to form a
fan club. Whether Billy’s mum or someone on her behalf had again mentioned it I
cannot recall, but we just got together to agree who would do what and Jean
Wycherley was over the moon. Billy’s Lisa bestowed her blessing on us in
writing -which made us ‘Official’, and we were off.
Aside from
Mick Hill’s experience with magazines none of us were really talented or
qualified in literature or the arts (I had only had one article published by
Record Collector around 1989,one draft Fury biography and one A4 ‘desk topped’
8-10 paged Billy Fury Story with pictures), produced for Billy’s brother Albie
for a charity night in Liverpool which we supported. We were just a group of very
ordinary fans who wanted to give something back to Billy for all of the
pleasure that his music had given us-especially during our teenage years. In the April I think of 1997 the first
magazine came out and before long we were requested by Peter and Lynda Keller
to help them run their brainchild-The Bronze Statue Project. Why a syndicate?
We chose this title so we could be a democratic entity, no designated leader
and so no-one to be unduly influenced by anyone outside of our team. We would
go only in the direction of travel that we wanted to go. Hal Carter knew this and
respected it, saying at Mill Hill how everyone should be grateful that some fans
had given up their time voluntarily to run a fan club. Also we knew that if we went down the
traditional route that there would be a lot of honorary members-which would add
to the magazine and other mail out costs. Much as some of us had loved Billy’s
mum Jean for several years, overall this neutral approach seemed the right thing
to do. I have to admit to being very fond of Jean since the late 80s, and also,
for many years now-Billy’s Lisa, who has been very good to us. Although my
contact with Billy’s ex-wife Judith Wycherley was limited to one meeting and
several phone calls, she was always courteous and helpful, (sometimes candid)
and I liked her quite a lot. Regrettably I have not met Lee Everett-Alkin or
Amanda Barrie in order to get their perspectives on all things Billy, but both
have gone public with quite a lot of information and in Lee’s case, invaluable
home cine camera footage. My last knowledge of Judith and Lee, was, sadly, that
they were both very poorly, and that was several years ago now.
The
syndicate thing was unpopular with Billy’s family for a number of reasons, not
least that there would be no honorary members-which did not sit
well-understandably so in hindsight. They also seemed to think the connotation
was somehow rather sinister, shades of the Mafia -money making perhaps-which it
wasn’t, and couldn’t be of course. There
is little or no money in things Billy, other than sometimes on eBay with the
right rare thing to sell. Looking back a
few years later, and given how close Maureen Bowden, Jackie Clark and I had
been to Billy’s mum, I came to have more understanding of where she and Billy’s
brother Albie were coming from back then-it must have been quite unsettling and
unfair to her for us, as friends of the family, to eschew tradition as regards
fan club structuring and her and Albie’s place in it. Even so, no matter how
painful for all concerned, we had, not only through mutual agreement but given
what was rumoured about the ‘political’ the situation following Billy’s death, done
the right and fair thing. This was whilst still being still very much there in
support of Jean and Albie-but predominantly of course-Billy. Our dedication to
Jean and Albie was never in doubt throughout the Bronze Fund years and what we
did was often almost as much for Jean as it was Billy. This included eventually
getting her name on the bronze statue unveiling plaque as Guest of
Honour-publicly linking her to her famous son in perpetuity.
Following the Heritage Blue Plaque being
placed outside Lisa and Billy’s home in Cavendish Avenue, St John’s Wood and
the fund-raising party in London, (which the team also attended), our dear and still
much missed friend Hal Carter wanted to bring Lisa fully back into the fan fold.
This was after an unavoidable absence (prior to the blue plaque event) which
was neither of her making or her wish, but which had been to do with her former
personal circumstances. She had already kindly given her permission for Billy’s
mum, Hal Carter, Frank Bull and others to make changes to Billy’s resting place.
Lisa was also perfectly agreeable to the SOF continuing to fully support Billy’s
family as it had been doing. As the head of the Billy Fury Estate and Billy’s
long-term companion she had every right to be a presence among the fans, and was now at last able to do
so, with most of us in the team wanting that to happen. Hal Carter was firmly
behind this but sadly became terminally ill this time, and to lose a person of
such popularity and stature in the Billy Fury world was a grievous blow to both
the fans and our aspirations.
Regrettably ours was not an agreeable
direction of travel for the SOF as far as Billy’s family was concerned. We were
soon placed by them in a rock and hard place situation and saw no way out. In
sheer desperation we attempted, at Mill Hill, to remedy the situation by way of
a clumsy attempt at actually imposing a solution on the family-which would if
followed, at least look like unity to the fans. This failed spectacularly. Soon
after this and in response to the family’s wishes, the strength of which no-one
should underestimate (as indeed I had done), Jenny Warwick and then Vic England
left our team to form The Billy Fury In Thoughts of You Fan Club, and the rest,
as they say, is history. Nevertheless, thanks to the support of the team and
several loyal members we eventually got over it and from that time, despite
occasional issues, kept going until 2018. It is worth noting that Billy’s mum,
despite what had happened, told me during the week of the ‘split’ that she knew
why I had done what I did even though she wished I had not done it. Whenever we
met afterwards, she was always warm and courteous to Linda and I, including the
last time we ever saw her; at an Adelphi Hotel Billy Fury Weekend I think. There were times, prior to 2005, when Linda
and I, and some team members and many fans, had really enjoyed Albie’s company
and performances, (one in particular in Surrey with Colin Paul and the
Persuaders had been especially good and he was pleased when I told him so), and
there is a mix of both joy and much sadness in looking back. I had wanted to
patch things up with Albie as I had done with Jean, but sadly it just wasn’t
possible. A mutual great friend of Albie and I, Colin Paul, offered to mediate
at a Blackpool weekender once, but even Colin could not get this rift repaired.
It had been a special 20 years, if sad
in many ways after 2003/4. Fortunately In the last few years the Billy Fury
world seems to have become united, as indeed it should be, in promoting Billy’s
legacy, especially as our generation diminishes. I am very grateful to Jenny
Warwick for pro-actively being prepared to bury the hatchet when we attended
Danny River’s wake –a poignant time when we both thought, enough is enough. I
am aware that Jenny and/or I are still anathema to some people –but as the two
main protagonists for so many years, if we can manage to get along again, so
might others. Life really is too short.
Billy Fury Tribute Acts
At different
times in the life of the fan club various performers have been there, and to
their credit, no matter the politics, mostly continued to support this club as
we have them. I regret that we were unable to get to as many events as we may
have wished , but to those who have been there at any time since 1997, always
primarily for Billy of course, but also for us, I extend a heartfelt thanks. Some
have been Billy Fury Tribute acts, others more general 50s/60’s
entertainers-but all equally valued by us. Losing such a dear friend as Brian
Lee (Doggett), a big voiced and larger than life character from the sixties,
with a lovely family, was especially painful for Linda and I. Several performers
are still (apart from Covid 19 or illness restrictions), active or ready to be
when the time comes. One of the greatest privileges of being in the Sound of
Fury has been that we get to call such talented and nice people our friends.
You know who you are, from those we see regularly to some we haven’t seen for
many years! This also includes of course, for many members of the team, former
original singers and bands from the sixties.
The
Magazines
The first
magazines were assembled and edited by a great no-edge genuine and funny guy-Mick
Hill, former soldier and thorough Teddy Boy, Londoner and proud owner of an old
Standard 8, or possibly 10. He was already known for Rock You Sinners, the main
magazine at the time for UK Rock’n’ Roll, and a Fury fan regularly attending
Mill Hill ,so to cut and paste for us was natural for him. I emphasise magazine
because we have never, until now, been a newsletter-although some people have
used that term. That we are now a newsletter is thanks to the dedication of Lee
Fry, who does so much to promote Billy on the internet. Sadly in just a few
short years and long before the Bronze Project was finished, we lost Mick to
cancer. I have to point out that the early magazines were only in black and
white and quite rudimentary –but they were of their time and need to be appreciated
as such. To physically upgrade them would be very time consuming and difficult.
Mick did a good job and so we should
enjoy them for what they are-especially for some of the nuggets of information
tucked away in the pages. After Mick Hill passed our indomitable treasurer and
key syndicate member, Jean Prosser, with husband Mike took over magazine
editing and production until 2003, ending with the Bronze Statue day special-
in colour. They too, did a fine editing job I thought. In recent years our
so-hard working and dedicated Clare (Mehmet-Nugent) has also passed away from long-term
illness. She would spend hours on the phone talking to fans-often at her own
expense and had seen Billy numerous times in the London area. In 1998 she
represented the fan club and all Billy fans on a BBC Radio 2 Tribute to Billy
narrated by Marty Wilde. She left us just before the Bronze Statue day in order
to pursue her other primary commitment-promotion of diabetes awareness. Regarding
the magazines, in hindsight we should have put the magazine number and month on
the front cover or at least inside the front page of every magazine but readers
will have to assume that No 1 was from April 1997 and then followed every three
months by the next in line, until we switched to just two per year. Eventually
we did start to put that right, as you will discover. There was no plan except
that I was supposed to serialise my manuscript ‘Like I’ve Never Been Gone’
typed in 1984 in Lisburn by a friends typist, bound (three copies) around 1986
and never printed (too many errors in the earlier section). In the event it was
not until about magazine number 36 around 2009 that I started to write,
sometimes using my ‘book’ for putting chronological aspects of the Billy Fury Story
into the magazines in order to give us a renewed focus. Prior to that we had
simply put whatever information was available or newly created into the
magazine, irrespective of the year or topic. Some fans liked my very general column,
This’n’ That whilst others bluntly informed me that they never read it because
it wasn’t 100% Billy! Actually they missed Billy snippets in this way. There
were three reason for the column-one we didn’t know just how much Billy
material was out there, secondly we knew from feedback that quite a few,
probably most Billy fans also loved other singers and third, rather forlornly
as it turned out, I hoped to sway the more single-minded fans into listening to
some of the other greats out there, famous and obscure alike. This gave rise to
the irrepressible Mo Bowden, a warm and witty friend, our first Correspondence
Secretary and a significant magazine contributor, taking the mickey out of my
regard and support at any opportunity of ‘obscure’ rockabilly and 70’s country
legend Narvel Felts, with mentions of roofing (felt). Ah-Scouse humour! This
from someone who likes the music of Rose Maddox! I rest my case. Actually she
and musician husband and nice guy Dave like Jerry Lee Lewis and many others as
well as Billy-good for them. Mo also did a sterling job during her time in
harness. I was surprised but pleased to discover last year that a great friend
and supporter of ours from back in the Bronze Fundraising days, ‘Rocker Bob’
(Taylor), husband of the lovely Sheila, but sadly lost to us quite recently,
loved the recordings of Bobby Vee, and had some played at his funeral despite
being a major rock’n’ roll and Fury fan. Well frankly, if Bobby Vee is good
enough for ‘Rocker’ Bob and Narvel Felts then he is surely good enough for
anyone (In conversation with me in 1998 over lunch 1956 rockabilly star icon
Narvel had only good things to say about Bobby’s music-whilst far too many
rockers/rock n roll purists only criticise this wonderful recording artist). I used to take criticism of my column and
love of Elvis and others to heart but if some folk are prepared to deny
themselves the pleasure of the other great voices and songs of our
generation-that’s down to them. I was heartened by the positive response
towards the end of our magazine output period, to the Meridian Radio series made
with my DJ friend Alan King-The Billy Fury Connection, pushed out on CDR with
the magazines. Several fans were pleased to be able to hear songs linked in
some way to Billy-and there are so many, including ones I never got around
to-but intend to. Every now and again I discover a few more connections, often
thanks to friends who come across them.
The Sound of Fury Team
The
syndicate evolved in 2003 into the team and we ceased to be a democracy, at
least in theory! Mo Bowden and Jean Prosser left because they could see which
way the wind was blowing, and were replaced by the highly enthusiastic Jenny
Warwick and Vic England. Following the fan club ‘split’ they in turn were replaced
by a dedicated and really nice couple, Peter and Jen Davies from Lancashire. The strains imposed in the six years and four
months or so of fund raising and without any one person being able to formally
and authoritatively make a decision, had been too much for me, especially given
my background, so I took charge once Mo and Jean had left, becoming Team Leader-although
hopefully a benevolent one, but the focal point for complaints of course. To be
honest it was normally me that had always copped the flak anyway when brickbats
occurred, so it just formalised it. I recall being appalled when personally
attacked on-line by a ‘Billy’ friend when it was revealed the statue would be
placed temporarily in the museum courtyard until its permanent home could be
arranged. Fans did not understand just how tight, expensive, and difficult it
was just to get it where it was first placed-we were lucky to get the courtyard
in time for the weekend unveiling. For the team, working with a single-minded perpetually
worried perfectionist (who never actually attained it and now never will) could
not have been easy. I will always be grateful to Ken and Cecilia Darvell in
particular for their friendship (and cheap B +B), patience and good humour over
so many years in allowing the draft magazine to pass back and forth between us
so many times before it was ready for the publishers-a lot of hard work and
strain all round as we got older. Ken did a fine job on those early editions
and a particularly grand job I thought in assembling our later magazines, something
I lacked the PC skills to even look at. We have wonderful memories of time
spent with them and mutual friends, and of staying also with other members of
the wider fan club who became, and are, good friends. Our only regret is not
doing it enough-life really does get in the way and then the time has gone.
Forty pages
every three months may not sound like much-but it is quite a commitment when it’s
only a part time hobby-with everyday life with its trials still going on. The
team evolved as some retired, others left to become part of the BFITOY fan club
and the dedicated and wonderfully thoughtful and warm Jackie Clark and I, are
the only originals from the syndicate who are still in some kind of harness. Some of us often disagreed, even in more
recent years, sometimes vehemently, but in the end put Billy first, and carried
on (for a while at least) before quitting. Clare was a great friend and
although very poorly for years bravely soldiered on as long as she could. In
later years our ‘Scribe from the North’, Peter Davies, suffered a life-threatening incident, only
just getting to hospital in time, followed soon after by a hip operation-yet
still carried on as treasurer and
travelled down from Lancashire to Mill Hill gatherings for some time
afterwards. They make them tough up North! Peter’s wife Jen was a dedicated and
very well liked team member and both are the only, to date, appointed Honorary
Team Members. Other members had health and family problems and all of us have
been touched by the loss of family and close friends. Each syndicate/team
member from the beginning brought something worthwhile to the table over the
twenty years-and I thank them for their contribution and dedication. Some of us
gave up going abroad during the bronze fund raising period, rather than be so
long out of the loop, but no-one asked us to its true. Others like Jackie and
Cecilia Darvell did their own individual fund raising for various good causes-and
still do; they are just that sort of person. Dedicated Billy and rock’ n’ roll
fan, Wendy Wright took over the treasurer post from Peter Davies and with
support from another great friend to us all, husband Phil, (they make a lovely
couple and are great on the dance floor), has kept us on the straight and
narrow despite her day job. Being joined by young Lee Fry and on the website by
old ‘Fury Fest’ friend Alan Coombe has been a bonus for us-especially those
worried about the continuity of future promotion of Billy. It seems young
(everyone is compared to us these day!) Ricky Gould also wishes to promote
Billy on the web-and good luck to him too. We need young blood, in the way that
the Elvis and Cliff fan bases will do in the future, both having a broad and
extensive base at present. I understand Billy’s Facebook footprint seems quite
large at present, and I must mention all the hard work done in that direction
by our dear friend Pauline Barker and her contacts. When it comes to getting
Billy material out there Colin Paul has been doing a great job on the internet
and at live events for some time now; without him a lot of Billy material would
not be seen by fans.
Apologies
1.
Some of the howlers committed by us (mostly me actually) on paper and
verbally in public are monumental. How could I have said that Liquorice Locking
“Was of course the drummer with the Shadows”. What a
plonker and not picked up by anyone (or commented on at least) at the time
other than by friend and guitarist Peter Williams. What induced me to change/amend
my planned speech on the Bronze Statue
unveiling day to an impromptu one referring to the bronze statue not being
melted in the sun like the one in Suzanne In The Mirror; should have been Silly
Boy Blue –my memory was dodgy even then it seems-‘Stupid Boy’, don’t tell him
Pike! Only my late friend Frank Bull seemed to have noticed that error-perhaps
others were too polite to let me know! Later on I reported that Freddie and the
Dreamers had also recorded I Will-well, they did, but
it was a different song! A nice one to.
That good old friend of ours, Roy Harvey, one of the most devoted Billy fans
ever, lost no time in pointing that error out to me. In sleeve notes (for
initial K-tel CD release Wondrous Place), I once set the film I’ve Gotta Horse for
release in 1964 (getting confused with the filming and recording sessions for
the film), had Billy working at Joshua Reynolds store (should be Harris) in
another CD and LP, and a few other errors over the years. Several folk when
using my notes for their own research have actually repeated that major blooper
in their own work! You may find all
sorts of inaccuracies from any of us but we were just a bunch of fans, volunteers
doing our best, from our hearts, often getting more brickbats than praise, and
just carrying on. The magazine and the Mill Hill’s would have been enough for
those of us with children, full time and stressful jobs, ill-health, ageing
dependants and similar, but the statue project made it suddenly very serious-we
could not fail yet it was, for the time, a monumental (pun intended) task and
responsibility - with no wonderful Captain Tom then to help with our
fundraising! All members of this fan club team-ably supported on the ground,
especially over the Bronze Project, by the relatively small number of members (never more than 500) have, we feel,
done all that we were able for Billy. Only a relatively small number of members
wrote in over the twenty years, and much the same ones writing today are the
same old friends of ours who wrote from the beginning. That small but dedicated
support group has always been instrumental in keeping us motivated. We have at
least all done our level best since our inception and whilst the personal
ambitions of some of us have not yet been realised (on the CD, DVD and tribute
concert/show front-by major UK artists,) the Fury Sound and the Sound of Fury
have had recordings issued or at least assisted in their release-and for so
many of us that’s what Billy Fury was about-the great music. We looked into
becoming a charity-that was a no-go option and so was becoming a fully
registered on-shelf magazine-the membership was just not there, which is why we
remained a strictly amateur, basic magazine, doing our best to still comply
with the rules of copyright etc, a bit of a minefield then as now. Having to
pay VAT on CDs and other merchandise because our income was so minimal, made
life difficult, especially when buying from Decca or Peaksoft (the latter was
always generous) but as venues were limited to the same ones year in-year out
in recent years, so CDs and other merchandise would sit in boxes for years in
some cases-like now. It all meant we were always non-profit making as such, on
a shoe-string and worrying each time whether we could afford to pay for hall
hire and merchandise. We had to keep the
subs low because whenever we raised them some fans baulked and walked, and we
could not justify the kind of cost we needed because the magazine was not of
sufficient quality to do so. There was never an income of any kind for any team
member-only expenses refunded for money outlaid. Postage in later years became
ridiculous as email meant less stamps sold so the more traditional/older of us,
as all too often today, had to bear the higher costs-not on! It was a Catch-22
situation but we did our level best for Billy and for charity-all spare cash
once raised after the completion of the Bronze Project has gone to Alder Hey
Children’s Hospital, The Billy Fury Memorial Fund (not enough in my view),
Brent Lodge Wildlife Hospital, and World Horse Welfare. Although we were highly supportive of Billy’s
mother and brother until about 2004 (and courteous and respectful towards Jean
right up until the end of her life), we were and are first and foremost the
Billy Fury Fan Club-which should say it all. Please do enjoy our history and
through it, our take on The Billy Fury Story, and remember that we continue, in
so far as we are able, with a website, newsletter on-line or by post, or at
Mill Hill, to promote the legacy of the late great Billy Fury as best we know
how. We also, as with the 2018 Symphonic Sound of Fury CD release, hope to
enable and/or continue to assist with such releases in the future-watch this
space! That’s primarily why I first joined the syndicate/team-to get the music
out there. We are proud of the CD and DVD releases we have been involved in,
the bronze project, the charity contributions and these magazines, rudimentary
or not, as they represent our dedication to a very special singer, songwriter,
performer, animal lover and human being. All I would say to anyone now looking
back over our work and perhaps passing judgement is this; we tried hard, lived
it, for good or ill and it took a
massive and irreplaceable chunk out of our lives- so ‘Before you abuse,
criticize or accuse, (do try to) Walk A
Mile In Our Shoes’, (Joe South/Elvis). The views expressed in this article are
entirely my own; as are the inevitable errors. After initially producing a blow
by blow account of the events leading to the already well-known fan club split,
I have chosen to keep it very brief instead, but not bury it-for that would not
be right. It is mentioned in one of the magazines anyway, and in a note sent
with one of them I think, albeit without too much detail even then. I see no
point in stirring up old grievances-we are all mostly too long in the tooth for
that and the time has gone, so I hope it can be mentioned, which it should be, without
bringing any rancour back. Also, although the facts may be often seem to be plain, and speak for themselves, there are always
going to be differing viewpoints as to what happened, and why of course. Memory
can be a very fickle thing too. I was a teenager and saw first-hand the impact
that Billy Fury had on screen, TV and radio, during 1962-63 especially (and on
the girls around me!) He was to me a massive presence; always on TV it seemed
then (but in reality nothing like as often). Perception is a funny thing-often
divorced from fact, but certainly in ’62 Billy was a massive presence in the
UK-and that’s a fact brother! To many young rock writers over the years he was
often just another Larry Parnes, pre-Beatle, manufactured teen idol-never to us
though. We actually lived through that era, not so those later critics and
today’s young music ‘experts’ in particular-although to be fair some of them
adore Billy too. Our much maligned generations beliefs, musical and otherwise,
shaped as they mostly are by the 50s, 60s and 70s should be respected equally by
everyone- whilst we are still alive at least. Most of us prefer things, in so
far as is possible, (medical advances obviously excepting), to be as they used
to be-and that is as natural a thing as night and day. Currently in the media,
Radio 2, you would think that the 80’s were the best generation ever
musically-and so that will continue until those survivors get where we are now!
Everyone, indeed everything, is or was, a product of their
time, and allowances should always be made for that by subsequent generations,
no matter how difficult that may be. Whatever happened in the past-right or
wrong, happened, and cannot be changed as such, although of course lessons
should be learned (but seldom are). Balance is something often lacking perhaps
more today than ever before , where sound-bites/tweets and pure emotion,
hysteria even, seem to hold sway over logic, facts and rationality; and this
troubled world is already so different from that which we and our parents grew
up in. At least the musical magic of the wonderful Billy Fury, Elvis (a
veritable musical and cultural Colossus that history cannot deny-although a few
writers have tried) , the still rocking and wonderful Marty Wilde and the other
singers we love, is still a vital link to the better yesteryear that we miss so
much. We should add to that of course,
all those great ‘Movie’ stars and films of our era and even earlier, and all
the great books too-wonderful stuff!
I have tried to be accurate,
equitable and balanced in this introduction to our work, but it is of course
written from my perspective. Chris Eley. July 2020