SOUND OF
FURY FAN CLUB SUBS
The annual subscription to the Sound Of Fury Fan Club has risen by £2 for UK members and £14 for overseas members, because of the rising cost of postage and other expenses. Membership details are on the fan clubs page. The Billy Fury In Thoughts Of You fan club has produced a 2011 calendar, at a price of £5 + £1 p&p. There is a different picture of Billy for each month. Send cheques or postal orders, payable to BFITOY, to PO Box 38, Crugybar, Llanwrda, Carmarthenshire, SA19 8YS. - 16 November 2010.
CARVER CARE SUPPORTS OUR CHARITY APPEAL Carver Care, which provides a wide range of mobility support equipment, will donate 5% of the cost of all orders to our appeal for Alder Hey Children's Hospital cardiac fund, if a customer quotes: 'Billy Fury'. A link currently appears on the front page. Just as a reminder, our appeal also receives commission on any purchase from Amazon if your enter the site by using the address http://www.tinyurl.com/furyamazon . It costs customers nothing to use the link - Amazon simply lose some of their profits in favour of a very deserving charity. The official Ral Donner site, run by Canadian Billy Fury fan Terry Wilson went offline some months ago, after almost ten years of service. Peaksoft is delighted to provide space for the site on the server that hosts billyfury.com. The address for the time being is http://www.thewick.co.uk/raldonner
Billy Fury's first single, Maybe Tomorrow, is played in the background during the film An Education, released to critical acclaim recently. Carey Mulligan plays a 16-year-old schoolgirl, who is seduced by an older man in the 60s in a Nick Hornby adaptation of Lynn Barber's autobiography. Many thanks to Spencer Leigh for the tip. - 17 February 10.
Gavin Stanley, who performed a Billy Fury set at last year's Mathew Street Festival in Liverpool, will mark the 50th anniversary of the launch of the Sound Of Fury LP in May. Gavin will be on stage at the Cavern Club, the modern recreation of the Liverpool 60s venue, on May 21. In the first half of the show, he will perform every track on the LP, and after the interval, Gavin will give his take on Billy's chart hits. - 12 January 10.
Donations to the Earl Mountbatten Hospice on the Isle of Wight in memory of Pauline Swindells (most of which came from billyfury.com supporters) totalled £1,017.50, Henry has asked me to announce. An initial donation of £90 has been made in respect of sales of the It's Christmas Day Again CD, whose proceeds are being split between the hospice and the Heart Fund at Alder Hey Children's Hospital, Liverpool. - 12 December 09. We said farewell to Pauline Swindells, our dear friend and long-time supporter of billyfury.com, at a service at the Isle of Wight Crematorium on November 12. Pauline had been receiving treatment for her illness for some time, but she fulfilled her ambition of celebrating her 40th wedding anniversary with Henry in July. About a dozen friends from this site were able to make the journey to the service, but the many messages on the forum left no one in any doubt about the widespread affection for a wonderful lady, who will be sorely missed. Rob Dee specially recorded a version of A Wondrous Place, Pauline's favourite Billy Fury track, for the opening of the service, which was conducted by the Rev Dr Jim Izzard. In his eulogy, Dr Izzard gave a brief account of Pauline and Henry's life together, first in Lancashire and then on the Isle of Wight, and he referred to her enthusiastic contributions to the billyfury.com message board - she was also our Competitions Editor for several years. Dr Izzard said he had read the messages posted in remembrance of Pauline, which demonstrated the depth of feeling for her, and our sense of loss. A track recorded by John Hetherington and Paul Staines, The Best I Can, was played before the committal, and the service closed with another recording by Rob, I Just Can't Help Believing. After the service, we joined Henry and their son Paul at a get-together in a local inn, where we were able to share some cheerful memories. I was able to pass around an advance copy of the Christmas CD prepared at John Hetherington's request in memory of Pauline, which will raise funds for the Earl Mountbatten Hospice on the Isle of Wight, and the Heart Fund at Alder Hey Children's Hospital, Liverpool. Henry
has asked me to let everyone know how much he has been comforted by the
messages that have been posted on this board, expressing so much affection for
Pauline, and demonstrating to him how we share his sense of loss. Mags Cummings adds: John and I attended Pauline's funeral along with Marie who we took down to the Isle of Wight. We stayed overnight in Portsmouth, meeting up with Harry and Maureen. It was good to see so many friends from the message board,
Jean and Cathy, Rob, Chris and Pat and Steve Sinclair and of course Johnny and
Diane. He read out some of the messages
from the board saying that he had counted over fifty. The songs by Rob, John
and Paul were very moving and I have to admit that I shed a tear as did many
others including Marie. The 2010 calendar from the Billy Fury In Thoughts Of You fan club, with a different picture of Billy for each month, will cost £5. For purchase details, email billyfury@virgin.net or contact the club at PO Box 38, Crugybar, Llanwrda, Carmarthenshire, SA19 8YS.
The Liverpool Echo today published this picture of a class at St Silas's School, Liverpool, taken in September 1948. Their interest was in the appearance of the young Ringo Starr (front row, left). But as Jean Todd, who kindly sent me a copy of the pic points out, it could well include Ronnie Wycherley, aged 8. Jean wonders if the young Billy could be the boy fourth from the left on the back row. What do you think? The latest of Pat Young's popular Evesham charity shows takes place on Saturday October 24, featuring Rob Dee as Billy Fury and Dave Wickenden as Buddy Holly, backed by rock band Shoobop.
Vince Eager, who was Billy Fury's good friend, flatmate, and fellow-member of the Larry Parnes stable, has a new radio show, Juke Box Memories, on Gravity FM on the first Thursday of every month. Vince headlined for us at Fury Fest 03 in Newark, and again at Sunnyside 09. You can tune in to Vince's how on the internet at http://mixstream.net/stream/652/listen.ram from 9pm, email him in the studio during the show at studio@gravityfm.net or text him on 60300, starting your message GRAVITY. - 27 June 09.
On BBC Radio 2's Sounds Of The 60s on June 6, Brian Matthew played the In Thoughts Of You track from our Dreaming CD. He said it was an alternative version, which was not discovered until 2006. All true - but he failed to mention the source of the recording. On the BBC website, it is claimed that the track was issued on the London record label - which is completely absurd, as London was a label used in the 60s for US artists, such as Jim Reeves. Anyone who contacted the show to ask for the source of the recording was fobbed off with the advice that they should search for it on the internet. - 19 June 09
Garry sang at a diamond wedding event for the couple on the right Bill and Margaret, and they had a fascinating story to tell. Shortly before the picture was taken, they applied for a mortgage, but a few days later, they won a Spot The Ball competition, and Billy presented the cheque. Bill said Billy was a complete gentleman, who contributed to one of the happiest days of their life. Garry, for those who have not seen him perform, is a great singer with a terrific voice - unfortunately, I've had only two opportunities to see him in action - once at a Blackpool Fury event, and then in tremendous form at Fury Fest 03 in Newark. - 12 June 09.
Bruce Seaton has produced a brilliant 20-track Christmas CD by our Sounds Special singers. Proceeds are being donated to billyfury.com's official charity, Alder Hey Children's Hospital. Price including post and packing is £6.75. To order your own copy of this limited edition, exclusive CD, just click here. OUT OF STOCK Full track list: Johnny Storme - Santa Bring My Baby Back to Me, Silent Night (with Paul Staines), Lonely This Christmas. Creeping Bentgrass - A Winter's Tale, I Believe In Father Christmas. Colin Paul - Holly Leaves and Christmas Trees, If I Get Home On Christmas Day. Bruce Seaton - Blue Christmas, Here Comes Santa Claus. Steven Sinclair - Merry Christmas Everyone, Little Drummer Boy. Rob Dee - Silver Bells, Lonely Pup In A Christmas Shop (with Hannah Morgan). Jewel - O Come All Ye Faithful, Ave Maria. Andrew Tween - Rocking Around The Christmas Tree, My Christmas Prayer. Paul Staines - If Every Day Was Like Christmas, Silent Night (with Johnny Storme), The Christmas Song. Geoff Howlett - I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day. It's a real treat. The Billy Fury In Thoughts Of You fan club's 2009 calendar is now available, price £3. Each month has a different picture of Billy. Order from PO Box 38, Crugybar, Llanwrda, Carmarthenshire, SA19 8YS. - 29 October 2009. Ozit Records is no longer recommended by Billy Fury's family as a supplier of memorabilia, and the family has ended its close association with the company, a spokesman for Billy's brother, Albie Wycherley, said this week. - 29 October 2009.
I've heard from Peter Phillips, grandson of Percy Phillips, who owned the studio where Billy cut six tracks to a 78rpm acetate in May, 1958. Peter has produced a super, informative website about Percy's career, and the commemoration of the studio site. A visit is highly recommended. - 25 July 2008 January 28 2008 will be the 25th anniversary of Billy's last day with us. I know of two significant productions that will mark this event. For one, those who met Billy can make their contributions now. Odeon Entertainments, who issued The Wondrous Story DVD this year, will be bring out a commemorative edition, with extra material. There will also be four more pages in the accompanying booklet, for which they want individual memories of Billy. They will be printed in the form of direct quotes, with your name and home town after them. Please email them as soon as possible to wayne@odeonent.co.uk As for the other production, I'm bursting to tell, but I've promised to keep quiet for the time being, as meetings are still being held. - 8 November 07. The June edition of the Billy Fury In Thoughts Of You magazine arrived a couple of days ago, and as usual, it's packed with tasty features. It's free if you stump up just a few pounds for club membership, so get the cheque books out. Subscription details are here. There are 32 A4 pages. Mrs Jean Wycherley's 86th birthday is recorded - and as everyone who has seen the new video will have been able to confirm for themselves, she is a very remarkable lady. There are appeal forms asking for Billy to be elevated to the UK Hall of Fame, 60s magazine interviews and reports with the lad himself, a report of the DVD launch, pages of photographs, lots of tasty memorabilia, and reports of various events. There are even seven generous lines recording the wonderful turnout by 17 artists at the Sunnyside. I know they'll appreciate it as much as I do. - 23 July 07. The latest copies of the two fan clubs' magazines, BFITOY no 6, and Sound Of Fury no 30 (the 10th anniversary issue) have been issued this month, and are well up to the usual high standards. The Sound Of Fury team have taken the opportunity to detail their first ten years. - 12 April 07. THE HILTON - ROOM FOR RIP-OFFS For the third year, we are meeting at the Sunnyside in Northampton to mark Billy Fury's last public appearance. And for the third year, I brought it to everyone's attention that the Hilton Hotel ran a spring offer dea. In 2006, this resulted in 14 rooms being booked there, and I have no reason to doubt that all things being equal, at least the same number would be booked in 2007. Following advice from this site, several people booked for the weekend at £119 - "don't miss out, book early to get the best rates" and "the earlier you book, the more you'll save". They were then very aggrieved when others found that the rate had fallen to £99. When I queried this with Hilton, I received a
message from the manager of the Hilton Hotel in Northampton, telling me: "Our
rates are reviewed daily depending on demand with a similar strategy to airlines
and the How, I asked him, could " the earlier you book, the more you'll save" and "the pricing is adjusted with demand" both be true? I have not received even the courtesy of an acknowledgement. 600 people a day visit billyfury.com, and this page will soon be indexed by Google and other search engines, so given time, more and more people will discover Hilton's contempt for the truth and their customers. - 28 January 07. |
YEAR END THANKS
First of all, I followed my practice of the past three years of not sending Christmas cards, but of making a donation to our charity appeal of £1 for every one I received from my Billy Fury community friends - that makes £28 this year. Many thanks! I think perhaps next year, I shall have a billyfury.com card again, as there hasn't been one since 2003. On the message board, thanks once again to Pauline, our wonderful competitions editor, and to Sheila, our gig guide editor. I have now linked the What's On panel on the front page directly to the page on the message board, which saves me updating a separate page every month. Thanks to everyone who supported Sunnyside 06 - I hope Sunnyside 07 will be even more fun - and to those who helped with this year's projects, the Dreaming album, and the trolley tokens. Thanks to Pierre, Harry's Angels and Johnny for their excellent work as forum moderators, and to Pauline, Lou and now Richy for keeping an eye on the board when I'm not around, and to all of the folk who have stayed friends on the message board for another year, proving that Fury fans are, quite simply, the nicest people you'll ever meet. Finally, thanks to everyone who has kept billyfury.com on the road simply by visiting the site -- once again, we shall record a record number of visitors this year. - 24 December 06. The BFITOY Club sent an unexpected pair of presents, which arrived this week: a card that included a CD of My Christmas Prayer (do I detect Mags' hand in this?) and a useful laminated calendar. - 23 December 06.
A very welcome issue in Christmas week from the Sound of Fury team, in top form once more. Contents include: October Mill Hill report; Hal Carter family christening photograph showing Billy and Judith Hall during their brief marriage; October Evesham show report; Tommy Bruce biography review; latest CD reviews; very generous four-page review of the Dreaming CD. - 23 December 06
The latest edition came through the letterbox this week, produced to the high standard we've come to expect. The 32 A4 pages include reminiscences of Bryan Nicholls, who attended Billy's final appearance, at a private function at the Holiday Inn, Leicester, for Polydor Records employees. There are also reflections on Billy's appearance in pantomime in Oxford in 1965. (Incidentally, I have a copy of the programme that was produced after he left the cast, and it seems strange that there's no mention that he had ever been associated with it. The lady who later married a member of The Gamblers also appeared in the show, and it would be interesting to discover if Billy's appearance brought them together.) Jenny Warwick brings up to date the story of her purchase of Rhos Farm. There are many other fascinating features, which help to make club membership such a bargain. Details of the clubs can be found here. - 8 November 06. JOE BROWN FEATURE, SUNDAY EXPRESS The following feature from the Sunday Express, published on October 15 2006, has kindly been supplied by Tina Pontin.
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