This mural painted on the side of Billy Fury way opposite West Hampstead train station. Was amazed to see that he’d had 27 Top Forty hits between 1959 and 1966. I just remember him as a ballad singer with a greasy quiff and a permanent sneer who used to annoy us on TOTP back in the Beatles era.
Billy was the best!! There is room for all great talent at the top!! Rock on Billy!!
No offence intended Margaret – am always happy to change my prejudices :-) Thanks for your link to The Billy Fury Fan Club site: is there a video on Youtube that I can embed on this post to show Billy at his absolute best?
I’ll second what Margaret has said. Billy still loved and missed.
I also loved Billy. He was a genuine person, warm and compassionate. Not a bit like his alter ego! If you go on You Tube – you can search for the video of Billy that you like. x
Pffffft! Just YOUR opinion Mr. No Name! No one will remember YOU 29 years after you’re dead & buried!
Haha – fair point Moya – nobody even remembers me now ! As per my reply to Margaret, if you wouldn’t mind pointing me at a great BF performance on YouTube, I’ll gladly embed it on this blog post so that readers can listen, watch and decide for themselves. Also if anyone can point me at the story behind this mural and the naming of Billy Fury Way, I’d love to know more. In the meantime anyone reading this should go and check out The Billy Fury Fan Club website.
All the best,
Michael
were you born a tosser or does it come as part of your being your comments are very hurtful his mum is 91 and is not well .get a life you total bore
Thanks for your thoughtful and positive response to my questions
Michael
Can I ask (for now) why Billy annoyed you? I’m sure you didn’t know Billy or what a wonderful gentle ill man he was!
Gosh – I was 14 or 15 at the time. You know what teenagers are like. You like the music you discover for yourself (in my case The Beatles and Stones) and everything else is something that sounds different and ireelevant to your world.
Billy Fury’s big hit at the time was his cover of “It’s Only Make Believe” – which me and my pals considered soppy compared to (say) the Stones’ cover of “It’s All Over Now” or “A Hard Days Night” by The Beatles.
At the time we knew and cared nothing of his track record or past history as a pioneer of UK rock’n’roll and – like I said above – I was genuinely amazed to see that he’d in fact had 27 Top Forty hits between 1959 and 1966.
It’s certainly impressive to see the kind of loyalty he still inspires today among fans of his music. Like Margaret first posted: There is room for all great talent at the top!!
I agree – we all have our own different tastes in music but, how could Billy Fury possibly annoy anyone??
Yes I know what teenagers are like, I was one once lol but as much as I don’t like some Artiste’s/Groups I wouldn’t say they annoyed me, there are lots of different taste’s in music, I also liked the Beatles but the Rolling Stones were a definate NO for me.
You may like to visit >http://www.billyfury.com and learn about Billy as it would be quite hard to tell all about him on here, we have as many men members if not more who think Billy had a way and voice about him, like no other.
I’m glad you are impressed by the loyalty we have for Britains BEST rock’n’roller :))
BTW – The path from West End Lane to Lithos Road was named Billy Fury Way last year following a poll. Billy Fury – one of Britain’s original rock & roll stars – recorded regularly at Decca Studios on Broadhurst Gardens.
Thanks for your replies Cathy – and especially the info on Billy Fury Way. It was quite startling to come out of West Hampstead train station and see his face on that mural for the first time in maybe forty years. And yes, it’s extremely interesting to see the loyalty he still inspires in the 21st century. The BF website is clearly doing a great job.
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