By the mid-1960s, The Beatles could shake stadiums with the sound of their screaming fans, but they didn’t have quite the same effect at an early audition. The band had the opportunity to audition in front of Larry Parnes, a manager and promoter. If the audition shook out the way they wanted, they could tour with musician Billy Fury. According to those in the audience, their performance wasn’t all that impressive, and The Beatles seemed to know it.
The Beatles didn’t seem thrilled with their performance at an audition
In 1960, Parnes teamed up with Allan Williams to find a group to tour with Fury. The Beatles were amongst the Liverpool groups to audition. This was one of their biggest opportunities to date, so they bought matching outfits and brought on a new drummer, Tommy Moore, to play with them.
Unfortunately, Moore had to run out to...
The Beatles didn’t seem thrilled with their performance at an audition
In 1960, Parnes teamed up with Allan Williams to find a group to tour with Fury. The Beatles were amongst the Liverpool groups to audition. This was one of their biggest opportunities to date, so they bought matching outfits and brought on a new drummer, Tommy Moore, to play with them.
Unfortunately, Moore had to run out to...
- 11/23/2023
- by Emma McKee
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
In the earliest days of The Beatles, the fact that John Lennon and Paul McCartney began composing their own material as opposed to using songs provided by other songwriters was highly unusual. In fact, at the time — the early 1960s — it simply wasn't done. Undoubtedly in the beginning it was probably seen more as an oddity rather than an indication of the duo ultimately being credited as one of the great songwriting teams of all time. "It wasn't the norm," Bill Harry, editor of Liverpool's Mersey Beat, the first and most recognized newspaper devoted to the local music scene, and lifelong friend of The Beatles, explains in an exclusive interview. "In America you have the Brill Building and things like that, with professional songwriters like Carole King and different people. That was the situation. The songwriters wrote the songs and the artists were given songs by the songwriters. It...
- 5/24/2018
- by Ed Gross
- Closer Weekly
45 Years | Straight Outta Compton | Hitman Agent 47 | Zombie Fight Club | Billy Fury: The Sound Of The Fury | We Are Your Friends | Barely Lethal
This insightful drama charts the gradual disintegration of an apparently happy couple. Kate (Rampling) and Geoff (Courtenay) are preparing for their 45th anniversary when they receive startling news: the body of Geoff’s former lover, who died more than 50 years earlier, has been found. The two leads give the performances of their lives as they grapple with buried secrets and dashed hopes.
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This insightful drama charts the gradual disintegration of an apparently happy couple. Kate (Rampling) and Geoff (Courtenay) are preparing for their 45th anniversary when they receive startling news: the body of Geoff’s former lover, who died more than 50 years earlier, has been found. The two leads give the performances of their lives as they grapple with buried secrets and dashed hopes.
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- 8/28/2015
- by Ryan Gilbey
- The Guardian - Film News
Movie Week is over - and so is Jennifer Gibney's time in the competition - but the show must go on with Strictly Come Dancing.
There's no rest for the celebs, who are straight into training for their next tricky routines. But what are they dancing, and which songs are they getting? Read on for all the details...
Alison Hammond & Aljaz Skorjanec
Dance: Samba
Song: 'Bootylicious' - Destiny's Child
Caroline Flack & Pasha Kovalev
Dance: Quickstep
Song: 'We Go Together' from Grease
Frankie Bridge & Kevin Clifton
Dance: Cha Cha
Song: 'Call Me Maybe' - Carly Rae Jepsen
Jake Wood & Janette Manrara
Dance: Jive
Song: 'All Shook Up' - Elvis Presley
Judy Murray & Anton du Beke
Dance: Tango
Song: 'Jealousy' - Billy Fury
Mark Wright & Karen Hauer
Dance: Quickstep
Song: 'Tiger Feet' - Mud
Pixie Lott & Trent Whiddon
Dance: Rumba
Song: 'Stay With Me' - Sam Smith
Scott Mills...
There's no rest for the celebs, who are straight into training for their next tricky routines. But what are they dancing, and which songs are they getting? Read on for all the details...
Alison Hammond & Aljaz Skorjanec
Dance: Samba
Song: 'Bootylicious' - Destiny's Child
Caroline Flack & Pasha Kovalev
Dance: Quickstep
Song: 'We Go Together' from Grease
Frankie Bridge & Kevin Clifton
Dance: Cha Cha
Song: 'Call Me Maybe' - Carly Rae Jepsen
Jake Wood & Janette Manrara
Dance: Jive
Song: 'All Shook Up' - Elvis Presley
Judy Murray & Anton du Beke
Dance: Tango
Song: 'Jealousy' - Billy Fury
Mark Wright & Karen Hauer
Dance: Quickstep
Song: 'Tiger Feet' - Mud
Pixie Lott & Trent Whiddon
Dance: Rumba
Song: 'Stay With Me' - Sam Smith
Scott Mills...
- 10/15/2014
- Digital Spy
Flamboyant film director, best known for Death Wish, and later an outspoken restaurant critic and bon vivant
Michael Winner, who has died aged 77, supplied interviewers with a list of more than 30 films he had directed, not always including the early travelogue This Is Belgium (1956), mostly shot in East Grinstead. But his enduring work was himself – a bravura creation of movies, television, journalism, the law courts and a catchphrase, ''Calm down, dear", from an exasperating series of television commercials.
He was born in London, the only child of George and Helen Winner, who were of Russian and Polish extraction respectively. His builder father made enough money propping up blitzed houses to invest in London property. The profits funded his wife's gambling, which, her son complained, so distracted "Mumsie" that he was never paid due attention. She left him in the bedroom with the mink coats of guests who came to his...
Michael Winner, who has died aged 77, supplied interviewers with a list of more than 30 films he had directed, not always including the early travelogue This Is Belgium (1956), mostly shot in East Grinstead. But his enduring work was himself – a bravura creation of movies, television, journalism, the law courts and a catchphrase, ''Calm down, dear", from an exasperating series of television commercials.
He was born in London, the only child of George and Helen Winner, who were of Russian and Polish extraction respectively. His builder father made enough money propping up blitzed houses to invest in London property. The profits funded his wife's gambling, which, her son complained, so distracted "Mumsie" that he was never paid due attention. She left him in the bedroom with the mink coats of guests who came to his...
- 1/22/2013
- by Veronica Horwell
- The Guardian - Film News
Andrew Pulver looks back through some of the key films of director Michael Winner, who has died aged 77
Play It Cool (1962)
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After a string of short films, Winner broke into features in the early 60s, with low budget thrillers and trendy pop musicals. Quite a few of them had "cool" in the title – including the nudie pic Some Like It Cool. The Billy Fury pic Play It Cool was considerably more commercially viable, no doubt inspired by the success of Cliff Richard's Young Ones film. Fury – in a real stretch – plays an up-and coming rocker called Billy Universe; Anna Palk the heiress who he might or might not get together with, and Dennis Price (!) as her overbearing dad.
The Cool Mikado (1962)
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Frankie Howerd led the line for Winner's followup, produced by Howard Baim,...
Play It Cool (1962)
Reading this on mobile? Click here to view video
After a string of short films, Winner broke into features in the early 60s, with low budget thrillers and trendy pop musicals. Quite a few of them had "cool" in the title – including the nudie pic Some Like It Cool. The Billy Fury pic Play It Cool was considerably more commercially viable, no doubt inspired by the success of Cliff Richard's Young Ones film. Fury – in a real stretch – plays an up-and coming rocker called Billy Universe; Anna Palk the heiress who he might or might not get together with, and Dennis Price (!) as her overbearing dad.
The Cool Mikado (1962)
Reading this on mobile? Click here to view video
Frankie Howerd led the line for Winner's followup, produced by Howard Baim,...
- 1/21/2013
- by Andrew Pulver
- The Guardian - Film News
The fortunate are born with the right name, such as Marlon Brando or Elvis Presley. Others need the magic of a makeover
The 1967 song San Francisco might have been a hit no matter who sang it. But Scott McKenzie, who has died aged 73, also sounded like just the right kind of name for the singer of the old flower-power anthem. Had his record been issued under McKenzie's real name, Philip Blondheim, success might have been harder. Entertainers – even some Guardian journalists – adopt new professional names for different reasons: to abandon an embarrassing given name, like Marion Morrison transforming into John Wayne or Archibald Leach morphing into Cary Grant, to avoid prejudice, or to give their image more edge, like David Evans becoming, er, The Edge or Ronald Wycherley flowering into Billy Fury. The fortunate are simply born with the right name, like Marlon Brando or Elvis Presley. Others need the magic of a makeover.
The 1967 song San Francisco might have been a hit no matter who sang it. But Scott McKenzie, who has died aged 73, also sounded like just the right kind of name for the singer of the old flower-power anthem. Had his record been issued under McKenzie's real name, Philip Blondheim, success might have been harder. Entertainers – even some Guardian journalists – adopt new professional names for different reasons: to abandon an embarrassing given name, like Marion Morrison transforming into John Wayne or Archibald Leach morphing into Cary Grant, to avoid prejudice, or to give their image more edge, like David Evans becoming, er, The Edge or Ronald Wycherley flowering into Billy Fury. The fortunate are simply born with the right name, like Marlon Brando or Elvis Presley. Others need the magic of a makeover.
- 8/20/2012
- The Guardian - Film News
Everyone knows that when it comes to TV entertainment, you’re supposed to save the best for last. But Monday night’s installment of Dancing With the Stars front-loaded the good stuff with delightful “team dances” set to the self-empowerment anthems “We Are Who We Are” and “Born This Way.”
Hines Ward, Kendra Wilkinson, and Kirstie Alley delivered a synchronized cha cha in which their derrieres shook with the speed and intensity of Home Depot paint mixers. (In a stunning turn of events, Hines’ booty managed to steal the spotlight from Maks’ legendary moneymaker.) Over at the competing routine, Ralph Macchio,...
Hines Ward, Kendra Wilkinson, and Kirstie Alley delivered a synchronized cha cha in which their derrieres shook with the speed and intensity of Home Depot paint mixers. (In a stunning turn of events, Hines’ booty managed to steal the spotlight from Maks’ legendary moneymaker.) Over at the competing routine, Ralph Macchio,...
- 5/3/2011
- by Michael Slezak
- TVLine.com
Billy FuryBrit crooner Billy Fury was born Ronald Wycherley in Liverpool in 1940. As a child, he was stricken with rheumatic fever, which had a lifelong impact on his health. Despite this obstacle, young Ron became enrapt with music, first on piano, then the guitar by his early teens. He inked his first deal with Decca Records in the late '50s, performing and writing songs as "Billy Fury." Fury landed scores of British music awards and topped the charts regularly. By the '60s, he added film and television to his growing acclaim. Credits include feature films Play It Cool, I've Gotta Horse, and That'll Be the Day (with Ringo Starr) and TV's Shindig. At the close of 1965, Fury moved to Parlophone Records. By the early '70s, he founded his own label, Fury Records. In 1983, after his long struggle...
- 10/8/2010
- by Phil Ramone and Danielle Evin
- Huffington Post
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