Alma Cogan
Encyclopedia
Alma Cogan was an English
singer
of traditional pop music
in the 1950s and early 1960s. Dubbed "The Girl With the Laugh/Giggle/Chuckle In Her Voice", she was the highest paid British female entertainer of her era. Throughout the mid-1950s, she was the most consistently successful female singer in the UK.
, East London
, England, of Russia
n Jewish descent. Her parents Mark and Fay Cohen had another daughter, the future actress Sandra Caron, four or five years later and Alma Cogan also had a brother. Mark Cohen's work as a haberdasher
involved opening stores in different areas; this entailed frequent relocation for his family. One of Cogan's early residences was in Worthing
, Sussex
– where her family originally lived above her father's shop.
Although Jewish, she attended St Joseph's Convent School
in Reading
.
Her father was a singer but it was Cogan's mother who had show business
aspirations for both her daughters – she had named Cogan after silent screen star Alma Taylor
– and after eleven-year-old Cogan won the Sussex Queen of Song contest her encouraged mother managed to get her an audition with bandleader
Ted Heath
, who was impressed but thought Cogan too young.
Nevertheless by her teens Cogan was singing at London tea dance
s and at age fourteen she was featured in a variety show at the Grand Theatre in Brighton
having been recommended by Vera Lynn
.
Proceeding to Worthing Art College, Cogan continued singing in London venues including Selby's Restaurant and the Café Anglais. Cogan was a member of the chorus the production of High Button Shoes
at the Hippodrome
– the production opened in December 1948 – and Cogan was also featured in Sauce Tartare which opened in May 1949 at the Cambridge Theatre
in the West End
: Sauce Tartare was a review starring Muriel Smith
which also featured Audrey Hepburn
, Renée Houston
and Bob Monkhouse
.
In 1949, Cogan also became the resident singer at the Cumberland Hotel in Marble Arch
, where her original six week booking was extended to eighteen months. It was at the Cumberland Hotel that Cogan was spotted by Walter Ridley an A&R
man for HMV Records
who was looking for a female act to add to the label's mostly male roster.
, Cogan's first release was the 78 rpm record
"To Be Worthy Of You" / "Would You" recorded on her twentieth birthday in 1952.
When none of her first recordings became hits Cogan was moved to submit a demo to the BBC
who – out of a field of four hundred applicants – hired Cogan as vocalist for the programme Take It From Here
; both Cogan and June Whitfield
were added to the cast after Joy Nichols
left the UK.
In 1953 Cogan was recording the song "If I Had A Golden Umbrella" and broke into a giggle: she played up this effect on some later recordings and upon attaining stardom would become known as "The girl with the giggle in her voice".
In the fashion of the time many of Cogan's recordings would be covers
of US hits beginning in 1952 with "Half as Much
"; however, the Rosemary Clooney
original also became the UK hit. HMV would subsequently have Cogan cover US hit songs by Clooney, Teresa Brewer
, Georgia Gibbs
, Joni James
, Patti Page
, Jo Stafford
and Dinah Shore
.
Symptomatic of the 1950s UK music industry, three UK singers covered Brewer's "Ricochet
": Cogan, Billie Anthony
and Joan Regan
, and the same three UK singers: Cogan, Anthony and Regan, had as their next release a cover of "Bell Bottom Blues" – again a US hit for Teresa Brewer. Both Cogan and Billie Anthony had as their subsequent single to "Bell Bottom Blues" a cover of Jo Stafford's "Make Love to Me" – the original became the UK hit. Cogan, Anthony and Joan Regan all covered Rosemary Clooney's 1954 US #1 "This Ole House
" – this time Anthony had the hit (she reached #4 despite being beaten by the Clooney original at #1). Regan had had the UK hit with "Ricochet" but "Bell Bottom Blues" - also covered by Shani Wallis
- proved to be Cogan's chart breakthrough, reaching #4 on the chart dated 3 April 1954.
eighteen times between 1954 and 1960 with the 1955 release "Dreamboat
" reaching #1.
Cogan's second charting single had been a cover of Kitty Kallen
's "Little Things Mean a Lot
": Kallen's US #1 had been equally successful in UK release in the summer of 1954 but Cogan's version did reach #11. One of Cogan's earlier releases that year: "Little Shoemaker
", had been a cover of the Gaylords' US #2 hit – it was a version by another UK songstress: Petula Clark
, which had become the chart hit (Clark's first).
It was also in 1954 that Cogan recorded "I Can't Tell a Waltz from a Tango
", again a cover of a US chart hit – this one by Patti Page
. Unusual for a UK cover, the original had only been a marginal US hit: "I Can't Tell a Waltz from a Tango" was recommended to Cogan primarily as it was deemed a strong number for her and her version became the second of Cogan's four Top Ten hits the fourth one being the Tommie Connor
composition "Never Do the Tango With an Eskimo" (#6/ 1955).
Cogan also reached #16 in 1958 with her version of "Sugartime
" despite competition from the McGuire Sisters
original and another cover by Jim Dale
. Her final Top 20 hit, "Sugartime" aroused an especial antipathy in future Beatle
John Lennon
, then a Liverpool
art school student whose classmate Helen Anderson would recall "used to make horrible jokes against [Cogan], impersonating her singing 'sugar in the morning, sugar in the evening, sugar at suppertime'. He'd pull crazy expressions on his face to try to imitate her expressions." Ironically Lennon and Cogan would later become friends and (according to Cogan's sister Sandra Caron) sometime lovers.
Cogan also faced chart competition for her chart singles "Willie Can" (#13/ 1956) – the Beverley Sisters' version reached #23 – and her version of Marty Robbins
' "The Story of My Life
" which was one of four to hit the UK charts in 1958 with Michael Holliday
besting Cogan (#25) and also Dave King and Gary Miller
by reaching #1.
Cogan did step outside the pop idiom with her cover of the Teenagers
featuring Frankie Lymon
's "Why Do Fools Fall in Love
" (#22/ 1956) although her version was bested by the original which reached #1.
Cogan's recordings were originally produced by Walter Ridley and subsequently by Norman Newell
.
Cogan was one of the first UK recording artists to recognize the promotional potential of the new medium of television; while other singers were dependent on the vagaries of the record charts Cogan's career was buoyed by frequent television appearances showcasing not only her vocal prowess but her bubbly personality. Typically Cogan wore hooped skirts heavy with sequins and figure-hugging tops; reputedly her dresses were all custom made to her own designs and never worn twice. Cliff Richard
recalls: "My first impression of her was definitely frocks – I kept thinking, how many can this woman have? Almost every song had a different costume. The skirts seemed to be so wide – I don't know where they hung them up!" When Cogan flew into New York City for a December 1957 engagement at the Persian Room
customs inspectors impounded the sixteen ball gowns in her luggage, being skeptical that she could intend them all for her personal use during a short stay (the gowns were returned to Cogan in time for her opening). Cogan had made her first visit to New York City earlier that year making an April 14 appearance on the televised variety programme Toast of the Town
with a resultant booking at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel
. Some of Cogan's UK singles were given a concurrent US release by RCA Victor with no discernible result.
Cogan's first album was released in 1958: I Love to Sing
, which featured Frank Cordell conducting the orchestra, was focussed more on traditional pop classics rather than the lightweight material typical of Cogan's single releases.
In December 1956 Cogan topped the annual NME
reader's poll as "Outstanding British Female Singer".
She finished top again in 1957 and 1958; after coming second to Shirley Bassey
in 1959 Cogan again topped the poll in 1960 remaining a popular personality despite by then no longer being a major chart presence.
Cogan was scheduled to participate in the national preliminary round for the UK in Eurovision 1959
singing "I'll Be With You": however the song was ultimately sung by Marion Keene
.
's US hit "We Got Love
" which entered the UK Top 30 in December 1959: its #26 peak on the chart for 2 January 1960 would prove to be her highest charting for the incoming decade.
After the follow-up "Dream Talk" peaked at #48 Cogan had her last Top 30 hit with the Paul Anka
penned "Train of Love" (#27) which had been a US Top 40 hit for Annette
.
The B-side of "Train of Love": "The 'I Love You' Bit", a duet with Oscar Nebish was, in fact, performed with Lionel Bart
who was for a time considered Cogan's fiancé. Bart had written the musical
Oliver!
with Cogan in mind for the role of Nancy but as Cogan was reluctant to commit to the stage musical Oliver opened in the West End
June 1960 with Georgia Brown
in the Nancy role. (Cogan would contribute to a recording
of the musical for EMI, produced
by Norman Newell
, released in 1965).
Cogan's next single "Just Couldn't Resist Her With Her Pocket Transistor
" fell short of the UK Top 50 but found a receptive audience in Japan, the "pocketable" radio
being the 1957 Japanese invention which as Sony
's inaugural import to North America had generated Japan's rise as a global electronics giant. Reportedly Cogan's single topped the Japanese charts for ten months to a year – the first indication of the 1960s trend that would see Cogan's recordings scoring well internationally while being overlooked in the UK. Cogan returned to the Japanese Top Ten in the spring of 1961 via a release of "Train of Love" and that December "Just Couldn't Resist Her With Her Pocket Transistor" gave Cogan a #3 hit in India where her cover of "She's Got You
" would reach the Top Ten in June 1962.
In February 1961 Cogan's contract to record for the HMV Pop label expired; although she initially planned to depart the parent EMI Group
its managing director Len Wood negotiated for Cogan to move to EMI's Columbia
subsidiary, making her the labelmate of Helen Shapiro
who would shortly be established as the new queen of the UK charts. In contrast Cogan would have her final UK chart showing with her Columbia debut: "Cowboy Jimmy Joe". The track was an English version of the German hit "Die Sterne Der Prärie" by Lolita, whose "Sailor
" had recently been rendered in English by Cogan's fellow '50s vocalistes Anne Shelton – a formative influence and friend of Cogan's – and Petula Clark
with both versions reaching the UK Top Ten, Clark's version being her first ever #1. However, "Cowboy Jimmy Joe" would punctuate Cogan's UK chart career with a mild #37 showing.
Similar to Petula Clark, Cogan was a 1950s pop vocalist whose talent could be showcased by the music of the subsequent decade: that Cogan failed to register on the UK charts later than 1961 is attributable to the "party girl" image that had originally boosted her career coming across in the 1960s as "square
", an opinion expressed by Lionel Blair the 1991 BBC
documentary
Alma Cogan: The Girl with the Giggle in Her Voice.
Cogan's friend singer, Eddie Grassham, told the BBC, that Cogan was especially disappointed that her 1963 cover of The Exciters
' US hit "Tell Him" did not return her to the UK charts, while a rival cover by teenage mod Billie Davis
would reach #10 ("Tell Him" gave Cogan her sole charting in France at #53 – the Exciters' version was a French #1).
After having only one long playing released in the 1950s, Cogan had one album released in both 1961 and 1962 entitled respectively With You in Mind
and How About Love? which like the 1958 album I Love to Sing
showcased Cogan with more substantial material that did her body of singles. How About Love? was picked up for US release by Vee-Jay Records
but internal problems caused that label to temporarily suspend operations in 1963 and How About Love? was one of the releases consequently canceled.
Cogan's international success continued as she reached #1 in Israel
in April 1963 with "Fly Me to the Moon
" and #1 in Sweden for eight weeks in the summer of 1964 with her rock and roll
ballad re-invention of "Tennessee Waltz
". The latter track, conducted by Kathy Kirby
's musical director Charles Blackwell, also reached the Top Twenty in Denmark in the summer of 1964 and would spend three months in the Top Twenty in Germany with a #9 peak in January 1965. Cogan returned to the German Top 20 that May when her reworking of "Home on the Range
" entitled "Hillbilly Boy" reached #19. Also in 1965 Cogan consolidated her stardom in Sweden where she returned to #1 for three weeks that summer with her cover – unreleased in the UK – of Jewel Akens
' US hit "The Birds and the Bees
", which gave Cogan a #8 hit in Denmark that autumn when it also hit the Top 5 in Norway.
Beginning with "Tell Him", Cogan courted international success by recording up to seven versions of some tracks in different languages including German and Japanese. She also traveled extensively in the mid 1960s making personal appearances and appearing on television in Australia, Germany, Israel, Italy, Spain and Japan.
Cynthia Lennon
described Cogan's home as "decorated like a swish nightclub with dark, richly coloured silken fabrics and brocades everywhere. Every surface was covered with ethnic sculptures, ornaments and dozens of photographs in elaborate silver, gold and jewelled frames."
Regular visitors included such diverse figures as Noël Coward
, Tommy Steele
, Cary Grant
, Sammy Davis, Jr, Danny Kaye
, Audrey Hepburn
, Princess Margaret
, Michael Caine
, Frankie Vaughan
, Lionel Bart, Stanley Baker
, Bruce Forsyth
, Ethel Merman
, Roger Moore
and a host of other celebrities.
Lonnie Donegan
recalls Cogan "told me Cary Grant proposed to her, and she said 'I don’t know what to do, Lonnie.' I said 'Well, love, if you have to ask the answer's got to be no.' She didn't accept, so I suppose she must have listened to me!"
Cogan was especially noted for her friendship with the Beatles
, whom she met during rehearsals for Sunday Night at the London Palladium
on 12 January 1964, John Lennon
and Paul McCartney
in particular being her frequent guests.
John Lennon's wife Cynthia Lennon would recall "John and I had thought of Alma [whom John dubbed 'Sara Sequin'] [as] out of date and unhip. We remembered her in the oldfashioned cinched-in waists and wide skirts of the Fifties. But in the flesh she was beautiful, intelligent and funny, oozing sex appeal and charm." In fact Cynthia detected sexual tension between her husband and Cogan to the point of believing the two were intimately involved and a longterm affair between Cogan and John Lennon is alleged by Sandra Caron (Paul McCartney acknowledges conducting a "slight romance" with Caron). The other three Beatles referred to Cogan as "Auntie Alma".
It was on the piano at Cogan's flat that McCartney first played the melody of "Yesterday
" which had come to him in a dream: McCartney wished assurance his dream song was original and felt that Cogan with her vast musical knowledge would be the person to identify the tune if it did already exist. (Her response was: "I don't know what it is, but it's beautiful.")
Rumors that McCartney and Lennon contributed musically to Cogan's mid-60s recording sessions proved longstanding but only McCartney's playing tambourine on "I Knew Right Away" – the B-side of Cogan's 30 October 1964 release "It's You" – is verifiable. McCartney has said of Cogan: "We'd known Alma as the big singing star. We never interacted musically, she was a little too old for our generation, not much probably, but it seemed like an eternity, so I never took her seriously musically. She was old-school showbiz."
, 4 October 1965. Although being considered one of Cogan's most distinguished tracks, it was not, as rumour would later have it, recorded in the presence of either John Lennon or Paul McCartney, neither of whom were then at the studio or, as has been suggested, played an instrument such as the tambourine.
Cogan also funded and recorded tracks for producer Andrew Loog Oldham
including a remake of Barbara George
's "I Know (You Don't Love Me No More)
": these tracks which showcased Cogan as a much grittier vocalist than previously were dismissed by EMI as substandard and unreleasable.
In 1965 EMI's dissatisfaction with Cogan manifested itself in the label's decision to have her cut an album, the recording of which would satisfy the number of tracks remaining on Cogan's contract, after which EMI would not renew her contract. The production was assigned to David Gooch, the recently hired staff producer who had been responsible for the recording of several West End musical soundtracks for EMI's affiliate MFP
label. With orchestra
tions by veteran Cogan associate Stan Foster, the recording of tracks for the final album began that summer in Studio 1 at Abbey Road Studios
.
All of the songs were initially recorded without the presence of the singer because Cogan was unwell ("supposedly with a bad cold or the flu" – Gooch): the Musicians' Union
gave permission for the backing tracks to be recorded to which she later added her voice
.
The Abbey Road sessions featured a version of "A Lover's Concerto
": a German language version of that song cut in Cologne
would be Cogan's final recording which she recorded together with the orchestra.
In early 1966 Cogan embarked on a series of club dates in the north of England: she collapsed after two performances suffering stomach pains and returned to London where she was diagnosed with stomach cancer
. She received treatment and planned to continue her career, even co-writing several songs with Stan Foster for other singers including "I Only Dream of You" recorded by Joe Dolan
and Ronnie Carroll
's "Wait For Me". Cogan used the pseudonym 'Al Western' for these titles while Foster was credited as 'Stephen Forest'.
Still hoping for a return to the UK charts, Cogan recorded the "Al Western"/"Stephen Forest" composition "Love Ya Illya" under the pseudonym Angela and the Fans. Released by Pye Records
in April 1966, this salute to the David McCallum
character on the TV show The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
received extensive airplay, especially on the offshore pirate radio stations, without mustering enough popularity to rank in the UK Top 50.
While touring Sweden in the summer of 1966 in support of her current Swedish hit single "Hello Baby", Cogan collapsed. She was hospitalized at London's Middlesex Hospital
for three weeks before succumbing to ovarian cancer on 26 October 1966 at the age of 34.
Cogan had never been a practising Jew but in deference to her family her death was observed with traditional Hebraic rites concluding with burial at Bushey
Jewish Cemetery in Hertfordshire
.
" which Gooch chose in recognition of its lyricist Norman Newell
's contribution to Cogan's career. Cogan's final album Alma – comprising the tracks cut at Abbey Road in 1965 augmented with some of Cogan's final single releases – was released in 1967; its release was held back for several months to accommodate the release of the retrospective album Alma Cogan.
Cogan's death failed to significantly renew interest in her. Collections of Cogan's music have been released on CD
, including a complete triple album anthology (A-Z of Alma, 1995). The novel Alma Cogan
by Gordon Burn
– in which a retired Cogan is still alive in the 1980s – won the Whitbread Book Award in 1991. The 1996 hit "Alma Matters
" by Morrissey
– who is known for his appreciation for cultural icons – has been interpreted as being about Cogan.
A blue plaque
commemorating Cogan was installed by the entrance of her longtime residence, 44 Stafford Court, on 4 November 2001.
In the summer of 2002, BBC Radio 4
broadcast a series based on Cogan's life entitled Stage Mother, Sequinned Daughter; written by Annie Caulfield, the series featured Jessica Martin
as Cogan and Alison Steadman
as her mother Fay Cohen. Cogan's sister Sandra Caron unsuccessfully petitioned the High Court
to block the airing of the series which she claimed misrepresented Cogan as a heavy drinker and Fay Cohen as a domineering stage mother
. In December 2003, the Broadcasting Standards Commission
ruled that the BBC apologize to Caron for failing to respect the feelings of Cogan's surviving family members in broadcasting Stage Mother, Sequinned Daughter.
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
singer
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
of traditional pop music
Traditional pop music
Traditional pop or classic pop or standards music denotes, in general, Western popular music that either wholly predates the advent of rock and roll in the mid-1950s, or to any popular music which exists concurrently to rock and roll but originated in a time before the appearance of rock and roll,...
in the 1950s and early 1960s. Dubbed "The Girl With the Laugh/Giggle/Chuckle In Her Voice", she was the highest paid British female entertainer of her era. Throughout the mid-1950s, she was the most consistently successful female singer in the UK.
Early life
She was born Alma Angela Cohen in WhitechapelWhitechapel
Whitechapel is a built-up inner city district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, London, England. It is located east of Charing Cross and roughly bounded by the Bishopsgate thoroughfare on the west, Fashion Street on the north, Brady Street and Cavell Street on the east and The Highway on the...
, East London
East End of London
The East End of London, also known simply as the East End, is the area of London, England, United Kingdom, east of the medieval walled City of London and north of the River Thames. Although not defined by universally accepted formal boundaries, the River Lea can be considered another boundary...
, England, of Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n Jewish descent. Her parents Mark and Fay Cohen had another daughter, the future actress Sandra Caron, four or five years later and Alma Cogan also had a brother. Mark Cohen's work as a haberdasher
Haberdasher
A haberdasher is a person who sells small articles for sewing, such as buttons, ribbons, zips, and other notions. In American English, haberdasher is another term for a men's outfitter. A haberdasher's shop or the items sold therein are called haberdashery.-Origin and use:The word appears in...
involved opening stores in different areas; this entailed frequent relocation for his family. One of Cogan's early residences was in Worthing
Worthing
Worthing is a large seaside town with borough status in West Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, forming part of the Brighton/Worthing/Littlehampton conurbation. It is situated at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of the county town of Chichester...
, Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
– where her family originally lived above her father's shop.
Although Jewish, she attended St Joseph's Convent School
St Joseph's Convent School
St Joseph's College is an independent co-educational school in Reading, Berkshire, England. It is a Catholic day school for students aged 3 to 18. In September 2010, it changed its name to St Joseph's College to reflect the move into co-education.The school was founded by the Sisters of St Marie...
in Reading
Reading, Berkshire
Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....
.
Her father was a singer but it was Cogan's mother who had show business
Show business
Show business, sometimes shortened to show biz, is a vernacular term for all aspects of entertainment. The word applies to all aspects of the entertainment industry from the business side to the creative element ....
aspirations for both her daughters – she had named Cogan after silent screen star Alma Taylor
Alma Taylor
- Life :Taylor was born in London. She made her first screen appearance as a child actor in the 1907 film His Daughter's Voice. She went on to appear in more than 150 film roles, appearing in a number of larger-budget films such as Shadow of Egypt which was shot on location in Egypt in 1924. Taylor...
– and after eleven-year-old Cogan won the Sussex Queen of Song contest her encouraged mother managed to get her an audition with bandleader
Bandleader
A bandleader is the leader of a band of musicians. The term is most commonly, though not exclusively, used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or rock and roll music....
Ted Heath
Ted Heath (bandleader)
Ted Heath, musician and big band leader, led Britain's greatest post-war big band recording more than 100 albums and selling over 20 million records...
, who was impressed but thought Cogan too young.
Nevertheless by her teens Cogan was singing at London tea dance
Tea dance
A tea dance, or thé dansant is a summer or autumn afternoon or early-evening dance from four to seven, sometimes preceded in the English countryside by a garden party. The function evolved from the concept of the afternoon tea, and J. Pettigrew traces its origin to the French colonization of Morocco...
s and at age fourteen she was featured in a variety show at the Grand Theatre in Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
having been recommended by Vera Lynn
Vera Lynn
Dame Vera Lynn, DBE is an English singer-songwriter and actress whose musical recordings and performances were enormously popular during World War II. During the war she toured Egypt, India and Burma, giving outdoor concerts for the troops...
.
Proceeding to Worthing Art College, Cogan continued singing in London venues including Selby's Restaurant and the Café Anglais. Cogan was a member of the chorus the production of High Button Shoes
High Button Shoes
High Button Shoes is a musical with music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Sammy Cahn and book by George Abbott and Stephen Longstreet. It was based on the semi-autobiographical 1946 novel The Sisters Liked Them Handsome by Longstreet...
at the Hippodrome
Hippodrome, London
The Hippodrome is a building on the corner of Charing Cross Road and Leicester Square in the City of Westminster, London. The name was used for many different theatres and music halls, of which the London Hippodrome is one of only a few survivors...
– the production opened in December 1948 – and Cogan was also featured in Sauce Tartare which opened in May 1949 at the Cambridge Theatre
Cambridge Theatre
The Cambridge Theatre is a West End theatre, on a corner site in Earlham Street facing Seven Dials, in the London Borough of Camden, built in 1929-30. It was designed by Wimperis, Simpson and Guthrie; interior partly by Serge Chermayeff, with interior bronze friezes by sculptor Anthony Gibbons...
in the West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
: Sauce Tartare was a review starring Muriel Smith
Muriel Smith (singer)
Muriel Burrell Smith was an American singer. In the 1940s and 1950s, she was a star of musical theater and opera, and was also the off-film ghost singer in several hit movies...
which also featured Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn was a British actress and humanitarian. Although modest about her acting ability, Hepburn remains one of the world's most famous actresses of all time, remembered as a film and fashion icon of the twentieth century...
, Renée Houston
Renee Houston
Renée Houston was a Scottish comedy actor and revue artist who appeared in television and film roles.Born in Johnstone, Renfrewshire, as Katherina Houston Gibbin, she toured music halls and revue with her sister Billie Houston as the Houston Sisters.In 1926, the sisters made a short musical film,...
and Bob Monkhouse
Bob Monkhouse
Robert Alan "Bob" Monkhouse, OBE was an English entertainer. He was a successful comedy writer, comedian and actor and was also well known on British television as a presenter and game show host...
.
In 1949, Cogan also became the resident singer at the Cumberland Hotel in Marble Arch
Marble Arch
Marble Arch is a white Carrara marble monument that now stands on a large traffic island at the junction of Oxford Street, Park Lane, and Edgware Road, almost directly opposite Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park in London, England...
, where her original six week booking was extended to eighteen months. It was at the Cumberland Hotel that Cogan was spotted by Walter Ridley an A&R
A&R
Artists and repertoire is the division of a record label that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists. It also acts as a liaison between artists and the record label.- Finding talent :...
man for HMV Records
HMV
His Master's Voice is a trademark in the music business, and for many years was the name of a large record label. The name was coined in 1899 as the title of a painting of the dog Nipper listening to a wind-up gramophone...
who was looking for a female act to add to the label's mostly male roster.
Early recording career
Cogan's first recording was "Red Silken Stockings" but as it was decided to give that song to her HMV label-mate entertainer Betty DriverBetty Driver
Elizabeth Mary "Betty" Driver, MBE was an English singer, actress and author, best known for her role as Betty Williams on the British soap opera, Coronation Street, appearing in more than 2,800 episodes...
, Cogan's first release was the 78 rpm record
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
"To Be Worthy Of You" / "Would You" recorded on her twentieth birthday in 1952.
When none of her first recordings became hits Cogan was moved to submit a demo to the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
who – out of a field of four hundred applicants – hired Cogan as vocalist for the programme Take It From Here
Take It From Here
Take It From Here was a British radio comedy programme broadcast by the BBC between 1948 and 1960. It was written by Frank Muir and Denis Norden, and starred Jimmy Edwards, Dick Bentley and Joy Nichols...
; both Cogan and June Whitfield
June Whitfield
June Rosemary Whitfield, CBE is an English actress, well known in the United Kingdom since the 1950s for roles in radio and television comedy series....
were added to the cast after Joy Nichols
Joy Nichols
Joy Eileen Nichols born in Sydney, Australia was a comedienne and actress who worked in Australia, Britain and the United States. She is best known as a star of Take It From Here on BBC Radio....
left the UK.
In 1953 Cogan was recording the song "If I Had A Golden Umbrella" and broke into a giggle: she played up this effect on some later recordings and upon attaining stardom would become known as "The girl with the giggle in her voice".
In the fashion of the time many of Cogan's recordings would be covers
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of US hits beginning in 1952 with "Half as Much
Half as Much
"Half as Much" is an American pop standard written by Curley Williams in 1951. It was first recorded by country music singer Hank Williams in 1952 and reached #2 on the Billboard Country Singles chart. The same year, Rosemary Clooney recorded a hit version for Top 40 markets and Alma Cogan in the...
"; however, the Rosemary Clooney
Rosemary Clooney
Rosemary Clooney was an American singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the novelty hit "Come On-a My House" written by William Saroyan and his cousin Ross Bagdasarian , which was followed by other pop numbers such as "Botch-a-Me" Rosemary Clooney (May 23, 1928 –...
original also became the UK hit. HMV would subsequently have Cogan cover US hit songs by Clooney, Teresa Brewer
Teresa Brewer
Teresa Brewer was an American pop singer whose style incorporated elements of country, jazz, R&B, musicals and novelty songs. She was one of the most prolific and popular female singers of the 1950s, recording nearly 600 songs. Born Theresa Breuer in Toledo, Ohio, Brewer died of a neuromuscular...
, Georgia Gibbs
Georgia Gibbs
Georgia Gibbs was an American popular singer and vocal entertainer rooted in jazz. Already singing publicly in her early teens, Gibbs first achieved acclaim in the mid-1950s interpreting songs originating with the black rhythm and blues community and later as a featured vocalist on a long list of...
, Joni James
Joni James
Joni James is an American singer of traditional pop music and jazz standards.-Biography:...
, Patti Page
Patti Page
Clara Ann Fowler , known by her professional name Patti Page, is an American singer, one of the best-known female artists in traditional pop music. She was the best-selling female artist of the 1950s, and has sold over 100 million records...
, Jo Stafford
Jo Stafford
Jo Elizabeth Stafford was an American singer of traditional pop music and jazz standards and occasional actress whose career ran from the late 1930s to the early 1960s...
and Dinah Shore
Dinah Shore
Dinah Shore was an American singer, actress, and television personality...
.
Symptomatic of the 1950s UK music industry, three UK singers covered Brewer's "Ricochet
Ricochet (song)
"Ricochet" is a popular song. The credits show it to be written by Larry Coleman, Joe Darion, and Norman Gimbel, without apportioning the work on the lyrics and music, in 1953...
": Cogan, Billie Anthony
Billie Anthony
Billie Anthony was a Scottish female singer. She is best known for her Top 10 hit version of "This Ole House", which despite chart competition from other versions of the same song, reached #4 in the UK chart....
and Joan Regan
Joan Regan
Joan Regan is a traditional pop music singer from the UK, popular during the 1950s and early 1960s.-Biography:...
, and the same three UK singers: Cogan, Anthony and Regan, had as their next release a cover of "Bell Bottom Blues" – again a US hit for Teresa Brewer. Both Cogan and Billie Anthony had as their subsequent single to "Bell Bottom Blues" a cover of Jo Stafford's "Make Love to Me" – the original became the UK hit. Cogan, Anthony and Joan Regan all covered Rosemary Clooney's 1954 US #1 "This Ole House
This Ole House
"This Ole House" is a popular song written by Stuart Hamblen, and published in 1954.-Background:Hamblen was supposedly out on a hunting expedition when he and his fellow hunter, actor John Wayne, came across a tumbledown hut in the mountains, many miles from civilization...
" – this time Anthony had the hit (she reached #4 despite being beaten by the Clooney original at #1). Regan had had the UK hit with "Ricochet" but "Bell Bottom Blues" - also covered by Shani Wallis
Shani Wallis
Shani Wallis is an English actress and singer.Wallis was born in Tottenham, London. Making her first stage appearance at the age of four, she later studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art on a scholarship...
- proved to be Cogan's chart breakthrough, reaching #4 on the chart dated 3 April 1954.
1950s star
"Bell Bottom Blues" was typical of Cogan's '50s single releases, her output comprising mostly lightweight numbers whose chart success was fairly arbitrary: she appeared on the UK Singles ChartUK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
eighteen times between 1954 and 1960 with the 1955 release "Dreamboat
Dreamboat
"Dreamboat" is a popular music song, the words and music to which were written by Jack Hoffman, ....
" reaching #1.
Cogan's second charting single had been a cover of Kitty Kallen
Kitty Kallen
Kitty Kallen is an American popular singer who sang with a number of big bands in the 1940s, coming back in the 1950s to score her biggest hit, "Little Things Mean a Lot" in 1954.-Career:...
's "Little Things Mean a Lot
Little Things Mean a Lot
"Little Things Mean a Lot" is a popular song written by Edith Lindeman and Carl Stutz , published in 1953. Lindeman was the leisure editor of the Richmond Times-Despatch and Stutz a disc jockey from Richmond, Virginia....
": Kallen's US #1 had been equally successful in UK release in the summer of 1954 but Cogan's version did reach #11. One of Cogan's earlier releases that year: "Little Shoemaker
The Little Shoemaker
"The Little Shoemaker" is a popular song based on the French song, "Le petit cordonnnier," by Rudi Revil. The original French lyric was written by Francis Lemarque. The English language lyrics were written by Geoffrey Claremont Parsons, Nathan Korb and John Turner.In the United States, the...
", had been a cover of the Gaylords' US #2 hit – it was a version by another UK songstress: Petula Clark
Petula Clark
Petula Clark, CBE is an English singer, actress, and composer whose career has spanned seven decades.Clark's professional career began as an entertainer on BBC Radio during World War II...
, which had become the chart hit (Clark's first).
It was also in 1954 that Cogan recorded "I Can't Tell a Waltz from a Tango
I Can't Tell a Waltz from a Tango
"I Can't Tell a Waltz from a Tango" is a popular song written by Al Hoffman and Dick Manning and published in 1954.The best known version in the United States was recorded by Patti Page; the best-known version in the United Kingdom by Alma Cogan...
", again a cover of a US chart hit – this one by Patti Page
Patti Page
Clara Ann Fowler , known by her professional name Patti Page, is an American singer, one of the best-known female artists in traditional pop music. She was the best-selling female artist of the 1950s, and has sold over 100 million records...
. Unusual for a UK cover, the original had only been a marginal US hit: "I Can't Tell a Waltz from a Tango" was recommended to Cogan primarily as it was deemed a strong number for her and her version became the second of Cogan's four Top Ten hits the fourth one being the Tommie Connor
Tommie Connor
Tommie Connor was a British songwriter, credited with several hit songs over his long career. Most notable among these was "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus", which has been recorded by many artists, including the Jackson 5 and is among the top 25 Christmas music songs...
composition "Never Do the Tango With an Eskimo" (#6/ 1955).
Cogan also reached #16 in 1958 with her version of "Sugartime
Sugartime
"Sugartime" is a popular song, written by Charlie Phillips and Odis Echols and published in 1958. The biggest hit version was recorded by The McGuire Sisters, who topped the charts with their single in February of that year. In 1961, the song briefly returned to the US Cashbox country charts in a...
" despite competition from the McGuire Sisters
The McGuire Sisters
The McGuire Sisters were a singing trio in American popular music. The group was composed of three sisters: Christine McGuire , Dorothy McGuire , and Phyllis McGuire...
original and another cover by Jim Dale
Jim Dale
Jim Dale, MBE is an English actor, voice artist, singer and songwriter. He is best known in the United Kingdom for his many appearances in the Carry On series of films and in the US for narrating the Harry Potter audiobook series, for which he received two Grammy Awards, and the ABC series Pushing...
. Her final Top 20 hit, "Sugartime" aroused an especial antipathy in future Beatle
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
, then a Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
art school student whose classmate Helen Anderson would recall "used to make horrible jokes against [Cogan], impersonating her singing 'sugar in the morning, sugar in the evening, sugar at suppertime'. He'd pull crazy expressions on his face to try to imitate her expressions." Ironically Lennon and Cogan would later become friends and (according to Cogan's sister Sandra Caron) sometime lovers.
Cogan also faced chart competition for her chart singles "Willie Can" (#13/ 1956) – the Beverley Sisters' version reached #23 – and her version of Marty Robbins
Marty Robbins
Martin David Robinson , known professionally as Marty Robbins, was an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist...
' "The Story of My Life
The Story of My Life (song)
"The Story of My Life" is a popular song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David and published in 1957.The song became a 1957 hit for US country singer Marty Robbins, staying at number one on the country chart for four weeks and reaching number fifteen on the Billboard Top 100 and number two on...
" which was one of four to hit the UK charts in 1958 with Michael Holliday
Michael Holliday
Norman Alexander Milne, known professionally as Michael Holliday was a British crooner popular in the late 1950s and early 1960s....
besting Cogan (#25) and also Dave King and Gary Miller
Gary Miller (singer)
Gary Miller born Neville Williams was an English popular music singer and actor of the 1950s and 1960s. His career spanned only 13 years before he died of a heart attack in 1968. He released 24 singles and six EPs on the Pye Records label between 1955 and 1967...
by reaching #1.
Cogan did step outside the pop idiom with her cover of the Teenagers
The Teenagers
The Teenagers are an American integrated doo wop group, most noted for being one of rock music's earliest successes, presented to international audiences by DJ Alan Freed...
featuring Frankie Lymon
Frankie Lymon
Franklin Joseph "Frankie" Lymon was an American rock and roll/rhythm and blues singer and songwriter, best known as the boy soprano lead singer of a New York City-based early rock and roll group, The Teenagers. The group was composed of five boys, all in their early to mid teens...
's "Why Do Fools Fall in Love
Why Do Fools Fall in Love (song)
"Why Do Fools Fall in Love" is a song that was originally a hit for early New York City-based rock and roll group Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers in 1956. It reached No. 1 on the R&B chart, No. 6 on Billboards Pop Singles chart, and number one on the UK Singles Chart...
" (#22/ 1956) although her version was bested by the original which reached #1.
Cogan's recordings were originally produced by Walter Ridley and subsequently by Norman Newell
Norman Newell
Norman Newell, OBE was born in Plaistow, Essex , and was a successful British record producer in the 1950s and 1960s, as well as co-writer of many notable songs...
.
Cogan was one of the first UK recording artists to recognize the promotional potential of the new medium of television; while other singers were dependent on the vagaries of the record charts Cogan's career was buoyed by frequent television appearances showcasing not only her vocal prowess but her bubbly personality. Typically Cogan wore hooped skirts heavy with sequins and figure-hugging tops; reputedly her dresses were all custom made to her own designs and never worn twice. Cliff Richard
Cliff Richard
Sir Cliff Richard, OBE is a British pop singer, musician, performer, actor, and philanthropist who has sold over an estimated 250 million records worldwide....
recalls: "My first impression of her was definitely frocks – I kept thinking, how many can this woman have? Almost every song had a different costume. The skirts seemed to be so wide – I don't know where they hung them up!" When Cogan flew into New York City for a December 1957 engagement at the Persian Room
Plaza Hotel
The Plaza Hotel in New York City is a landmark 20-story luxury hotel with a height of and length of that occupies the west side of Grand Army Plaza, from which it derives its name, and extends along Central Park South in Manhattan. Fifth Avenue extends along the east side of Grand Army Plaza...
customs inspectors impounded the sixteen ball gowns in her luggage, being skeptical that she could intend them all for her personal use during a short stay (the gowns were returned to Cogan in time for her opening). Cogan had made her first visit to New York City earlier that year making an April 14 appearance on the televised variety programme Toast of the Town
The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan....
with a resultant booking at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel
Waldorf-Astoria Hotel
The Waldorf-Astoria is a luxury hotel in New York. It has been housed in two historic landmark buildings in New York City. The first, designed by architect Henry J. Hardenbergh, was on the Fifth Avenue site of the Empire State Building. The present building at 301 Park Avenue in Manhattan is a...
. Some of Cogan's UK singles were given a concurrent US release by RCA Victor with no discernible result.
Cogan's first album was released in 1958: I Love to Sing
I Love to Sing (album)
I Love to Sing was Alma Cogan's first album, issued in 1958 on the His Masters Voice an EMI Records label. All the tracks on the album were arranged by Frank Cordell....
, which featured Frank Cordell conducting the orchestra, was focussed more on traditional pop classics rather than the lightweight material typical of Cogan's single releases.
In December 1956 Cogan topped the annual NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
reader's poll as "Outstanding British Female Singer".
She finished top again in 1957 and 1958; after coming second to Shirley Bassey
Shirley Bassey
Dame Shirley Bassey, DBE , is a Welsh singer. She found fame in the late 1950s and was "one of the most popular female vocalists in Britain during the last half of the 20th century"...
in 1959 Cogan again topped the poll in 1960 remaining a popular personality despite by then no longer being a major chart presence.
Cogan was scheduled to participate in the national preliminary round for the UK in Eurovision 1959
Eurovision Song Contest 1959
The Eurovision Song Contest 1959 was the fourth Eurovision Song Contest. It was held in Cannes, following the French victory the previous year....
singing "I'll Be With You": however the song was ultimately sung by Marion Keene
Marion Keene
Marion Keene was a big band singer in the early 1950s with British bands such as the Jack Parnell Orchestra and Oscar Rabin Band....
.
UK chart decline and international success
Cogan's final single release of the 1950s was her cover of Bobby RydellBobby Rydell
Bobby Rydell is an American professional singer, mainly of rock and roll music. In the early 1960s he was considered a so-called "teen idol"...
's US hit "We Got Love
We Got Love
"We Got Love" is a song written by Bernie Lowe and Kal Mann. It was released as a single by Bobby Rydell in 1959. The song became a hit, charting at number six on the Billboard Hot 100. A cover version by Alma Cogan became a hit on the UK Singles Chart, where it peaked at number twenty-six.The song...
" which entered the UK Top 30 in December 1959: its #26 peak on the chart for 2 January 1960 would prove to be her highest charting for the incoming decade.
After the follow-up "Dream Talk" peaked at #48 Cogan had her last Top 30 hit with the Paul Anka
Paul Anka
Paul Albert Anka, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and actor.Anka first became famous as a teen idol in the late 1950s and 1960s with hit songs like "Diana'", "Lonely Boy", and "Put Your Head on My Shoulder"...
penned "Train of Love" (#27) which had been a US Top 40 hit for Annette
Annette Funicello
Annette Joanne Funicello is an American singer and actress. She was Walt Disney's most popular cast member of the original Mickey Mouse Club, and went on to appear in a series of beach party films.-Early life and early stardom:...
.
The B-side of "Train of Love": "The 'I Love You' Bit", a duet with Oscar Nebish was, in fact, performed with Lionel Bart
Lionel Bart
Lionel Bart was a writer and composer of British pop music and musicals, best known for creating the book, music and lyrics for Oliver!-Early life:...
who was for a time considered Cogan's fiancé. Bart had written the musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
Oliver!
Oliver!
Oliver! is a British musical, with script, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens....
with Cogan in mind for the role of Nancy but as Cogan was reluctant to commit to the stage musical Oliver opened in the West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
June 1960 with Georgia Brown
Georgia Brown
Georgia Brown, pseudonym of Rossana Monti is an Italian Brazilian singer noted for her extensive vocal range. She was listed in the 2005 Guinness World Records for hitting the highest vocal note and for possessing the greatest range, claimed to be exactly 8 octaves from G2-G10 using scientific...
in the Nancy role. (Cogan would contribute to a recording
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
of the musical for EMI, produced
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
by Norman Newell
Norman Newell
Norman Newell, OBE was born in Plaistow, Essex , and was a successful British record producer in the 1950s and 1960s, as well as co-writer of many notable songs...
, released in 1965).
Cogan's next single "Just Couldn't Resist Her With Her Pocket Transistor
The Detergents
The Detergents were an American music group consisting of Ronnie Dante, Danny Jordan, and Tommy Wynn. The group's speciality was parody songs, as with their first and best-known hit record, "Leader of the Laundromat", written and produced by Paul Vance and Lee Pockriss...
" fell short of the UK Top 50 but found a receptive audience in Japan, the "pocketable" radio
Transistor radio
A transistor radio is a small portable radio receiver using transistor-based circuitry. Following their development in 1954 they became the most popular electronic communication device in history, with billions manufactured during the 1960s and 1970s...
being the 1957 Japanese invention which as Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
's inaugural import to North America had generated Japan's rise as a global electronics giant. Reportedly Cogan's single topped the Japanese charts for ten months to a year – the first indication of the 1960s trend that would see Cogan's recordings scoring well internationally while being overlooked in the UK. Cogan returned to the Japanese Top Ten in the spring of 1961 via a release of "Train of Love" and that December "Just Couldn't Resist Her With Her Pocket Transistor" gave Cogan a #3 hit in India where her cover of "She's Got You
She's Got You
"She's Got You" is a famous pop song written by Hank Cochran and was first recorded and released as a single by Patsy Cline in 1962. Musically the song is an upbeat jazz-pop song with country overtones to support it.-History:...
" would reach the Top Ten in June 1962.
In February 1961 Cogan's contract to record for the HMV Pop label expired; although she initially planned to depart the parent EMI Group
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
its managing director Len Wood negotiated for Cogan to move to EMI's Columbia
Columbia Graphophone Company
The Columbia Graphophone Company was one of the earliest gramophone companies in the United Kingdom. Under EMI, as Columbia Records, it became a very successful label in the 1950s and 1960s...
subsidiary, making her the labelmate of Helen Shapiro
Helen Shapiro
Helen Kate Shapiro is an English singer and actress. She is best known for her 1960s UK chart toppers, "You Don't Know" and "Walkin' Back to Happiness".-Early life:...
who would shortly be established as the new queen of the UK charts. In contrast Cogan would have her final UK chart showing with her Columbia debut: "Cowboy Jimmy Joe". The track was an English version of the German hit "Die Sterne Der Prärie" by Lolita, whose "Sailor
Sailor (Song)
Sailor is a song written by Werner Scharfenberger and Fini Busch which via a 1960 recording by Lolita became an international hit, with its #5 peak on the Hot 100 chart in Billboard making "Sailor" the most successful American hit sung in German until 99 Luftballons by Nena in 1984.With English...
" had recently been rendered in English by Cogan's fellow '50s vocalistes Anne Shelton – a formative influence and friend of Cogan's – and Petula Clark
Petula Clark
Petula Clark, CBE is an English singer, actress, and composer whose career has spanned seven decades.Clark's professional career began as an entertainer on BBC Radio during World War II...
with both versions reaching the UK Top Ten, Clark's version being her first ever #1. However, "Cowboy Jimmy Joe" would punctuate Cogan's UK chart career with a mild #37 showing.
Similar to Petula Clark, Cogan was a 1950s pop vocalist whose talent could be showcased by the music of the subsequent decade: that Cogan failed to register on the UK charts later than 1961 is attributable to the "party girl" image that had originally boosted her career coming across in the 1960s as "square
Square (slang)
Square used as slang may mean many things when referring to a person or in common language.In referring to a person, the word originally meant someone who was honest, traditional and loyal. An agreement that is equitable on all sides is a "square deal"...
", an opinion expressed by Lionel Blair the 1991 BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
documentary
Documentary
A documentary is a creative work of non-fiction, including:* Documentary film, including television* Radio documentary* Documentary photographyRelated terms include:...
Alma Cogan: The Girl with the Giggle in Her Voice.
Cogan's friend singer, Eddie Grassham, told the BBC, that Cogan was especially disappointed that her 1963 cover of The Exciters
The Exciters
The Exciters were an American pop music group of the 1960s. They were originally a girl group, although a male member was added later. The group consisted of lead singer Brenda Reid, her husband Herb Rooney, Carolyn Johnson and Lillian Walker....
' US hit "Tell Him" did not return her to the UK charts, while a rival cover by teenage mod Billie Davis
Billie Davis
Billie Davis is an English female singer who had hits in the 1960s, and is best remembered for the UK hit version of the song, "Tell Him" and "I Want You to Be My Baby" ....
would reach #10 ("Tell Him" gave Cogan her sole charting in France at #53 – the Exciters' version was a French #1).
After having only one long playing released in the 1950s, Cogan had one album released in both 1961 and 1962 entitled respectively With You in Mind
With You in Mind (album)
With You in Mind was Alma Cogan's second album, issued in 1961 Cogan's first album to be released on Columbia Records an EMI Records label....
and How About Love? which like the 1958 album I Love to Sing
I Love to Sing (album)
I Love to Sing was Alma Cogan's first album, issued in 1958 on the His Masters Voice an EMI Records label. All the tracks on the album were arranged by Frank Cordell....
showcased Cogan with more substantial material that did her body of singles. How About Love? was picked up for US release by Vee-Jay Records
Vee-Jay Records
Vee-Jay Records is a record label founded in the 1950s, specializing in blues, jazz, rhythm and blues and rock and roll. It was owned and operated by African Americans.-History:...
but internal problems caused that label to temporarily suspend operations in 1963 and How About Love? was one of the releases consequently canceled.
Cogan's international success continued as she reached #1 in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
in April 1963 with "Fly Me to the Moon
Fly Me to the Moon
"Fly Me to the Moon" is a popular standard song written by Bart Howard in 1954. It was originally titled "In Other Words", and was introduced by Felicia Sanders in cabarets...
" and #1 in Sweden for eight weeks in the summer of 1964 with her rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
ballad re-invention of "Tennessee Waltz
The Tennessee Waltz
"Tennessee Waltz" is a popular/country music song with lyrics by Redd Stewart and music by Pee Wee King written in 1946 and first released in December 1947 as a single by Cowboy Copas that same year...
". The latter track, conducted by Kathy Kirby
Kathy Kirby
Kathy Kirby was an English singer who was reportedly the highest-paid female singer of her generation. She is best known for her cover version of Doris Day's "Secret Love" and for representing the United Kingdom in the 1965 Eurovision Song Contest, where she came in second place...
's musical director Charles Blackwell, also reached the Top Twenty in Denmark in the summer of 1964 and would spend three months in the Top Twenty in Germany with a #9 peak in January 1965. Cogan returned to the German Top 20 that May when her reworking of "Home on the Range
Home on the Range
"Home on the Range" is the state song of Kansas, U.S.Home on the Range may also refer to:* Home on the Range , a drama directed by Arthur Jacobson* Home on the Range , a Disney animated feature film...
" entitled "Hillbilly Boy" reached #19. Also in 1965 Cogan consolidated her stardom in Sweden where she returned to #1 for three weeks that summer with her cover – unreleased in the UK – of Jewel Akens
Jewel Akens
Jewel Akens is an American singer and record producer.-Biography:He first recorded with Eddie Daniels as Jewel and Eddie on the Silver Records label in 1960. A number of his recordings featured Eddie Cochran on guitar.He later went solo and recorded "The Birds And The Bees" in 1965, on the Era...
' US hit "The Birds and the Bees
The Birds and the Bees (Jewel Akens song)
"The Birds And The Bees" was a hit by Jewel Akens in the spring of 1965, reaching #2 on the Cash Box singles chart and #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart: the single also reached #21 on the Billboard Black Singles chart....
", which gave Cogan a #8 hit in Denmark that autumn when it also hit the Top 5 in Norway.
Beginning with "Tell Him", Cogan courted international success by recording up to seven versions of some tracks in different languages including German and Japanese. She also traveled extensively in the mid 1960s making personal appearances and appearing on television in Australia, Germany, Israel, Italy, Spain and Japan.
Hostess to the Beatles
By the mid 1960s, Cogan was a staple of the UK press less for her performing career than for the all-night parties she threw at the ground floor Kensington High Street apartment her father had purchased in 1951 (Mark Cohen died in 1952): 44 Stafford Court was the longtime residence of Cogan and her mother Fay Cohen and sister Sandra Caron.Cynthia Lennon
Cynthia Lennon
Cynthia Lillian Lennon is the former wife of musician John Lennon, and mother of Julian Lennon. She grew up in the middle-class section of Hoylake, on the Wirral Peninsula in North West England. At the age of twelve, she was accepted into the Junior Art School, and was later enrolled in the...
described Cogan's home as "decorated like a swish nightclub with dark, richly coloured silken fabrics and brocades everywhere. Every surface was covered with ethnic sculptures, ornaments and dozens of photographs in elaborate silver, gold and jewelled frames."
Regular visitors included such diverse figures as Noël Coward
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...
, Tommy Steele
Tommy Steele
Tommy Steele OBE , is an English entertainer. Steele is widely regarded as Britain's first teen idol and rock and roll star.-Singer:...
, Cary Grant
Cary Grant
Archibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...
, Sammy Davis, Jr, Danny Kaye
Danny Kaye
Danny Kaye was a celebrated American actor, singer, dancer, and comedian...
, Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn was a British actress and humanitarian. Although modest about her acting ability, Hepburn remains one of the world's most famous actresses of all time, remembered as a film and fashion icon of the twentieth century...
, Princess Margaret
Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon
Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon was the younger sister of Queen Elizabeth II and the younger daughter of King George VI....
, Michael Caine
Michael Caine
Sir Michael Caine, CBE is an English actor. He won Academy Awards for best supporting actor in both Hannah and Her Sisters and The Cider House Rules ....
, Frankie Vaughan
Frankie Vaughan
Frankie Vaughan, CBE, DL was an English singer of traditional pop music, who issued more than 80 recordings in his lifetime. He was known as "Mr. Moonlight" after one of his early hits.-Life and career:...
, Lionel Bart, Stanley Baker
Stanley Baker
Sir Stanley Baker was a Welsh actor and film producer.-Early career:William Stanley Baker was born in Ferndale, Rhondda Valley, Wales. In the mid-1930s his parents moved to London, where Baker spent most of his formative years...
, Bruce Forsyth
Bruce Forsyth
Sir Bruce Joseph Forsyth-Johnson, CBE , commonly known as Bruce Forsyth, or Brucie, is an English TV personality...
, Ethel Merman
Ethel Merman
Ethel Merman was an American actress and singer. Known primarily for her powerful voice and roles in musical theatre, she has been called "the undisputed First Lady of the musical comedy stage." Among the many standards introduced by Merman in Broadway musicals are "I Got Rhythm", "Everything's...
, Roger Moore
Roger Moore
Sir Roger George Moore KBE , is an English actor, perhaps best known for portraying British secret agent James Bond in seven films from 1973 to 1985. He also portrayed Simon Templar in the long-running British television series The Saint.-Early life:Moore was born in Stockwell, London...
and a host of other celebrities.
Lonnie Donegan
Lonnie Donegan
Anthony James "Lonnie" Donegan MBE was a skiffle musician, with more than 20 UK Top 30 hits to his name. He is known as the "King of Skiffle" and is often cited as a large influence on the generation of British musicians who became famous in the 1960s...
recalls Cogan "told me Cary Grant proposed to her, and she said 'I don’t know what to do, Lonnie.' I said 'Well, love, if you have to ask the answer's got to be no.' She didn't accept, so I suppose she must have listened to me!"
Cogan was especially noted for her friendship with the Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
, whom she met during rehearsals for Sunday Night at the London Palladium
Sunday Night at the London Palladium
Sunday Night at the London Palladium is a British television variety show produced by ATV for the ITV network, originally running from 1955 to 1967, with a brief revival in 1973 and 1974...
on 12 January 1964, John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
and Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
in particular being her frequent guests.
John Lennon's wife Cynthia Lennon would recall "John and I had thought of Alma [whom John dubbed 'Sara Sequin'] [as] out of date and unhip. We remembered her in the oldfashioned cinched-in waists and wide skirts of the Fifties. But in the flesh she was beautiful, intelligent and funny, oozing sex appeal and charm." In fact Cynthia detected sexual tension between her husband and Cogan to the point of believing the two were intimately involved and a longterm affair between Cogan and John Lennon is alleged by Sandra Caron (Paul McCartney acknowledges conducting a "slight romance" with Caron). The other three Beatles referred to Cogan as "Auntie Alma".
It was on the piano at Cogan's flat that McCartney first played the melody of "Yesterday
Yesterday (song)
"Yesterday" is a song originally recorded by The Beatles for their 1965 album Help!. The song first hit the United Kingdom top 10 three months after the release of Help!. The song remains popular today with more than 1,600 cover versions, one of the most covered songs in the history of recorded...
" which had come to him in a dream: McCartney wished assurance his dream song was original and felt that Cogan with her vast musical knowledge would be the person to identify the tune if it did already exist. (Her response was: "I don't know what it is, but it's beautiful.")
Rumors that McCartney and Lennon contributed musically to Cogan's mid-60s recording sessions proved longstanding but only McCartney's playing tambourine on "I Knew Right Away" – the B-side of Cogan's 30 October 1964 release "It's You" – is verifiable. McCartney has said of Cogan: "We'd known Alma as the big singing star. We never interacted musically, she was a little too old for our generation, not much probably, but it seemed like an eternity, so I never took her seriously musically. She was old-school showbiz."
Final recordings
Cogan hoped to use her association with the Beatles to abet a recording comeback by cutting an album comprising Lennon–McCartney compositions. The concept was nixed by EMI because of the plethora of similar albums then on the market. However, Cogan did cut versions of "I Feel Fine", "Yesterday", "Eight Days a Week" and "Help", with the last two tracks being released as a single in 1965: the A-side "Eight Days a Week" was recorded at Abbey Road StudiosAbbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios is a recording studio located at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music company EMI, its present owner...
, 4 October 1965. Although being considered one of Cogan's most distinguished tracks, it was not, as rumour would later have it, recorded in the presence of either John Lennon or Paul McCartney, neither of whom were then at the studio or, as has been suggested, played an instrument such as the tambourine.
Cogan also funded and recorded tracks for producer Andrew Loog Oldham
Andrew Loog Oldham
Andrew Loog Oldham is an English producer, talent manager, impresario and author. He was manager and producer of The Rolling Stones from 1963, and was noted for his flamboyant style.-Biography:...
including a remake of Barbara George
Barbara George
Barbara George was an American R&B singer and songwriter.Born Barbara Ann Smith, she was raised in New Orleans and began singing in a church choir. She was discovered by singer Jessie Hill, who recommended her to record producer, Harold Battiste...
's "I Know (You Don't Love Me No More)
I Know (You Don't Love Me No More)
"I Know " is a R&B song written and performed by American singer Barbara George. It was released as her debut single in late 1961. This song became her signature song and her only major hit in United States, peaking at number 1 in the Billboard R&B singles chart and number 3 in the Pop Singles chart...
": these tracks which showcased Cogan as a much grittier vocalist than previously were dismissed by EMI as substandard and unreleasable.
In 1965 EMI's dissatisfaction with Cogan manifested itself in the label's decision to have her cut an album, the recording of which would satisfy the number of tracks remaining on Cogan's contract, after which EMI would not renew her contract. The production was assigned to David Gooch, the recently hired staff producer who had been responsible for the recording of several West End musical soundtracks for EMI's affiliate MFP
Music for Pleasure (record label)
Music for Pleasure was a record label that issued budget-priced albums of popular and classical music, although the latter were marketed under the Classics for Pleasure name...
label. With orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
tions by veteran Cogan associate Stan Foster, the recording of tracks for the final album began that summer in Studio 1 at Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios is a recording studio located at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music company EMI, its present owner...
.
All of the songs were initially recorded without the presence of the singer because Cogan was unwell ("supposedly with a bad cold or the flu" – Gooch): the Musicians' Union
Musicians' Union
Organizations calling themselves the Musicians' Union include:*Musicians' Union *Musicians' Union *Several locals of the American Federation of Musicians, e.g. Musicians' Union Local No. 6 San Francisco*Musicians Union of South Africa...
gave permission for the backing tracks to be recorded to which she later added her voice
Human voice
The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal folds for talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, etc. Its frequency ranges from about 60 to 7000 Hz. The human voice is specifically that part of human sound production in which the vocal folds are the primary...
.
The Abbey Road sessions featured a version of "A Lover's Concerto
A Lover's Concerto
"A Lover's Concerto" is a pop song written by American songwriters Sandy Linzer and Denny Randell and recorded in 1965 by The Toys. Their version of the song was a major hit in both the United States and the UK during 1965. It peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 chart at #2.Critic Dave Thompson wrote,...
": a German language version of that song cut in Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
would be Cogan's final recording which she recorded together with the orchestra.
Illness and death
Singer Anne Shelton attributed her friend Cogan's health decline to "highly experimental" injections she took to lose weight saying "after those injections, [Cogan] was never well again".In early 1966 Cogan embarked on a series of club dates in the north of England: she collapsed after two performances suffering stomach pains and returned to London where she was diagnosed with stomach cancer
Stomach cancer
Gastric cancer, commonly referred to as stomach cancer, can develop in any part of the stomach and may spread throughout the stomach and to other organs; particularly the esophagus, lungs, lymph nodes, and the liver...
. She received treatment and planned to continue her career, even co-writing several songs with Stan Foster for other singers including "I Only Dream of You" recorded by Joe Dolan
Joe Dolan
Joseph "Joe" Francis Robert Dolan was an Irish entertainer, recorder and singer of easy listening songs...
and Ronnie Carroll
Ronnie Carroll
Ronnie Carroll is a Northern Irish singer and entertainer.-Career:...
's "Wait For Me". Cogan used the pseudonym 'Al Western' for these titles while Foster was credited as 'Stephen Forest'.
Still hoping for a return to the UK charts, Cogan recorded the "Al Western"/"Stephen Forest" composition "Love Ya Illya" under the pseudonym Angela and the Fans. Released by Pye Records
Pye Records
Pye Records was a British record label. In its first incarnation, perhaps Pye's best known artists were Lonnie Donegan , Petula Clark , The Searchers , The Kinks , Sandie Shaw and Brotherhood of Man...
in April 1966, this salute to the David McCallum
David McCallum
David Keith McCallum, Jr. is a Scottish actor and musician. He is best known for his roles as Illya Kuryakin, a Russian-born secret agent, in the 1960s television series The Man from U.N.C.L.E., as interdimensional operative Steel in Sapphire & Steel, and Dr...
character on the TV show The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is an American television series that was broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1964, to January 15, 1968. It follows the exploits of two secret agents, played by Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, who work for a fictitious secret international espionage and law-enforcement...
received extensive airplay, especially on the offshore pirate radio stations, without mustering enough popularity to rank in the UK Top 50.
While touring Sweden in the summer of 1966 in support of her current Swedish hit single "Hello Baby", Cogan collapsed. She was hospitalized at London's Middlesex Hospital
Middlesex Hospital
The Middlesex Hospital was a teaching hospital located in the Fitzrovia area of London, United Kingdom. First opened in 1745 on Windmill Street, it was moved in 1757 to Mortimer Street where it remained until it was finally closed in 2005. Its staff and services were transferred to various sites...
for three weeks before succumbing to ovarian cancer on 26 October 1966 at the age of 34.
Cogan had never been a practising Jew but in deference to her family her death was observed with traditional Hebraic rites concluding with burial at Bushey
Bushey
Bushey is a town in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire in the East of England. Bushey Heath is situated to the south east of Bushey on the boundary with the London Borough of Harrow.-History:...
Jewish Cemetery in Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
.
Legacy
David Gooch oversaw the release of a posthumous single featuring Cogan's composition "Now That I've Found You" – originally issued as the B-side of the 1965 single "Love is a Word" – backed by Cogan's version of "MoreMore (Theme from Mondo Cane)
"More " is a film score song written by Riz Ortolani and Nino Oliviero for the 1962 Mondo film Mondo cane. Originally composed as an instrumental and titled "Ti guarderò nel cuore", lyrics were later provided by Marcello Ciorciolini, which were adapted into English by Norman Newell...
" which Gooch chose in recognition of its lyricist Norman Newell
Norman Newell
Norman Newell, OBE was born in Plaistow, Essex , and was a successful British record producer in the 1950s and 1960s, as well as co-writer of many notable songs...
's contribution to Cogan's career. Cogan's final album Alma – comprising the tracks cut at Abbey Road in 1965 augmented with some of Cogan's final single releases – was released in 1967; its release was held back for several months to accommodate the release of the retrospective album Alma Cogan.
Cogan's death failed to significantly renew interest in her. Collections of Cogan's music have been released on CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
, including a complete triple album anthology (A-Z of Alma, 1995). The novel Alma Cogan
Alma Cogan (novel)
Alma Cogan is the title of a 1991 novel by Gordon Burn, reprinted in 2004. It was Burn's first novel and won the Whitbread Book Award in 1991. In the UK it was published in 1991 with the title Alma Cogan...
by Gordon Burn
Gordon Burn
Gordon Burn was an English writer born in Newcastle upon Tyne and the author of four novels and several works of non-fiction....
– in which a retired Cogan is still alive in the 1980s – won the Whitbread Book Award in 1991. The 1996 hit "Alma Matters
Alma Matters
"Alma Matters" is a song by Morrissey, released as a single in July 1997. It was the first single to be taken from the Maladjusted album and was released one week before the album....
" by Morrissey
Morrissey
Steven Patrick Morrissey , known as Morrissey, is an English singer and lyricist. He rose to prominence in the 1980s as the lyricist and vocalist of the alternative rock band The Smiths. The band was highly successful in the United Kingdom but broke up in 1987, and Morrissey began a solo career,...
– who is known for his appreciation for cultural icons – has been interpreted as being about Cogan.
A blue plaque
Blue plaque
A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person or event, serving as a historical marker....
commemorating Cogan was installed by the entrance of her longtime residence, 44 Stafford Court, on 4 November 2001.
In the summer of 2002, BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
broadcast a series based on Cogan's life entitled Stage Mother, Sequinned Daughter; written by Annie Caulfield, the series featured Jessica Martin
Jessica Martin
Jessica Martin is an actor and comedian. She is probably best known for her work as an impressionist and voice artist on the television series Spitting Image, impersonating the voice of Her Majesty The Queen. She also appeared on Yorkshire Television's 3-2-1 in the 1980s with impressionist Aiden J...
as Cogan and Alison Steadman
Alison Steadman
Alison Steadman OBE is an English actress. She established her career with roles such as Beverley in Abigail's Party and Candice Marie in Nuts in May for the director Mike Leigh, to whom she was once married. In addition to her stage and radio work, she has had lead roles in The Singing Detective,...
as her mother Fay Cohen. Cogan's sister Sandra Caron unsuccessfully petitioned the High Court
High Court of Justice
The High Court of Justice is, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, one of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...
to block the airing of the series which she claimed misrepresented Cogan as a heavy drinker and Fay Cohen as a domineering stage mother
Stage mother
In the performing arts, a stage mother is a term for the mother of a child actor. The mother will often drive her child to auditions, make sure he or she is on the set on time, etc...
. In December 2003, the Broadcasting Standards Commission
Ofcom
Ofcom is the government-approved regulatory authority for the broadcasting and telecommunications industries in the United Kingdom. Ofcom was initially established by the Office of Communications Act 2002. It received its full authority from the Communications Act 2003...
ruled that the BBC apologize to Caron for failing to respect the feelings of Cogan's surviving family members in broadcasting Stage Mother, Sequinned Daughter.
Singles
- 1952 – "To Be Worthy Of You" / "Would You"
- 1952 – "To Be Loved By You" / "The Homing Waltz" (duetDuet (music)A duet is a musical composition for two performers. In classical music, the term is most often used for a composition for two singers or pianists; with other instruments, the word duo is also often used. A piece performed by two pianists performing together on the same piano is referred to as...
with Les Howard) - 1952 – "Meet Me on the Corner"
- 1952 – "Waltz of Paree" / "Pretty Bride"
- 1952 – "Half as MuchHalf as Much"Half as Much" is an American pop standard written by Curley Williams in 1951. It was first recorded by country music singer Hank Williams in 1952 and reached #2 on the Billboard Country Singles chart. The same year, Rosemary Clooney recorded a hit version for Top 40 markets and Alma Cogan in the...
" (coverCover versionIn popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of Rosemary ClooneyRosemary ClooneyRosemary Clooney was an American singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the novelty hit "Come On-a My House" written by William Saroyan and his cousin Ross Bagdasarian , which was followed by other pop numbers such as "Botch-a-Me" Rosemary Clooney (May 23, 1928 –...
) / "Blue TangoBlue Tango"Blue Tango" is an instrumental composition by Leroy Anderson. it was later turned into a popular song with lyrics by Mitchell Parish. It was published in 1952...
" - 1952 – "I Went to Your WeddingI Went to Your Wedding"I Went to Your Wedding" is a popular song written by Jessie Mae Robinson and published in 1952.The song is a report of a wedding, attended by the ex-lover of one of the parties being married, who obviously is still in love with the person it is addressed to...
" (coverCover versionIn popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of Patti PagePatti PageClara Ann Fowler , known by her professional name Patti Page, is an American singer, one of the best-known female artists in traditional pop music. She was the best-selling female artist of the 1950s, and has sold over 100 million records...
) / "You Belong to MeYou Belong to Me (1952 song)"You Belong to Me" is a pop music ballad from the 1950s. The singer reminds his/her lover that, whatever exotic locales and sights he/she experiences, "you belong to me." It is credited to three writers: Pee Wee King, Chilton Price, and Redd Stewart...
" (coverCover versionIn popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of Jo StaffordJo StaffordJo Elizabeth Stafford was an American singer of traditional pop music and jazz standards and occasional actress whose career ran from the late 1930s to the early 1960s...
) - 1952 – "If'n" (duet with Denny Dennis)
- 1952 – "Take Me In Your Arms and Hold Me" / "Wyoming Lullaby"
- 1953 – "Till I Waltz Again with YouTill I Waltz Again with You"Till I Waltz Again with You" is a popular song written by Sid Prosen and published in 1952. Rather than a waltz, it is a slow AABA shuffle.The recording by Teresa Brewer was recorded on August 19, 1952 and released by Coral Records as catalog number 60873...
" (coverCover versionIn popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of Teresa BrewerTeresa BrewerTeresa Brewer was an American pop singer whose style incorporated elements of country, jazz, R&B, musicals and novelty songs. She was one of the most prolific and popular female singers of the 1950s, recording nearly 600 songs. Born Theresa Breuer in Toledo, Ohio, Brewer died of a neuromuscular...
) / "Happy Valley Sweetheart" - 1953 – "If I Had a Penny" / "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss MeHold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me"Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me" was released as single from Gloria Estefan's fourth solo-credited studio album Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me.-Formats and track listings:Europe CD Maxi Single ...
" (coverCover versionIn popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of Karen ChandlerKaren ChandlerEva Nadauld , known professionally as Karen Chandler, was an American singer of popular music during the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, best known for her 1952 hit, "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me".-Biography:...
) - 1953 – "On The First Warm Day" / (Les Howard solo)
- 1953 – "Till They've All Gone Home" / "Hug Me A Hug"
- 1953 – "If I Had a Golden Umbrella" / "Mystery Street"
- 1953 – "My Love, My LoveMy Love, My Love"My Love, My Love" is a popular song.It was written by Nicholas Acquaviva and Bob Haymes and published in 1953.The biggest hit version was done by Joni James in 1953...
" (coverCover versionIn popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of Joni JamesJoni JamesJoni James is an American singer of traditional pop music and jazz standards.-Biography:...
) / "Wasted Tears" - 1953 – "Over and Over Again" / "Isn't Life Wonderful" (duets with Les Howard)
- 1954 – "RicochetRicochet (song)"Ricochet" is a popular song. The credits show it to be written by Larry Coleman, Joe Darion, and Norman Gimbel, without apportioning the work on the lyrics and music, in 1953...
(Rick-O-Shay)" (coverCover versionIn popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of Teresa Brewer) / "The Moon Is Blue" - 1954 – "Bell Bottom Blues" (coverCover versionIn popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of Teresa Brewer) / "Love Me Again" – UKUK Singles ChartThe UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
#4 - 1954 – "Make Love to MeMake Love to Me- Mann/Weiss/Gannon song :With music by Paul Mann and Stephan Weiss, and lyrics by Kim Gannon, it was recorded in 1942 by Helen Forrest with the Harry James Orchestra...
" (coverCover versionIn popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of Jo Stafford) / "Said the Little Moment" - 1954 – "Little Shoemaker" (coverCover versionIn popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of The Gaylords) / "Chiqui-Chaqui (Chick-ee Chock-ee)" - 1954 – "JiltedJilted (song)"Jilted" is a popular song with music by Dick Manning and lyrics by Robert Colby, published in 1954.Teresa Brewer recorded the biggest-selling version on December 29, 1953. This recording was released by Coral Records as catalog number 61152. It first reached the U.S. Billboard chart on April 14,...
" (coverCover versionIn popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of Teresa Brewer) / "Do, Do, Do, Do, Do, Do It Again" (duets with Frankie VaughanFrankie VaughanFrankie Vaughan, CBE, DL was an English singer of traditional pop music, who issued more than 80 recordings in his lifetime. He was known as "Mr. Moonlight" after one of his early hits.-Life and career:...
) - 1954 – "Little Things Mean a LotLittle Things Mean a Lot"Little Things Mean a Lot" is a popular song written by Edith Lindeman and Carl Stutz , published in 1953. Lindeman was the leisure editor of the Richmond Times-Despatch and Stutz a disc jockey from Richmond, Virginia....
" (coverCover versionIn popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of Kitty KallenKitty KallenKitty Kallen is an American popular singer who sang with a number of big bands in the 1940s, coming back in the 1950s to score her biggest hit, "Little Things Mean a Lot" in 1954.-Career:...
) / "Canoodlin' Rag" – UK #11 - 1954 – "Skinnie Minnie" (coverCover versionIn popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of Teresa Brewer) / "What Am I Going To Do, Ma" - 1954 – "This Ole HouseThis Ole House"This Ole House" is a popular song written by Stuart Hamblen, and published in 1954.-Background:Hamblen was supposedly out on a hunting expedition when he and his fellow hunter, actor John Wayne, came across a tumbledown hut in the mountains, many miles from civilization...
" (coverCover versionIn popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of Rosemary Clooney) / "SkokiaanSkokiaan"Skokiaan" is a popular tune originally written by Rhodesian musician August Musarurwa in the tsaba-tsaba big band style that succeeded marabi...
" (one of many versions of the song) - 1954 – "I Can't Tell a Waltz from a TangoI Can't Tell a Waltz from a Tango"I Can't Tell a Waltz from a Tango" is a popular song written by Al Hoffman and Dick Manning and published in 1954.The best known version in the United States was recorded by Patti Page; the best-known version in the United Kingdom by Alma Cogan...
" (coverCover versionIn popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of Patti Page) / "Christmas Cards" – UK #6 - 1954 – "(Don't Let The) Kiddygeddin'" / "Mrs Santa Claus"
- 1955 – "Paper Kisses" / "Softly SoftlySoftly, Softly (song)"Softly, Softly" is a popular song written in 1955 by Mark Paul and Pierre Dudan, with English lyrics by Paddy Roberts.The most popular version of the song was recorded by Ruby Murray in 1955. Produced by Norrie Paramor, it reached number one in the UK Singles Chart....
" - 1955 – "Mambo ItalianoMambo Italiano (song)"Mambo Italiano" is a popular song written by Bob Merrill in 1954 and recorded by Rosemary Clooney. Merrill actually wrote it on deadline, scribbled hastily on a paper napkin in an Italian restaurant in New York, United States using the wall pay-phone to dictate the melody, rhythm and lyrics to the...
" (coverCover versionIn popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of Rosemary Clooney) / "The Naughty Lady of Shady LaneThe Naughty Lady of Shady Lane"The Naughty Lady of Shady Lane" is a popular song written by Sid Tepper and Roy C. Bennett. The lyrics suggest that this "naughty lady" driving the whole town crazy is an attractive young woman who "throws those come-hither glances at every Tom, Dick and Joe" and "when offered some liquid...
" (coverCover versionIn popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of the Ames BrothersAmes BrothersThe Ames Brothers were a singing quartet from Malden, Massachusetts, who were particularly famous in the 1950s for their traditional pop music hits.-Biography:The Ames Brothers got their beginning in Malden, where all four were born...
) - 1955 – "Tweedle DeeTweedle Dee"Tweedlee Dee" is a rhythm and blues novelty song with a Latin-influenced riff written by Winfield Scott for LaVern Baker and recorded by her at Atlantic Records' studio in New York City in 1954. It was her first hit, reaching #4 on Billboard's R&B chart and #14 on its Pop chart...
" (coverCover versionIn popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of Lavern BakerLaVern BakerLaVern Baker was an American rhythm and blues singer, who had several hit records on the pop chart in the 1950s and early 1960s. Her most successful records were "Tweedlee Dee" , "Jim Dandy" , and "I Cried a Tear" .-Early life:She was born Delores LaVern Baker in Chicago, Illinois...
) / "More Than Ever Now" - 1955 – "Tika Tika Tok" / "Chee Chee Oo CheeChee Chee-Oo Chee (Sang the Little Bird)"Chee Chee-Oo Chee " is a popular song with music by Saverio Seracini , the original Italian language lyrics by Ettore Minoretti, and English lyrics by John Turner and Geoffrey Parsons, published in 1955.A number of recorded versions were made in 1955, but the Perry Como/Jaye...
" - 1955 – "DreamboatDreamboat"Dreamboat" is a popular music song, the words and music to which were written by Jack Hoffman, ....
" / "Irish Mambo" – UK #1 - 1955 – "Where Will The Dimple Be?Where Will The Dimple Be?"Where Will the Dimple Be?" is a 1955 single by Rosemary Clooney and Thurl Ravenscroft, about a pregnant wife speculating where her baby's dimple will be. The song was also covered by Alma Cogan....
" (coverCover versionIn popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of Rosemary Clooney) / "Keep Me in Mind" - 1955 – "Got'n Idea" / "Give A Fool A Chance"
- 1955 – "The Banjo's Back in Town" / "Go On By" – UK #17 / UK #16
- 1955 – "Hernando's HideawayHernando's Hideaway"Hernando's Hideaway" is a tango show tune from the musical The Pajama Game, written by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross and published in 1954. The lyrics describe a dark and secretive nightclub....
" (one of many coverCover versionIn popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
s) / "Blue Again" - 1955 – "Never Do a Tango with an Eskimo" / "Twenty Tiny Fingers" – UK #6 / UK #17
- 1956 – "Love and MarriageLove and Marriage"Love and Marriage" is a song with lyrics by Sammy Cahn and music by Jimmy Van Heusen. It is published by Barton Music Corporation .-Frank Sinatra versions:...
" (coverCover versionIn popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of Frank SinatraFrank SinatraFrancis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
) / "Sycamore Tree" - 1956 – "Willie Can" / "Lizzie Borden" – UK 13
- 1956 – "Don't Ring-A Da Bell" / "Bluebell"
- 1956 – "It's All Been Done Before" (duet with Ronnie HiltonRonnie HiltonRonnie Hilton was an English singer and radio presenter. According to his obituary in The Guardian newspaper, "Hilton was one of those 1950s vocalists whose career coincided with rock and roll's 1956 onslaught on the ballad dominated hit parade...
) / "No Other LoveNo Other Love (1953 song)"No Other Love" is a show tune from the 1953 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Me and Juliet.Richard Rodgers originally composed this tune for the NBC television series Victory at Sea...
" (Ronnie Hilton solo) - 1956 – "Why Do Fools Fall in LoveWhy Do Fools Fall in Love (song)"Why Do Fools Fall in Love" is a song that was originally a hit for early New York City-based rock and roll group Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers in 1956. It reached No. 1 on the R&B chart, No. 6 on Billboards Pop Singles chart, and number one on the UK Singles Chart...
" (coverCover versionIn popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers) / "The Birds and the Bees(The Same Thing Happens With) The Birds and the Bees" The Birds and the Bees" is a popular song, written by Harry Warren and Mack David and published in 1956...
" – UK #22 / UK #25 - 1956 – "Mama, Teach Me to DanceMama, Teach Me to DanceThe song is best known in a 1956 recording by Eydie Gormé....
" / "I'm in Love Again" - 1956 – "In the Middle of the HouseIn the Middle of the House"In the Middle of the House" is a novelty song written by Bob Hilliard. It was performed by Vaughn Monroe and separately by Rusty Draper in 1956. Each was released as a single. Monroe's version reached number 11 on Billboard Magazine's Most Played by Jockeys chart and number 21 on the magazine's...
" (coverCover versionIn popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of Rusty DraperRusty DraperFarrell H. "Rusty" Draper was an American country and pop singer, who achieved his greatest success in the 1950s....
) / "Two Innocent Hearts" – UK #20 - 1957 – "You, Me, and UsYou, Me, and Us"You, Me, and Us" is a popular song published in 1956, with music based on the Mexican traditional folk song, "Cielito Lindo." The song is credited to John Jerome for both words and music, but undoubtedly only the lyrics were actually his creation....
" / "Three Brothers" – UK #18 - 1957 – "Whatever Lola Wants (Lola Gets)Whatever Lola Wants"Whatever Lola Wants" is a popular song, sometimes rendered as "Whatever Lola Wants, Lola Gets". The music and words were written by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross for the 1955 musical play Damn Yankees. The song is sung by Lola, the Devil's assistant, a part originated by Gwen Verdon, who reprised...
" / "Lucky LipsLucky LipsLucky Lips is a song written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and originally recorded by Ruth Brown in 1957. Her version reached # 6 on the Billboard rhythm and blues chart, and # 25 on the US pop chart.-Cliff Richard version:...
" – UK #26 - 1957 – "Chantez, ChantezChantez, Chantez"Chantez, Chantez" is a popular song written written by Irving Fields and Albert Gamse which in 1957 became a Top 30 hit single for Dinah Shore....
" (coverCover versionIn popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of Dinah ShoreDinah ShoreDinah Shore was an American singer, actress, and television personality...
) / "Funny Funny Funny" - 1957 – "Fabulous" / "Summer Love" (coverCover versionIn popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of Joni JamesJoni JamesJoni James is an American singer of traditional pop music and jazz standards.-Biography:...
) - 1957 – "That's Happiness" / "What You've Done To Me"
- 1957 – "Party Time" / "Please Mister Brown"
- 1958 – "The Story of My LifeThe Story of My Life (song)"The Story of My Life" is a popular song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David and published in 1957.The song became a 1957 hit for US country singer Marty Robbins, staying at number one on the country chart for four weeks and reaching number fifteen on the Billboard Top 100 and number two on...
" (coverCover versionIn popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of Marty RobbinsMarty RobbinsMartin David Robinson , known professionally as Marty Robbins, was an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist...
/ Michael HollidayMichael HollidayNorman Alexander Milne, known professionally as Michael Holliday was a British crooner popular in the late 1950s and early 1960s....
) / "Love Is" – UK #25 - 1958 – "SugartimeSugartime"Sugartime" is a popular song, written by Charlie Phillips and Odis Echols and published in 1958. The biggest hit version was recorded by The McGuire Sisters, who topped the charts with their single in February of that year. In 1961, the song briefly returned to the US Cashbox country charts in a...
" (coverCover versionIn popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of The McGuire SistersThe McGuire SistersThe McGuire Sisters were a singing trio in American popular music. The group was composed of three sisters: Christine McGuire , Dorothy McGuire , and Phyllis McGuire...
) / "Gettin' Ready for Freddy" – UK #16 - 1958 – "Stairway of Love" (coverCover versionIn popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of Michael Holliday) / "Comes Love" - 1958 – "Sorry Sorry Sorry" / "Fly Away Lovers"
- 1958 – "There's Never Been a Night" / "If This Isn't LoveIf This Isn't LoveFor the song by Jennifer Hudson, see If This Isn't Love For the song by The Saturdays, see If This Is Love"If This Isn't Love" is a popular song....
" - 1959 – "Last Night on the Back PorchLast Night on the Back Porch"Last Night on the Back Porch " is a popular song with music by Carl Schraubstader and lyrics by Lew Brown, published in 1923...
" / "Mama Says" – UK #27 - 1959 – "Pink Shoelaces" (coverCover versionIn popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of Dodie StevensDodie StevensDodie Stevens is an American pop singer. She is best known for her million selling 1959 song "Pink Shoe Laces", which made her a star when she was only 13 years old.-Early life:...
) / "The Universe" - 1959 – "We Got LoveWe Got Love"We Got Love" is a song written by Bernie Lowe and Kal Mann. It was released as a single by Bobby Rydell in 1959. The song became a hit, charting at number six on the Billboard Hot 100. A cover version by Alma Cogan became a hit on the UK Singles Chart, where it peaked at number twenty-six.The song...
" / "I Don't Mind Being All Alone" – UK #26 - 1960 – "Dream Talk" / "O Dio Mio" – UK #48
- 1960 – "The Train of Love" / "The 'I Love You' Bit" (duet with Oscar Nebish, aka Lionel BartLionel BartLionel Bart was a writer and composer of British pop music and musicals, best known for creating the book, music and lyrics for Oliver!-Early life:...
) – UK #27 - 1960 – "Just Couldn't Resist Her With Her Pocket TransistorThe DetergentsThe Detergents were an American music group consisting of Ronnie Dante, Danny Jordan, and Tommy Wynn. The group's speciality was parody songs, as with their first and best-known hit record, "Leader of the Laundromat", written and produced by Paul Vance and Lee Pockriss...
" / "Must Be Santa" - 1961 – "Cowboy Jimmy Joe" / "Don't Read The Letter" – UK #37
- 1961 – "With You In Mind" / "Ja-DaJa-Da"Ja-Da " was a hit song written in 1918 by Bob Carleton . The title is sometimes rendered as "Jada." Ja-Da has flourished through the decades as a jazz standard....
" - 1961 – "All AloneAll Alone (1924 song)"All Alone" is a popular song.It was written by Irving Berlin. The song was published in 1924. The song has been recorded many times, becoming a standard; it was most popular in a 1962 recording by Frank Sinatra....
" / "Keep Me in Your Heart" - 1961 – "She's Got YouShe's Got You"She's Got You" is a famous pop song written by Hank Cochran and was first recorded and released as a single by Patsy Cline in 1962. Musically the song is an upbeat jazz-pop song with country overtones to support it.-History:...
" (coverCover versionIn popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of Patsy ClinePatsy ClinePatsy Cline , born Virginia Patterson Hensley in Gore, Virginia, was an American country music singer who enjoyed pop music crossover success during the era of the Nashville sound in the early 1960s...
) / "In the Shade of the Old Apple TreeIn the Shade of the Old Apple TreeIn the Shade of the Old Apple Tree is a popular song dating from 1905. It was written by Harry Williams and Egbert Van Alstyne .The meter of its chorus is in the form of a Limerick.It can safely be characterized as a highly sentimental tune...
" - 1962 – "Goodbye Joe" / "I Can't Give You Anything but Love, BabyI Can't Give You Anything but Love, Baby"I Can't Give You Anything but Love" is an American popular song and jazz standard by Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields .The song was introduced by Adelaide Hall at Les Ambassadeurs Club in New York in January 1928 in Lew Leslie's Blackbird Revue, which opened on Broadway later that year as the...
" - 1963 – "Tell Him" (coverCover versionIn popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of The ExcitersThe ExcitersThe Exciters were an American pop music group of the 1960s. They were originally a girl group, although a male member was added later. The group consisted of lead singer Brenda Reid, her husband Herb Rooney, Carolyn Johnson and Lillian Walker....
) / "Fly Me to the MoonFly Me to the Moon"Fly Me to the Moon" is a popular standard song written by Bart Howard in 1954. It was originally titled "In Other Words", and was introduced by Felicia Sanders in cabarets...
" - 1963 – "Hold Out Your Hand You Naughty Boy" / "Just Once More"
- 1964 – "The Tennessee WaltzThe Tennessee Waltz"Tennessee Waltz" is a popular/country music song with lyrics by Redd Stewart and music by Pee Wee King written in 1946 and first released in December 1947 as a single by Cowboy Copas that same year...
" (coverCover versionIn popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of Patti Page) / "I Love You Too Much" - 1964 – "It's You" / "I Knew Right Away"
- 1964 – "Snakes And Snails" / "How Many Nights, How Many Days"
- 1965 – "Eight Days a WeekEight Days a Week (song)"Eight Days a Week" is a song written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, based on Paul's original idea, recorded by The Beatles and released on their December 1964 album Beatles for Sale.-Inspiration:...
" / "Help!Help! (song)"Help!" is a song by The Beatles that served as the title song for both the 1965 film and its soundtrack album. It was also released as a single, and was number one for three weeks in both the United States and the United Kingdom....
" (each a coverCover versionIn popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of a BeatlesThe BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
song) - 1965 – "Love Is A Word" / "Now That I've Found You"
- 1966 – "Now That I've Found You" / "MoreMore (Theme from Mondo Cane)"More " is a film score song written by Riz Ortolani and Nino Oliviero for the 1962 Mondo film Mondo cane. Originally composed as an instrumental and titled "Ti guarderò nel cuore", lyrics were later provided by Marcello Ciorciolini, which were adapted into English by Norman Newell...
" - 1966 – "Love Ya Illya" / "I Know You" (under the name Angela and the Fans)
Albums
- 1958 – I Love to SingI Love to Sing (album)I Love to Sing was Alma Cogan's first album, issued in 1958 on the His Masters Voice an EMI Records label. All the tracks on the album were arranged by Frank Cordell....
- 1961 – With You In MindWith You in Mind (album)With You in Mind was Alma Cogan's second album, issued in 1961 Cogan's first album to be released on Columbia Records an EMI Records label....
- 1962 – How About Love?
- 1965 – Oliver! with Stanley HollowayStanley HollowayStanley Augustus Holloway, OBE was an English stage and film actor, comedian, singer, poet and monologist. He was famous for his comic and character roles on stage and screen, especially that of Alfred P. Doolittle in My Fair Lady...
and Violet CarsonViolet CarsonViolet Helen Carson OBE was an English actress, best known for playing Ena Sharples, one of the original characters in the British soap opera Coronation Street.-Early life and career:... - 1967 – Alma
In popular culture
- In Why Bother?Why Bother?Why Bother? was a Talkback production for BBC Radio 3, consisting of five 10-minute long radio interviews between Chris Morris and Peter Cook's character Sir Arthur Streeb-Greebling, recorded in late 1993 and originally broadcast from 10 January – 14 January 1994...
, Sir Arthur Streeb-GreeblingSir Arthur Streeb-GreeblingSir Arthur Streeb-Greebling was a fictional character played by British comedian Peter Cook throughout his career. Streeb-Greebling was a stereotype of the upper class English duffer. He was usually presented in the form of interviews with various comedians acting as the interviewer...
described his lost love Lita Rosa as "like Alma Cogan but without the bounce". - In a Monty PythonMonty PythonMonty Python was a British surreal comedy group who created their influential Monty Python's Flying Circus, a British television comedy sketch show that first aired on the BBC on 5 October 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series...
audio sketch, from The Album of the Soundtrack of the Trailer of the Film of Monty Python and the Holy GrailThe Album of the Soundtrack of the Trailer of the Film of Monty Python and the Holy GrailThe Album of the Soundtrack of the Trailer of the Film of Monty Python and the Holy Grail is an album released by Monty Python in 1975. It is a recording of some bits from Monty Python and the Holy Grail as well as some new material...
, John CleeseJohn CleeseJohn Marwood Cleese is an English actor, comedian, writer, and film producer. He achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on The Frost Report...
as a professor of logic in track 8 "A Lesson in Logic" states that "all of Alma Cogan is dead, but only some of the class of dead people are Alma Cogan".
Biography
- Alma Cogan: The Girl With The Laugh In Her Voice by Sandra Caron (Alma's sister) – ISBN 0-7475-0984-0