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Artist:

Adam Faith

Born:
Jun 23, 1940 in Acton, London, England

Died:
Mar 08, 2003 in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England

Representative Songs:

"Poor Me," "Someone Else's Baby," "The First Time"

Representative Albums:

The Very Best of Adam Faith, On the Move/Faith Alive, I Survive

Similar Artists:

Van Morrison, John Barry, Cliff Richard, Gary Puckett, Gary Lewis, Billy Fury, Georgie Fame

Worked With:

Dave Wintour, Robert Henrit, David Courtney, Russ Ballard, Leo Sayer, Roger Daltrey

Followers:

Russ Ballard
  • Birth Name: Terence Nelhams
  • Genre: Rock
  • Active: '50s - '90s
  • Instrument: Vocals

Biography

The late '50s in England saw a legion of young teen idols, groomed for music stardom by managers eager to see their clients land a chart hit or two on their way to careers as all-around entertainers, or even television or movie actors. A few of them, like Cliff Richard and Billy Fury, were genuinely exciting rock & rollers when they started out, although most were just playing at rock & roll, and lacked the talent to make much lasting impact in any area of entertainment.

Adam Faith was one of the better ones, a late-'50s/early-'60s singing star who went on to a respectable acting career in television, movies and theater. Born Terence Nelhams in Acton, West London, he made his first appearances in public at the legendary 21's coffee bar in London's Soho. He came to the attention of producer Jack Goode, which, in turn, introduced Faith to band leader John Barry (the music director of Goode's music showcase series Oh Boy! and the music director of the Drumbeat series), which resulted in the invitation to audition for a role in Drumbeat. Faith first emerged on the music scene on the Top Rank and HMV labels, but he saw little chart success until Drumbeat came along in 1959.

Faith became an immediate star, with his matinee-idol looks and charismatic screen presence. He was signed to EMI's Parlophone label soon after he began work on Drumbeat. In November of 1959, he cut the single "What Do You Want," which soared to number one on the British charts in the course of a 19-week run. With a pleasing, upbeat arrangement built around pizzicato strings and a sort of peppy variation of Elvis' scowling, mumbling demeanor, Faith's career at this point was closer to teen pop than rock & roll, although his stuff is eminently listenable. His next single, "Poor Me," was a better song and also reached number one, while his third, "Somebody Else's Baby," got to number two. Although hardly cutting-edge rock & roll (and one has to ignore singles like "When Johnny Comes Marching Home"), it was all pleasant, rather reminiscent of Buddy Holly songs like "True Love Ways." The best of his singles was the John Barry co-authored "Made You," which owes a bit to songs like "Nervous Breakdown" -- it also showed what Faith could do with a real, straight-ahead rock & roll number.

He placed six songs in the Top Ten during 1960, and three more in 1961. His string of major hits was pretty much exhausted by the summer of 1962, just before the Beatles and the other Liverpool bands came along and changed the entire musical landscape, but he made one more run into the Top Ten in late 1963 with "The First Time." Listening to this stuff, it's easy to understand why acts like the Beatles, not to mention ballsier, older rock & rollers from Liverpool like Tony Sheridan and the Big Three held performers like Adam Faith in such contempt -- he could be lethally "cute" on novelty songs like "Lonely Pup (In a Christmas Shop)," a number four single over Christmas of 1960, and had no compunction about it.

Despite his shortcomings as a rock & roller, Faith left the post-Beatles era with one major gift in the form of his superb backing band, the Roulettes -- featuring future Argent members Russ Ballard and Bob Henrit -- who recorded some of the best music of the early British Invasion era. Beginning in 1963, they had a separate recording and performing career as well, including a series of superb recordings for EMI (available on BGO Records). Their records with Faith were also exceptionally good, and were among the last of his major hits. In 1965, Faith released his last new album, the concert recording Faith Alive, featuring him and the Roulettes, a surprisingly exciting and unretouched account of their work on stage together.

Faith's handful of early film appearances generally enhanced his musical image, most notably Beat Girl (1961), a fairly gritty British delinquency drama. He turned increasingly to acting on the stage during this period, and by the 1970s Faith had moved on to a career in business, with a successful finance company and a directorship of the Savoy Hotel. He returned to repertory theater work in the 1970s and created the title role of the series Budgie, which he later brought to the stage. Faith also resumed his film career, most notably with a major supporting role in the 1975 Michael Apted movie Stardust, starring David Essex, the Roger Daltrey starring vehicle McVicar (1980), and the television version of Murder on the Orient Express (1985). He also went into music management during the 1970s, and the most important of his clients was Leo Sayer. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide
 
 
Wikipedia: Adam Faith
Adam Faith
Adam_Faith.jpg
Background information
Birth name Terence (Terry) Nelhams-Wright
Also known as Terry Nelhams
Born 23 June 1940
Origin West London, England Flag of England
Died 8 March 2003
Genre(s) Rock and roll
Pop
Occupation(s) musician
actor
journalist
Instrument(s) vocals
Label(s) Parlophone
Top Rank International
HMV
Warner
Associated
acts		 The Worried Men (1957)
Notable instrument(s)
vocals

Terence (Terry) Nelhams-Wright, known as Adam Faith (23 June 1940, East Acton, West London — 8 March 2003, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire) was an English singer, actor and financial journalist.

Biography

Terence (Terry) Nelhams-Wright was born at 4 Churchfield Road, East Acton, West London. He was unaware that his real surname was Nelhams-Wright until he applied for a passport and obtained his birth certificate. He was known as Terry Nelhams throughout his early life. The third in a family of five children, Terry Nelhams grew up in a council house in a working class area of London, where he attended John Perryn secondary modern school. He started work at the age of 12, delivering and selling newspapers while still at school. His first full-time job was an odd-job boy for a silk screen printer close to his home.

Music

Adam Faith became one of Britain's most significant early pop stars. At the time, he was arguably the most distinctive British pop vocalist of his era. His unique voice and his hiccupping glottal stops and exaggerated pronunciation rendered him instantly recognisable. Like most contemporary pop singers, he did not write his own material, and much of his early success was attributable to his partnership with John Barry and songwriter Les Vandyke, whose arrangements were inspired by Don Costa's pizzicato arrangements for Buddy Holly's "It Doesn't Matter Anymore".

He began his musical career in 1957, while working full time as a film cutter in London in the hope of becoming an actor, singing with and managing a part-time skiffle group, The Worried Men. The group played in Soho coffee bars after work, and became the resident band at "Two Is", where they appeared on an episode of the BBC Television live music programme Six-Five Special. The producer of the show, Jack Good was impressed by the singer's performance, and arranged a solo recording contract with HMV, under the new name of 'Adam Faith'.

His debut record "(Got a) Heartsick Feeling" and "Brother Heartache and Sister Tears", was released in January 1958, but failed to make the charts. Jack Good gave him a part in the stage show of Six-Five Special, along with The John Barry Seven but the show folded after only four performances. His second release later that year was a cover of Jerry Lee Lewis' "High School Confidential", backed with the Burt Bacharach and Hal David penned "Country Music Holiday", but this was also a failure.

Faith returned to work as a film cutter at the National Studios at Elstree until March 1959, when John Barry invited him to audition for a new BBC TV rock and roll show, Drumbeat. The producer, Stewart Morris, gave him an initial contract for three shows which was later extended to the full 22 week run. His contract with HMV had ended, and he sang one track, "I Vibrate", on a six-track E.P. released by the Fontana record label. John Barry's manager, Eve Taylor got him another recording contract with Top Rank, but his only record release for them, "Ah, Poor Little Baby" / "Runk Bunk" produced by Tony Hatch also failed to chart, partly due to a total absence of publicity, caused by the release date coinciding with a national printing strike.

Despite the failure of his first three records, Faith was becoming very well known and popular through his television appearances. He decided to pursue his ambition to become an actor by taking drama and elocution lessons, and was invited to appear as a pop singer in the film, Beat Girl, then in pre-production stage. The script called for Faith to sing a couple of songs, and as Barry was by then arranging not only Faith's recordings but also his live Drumbeat material, the film company asked him to write the score to accompany the film. This was the beginning of Barry's own successful career in film music.

Faith's success on Drumbeat enabled him to get another recording contract with Parlophone. His next record in 1959, "What Do You Want?", written by Les Vandyke and produced by Barry and John Burgess, received good reviews in both The New Musical Express and other music papers, as well as being voted a hit on Juke Box Jury. This became his first number one hit in the UK Singles Chart,[1] and his pronunciation of the word 'baby' as 'bay-beh' became a national catch phrase.[2]

"What Do You Want?" was the first ever number one hit for Parlophone, Faith being the only pop act recording on the label at that time.[2]

With subsequent songs like "Poor Me" (another chart topper),"Someone Else's Baby" (a UK #2) and "Don't That Beat All", he established himself as a serious rival to Cliff Richard in British popular music. With his chiselled features, blonde hair and smart appearance, his style and looks were in complete contrast to Cliff's, offering a real alternative for the teenage market.

A UK variety tour was followed by a twelve week Summer season at the Blackpool Hippodrome and an appearance on the Royal Variety Show.

His next release was a double A-side single, "Made You" / "When Johnny Comes Marching Home", Both sides made the Top Ten, despite a BBC airplay ban for "Made You", on the grounds of 'exhibiting a lewd and salacious lyric'. His 1960 novelty record "Lonely Pup (In a Christmas Shop"), (released to coincide with his performances in a Christmas pantomime) was also successful and gained him a silver disc.

His debut album Adam was released on 4 November 1960 to critical acclaim - as much for the inventiveness of musical director Barry's arrangements, as for Faith's own performances. The breadth of chosen material ranged from standards such as "Summertime", "Hit The Road To Dreamland" and "Singin' In The Rain" to more contemporary songs, such as Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman's "I'm A Man", Johnny Worth's "Fare Thee Well My Pretty Maid", and Howard Guyton's "Wonderful Time".

Still only 20 years old and living with his parents, he bought them a luxury house in Hampton Court for £6000, where he moved with the rest of his family from their council house in Acton. In December 1960 he became the first pop artist to be invited to appear on the prestigious TV interview series Face to Face with John Freeman.

He went on to make six further albums and thirty five singles, with a total of twenty-four chart entries.

Film and television

After a string of successful records, tours and TV appearances, Faith's brand of sometimes rather twee pop became less popular in the mid 1960s in the face of competition from groups like The Beatles. After a final single in 1968 he parted company with EMI and went on to develop his alternative career as an actor.

While still a musician he had appeared in several films such as Beat Girl (1961), Never Let Go, and television dramas such as Rediffusion's, No Hiding Place, but now he concentrated on acting in repertory theatre. After a number of small parts, he was given a more substantial role in Night Must Fall, playing opposite Dame Sybil Thorndike. In the autumn of 1969 he took the lead in a touring production of Billy Liar.

In the 1970s, he also went into music management, notably managing Leo Sayer amongst others.

He starred as the eponymous "hero" in the popular 1970s television series Budgie, about an ex-convict, but after a car accident as a result of which he almost lost a leg, his acting career suffered something of a decline. It restarted when he landed a major role as the manipulative manager of rock star David Essex, in the film Stardust. For this, he was nominated for a BAFTA award. In 1980 he co-starred with Roger Daltry in McVicar and also appeared with Jodie Foster in Foxes.

From 1992-1994, Faith appeared in another hit TV series, Love Hurts co-starring with Zoe Wanamaker, and in 2002 he also appeared in the BBC series, The House That Jack Built.

The later years

In the 1980s, Faith's interests moved from show business to finance, and he became an astute financial investments advisor. In 1986, he was hired as a financial journalist, by the Daily Mail and its sister paper the Mail on Sunday. He also had a financial involvement with television's, 'Money Channel'. But the channel proved to be an unsuccessful venture and closed down in 2001. Faith was declared bankrupt owing a reported £32 million.

He had had heart problems since 1986 when he underwent open heart surgery. He became ill after his stage performance in in the touring production of Love And Marriage at Stoke-on-Trent on the Friday evening, and died in hospital of a heart attack early on Saturday morning, March 8 2003. Comedian Ross Noble was staying at the hotel in which Faith suffered his heart attack.

He married his wife, Jackie Irving, in 1967 and they had one daughter Katya Faith, a television producer.

At the time of his death, much of the British tabloid press revelled in reporting his apparent last words; these being a comment on British television channel, Five: "Channel 5 is all shit, isn't it? Christ, the crap they put on there. It's a waste of space". Although it is not certain that these were his actual last words, it has become a popular urban myth in recent years.[3]

Michael Caine (born Maurice Micklewhite) said that his mother worked with Adam's mother in their early days, but because each, of course, referred to her son by his real name, they never made the connection to each other's already well-known offspring.

Discography

Singles

  1. "(Got a) Heartsick Feeling" / "Brother Heartache & Sister Tears" - 17 January 1958
  2. "Country Music Holiday" / "High School Confidential" - November 1958
  3. "Ah, Poor Little Baby!" / "Runk Bunk" - 6 June 1959
  4. "What Do You Want?" / "From Now Until Forever" - 24 October 1959
  5. "Poor Me" / "The Reason" - 15 January 1960
  6. "Someone Else's Baby" / "Big Time" - 8 April 1960
  7. "Johnny Comes Marching Home" / "Made You" - 17 June 1960
  8. "How About That!" / "With Open Arms" - 9 September 1960
  9. "Lonely Pup (In A Christmas Shop)" / "Greenfinger" - 30 October 1960
  10. "Who Am I?" / "This Is It" - 3 February 1961
  11. "Easy Going Me" / "Wonderin'" - April 1961
  12. "Don't You Know It?" / "My Last Wish" - 14 July 1961
  13. "The Time Has Come" / "A Help-Each-Other Romance" - October 1961
  14. "Lonesome" / "Watch Your Step" - 12 January 1962
  15. "As You Like It" / "Face to Face" - 27 April 1962
  16. "Don't That Beat All" / "Mix Me a Person" - 30 August 1962
  17. "Baby Take A Bow" / "I'm Knocking on Wood" - 13 December 1962
  18. "What Now" / "What Have I Got" - 31 January 1963
  19. "Walkin' Tall" / "Just Mention My Name" - 11 July 1963
  20. "The First Time" / "So Long Baby" - 19 September 1963
  21. "We Are In Love" / "Made For Me" - 12 December 1963
  22. "If He Tells You" / "Talk To Me" - 6 March 1964
  23. "I Love Being In Love With You" / "It's Alright" - 28 May 1964
  24. "Only One Such As You" / "I Just Don't Know" - 11 September 1964
  25. "Message To Martha" (Kentucky Bluebird) / "It Sounds Good To Me" - 26 November 1964
  26. "Stop Feeling Sorry For Yourself" / "I've Gotta see My Baby" - 11 February 1965
  27. "Hand Me Down Things" / "Talk About Love" - April 1965
  28. "Someone's Taken Maria Away" / "I Can't Think of Anyone Else" - 11 June 1965
  29. "I Don't Need That Kind Of Lovin'" / "I'm Used to Loosing You" - September 1965
  30. "Idle Gossip" / "If Ever You Need Me" - 14 January 1966
  31. "To Make a Big Man Cry" / "Here's Another Day" - March 1966
  32. "Cheryl's Goin' Home" / "Funny Kind of Love" - 20 October 1966
  33. "What More Can Anyone Do" / "You've Got a Way with Me" - February 1967
  34. "Cowman Milk Your Cow" / "Daddy What'll Happen to Me" - September 1967
  35. "To Hell With Love" / "Close the Door" - November 1967
  36. "You Make My Life Worth While / "Hey Little Lovin' Girl" - March 1968
  37. "I Survived" / "In Your Life" - 1974
  38. "Maybe" / "Star Song" - 1974
  39. "I believe" / xxxxx - 1974
  40. "What do you want" / "Poor me" (Re-Release) - 1978
  41. "What do you want" / "How about That" (Re-Release) - 1983
  42. "Stuck in the middle" / "Not without You" / "The promise" - 1993

References

  1. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums, 19th, London: Guinness World Records Limited, p. 193. ISBN 1-904994-10-5. 
  2. ^ a b Rice, Jo (1982). The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits, 1st, Enfield, Middlesex: Guinness Superlatives Ltd, p. 46. ISBN 0-85112-250-7. 
  3. ^ The Guardian Famous last words: Adam Faith joins those who did it in style 13 May 2003

External links


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Copyrights:

Artist. Copyright © 2008 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ® , a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Adam Faith".  Read more

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