Frankie Vaughan

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Frankie Vaughan
Background information
Birth name	Frank Abelson
Born	3 February 1928, Liverpool, England
Died	17 September 1999
Genre(s)	Traditional Pop
Years active	1940s-1998

Frankie Vaughan, CBE (3 February 1928-17 May 1999) was a singer of traditional pop music in the United Kingdom.

He was born Frank Abelson to a Jewish family in Liverpool, England. The name Vaughan came from a grandmother whose first grandson he was, who used to call Frank "my number one" grandson, in whose Russian accent "one" sounded like "Vaughan."

In his early life, he was a member of the Lancaster Lads Club, a member group of the National Association of Boys' Clubs in the UK, and in his career he was a major contributor to the clubs, dedicating his monetary compensation from one song each year to them. He started out at the club intending to be a boxer. Then at age 14 he received a scholarship to the Lancaster College of Art, where he sang in the dance band. After a stint in the Royal Army Medical Corps in World War II (where he spent most of his time boxing) he returned to art school, this time at the Leeds College of Art.

When he won a prize to design a furniture exhibition stand, he left for London, where he won second prize on a radio talent show.

Frankie's career began in the late 1940s in the theatre doing variety song and dance acts. He was known as a fancy dresser, wearing top hat, bow tie, tails, and cane. In the 1950s he began making records, and was very popular in the UK. In 1955, he recorded what was to become his trademark song, "Give Me the Moonlight, Give Me the Girl."

He recorded a large number of songs that were covers of United States hit songs, including Perry Como's "Kewpie Doll," Jimmie Rodgers' "Kisses Sweeter than Wine,"Boyd Bennett's "Seventeen" (also covered in the US by the Fontane Sisters), Jim Lowe's "The Green Door," and (with the Kaye Sisters) the Fleetwoods' "Come Softly to Me." From the 1950s through the 1960s, his recordings were popular chart toppers in the UK.

He came to the United States in 1960 to make a movie with Marilyn Monroe, "Let's Make Love," and was an actor in several other movies, but his recordings were never chart hits in the US (though one, "Judy," did make the charts briefly and at a very low spot; even that one never got much air play in the US).

During the 1960's he became involved with youth social problems in Easterhouse, a large housing estate in the outskirts of Glasgow, and was influential in attracting new resources and inward investment to the area.

He continued performing until 1985, when he starred in a stage version of "42nd Street" at Drury Lane in London. After a year, he suffered a near fatal bout of peritonitis and had to leave the cast. He was married to Stella from 1951 to 1999 and they had three children and several grandchildren. He was awarded an OBE in 1965, a CBE in 1996 and had been a Deputy Lord Lieutenant of the County of Buckinghamshire since 1993. He died from heart failure in 1999, aged 71.

[edit] Recordings

• 1950 - The Old Piano Roll Blues / Daddy's Little Girl
• 1950 - Stay With The Happy People / Give Me You
• 1953 - My Sweetie Went Away / Strange
• 1953 - Too Marvellous For Words / No Help Wanted
• 1953 - Look At That Girl (cover of Guy Mitchell) / Send My Baby Back To Me
• 1953 - Bye Bye Baby / False Hearted Lover
• 1953 - Hey Joe (cover of Frankie Laine) / So Nice In Your Arms
• 1953 - Istanbul (Not Constantinople) (cover of The Four Lads)/ Cloud Lucky Seven (cover of Guy Mitchell)
• 1954 - The Cuff Of My Shirt (cover of Guy Mitchell)/ Heartless
• 1954 - From The Grape Came The Wine / She Took
• 1954 - Jilted / Do, Do, Do, Do, Do, Do It Again Duets with Alma Cogan
• 1954 - Out In The Middle of The Night / Crazy About You
• 1954 - My Son, My Son (cover of Eddie Calvert) / Cinnamon Sinner (cover of Tony Bennett)
• 1954 - Happy Days And Lonely Nights (cover of The Fontane Sisters)/ Danger Signs
• 1955 - Too Many Heartaches/ Unsuspecting Heart (cover of Sunny Gale)
• 1955 - Give Me The Moonlight Give Me The Girl / Tweedle Dee (cover of LaVern Baker)
• 1955 - Wildfire / That's How A Love Song Was Born
• 1955 - Something's Gotta Give / Why Did The Chicken Cross The Road
• 1955 - Seventeen (cover of Boyd Bennett) / Meet Me On The Corner (cover of Max Bygraves)
• 1956 - My Boy Flat Top (cover of Dorothy Collins, also done by Boyd Bennett)/ Stealin'
• 1956 - This Is The Night / Rock Candy Baby
• 1956 - Escape In The Sun / Honey Hair Sugar Lips Eyes Of Blue (cover of Crew Cuts)
• 1956 - Lucky Thirteen / Let's Go Steady
• 1956 - The Green Door (cover of Jim Lowe)/ Pity The Poor Man
• 1957 - Garden Of Eden / Priscilla
• 1957 - These Dangerous Years/ Isn't This A Lovely Evening
• 1957 - What's Behind That Strange Door / Cold Cold Shower
• 1957 - Man On Fire / Wanderin' Eyes
• 1957 - Gotta Have Something In The Bank Frank / Single Duets with the Kaye Sisters
• 1957 - Kisses Sweeter Than Wine (cover of Jimmie Rodgers)/ Rock-A-Chicka
• 1958 - We're Not Alone / Can't Get Along Without You
• 1958 - Kewpie Doll (cover of Perry Como)/ So Many Women
• 1958 - Wonderful Things / Judy
• 1958 - Am I Wasting My Time On You/ So Happy In Love
• 1959 - That's My Doll/ Love Is The Sweetest Thing/
• 1959 - Honey Bunny Baby/ The Lady Is A Square
• 1959 - Give Me The Moonlight Give Me The Girl/ Happy Go Lucky (Re-Issue)
• 1959 - Come Softly To Me (cover of The Fleetwoods)/ Say Something Sweet To Your Sweetheart Duets with the Kaye Sisters
• 1959 - The Heart Of A Man / Sometime Somewhere
• 1959 - Walkin' Tall / I Ain't Gonna Lead This Life
• 1960 - What More Do You Want/ The Very Very Young
• 1960 - Love Me Now / I Was A Fool
• 1960 - Kookie Little Paradise/ Mary Lou
• 1960 - Milord (cover of Édith Piaf)/ Do You Still Love Me
• 1961 - Tower Of Strength (cover of Gene McDaniels)/ Rachel (cover of Al Martino)
• 1961 - Don't Stop Twist/ Red Red Roses
• 1962 - I'm Gonna Clip Your Wings/ Travellin' Man (cover of Ricky Nelson)
• 1962 - Hercules/ Madeleine
• 1963 - Hey Mama/ Brand New Motor
• 1963 - You're The One For Me/ I Told You So
• 1963 - Loop De Loop/ There'll Be No Teardrops Tonight (cover of Tony Bennett)
• 1964 - Alley Alley Oh/ Gonna Be A Good Boy Now
• 1964 - Hello Dolly / Long Time No See
• 1964 - Susie Q / I'll Always Be In Love With You
• 1964 - Someone Must Have Hurt You A Lot / Easter Time
• 1965 - The Happy Train / You Darlin' You
• 1965 - Wait / There Goes The Forgotten Man
• 1966 - Cabaret/ Gotta Have You
• 1967 - There Must Be A Way/ You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You(cover of Dean Martin)
• 1967 - So Tired / If I Didn't Care
• 1968 - Nevertheless / Girl Talk
• 1968 - Mame / If I Had My Way
• 1968 - Souvenirs / Getting Used To Having You Around
• 1969 - The Same Old Way / You Can't Stop Me Dancing
• 1969 - Hideaway / Hold Me Close To You
• 1970 - Peace Brother Peace / You'll Never Walk Alone
• 1970 - With These Hands / I'll Give You Three Guesses
• 1971 - Find Another Love / Lorelei
• 1971 - What Am I To Do With You / Make The Circus Come To Town
• 1972 - Paradise / Same Old Love
• 1972 - Good Old Bad Old Days / The Good Things In Life
• 1974 - Unchained Melody / I'll Never See Julie Again
• 1975 - It's Too Late Now / Somewhere In This World
• 1975 - Close Your Eyes / Our World Of Love
• 1975 - After Loving You / Feelings
• 1976 - I'll Never Smile Again / Ragtime Cowboy Joe
• 1976 - One / Love Is Here To Stay
• 1977 - Red Sails In The Sunset / Seasons For Lovers
• 1977 - Take Me / Lemon Drops, Lollipops and Sunbeams
• 1978 - Think Beautiful Things / I Am Lucky
• 1979 - Think Beautiful Things / Simple Kiss
• 1983 - Stockport / Showmanship
• 1984 - Dreamers / Two Different Worlds
• 1987 - When Your Old Wedding Ring Was New / Lucky

Preceded by: Elvis Presley It's Now Or Never

UK Christmas Number One single Tower Of Strength 1961

Succeeded by: Cliff Richard and The Shadows The Next Time

[edit] External links

• Heritage Foundation page on Frankie Vaughan
• Discography on UK Artists site
• BBC obituary page on Frankie Vaughan