Air Max Lebron 8 Ricky Valance - The First Number

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Ricky's version of 'Tell Laura I Love Her' entered the UK chart on 25 August 1960 and steadily climbed to the number one position on 29 September where it replaced The Shadows 'Apache', which coi
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Penned by Jeff Barry and Ben Raleigh, the song told the tragic tale of young lovers Laura and Tommy. Tommy wants to give Laura everything, flowers, presents and most of all (as the song goes) a wedding ring. Sadly, Tommy gets tragically killed in a stock car race before winning the hundred dollar prize which would enable him to buy Laura the ring [link widoczny dla zalogowanych], but not before uttering the words 'Tell Laura I Love Her' on the phone to Laura’s mother.
Born David Spencer in Ynysddu, South Wales, he was the eldest of seven children and had a traditional Welsh upbringing which included regular attendances to Chapel on Sundays. Singing had always been his passion since he was a young boy but it was not David’s first choice of career.
At this time, actor John Leyton also recorded a version of 'Tell Laura I Love Her'. However; it would be Ricky Valance’s interpretation that would gain success when receiving over 15,000 advance orders after two plays on Radio Luxembourg. Leyton himself would have to wait until 1961 to gain his first recording success with the similarly themed death disc 'Johnny Remember Me'.
Ricky Valance has the distinction of being the first Welsh male vocalist to get to the top of the UK charts in September 1960 with Tell Laura I Love Her.
Through his manager, Lena Davis, Ricky came into contact with Columbia Records producer Norrie Paramor, who already had a single lined up for him to record, a cover of Ray Peterson’s U.S. hit 'Tell Laura I Love Her'.
David had already worked in the Welsh coal mines and served a stint in the RAF, by the time he decided to become a professional singer in 1960. He came by his stage name one afternoon when watching horse racing on television. He had already decided to use his nickname Ricky as a stage name but was drawn to the name Valance by the jockey Colonel Richard Valance who was participating in that day’s race. "I learned much later that Richard was also called Ricky by his friends" says Ricky.
Ricky’s approach to the song [link widoczny dla zalogowanych], in the style of a church hymn added much in the way of sentiment to the recording. "I had a strong Welsh tenor voice," remembers Ricky, "I sang it and then they said can you sing it a bit like ‘Here Comes Summer'. “You mean like this”, replied Ricky who then went on to sing a pitch perfect version of Jerry Keller's 1959 Number One Hit. “Yes like that!” was the immediate response, and in no less than two takes, Ricky laid down the track.
Like Ray Peterson’s version, the recording was not favoured by the BBC, who immediately banned it. "They said it encouraged young people to go out and get killed in cars”, remembers Ricky.
The overall tone of the song caused Ray Peterson’s recording to be dubbed as a 'Death Disc' by the hierarchy of the BBC, who refused to play it. Concerned by this lack of promotion, RCA decided not to release Peterson’s single in the UK, though Columbia Records producer Norrie Paramor, thought it would be a good idea to pursue a cover version with the then newly signed Ricky Valance.