- Place – London
- Time – 1957 – 2004
- Artist – Tommy Steele
Sir Thomas Hicks OBE
Thomas Hicks, known professionally as Tommy Steele, an English entertainer regarded as Britain’s first teen idol and first rock ‘n’ roll star.
Tommy Steele was born in Bermondsey, London to Thomas Walter Hicks and Elizabeth Ellen Bennett, who had married in 1933 also in Bermondsey.
The short trip to fame
He was discovered by a freelance photographer John Kennedy, who believed Steele could be Britain’s answer to Elvis Presley.
Within six weeks Steele was top billing at numerous Variety shows.
After being discovered at the 2i’s Coffee Bar, he recorded a string of hit singles including, Rock with the Caveman and the chart-topper Singing the Blues.
His first three single releases were issued at a rate of one every three weeks
The increase in home-grown musical talent during the 1950s and 1960s allowed Steele to progress to a career in stage and film musicals, leaving behind his pop-idol identity.
Goodbye to pop and in with and all-round entertainer
In the West End he appeared in the title role of Hans Christian Andersen. On film, he recreated his London and Broadway stage role in Half a Sixpence, and played character roles in The Happiest Millionaire and Finian’s Rainbow, although many critics found his personality to be somewhat overwhelming on screen. In this latter film, probably his best-known appearance in the movies, he co-starred with Petula Clark and Fred Astaire.
Tommy Steele in Half a Sixpence
Trying to make my dreams come true
In 1960 I wanted to be Elvis, then in 1963 the Beatles arrived, this was my cue to acquire a guitar, learn to play and form a band of my own.
Learning to play a guitar was hard enough but to find other kids of my age with the same aspirations was even harder.
During 1964, with the unprecedented rise of the fab four, kids increasingly wanted to play an instrument and be part of a band.
Over the next few years, I was involved in several bands and began writing songs after turning my bedroom into a small recording studio.
This all led to a fateful meeting in 1969 that allowed me to get a job at Pye Studios, London.
From my early days working in the studio, I was convinced that I would, one day meet or hopefully work with my first idol, Tommy Steele.
Finally, a chance
In the early 70s Tommy Steele owned a small recording studio called Recoded Sound just minutes from Pye Studios in Bryanston Street W1.
I would pop over to have a coffee and see a friend of mine who worked there in the hope that I would eventually bump into Tommy in his studio and I could finally meet the guy I once wanted to emulate.
Two years passed without so much as a sighting of the elusive Mr Steele, never mind a handshake.
Maybe this time
In the mid 70s, I was working at De Lane Lea studios in Wembley when a two-day weekend booking came in to record the music for the Tommy Steele TV special.
I desperately wanted the job but unfortunately the TV company had strict union rules, which meant that only their own engineers were permitted to record the sessions.
I decided even though I wasn’t working that particular weekend, I would hang around the studio restaurant and perhaps find an opportunity to meet Tommy.
Mr Steele never attended the sessions.
It wouldn’t be until the 90s when Tommy’s daughter, Emma Steele booked into my own studio,Kd’s, to record a couple of tracks.
Our son Nathan was working for me at the time and being roughly the same age as Emma they quickly became good friends.
At last
It was an two anxious days until her father Tommy appeared at the studio.
At last I was finally in the same room as Tommy Steele. I had finally got my introduction to the guy I had admired for nearly forty years. I was truly in awe.
The backing tracks had been laid down in the first couple of days and it was time for Emma to record her vocals.
Puffing on a huge cigar, Tommy sat at the end of the control room desk, promising everyone that he wouldn’t interfere or say anything whilst his daughter was recording her vocal.
As soon as Emma sung the first few lines Tommy leapt from his chair like it was electrified, shouting, “Stop the tape – where’s the talkback mic button?”
He then proceeded to give Emma various instructions about her performance leaping from his chair each time like a kid on a see-saw.
He continued to do this through the entire vocal session.
It was obvious to see that Emma was very inhibited by her father’s presence and his constant interference.
In fact, I’m sure everyone was a bit fed up with his meddling, but for me just the mere presence of Tommy being there made the session quite special.
My chance
There were several occasions over the next week where I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to sit and talk to Tommy one-to-one.
I finally had my chance to say thank you and explain how he was responsible for all my dreams and aspirations as a youth.
He told me how much he loved being around a recording studio and how he had once owned one.
I think he was surprised when I told him I probably spent more time at his studio than he had.
I played him a rare stereo mix of his 1958 hit single Nairobi, he found it fascinating as previously he had only ever heard the mono version.
When it had finished, he turned to me and said, “You know, that only cost about a shilling to make”.
I replied,
“Oh! You recorded it twice then”?
Despite his cockney smile and the occasional squint, anecdotal Tommy didn’t see the funny side of that comment.
Fact or fiction
Over the years I had heard that Tommy wasn’t particularly liked by a lot of the people he worked with.
Some of them put this down to his demand for perfection at all times, others gave different reasons.
I heard a story in which he had been invited to a heavyweight celebrity card game at the Dorchester Hotel, in London’s West End.
Luck or not, he won the first hand, which was, apparently, a substantial pile of cash.
To everyone’s surprise, he picked up his winnings, thanked everyone for the game and left, not giving anyone the chance to win any of their money back.
Whilst appearing in Singing in the Rain at the London Palladium, it was rumoured that he had treated a few members of the dance troop pretty harshly. Rumour has it that they got their own back by relieving themselves in the huge water tank used to supply the rain during the Singing in the Rain solo dance routine. If they were going to be pissed off, he was going to be… well you can guess the rest.
Preconception
My preconceived image of Tommy Steel, my idol, were making me feel a bit inhibited whenever I was in his presence.
Our son, on the other hand, had no such inhibitions.
He only ever saw Tommy as Emma’s Dad, someone who could tell a funny story and loved to do card tricks.
This led to a great camaraderie between Nathan and Tommy.
Pie & Mash and Tommy
When Tommy offered to drive over to South London to buy a takeaway from Cooke’s Pie and Mash Shop he leapt to the top my “list of all-time favourite pop idols”, this was a true cockney feast and a favourite of us all.
Cooke’s opened in 1938, situated in The Cut just round the corner from Waterloo Station it was a South London landmark and a massive part of its heritage.
Whilst being interviewed in 1979 on The Michael Parkinson Show talking about his amazing career from the 2i’s Coffee Bar to his work in movies, Tommy also mentioned how much he loved Cooke’s Pie and Mash shop. He really was a cockney hero.
Cooke’s the last great Pie and Mash shop in London
Holding court at every opportunity
Tommy was a master at telling a great story but not so good at listening to one.
The cockney boy who puffed on a big ol’ cigar and owned a couple of Picassos, who I’d got to know through celluloid and adored so much throughout my life, was disappearing in front of my eyes.
I should have known better by this time in my career, that the image a person portrays to the public is exactly that, only an image, often the reality is very different.
The sessions came to a close and my desire to meet Tommy Steele had been achieved, even though it was more than disappointing.
I guess the lesson is – never meet your idols.
One idea he did like that wasn’t actually his
Some months went by when I received a telephone call from Tommy, asking if I knew anyone who could work with Emma to produce a couple of tracks.
I told him I believed the producers she had worked with previously were perfect for her.
He was adamant he did not want to use them again, he believed Emma needed to work with someone more of her own age.
I suggested Nathan, my son, knowing they were of a similar age and they both got on very well.
Tommy loved the idea.
Nathan was very accomplished at working computers and the desk at the studio, so this was a project I didn’t have to get involved with.
They got together and wrote and produced a couple of songs at the studio.
I have no recollection of what happened to the product, but my lasting memory of this story was Nathan phoning me at home one evening from Tommy’s home in Richmond. He told me he was having a great time and Tommy was going to take him out in one for a ride in one of his classic cars the next day.
During the conversation he asked me,
“Dad, do we have a big house?”
I replied, “Reasonably, why?”
“Well I am phoning from Emma’s apartment, it’s over Tommy’s garage, where he keeps his collection of classic cars and it’s bigger than our entire house.”
I think it had now dawned on Nathan just how successful Tommy had been in his career.
Strange thoughts
I thought back to when I was about five years old and I saw Tommy Steele for the first time on that big cinema screen and tried to imagine if only I could have known, that someday our son would be phoning me from his house.
The penny dropped
In 2004 I saw Tommy on a TV show promoting the musical Scrooge in which he was appearing. Smiling and speaking in his inimitable way, talking in that half-whisper voice, as if he was about to let you into a secret any second.
As always, throughout the interview Tommy totally captivated me. When the interview was over, I realised I had never actually met Tommy Steele. I had only ever met Tommy Hicks.
From the mid 50s onwards, he went on to become a master in every field he tackled. Singer, dancer, movie star, musician, composer, stage actor, conductor, comedian, director, producer, media writer, novelist, poet, artist, sculptor. A true all round talent.
“Every artist was first an amateur.” Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Below is a link to my YouTube channel Denton115 Keeping the Memory Alive which features lots of video and music from some of the greatest artists and colleagues I have known.
https://www.youtube.com/user/denton115/videos?app=desktop
Below links to various blogs
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