David Whitfield
David Whitfield ( born February 2, 1925 in Kingston upon Hull, England; † January 16, 1980 in Melbourne, Australia) was a successful, especially in the 1950s in the UK, but also in the United States popular singer.
Life
Even as a soldier in World War II in the Royal Navy maintained David Whitfield his comrades with his singing. After the war he worked in construction. He took part in talent competitions and was known to a wider audience when he appeared on the show Opportunity Knocks in the English service of Radio Luxembourg 1950. Performances in London's West End followed, and soon a recording contract with Decca Records.
Whitfield's style of singing ( vocal range Tenor) was closer to operetta or even opera singing as usual at his time crooner - style pop singer. On his recordings he was accompanied by many popular orchestras of the 1950s. His first hit in the UK charts in October 1953 he had with Bridge of Sighs, his last in 1960 I Believe in November 1960 David Whitfield had in the 1950s, a number of worldwide hits -. , And he had a large following, which to a large part of women existed.
He received his own television shows, appeared eight times in New York on the Ed Sullivan Show and had three Royal Command performances before the royal family members at the London Palladium Theatre. His career graph showed, however, quickly down after the rock ' n ' roll came up. He stepped still in stage musicals and sang the song in 1957 I'll Find You as the theme song of the film Sea Wife ( German title: flotsam of passion ) with Joan Collins and Richard Burton.
After the hits forthcoming, he went around the world on tour. He died at the age of 54 during a tour of Australia at a stroke. Whitfield could ummünzen assets in its success ever: He left supposedly only £ 3,000.
Best Merits
Whitfield was before the beginning of pop-rock era of the successful British singers in the United States. He was
- The first British singer, who received a gold record;
Two of his singles made it into the UK on the number-one position: Answer Me ( on November 6th and again on 11 December 1953) and Cara Mia ( July 2, 1954).
Answer Me
Answer Me was the cover version of a German hits from the spring by Gerhard Winkler and Fred Rauch called mother dear; this item had the German singer Leila Negra made popular in Scandinavia, whence he came to the U.S.. There, Carl Sigman wrote the English text, Answer Me Frankie Laine, Nat 'King' Cole and Whitfield made the song a hit in 1953: Cole in the U.S., and Laine and the cover version of Whitfield in the UK. Laine thus reached one week after Whitfield, the number-one position in the UK, and on 11 December, both versions were the same in the first place. After Answer Me became a worldwide hit, Fred Rauch wrote a new German text, which leaned more towards the English; was interpreted by Wolfgang Sauer Believe me then for the German speaking a hit.
Cara Mia
Cara Mia took on Whitfield with Mantovani and his orchestra and choir. It was both a number -one hit, as well as one of the best-selling records before the arrival of rock ' n ' roll. The single was ten weeks at number one in the British charts. The song was written by Mantovani and Whitfield's producer Bunny Lewis, but used the pseudonyms Lee Long and Tulio Tropani.