A bit of a photo-fest this entry! The second night of the Billy Fury weekend held in Wellingborough over 27-28 March 2015.
The ladies are settled in their seats, we must be ready to go... Actually, one of these ladies is on first - come on Shelagh, stir yourself!
Dave Jay is again acting as compère for the night and announces Peter and Shelagh Cooney whilst fondly imagining that he is dodging the camera...
Peter always describes their act as having "stripped songs back to the bare bones". This is how many, if not most, songs are composed. With either a single acoustic guitar or perhaps a piano. Stripping off all other instruments can sometimes reveal the simplicity and beauty of the melody.
A corner of the room and a section of the audience.
Phil Jennings takes to the mic and reprises his song from last year - Bobby Darin's Things, inviting our table to butt in with all the chorus parts! "Yeh! Yeh!"
A smile from Cathy, the local, but the two canny northerners Jean and Russ are wondering how much to charge for being photographed...
John and Diane have travelled up from the Isle of Wight and in just a short moment John will shrug off his mild persona and transform into...
...heartthrob Johnny Storme, pouring emotion from every pore and melting the hearts of all the women in the room.
"Why do they not scream like that for me?" wonders Peter...
Steve Sinclair, provides a great set, winning the prize for the night's longest-held high finishing note!
Wait a moment... the ladies are sitting up again and waving their hands about!
And here's why - it's that smoothie from Macclesfield, Dave Jay getting the feet tapping with his own set as he transforms from compère to singer.
He has a roving mic and he's not afraid to use it! Working the floor...
It must be working, there's some happy faces there!
Miss Jeannie gets the personal treatment - not for the only time that evening as we shall see!
Oh and he's got us all waving in time again!
Russ Dee from Leeds was one of the first Billy Fury tributes on the road and shares some memories of those early days.
How do you keep a white jacket white like that? I'd have had half a meal down it if I tried wearing white...!
An accomplished club artist, Russ gives us a great set.
There's time to fill before the raffle and we are asked to step in. I do a solo spot to sing my version of Cilla Black's You're My World. (Photo credit: Michael Roche)
A couple of Billy Fury numbers and a couple of crowd pleasers (no: the songs, not us!) and it's raffle time!
Cathy is announcing the raffle numbers but then bursts into impromptu snatch of song!
Our table seem to be mopping up the prizes one after another...
"Mine! All mine!" chortles Peter.
Roger Sea. His musical career goes way back to the 60s. He was once in a band that played support to Shane Fenton - the late Alvin Stardust. And I want that jacket please when you've done with it Roger...
Ah yes, the hallmark of an all-round entertainer! Brilliant reworking of a song to include a ukulele.
All the artists for the night. This was in the middle of Roger's act too - takes it all in his stride, hats off to that man! Second on the left of the back row, Michael Roche gave us a couple of songs but I'm afraid I have no photos of his singing. Sorry Mike! You might recognise him from his appearances as an extra in Eastenders!
Steve Reynolds plays Shadows style. Last year Steve was on Britain's Got Talent and has been playing theatres with a couple of Shadows tribute bands.
The human dynamo otherwise known as Snowy takes the stage. "Photo opportunity!" he cries and strikes a pose. What can you say? Mr Entertainment... ...must be somewhere around surely...? Snowy, we love ya!
Miss Jeannie again - that perfume was certainly working... Though Snowy looks a bit as though he's set a death threat to music...
And then those two old geezers went on again to finish the night. Or, as David said, to empty the room... For the first time ever we played a Billy Fury set. A whole set with just songs from one artist. But, of course, that was what the night was all about. There's a handful of songs from this set at our YouTube site.
Thanks must go to all the artists who appeared over the two days and to Cathy for organising the venue and Dave for his work compèring and handling the sound and backing for the singers. Thanks to the audience who turned up to listen and cheer us on and to the Hind Hotel in Wellingborough for hosting the event. We hope to see everyone again next year!
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