Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music

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IFIELD, Frank

(b 30 Nov. '37, Coventry, England) Pop singer with 15 chart hits '60-6. Parents Australian; grew up there and first worked in tent shows and circuses as a "spruker' age 13, pulling in crowds by "spieling' and making first record same year ("Did You See My Daddy Over There'): he was soon the biggest recording star in the Antipodes. To UK '59; broadened C&W style repertoire to country/pop with the help of Norrie Paramor; "I Remember You' '62 was no. 1 UK, first record to sell a million in UK alone; also made no. 5 in USA (words written by Johnny Mercer for '42 film The Fleet's In, dir. by Victor Schertzinger, who got credit for tune.) Next release same year, "Lovesick Blues', was also no. 1 UK (no. 44 USA), also on Columbia/EMI UK and on Vee-Jay in USA: in a preview of its business acumen with the Beatles two years later, EMI's USA label Capitol did not bother to pick up its right to Ifield's hits until after the Chicago indie label had sold a great many of them. (Vee-Jay later issued an LP called Jolly What! with four tracks by the Beatles, eight by Ifield). By the time Capitol caught up there were only two more minor Ifield hits in the USA, but he carried on in the UK with two more no. ones, "Wayward Wind' and "Confessin'', plus a couple more top tens. All his hits were oldies, and there's nothing wrong with that.