Double Feature!

BILLY FURY - HALFWAY TO PARADISE 1998
U.K. documentary examining Billy Fury, "the British Elvis", who died, aged 42, after being one of Britain's most popular recording stars of the 1950s and '60s. Cool vintage footage from TV performances. Billy had 29 U.K. hit records, wrote many of his own songs, and had one of the best quiffs in England!

Billy's early childhood bouts with rheumatic fever left him with a bad heart. Born in the Dingle district of Liverpool, he used to hide his Teddy Boy gear in the outside toilet and change into his drainpipes when his dad wasn't looking! Billy first started playing guitar in skiffle group and Billy Hatton of the Fourmost helped him learn guitar chords. Billy's early songs sound very much like Elvis's Sun recordings and the famous "The Sound of Fury" record was written entirely by Billy, which was unheard of in those days. Billy auditioned for and immediately joined the Larry Parnes stable of young boy singers. Billy talks about his friendship with Eddie Cochran.

Interviews include: Albert Wycherly (Billy's brother), Ian Dury, Joe Brown, Marty Wilde, Jack Good, Georgie Fame, The Vernons Girls, Billy's Mum, Bob Stanley, Brian Gregg, Yvonne Irving, Lee Everett Alkin, Hal Carter, Johnny Gentle, Terry Dene and school friends.

Plus this bonus selection...

DICKIE PRIDE – THE SHEIK OF SHAKE
U.K. documentary profiling Dickie Pride, the Sheik of Shake! Dickie was a star at 17 and had a regular spot on the first British rock and roll TV show, Oh Boy! His unique quivering and shaking performance style of "Slippin and Slidin" quickly resulted in him being dubbed, "The Sheik of Shake." He had a trained musical voice and his contemporaries mention that he was a better singer than them!

Vintage performance footage and interviews with those who knew Dickie in the 50s & 60s tell the story of a boy who never made it has big as he should have and ended up a heroin user, the victim of a lobotomy and dead in 1969 at age 27. Interviews include: Georgie Fame, Anne Parsons (sister), Duffy Power, Marty Wilde, Vince Eager, Clem Cattini, Hal Carter.

BILLY FURY & DICKIE PRIDE on DVD and VHS!