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This didn’t deter him from investing in another play, with a horror theme, which also recouped his investment and a modest fifteen shillings profit! He first entered show business in 1956, giving up his job as a shopkeeper to co-manage Tommy Hicks with John Kennedy. Parnes changed Hicks’ name to Tommy Steele and a Parnes trademark became his facility for creating striking names for his artists –Reg Smith became Marty Wilde, Ronald Wycherley became Billy Fury and other artists' names included Dickie Pride, Duffy Power, Johnny Gentle, Georgie Fame, Lance Fortune and Vince Eager, although one artist, Joe Brown, decided to stick to his own name after refusing Parnes’ suggestion of Elmer Twitch! |
His
second signing, Reg Smith had been spotted by songwriter Lionel Bart
singing at the Condor Club and he told Parnes, who signed him up. Parnes
chose the first name ‘Marty’ from the film and ‘Wild’ because it reflected
part of Reg’s nature. Parnes gained the sobriquet of ‘Parnes, shilling
and pence’ for his reported frugality with money – and he initially
only paid his artists a weekly wage, causing some of them a degree of
financial hardship. The artists were actually poorly paid, unlike pop
artists of today, and Billy Fury, his biggest star, couldn’t even afford
to pay for a car. Yet Parnes was to tell the press about his grooming of his discoveries, “I have their hair cut – that is very important. Sometimes they may have had skin which has to be attended to. Then I get them suitable clothes and provide them with comfort. I like them to have a touch of luxury from the start.” |
He
launched his first variety show starring Marty Wilde in April 1958,
and pioneered rock’n’roll package tours, promoted Sunday concerts and
Summer Seasons at popular seaside resorts such as Great Yarmouth and
Blackpool. He wrote the story for the Billy Fury film ‘I’ve Gotta Horse’
and produced it in 1965, a year after he’d produced his first film ‘Mods
And Rockers.’ Like a number of other managers in the Sixties – Brian Epstein, Simon Napier Bell – he was homosexual in a time when being ‘gay’ (a phrase not devised until the end of the decade) was unlawful in Britain. Naturally, he had a penchant for signing young boys and grooming them for stardom. The promoter had always been interested in the theatre and was involved in the musical ‘Half A Sixpence’ and a pantomime ‘Cinderella.’ By 1967 he felt he’d outgrown pop and his impact on the Beatles and other groups. He initially had problems trying to launch theatrical productions, so he bought the Cambridge Theatre on a 12-year lease and began to promote his own shows. |