Vince Eager (born Roy Taylor, 4 June 1940,

Grantham Grantham () is a market and industrial town in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road. It lies some 23 miles (37 km) south of the Lincoln a ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...

, England) is an English pop singer. He was widely promoted by impresario

Larry Parnes Laurence Maurice Parnes (3 September 1929 – 4 August 1989) was a British pop manager and impresario. He was the first major British rock manager, and his stable of singers included many of the most successful British rock and roll singers of ...

, but later quarrelled with him over his commercialising of

Eddie Cochran Ray Edward Cochran (; October 3, 1938 – April 17, 1960) was an American rock and roll musician. Cochran's songs, such as "Twenty Flight Rock", "Summertime Blues", "C'mon Everybody" and " Somethin' Else", captured teenage frustration and desire ...

's tragic early death. Eager has since appeared in cabaret and on the West End stage.

Youth and early career

As a teenager, he formed the Harmonica Vagabonds, later the Vagabonds Skiffle Group, with Roy Clark, Mick Fretwell, and bassist

Brian Locking Brian Locking (22 December 1938 – 8 October 2020) was an English musician and songwriter known for his brief tenure as bassist with '' The Wildcats'' in 1956 and The Shadows, between 1962 and 1963. During his time with the Shadows he appeare ...

. The group reached the final round of a televised "World Skiffle Championship" in 1958, and were offered a residency at the 2 I's Coffee Bar in London. There, they were signed by

impresario An impresario (from the Italian ''impresa'', "an enterprise or undertaking") is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays, or operas, performing a role in stage arts that is similar to that of a film or television producer. His ...

, who took Taylor into his stable of performers, and gave him one of his characteristic stage names, Vince Eager. After touring and releasing an EP as Vince Eager & the Vagabonds, Clark and Fretwell returned home. Vince Eager and

remained in London, Locking performing with

Marty Wilde Marty Wilde, (born Reginald Leonard Smith; 15 April 1939) is an English singer and songwriter. He was among the first generation of British pop stars to emulate American rock and roll, scoring several 1950s hit singles including " Endless Sl ...

before joining

the Shadows The Shadows (originally known as the Drifters) were an English instrumental rock group, who dominated the British popular music charts in the late 1950s and early 1960s, in the pre- Beatles era. They served as the backing band for Cliff Richard ...

Larry Parnes era

During 1959, Vince Eager was a regular on BBC TV's ''

Drumbeat A drum beat or drum pattern is a rhythmic pattern, or repeated rhythm establishing the meter and groove through the pulse and subdivision, played on drum kits and other percussion instruments. As such a "beat" consists of multiple drum stro ...

'', often accompanied by

the John Barry Seven The John Barry Seven was a band formed by John Barry in 1957, after he abandoned his original career path of arranging for big bands. Origins Barry contacted three musicians with whom he had served in the Army and three local musicians and in ...

. In

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

he was one of the contestants on ''

A Song for Europe A, or a, is the first Letter (alphabet), letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name ...

''. In the semi-final, his song, "Teenage Tears", was ranked last out of six entries for nomination to the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

. According to Vince Eager's website, "the death of his best friend

in a car crash on Easter Sunday 1960 was to prove a turning point in Vince's career. He was disgusted with the manner in which Parnes sought to gain publicity from the accident and he began the process of getting away from the "Parnes Stable" of popsters".

Later career

In the years that followed the Parnes era, he toured on the cabaret circuit, and performed in theatre and pantomime. For five years he starred in the West End musical '' Elvis''. In 1986, he moved to

Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale () is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and largest city in Broward County, Florida, Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 Unit ...

, United States, where he worked as a cruise director on American luxury cruise ships. Now residing back in the UK, Eager's career has had something of a resurgence. Teaming up with producer and musician Alan Wilson, there have been new recordings some of which have featured Eager's old friends including;

Albert Lee Albert William Lee (born 21 December 1943) is an English guitarist known for his fingerstyle and hybrid picking technique. Lee has worked, both in the studio and on tour, with many famous musicians from a wide range of genres. He has also mai ...

and

Chas Hodges Charles Nicholas Hodges (28 December 1943 – 22 September 2018) was an English musician and singer who was the lead vocalist of musical duo Chas & Dave. Early life Hodges was born at the North Middlesex University Hospital in Edmonton on 2 ...

. The resulting album release, titled ''788 years of Rock n Roll'' sold well enough for Wilson's Western Star

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the pr ...

to invite Eager back for another session in 2013. The latest album, ''Rockabilly Dinosaur'' was released in 2014. Eager now lives in

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The trad ...

. In 2018, he featured on the track "Halfway to Paradise" on the newly released

Billy Fury Ronald Wycherley (17 April 1940 – 28 January 1983), better known as Billy Fury, was an English singer, musician, songwriter, and actor. An early star of rock and roll, he equalled the Beatles' record of 24 hits in the 1960s and spent 332 we ...

album ''The Symphonic Sound of Fury.''

Discography

Singles

* "Five Days" b/w "No More", Parlophone, 1958 * "Railroad Song" b/w "When Is Your Birthday Baby", Parlophone, 1958 * "No Other Arms No Other Lips" b/w "This Should Go on Forever", Parlophone, 1958 * "I Wanna Love My Life Away" b/w "I Know What I Want", Top Rank, 1961 * "Why" b/w "El Paso", Top Rank, 1959 * "The World's Loneliest Man" b/w "Created in a Dream", Top Rank, 1960 * "Makin' Love" b/w "Primrose Lane", Top Rank, 1960 * "

Lonely Blue Boy ''Lonely Blue Boy'' is a studio album from Conway Twitty, released in 1960. The title track reached number six on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 during the winter of 1960 and became a gold record. Although unreleased, the song had originally been re ...

" b/w "No Love Have I", Top Rank, 1961 * "Anytime Is The Right Time" b/w "Heavenly", Pye, 1963 * "I Shall Not Be Moved" b/w "It's Only Make Believe", Pye, 1963

Extended plays

* Vince Eager & The Vagabonds: ''Soda Pop Pop'': "Yea Yea" b/w "Lend Me Your Comb", "Tread Softly Stranger", "Gumdrop", Decca, 1958 * Vince Eager & The Vagabonds: ''Hound Dog'': "Money Honey", "Be Bop A Lu La", "Cotton Fields", "My Dixie Darling", Rollercoaster, 2000

Studio albums

* ''Vince Eager Pays Tribute To Elvis'', Avenue, 1971 * ''20 Years On'', Nevis, 1977 * ''788 Years of Rock and Roll'', Western Star Records, 2011 * ''Rockabilly Dinosaur'', Western Star Records, 2014 * ''75 Not Out'', Western Star Records, 2015

Live albums

* ''Raised on Rock'', Charley Farley, 2001

Compilation albums

* ''Oh Boy'', Parlophone, 1958 (various artists; Vince Eager: " Buzz Buzz Buzz" and ''Blue Ribbon Baby'') * ''Drumbeat'', Parlophone, 1959 (various artists; Vince Eager: ''It's Late'', ''This Should Go On Forever'' and ''It Doesn't Matter Anymore'') * ''British Rock 'n' Roll 1955–1960'', See For Miles, 1986 (various artists – two songs by Vince Eager) * ''Without You – The Songs of Billy Fury'', Peaksoft, 2002 (one song by Vince Eager & Big Jim Sullivan) * ''Yea Yea! It's Vince Eager!'', Rollercoaster Records, 2003 * ''The Complete Vince Eager'', Pink 'n' Black Records, 2007 * ''The Top Rank Story 1959'', One Day Music, 2012 (various artists – one song by Vince Eager) * ''The Top Rank Story 1961'', One Day Music, 2012 (various artists – one song by Vince Eager)

References

External links

Vince Eager – a pioneer of British pop – Official website

Vince Eager at All Music

Vince Eager at Rate Your Music

Video clips

Author of new Billy Fury book visits The Cavern
1 December 2007 by David Charters, ''

Liverpool Daily Post The ''Liverpool Post'' was a newspaper published by Trinity Mirror in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. The newspaper and its website ceased publication on 19 December 2013. Until 13 January 2012 it was a daily morning newspaper, with the tit ...

''
Vince Eager visiting Radio Caroline on 27 November 2007
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eager, Vince People from Grantham 1940 births Living people English pop singers English male singers Decca Records artists Parlophone artists Top Rank Records artists Pye Records artists British rock and roll musicians