Terence Perkins (born 13 August 1941) known professionally as Craig Douglas, is an English pop singer, who was popular in the late 1950s and early 1960s. His sole UK chart-topper, "

Only Sixteen "Only Sixteen" is a song by American singer-songwriter Sam Cooke, released in May 1959. It was a top 15 hit on ''Billboard's'' Hot R&B Sides chart and also charted within the top 30 of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart. In ...

" (1959), sold more copies in the UK than

Sam Cooke Samuel Cooke (; January 22, 1931 – December 11, 1964) was an American singer and songwriter. Considered one of the most influential soul music, soul artists of all time, Cooke is commonly referred to as the "King of Soul" for his distin ...

's original version.

Career

Born a twin, in Newport,

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...

, the former Terence Perkins was employed as a

milkman Milk delivery is a Delivery (commerce), delivery service dedicated to supplying milk, typically in milk bottle, bottles or cartons, to customers' homes. This service is performed by a milkman, milkwoman, or milk deliverer. (In contrast, a Cowman ...

before becoming a professional singer and was known to many as the 'Singing Milkman'. His manager was Bunny Lewis, who gave him the name Craig Douglas. Lewis saw the name outside a house in Scotland. Douglas said there were a number of Terrys around at the time and not many Craigs, and that was one of the reasons his name was changed. Voted Best New Singer in 1959 in the British music magazine ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'', Douglas went on to record eight

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

s of former American hit songs, in his total of nine

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...

UK singles. Amongst that tally, Douglas had a Number One single in 1959 with "Only Sixteen", which easily outsold

's original version in the UK. It was recorded at

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

Abbey Road Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a music recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, London, Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of ...

, with whistling by

Mike Sammes Michael William Sammes (19 February 1928 – 19 May 2001) was an English musician and vocal session arranger, performing backing vocals on pop music recorded in the UK from 1955 to the 1970s. Career Born in Reigate, Surrey, Sammes was the so ...

, and released through

Top Rank Top Rank, Inc. is a boxing promotional company founded by Jabir Herbert Muhammad and Bob Arum, which was incorporated in 1973, and is based in Las Vegas, Nevada. Since its founding, Top Rank has promoted many world class fighters, including M ...

records. Unusually, Douglas also had four consecutive Number 9 placings on the UK Singles Chart. In 1961, Douglas entered the ''

A Song For Europe A, or a, is the first Letter (alphabet), letter and the first vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''English alphabet#Letter names, a'' (pronounced ), plural ...

'' contest with his song "The Girl Next Door", but was unsuccessful. He also starred in the 1962 film ''

It's Trad, Dad! ''It's Trad, Dad!'' (U.S. title: ''Ring-A-Ding Rhythm'') is a 1962 British musical comedy film directed by Richard Lester in his feature directorial debut. It stars singer and actress Helen Shapiro alongside Craig Douglas, John Leyton, the ...

'' He topped the bill on

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

' first major stage show, although their emergence ultimately spelt the end of Douglas's

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphics, graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can repres ...

career. His final hit record came in February 1963, when "Town Crier" entered the charts; it peaked at Number 36. He continued to perform, with bookings at night clubs and on

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports of call, where passengers may go on Tourism, tours k ...

s. Until 2010, Douglas toured venues across the UK, including the Medina Theatre on the Isle of Wight. He appeared at the Amersham Rock 'n' Roll Club on 11 December 2010, at an event in his benefit.

John Leyton John Dudley Leyton (born 17 February 1936) is an English retired actor and singer. Leyton as a singer is best known for his hit song "Johnny Remember Me" (written by Geoff Goddard and produced by Joe Meek), which reached number one in the ...

, Mike Berry and the Flames all took part, while

Jet Harris Terence "Jet" Harris (6 July 1939 – 18 March 2011) was an English rock and roll musician. He was an original member of Cliff Richard's backing band the Shadows, serving as the bass guitarist from the group's inception until April 1962, aft ...

and other celebrities attended. Douglas sang three songs from his wheelchair at the close of the concert. He suffers from a rare condition that affects his legs.

Sky News Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel, live stream news network and news organisation. Sky News is distributed via an English-language radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by Sky Group, a division of ...

filmed the event. On 18 April 2011, a rare Douglas recording saw a limited 7" vinyl reissue of "Don't Mind If I Cry", produced by

Tony Hatch Anthony Peter Hatch (born 30 June 1939) is an English composer for musical theatre and television. He is also a songwriter, pianist, arranger and producer. Early life and early career Hatch was born in Pinner, Middlesex. Encouraged by his mu ...

, on the UK-based Spoke Records label. This had previously been the B-side to Douglas' 1969 release, "

Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David for the 1969 film ''Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid''. The uplifting lyrics describe somebody who overcomes his troubles and worries by realizing that "it w ...

", a cover of the B.J. Thomas song. Douglas' 2011 album, ''The Craig Douglas Project'', included his versions of " Auberge" and " Creep".

Discography

Albums

Studio albums

* ''Craig Douglas'' (1960) – UK number 17 * ''Bandwagon Ball'' (1961) * ''Our Favourite Melodies'' (1962) – SWE number 10 * ''Looking Back: Greatest Hits'' (2005) – tracks re-recorded * ''The Golden Anniversary Album'' (2008) – tracks re-recorded * ''The Craig Douglas Project'' (2011)

Compilation albums

* ''Oh Lonesome Me'' (1981) * ''Only 16'' (1984) * ''The Best of the EMI Years'' (1993) * ''The Very Best of Craig Douglas'' (2004) * ''Only Sixteen'' (2019)

Singles

Notes

Releases on the Top Rank label

* BUY049: ''Craig Douglas'' – album –

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

– Number 17 * 35/103: ''Bandwagon Ball'' – album * JAR110: "

Come Softly to Me "Come Softly to Me" is a popular song recorded by The Fleetwoods, composed of Gretchen Christopher, Barbara Ellis, and Gary Troxel, who also wrote it. The original title was "Come Softly", but was changed en route to its becoming a hit. Bob Reis ...

" / "Golden Girl" – single * JAR133: "

A Teenager in Love "A Teenager in Love" is a song written by Doc Pomus and partner Mort Shuman. It was originally recorded by Dion and the Belmonts, and released in March 1959. It appeared on their album ''Presenting Dion and the Belmonts'' (1959). It reached numb ...

" / "The 39 Steps" – single * JAR159: "Only Sixteen" / "My First Love Affair" – single * JAR204: "Wish It Were Me" / "The Riddle of Love" – single * JAR268: " Pretty Blue Eyes" / "

Sandy Sandy may refer to: People and fictional characters *Sandy (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or nickname * Sandy (surname), a list of people * Sandy (Iranian music band), Iranian singer, comp ...

" – single * JAR340: "The Heart of a Teenage Girl" / "New Boy" – single * JAR406: "Oh What a Day" / "Why Why Why" – single * JAR515: "Where's the Girl (I Never Met)" / "My Hour of Love" – single * JAR543: "The Girl Next Door" / "Hey Mister Conscience" – single * JAR555: " A Hundred Pounds of Clay" / "Hello Spring" – single (

A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...

uncensored) * JAR556: "A Hundred Pounds of Clay" / "Hello Spring" – single * JAR569: "Time" / "After All" – single * JAR589: "No Greater Love" / "We'll Have a Lot to Tell the Children" – single * JAR603: "A Change of Heart" / "Another You" – single * JAR610: "When My Little Girl is Smiling" / "Ring-A-Ding" – single * JKR8033: "Craig Sings For Roxy" – EP

References

External links

Douglas's entry at 45-rpm.org
* AllMusic page
Spokerecords.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Douglas, Craig 1941 births Living people English male singers English pop singers English twins People from Newport, Isle of Wight Traditional pop music singers Crystal (record label) artists Decca Records artists Pye Records artists Top Rank Records artists