Ronnie Harris (born ) is a British former singer who active in the 1950s, and had a top ten hit in 1955.

Singing career

Harris served in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

as an air mechanic in the

Royal Naval Air Service The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty (United Kingdom), Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British ...

, based in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

. after demob he joined his brother's window-cleaning company in north London, but, after a fall from a ladder, the customer invited him inside to recover; the pair got to discussing his love of singing, and he was invited to perform at a concert that evening, the success of which gained him bookings as a singer. He therefore turned professional as a dance band singer and in the late 1940s he teamed up with Margaret Haynes, who performed under the name Terry Blayne, as a duo; the pair got married in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

in January 1950. In April 1954, he signed a record deal with

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

, and he had over a dozen singles released over the decade, including duets with Barbara Ryan. Despite being the subject of a

Pathé News Pathé News was a producer of newsreels and documentaries from 1910 to 1970 in the United Kingdom. Its founder, Charles Pathé, was a pioneer of moving pictures in the silent era. The Pathé News archive is known today as "British Pathé". I ...

short about the making of a pop single in early 1955, only two of them made any of the national music charts. The first, a cover of the

Al Martino Jasper Cini (October 7, 1927 – October 13, 2009), known professionally as Al Martino, was an American traditional pop and standards singer. He had his greatest success as a singer between the early 1950s and mid-1970s, being described as "one o ...

hit "The Story Of Tina", peaked at no. 12 in the

New Musical Express ''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 inkie", the ''NME'' would become a maga ...

chart in October 1954. The low chart position belied the song's popularity, as he was presented with a Record of the Year award for the cut in the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...

Record Ball the same month. The second, "Don't Go To Strangers", backed by The Coronets, was at number 9 in the first

Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper published between 1954 and 1991, aimed at pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after ''New Musical Express'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK Album ...

chart on 22 January 1955, and peaked at 8 a week later. However it did not appear in the NME chart. Harris however missed out on a possible hit single in 1957, after he turned down the chance to record " Around The World", thinking that it was not "a particularly good number". Instead it became a top ten hit for

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, comedian, entertainer and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwi ...

Ronnie Hilton Ronnie Hilton (born Adrian Hill; 26 January 1926 – 21 February 2001) was an English singer. According to his obituary in ''The Guardian'' newspaper, "For a time Hilton was a star – strictly for home consumption – with nine Top 20 hits be ...

, and

Gracie Fields Dame Gracie Fields (born Grace Stansfield; 9 January 189827 September 1979) was a British actress, singer and comedian. A star of cinema and music hall, she was one of the top ten film stars in Britain during the 1930s and was considered the h ...

. As

skiffle Skiffle is a music genre, genre of folk music with influences from American folk music, blues, Country music, country, Bluegrass music, bluegrass, and jazz, generally performed with a mixture of manufactured and homemade or improvised instruments. ...

and

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

began to dominate the charts, Harris gradually stepped back from performing, and in April 1958 emigrated to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

; he soon opened his own talent agency, originally based in

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden (; ) is the capital of the German state of Hesse, and the second-largest Hessian city after Frankfurt am Main. With around 283,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 24th-largest city. Wiesbaden form ...

. By 1975 he was based in

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

and specialized in finding European bookings for British acts.

References

External links

Ronnie Harris articles and discography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Ronnie 1928 births Possibly living people People from Tottenham Singers from the London Borough of Haringey