The 20th of February 1972
Official U.K. Albums Chart results from Sunday the 20th to Saturday the 26th of February 1972
Cut-off for sales figures was up to the end of Saturday the 19th of February
Results counted from Sunday the 20th,
announced on Tuesday the 22nd,
and broadcast on B.B.C. Radio 1 on Sunday the 27th of February 1972.
Engelbert Humperdinck
Live And S.R.O. At The Riviera Hotel, Las Vegas
At No.45, on the “The Top 50 U.K. Albums Chart” on the day I am born, is Engelbert Humperdinck with “Live And S.R.O. At The Riviera Hotel, Las Vegas”.
Now, here’s an instance of what happens…
…when you have your birthday near a hallmark day, in my instance Valentines Day.
Just like at Christmas, the record buying public search for another gift (in this case besides flowers) and opt to woo their loved one (or keep them happy and not get moaned at) by getting them that special something.
This is the first time in my lifetime this happens, but it most definitely will not be the last.
Enter Englebert.
The hugely talented multi-faceted entertainer…
…had come a long way since he first picked up the music bug as a child, back in his working class roots in Leicester, England.
Back then, the instrument of choice would be, not his voice, but a saxophone, which he would become quite adept at during his teenage years, leading him to get booked at local nightclubs, before being sub-scripted into the National Service.
In those first few years, he was still going by the name of Arnold Dorsey, although when he did start making a name for himself for his talent, he’d become known to his initial loyal fans as Gerry Dorsey (due to the fact he could do a great imitation of the US entertainer Jerry Lewis); and it would be this name that would follow him through his first years on the stage, eventually swapping his saxophone for singing instead.
By the time ‘Gerry’ was in his early twenties, and after coming top in a talent contest, he’d take that prize opportunity to make a couple of singles as the 1950’s were drawing to a close; the first of which was the song “Crazy Bells”.
Success wasn’t quite ready for him yet though,..
…and after getting some early television spots and touring with some of the big acts of the time such as Billy Fury and then Adam Faith, a severe bout of Tuberculosis stopped everything in it’s tracks, and ended up becoming so serious that it would leave him in a hospital bed for nine months the at the beginning of the 1960’s.
When he did manage to recover enough to perform, he found that all the momentum he’d built up had now evaporated, leaving him back at square one, and back on the variety circuit.
Eventually, ‘Gerry’ would get back in touch with an old roommate,..
…Gordon Mills, who, during Gerry’s wilderness years, had become a manager to another talented singer by the name of Tom Jones.
Impressed by this other act, Gerry secured Gordon’s entrepreneurial skills to assist his career, and one of the first things Gordon did was to re-christen his new client’s name into something, not so much catchy, as more memorable.
Taking inspiration from a German operatic composer from the 1800’s, the decision was made to rebrand himself ‘Englebert Humperdinck’, and send him off to nearby Belgium, where ‘Englebert’ began receiving some positive attention, winning talent shows, and securing his first chart exposure over there, with a song called “Dommage Dommage” (which translates from Belgian as “Shame Shame”). Even ending up creating a promotional film for the song around the docks of Zeebrugge.
It would only be a matter of time,..
…before real success would finally come his way here in the U.K., and when it did, it would be huge, beginning with the smash hit “Release Me”, the production of which featured as one of the song’s session musicians, none other than guitarist Jimmy Page.
In fact not only would Englebert’s star rise here in Britain, but would simultaneously be a big hit over in the U.S. as well.
Taking advantage of this new found opportunity, a TV show was swiftly put into production, highlighting Englebert’s talents as not just a fantastic singer, but also an all round entertainer.
No better is this spotlighted than from this episode which features the group Blue Mink, American comedian Jack E. Leonard, actress and dancer Juliet Prowse, and actor and singer Jack Wild.
The success, along with the hits, kept on growing,..
…and he was soon gifted another more contemporary show called simply ‘Englebert’, but tagged with the hip-sounding subtitle ‘…and the Young Generation’, which was aimed (as the title suggests) to a more youthful audience, while also keeping the already loyal fans he’d already accumulated worldwide.
Gone were the dinner jackets, and in came more stylish (for the dawn of the seventies anyway) apparel.
This is captured here in this segment from one of his shows which features his firm friend Tom Jones, along with legendary keyboard impresario and singer Billy Preston, and before that, a guest duet with singer Marlene Charell.
With success following success,..
…and a following showing no signs of diminishing, but instead gaining ever more abundant, it wouldn’t be long before he followed in the footsteps of Elvis and his pal Tom, and the bright lights of Las Vegas beckoned.
And that’s where we find him here.
For those who didn’t have the capacity, for one reason or another, to travel to the hot deserts of The Strip, and instead had to put up with the damp cold weather of Blighty, this was the next best way to witness his performance.
So, for one week only in the UK Chart, we meet Mr Humperdinck, backed by the Three Degrees no less, and this timely souvenir of his live show.
There was enough of a surge to get him up to this position, before they ended up releasing him (pun intended) back out of the UK Chart again. Just enough time to keep all those amorous fans happy.
…and what does S.R.O. stand for?
Well, my eldest sister had the answer to that:
SRO: Standing Room Only.
Side 1
Side 2
Many thanks go to the following YouTube Channels for providing the chance to hear this music once again.
Please show your appreciation by visiting their channels:
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Listen to “The Official Top 50 UK Singles Chart: 20th February 1972” Playlist here:
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