Ronnie Hilton
An old-style singer/crooner along the lines of Bing Crosby, Eddie Fisher and Perry Como, Ronnie Hilton was born Adrian Hill in Hull on the 26th of January, 1926. He left school aged only 14 to work in an aircraft factory during World War II before being called up into the Highland Light Infantry. After the war, he began working in a sewing-machine plant in Leeds, but singing was always his first love and he managed to get a second job, performing in the evenings with the Johnny Addlestone Band at the club the Starlight Roof.
Spotted one night by Walter Ridley, the A&R manager for HMV Records, he signed a solo deal and by the early '50s began to enjoy some singles success, like virtually all of his contemporaries, singing covers of American hits including "I Still Believe", "Veni Vedi Vici", "A Blossom Fell", "Stars Shine In Your Eyes", "The Yellow Rose Of Texas" and "Young And Foolish". In 1956, he had his only chart-topper with the song "No Other Love," but the coming of rock & roll swept away most of his type of old fashioned crooning and although he continued to have single hits throughout the 1950s and even made a comeback with the children's song "A Windmill in Old Amsterdam" in 1965, his days as a major pop singer were behind him. This paved the way for his only ever success on the album charts, a recording of the songs from the film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang which was a budget release on the specialist MFP label and thus only eligible for the separate budget charts in 1970.
He continued to appear in variety shows and summer seasons and by the 1990s he had developed a new career on radio as the voice of BBC Radio 2's Sounds of the Fifties series, a nostalgic look back at the decade which even gave him the opportunity to play several of his own records. He died on the 21st of February, 2001, aged 75, but not forgotten by everyone as in 2007, his old label, EMI Gold (which had formally been the MFP label) released a double CD of his work, Ultimate Collection with 50 tracks including most of his hits.
© Sharon Mawer /TiVo
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The Very Best Of Ronnie Hilton
Pop - Released by Parlophone UK on 28 Feb 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Magic Moments-The Very Best Of
Pop - Released by Parlophone UK on 28 Feb 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Anthology: The Deluxe Collection (Remastered)
Jazz - Released by Master Tape Records on 14 Aug 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Ultimate Collection
Pop - Released by Parlophone UK on 25 Mar 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Very Best Of (1957-1961)
Pop - Released by Master Classics Records on 1 Jun 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
A Mouse Lived In a Windmill
Miscellaneous - Released by Warner Music Group - X5 Music Group on 20 Mar 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ronnie Hilton Sings Great Standards
Pop - Released by Parlophone UK on 28 Nov 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Ronnie Hilton Collection
Pop - Released by OBX Records on 13 Apr 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Wonder of You
Ronnie Hilton, The Don Riddelle Singers
Pop - Released by CANCIONERO POP on 11 Nov 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Wonder Of You (UK Chart Top 40 - No. 22)
Pop - Released by Music Manager on 19 Dec 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Best of Ronnie Hilton With Frank Cordell and His Orchestra
Ronnie Hilton, Frank Cordell and His Orchestra
Jazz - Released by Sinetone on 11 Dec 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Just - Ronnie Hilton
Lounge - Released by Fable Entertainment on 21 Apr 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ronnie Hilton's Stars Shine In Your Eyes
Pop - Released by Charly Records on 24 Jun 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Stars Shine In Your Eyes (UK Chart Top 20 - No. 13)
Pop - Released by Music Manager on 19 Dec 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The World Outside (UK Chart Top 20 - No. 18)
Pop - Released by Music Manager on 19 Dec 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
I Still Believe
Jazz - Released by Black Sheep Music on 9 Aug 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wonderful! Wonderful! (UK Chart Top 40 - No. 27)
Pop - Released by Music Manager on 19 Dec 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Two Different Worlds (UK Chart Top 40 - No. 13)
International Pop - Released by Music Manager on 9 Oct 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Magic Moments (UK Chart Top 40 - No. 22)
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by Music Manager on 19 Dec 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Veni Vidi Vici (UK Chart Top 20 - No. 12)
Pop - Released by Music Manager on 19 Dec 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Christmas Greetings from Ronnie Hilton (EP of 1959)
Ronnie Hilton, Frank Cordell & His Orchestra
Miscellaneous - Released by Christmas Album on 31 Oct 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo