Vince Hill
One of the most pleasing but now underrated of the many MOR heartthrob vocalists who assaulted the U.K. charts during the 1960s, Vince Hill was born on April 16, 1937, in Holbrooks, Coventry. He made his professional singing debut at a local pub in 1952, at age 15, but it was not until he was called up for National Service (compulsory military duty) in the mid-'50s that he decided to move into full-time performing. He sang with the Royal Corps of Signals band and, following his return to civilian life, he toured Britain in the musical Floradora. Moving to London, Hill was recruited to Teddy Foster's big band, but turned to pop in 1960 when he joined the Raindrops, a vocal group that also featured Jackie Lee and Johnny Worth. Both would go on to considerable success, Lee with the hit singles "White Horses" and "Rupert the Bear" and Worth (under the pseudonym Les Vandyke) as a songwriter.
Hill's own success started immediately after he quit the Raindrops, when "The River's Run Dry" proved a minor hit in summer 1962. He was unlucky not to triumph in the U.K. qualifiers for the 1963 Eurovision Song Contest (where he performed "A Day at the Seaside"), and the next few years proved fallow as a succession of 45s failed to chart. January 1966, however, brought the number 13 hit "Take Me to Your Heart Again," an English-language version of Edith Piaf's "La Vie en Rose." "Heartaches" followed it into the Top 30 in March 1966, followed by "Merci Cherie," an English version of another Continental smash, Udo Jürgens' 1966 Eurovision Song Contest winner. Hill's biggest-ever hit arrived in 1967, when a version of the Sound of Music chestnut "Edelweiss" rose to number two. Further hits "Roses of Picardy," "Love Letters in the Sand," Gilbert Bécaud's "The Importance of Your Love," "Doesn't Anybody Know My Name," and "Little Bluebird" kept Hill in the charts throughout the remainder of the decade, but his returns were diminishing and 1971 brought his final hit, a number 12 slot for "Look Around and You'll Find Me There," from the movie Love Story. Despite this, Hill remained a regular guest on British TV throughout the '70s and continued to perform live for many years. Vince Hill died on July 21, 2023, at the age of 89.
© Dave Thompson /TiVo
Similar artists
-
-
Legacy: My Hits & Rarities (1965-1974)
Pop - Released by Rhino on 1 Jan 1965
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Little Bluebird (2017 Remaster)
Pop - Released by Rhino on 1 Jan 1970
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Ultimate Collection
Pop - Released by Parlophone UK on 3 Jul 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
And I Love You So (2017 Remaster)
Pop - Released by Rhino on 1 Jan 1973
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Very Best of Vince Hill
Lounge - Released by Music Manager on 16 Sep 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Piccadilly Records Years (1962-64)
Pop - Released by Sanctuary Records on 28 Apr 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
His Greatest Love Songs (The CBS Years) (Remastered)
Alternative & Indie - Released by Sony Music UK on 12 May 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
Sings The Ivor Novello Songbook (2017 Remaster)
Pop - Released by Rhino on 1 Jan 1988
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Merci Cherie (2017 Remaster)
Pop - Released by Rhino on 1 Jan 1967
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Look Around (And You'll Find Me There) (UK Chart Top 20 - No. 12)
Pop - Released by Music Manager on 20 Dec 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Always You and Me (2017 Remaster)
Pop - Released by Rhino on 1 Jan 1967
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
You Forgot to Remember (2017 Remaster)
Pop - Released by Rhino on 1 Jan 1968
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sing a Song of Sedaka (with The Nick Ingman Orchestra) (2017 Remaster)
Pop - Released by Rhino on 1 Jan 1974
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Other Side of Me (2017 Remaster)
Pop - Released by Rhino on 1 Jan 1973
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Singer...And The Songs (2017 Remaster)
Pop - Released by Rhino on 1 Jan 1971
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Look Around (And You'll Find Me There) (2017 Remaster)
Pop - Released by Rhino on 1 Jan 1971
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Thanks a Million (with Alyn Ainsworth & His Orchestra) (2017 Remaster)
Pop - Released by Rhino on 1 Jan 1974
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
While the Feeling's Good
Pop - Released by President Records on 1 May 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -