From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Sat Nov 30, 2002  7:14 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Frank Ifield
 
FRANK IFIELD

Born Francis Edward Ifield, 30 November 1937, Coventry, England

Though Frank Ifield is often thought of as an Australian singer, he was
born in England, of Australian parents, who moved back to their home
country during the war. Frank began recording at age 13 and in six years
had 44 records issued in Australia. He became the # 1 recording star in
Australia, New Zealand, and Tasmania before he was nineteen. By 1959,
he was appearing on all three of the Sydney TV channels. In that year
he moved back to England (London), where he was signed by EMI.
Under the tutelage of producer Norrie Paramor, he scored his first British
hit with the Carl Dobkins tune "Lucky Devil" in 1960. The next year went
by without any hits, but 1962 was a glorious year for Ifield, with three
consecutive UK number one hits, a unique feat at that time. The first
one of these was"I Remember You" (a remake of a Jimmy Dorsey hit
from 1942), which also made the Top 5 in the USA. This was followed
by revivals of "Lovesick Blues" and "The Wayward Wind". The arrival of
the Beatles slowed his chart run down, but until the end of 1966 he was
a regular visitor of the UK hit lists.
In the eighties he moved back to Australia, where he is still a big name.

CD: The Essential Frank Ifield (Music For Pleasure, 20 tracks)
This year saw the release of "Frank Ifield Sings Country & Classics"
(EMI Gold 7243 5 41734-2-4). Rare Australian recordings from the fifties.

Websites: http://www.frankifield.com
and http://www.angelfire.com/tn/belle/FRANKIFIELD.html