From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Sun Jan 19, 2003  7:19 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Laurie London

LAURIE LONDON (By Steve Walker)

Born 19 January 1944, London, England

At the 1957 Radio and T.V. Show at Earl's Court, the B.B.C. were transmitting
closed-circuit broadcasts of the popular T.V. show "6.5 Special". Laurie London
stepped up on stage to sing and so impressed producer John Warrington that he
was invited back to perform every day for the rest of the exhibition.

As a result, Laurie, aged just 13, came to the attention of E.M.I. producer
Norman Newell, who put him in Abbey Road Studio with arranger Geoff Love. A
revived spiritual "He's Got The Whole World In His Hands" c/w "The Cradle Rock"
(Parlophone 4359) was released in October 1957 and quickly entered the charts,
peaking at #12 in the N.M.E. Hit Parade.

Unusually for a British-made pop record at that time, "He's Got The Whole World
In His Hands" took off in the U.S.A. the following spring (issued on Capitol
3891) and sat at #1 in the Billboard Pop chart for four weeks, commencing 14
April, selling more than one million copies along the way.

Laurie left school at the tender age of 14 and his father, Will, gave up his
sales management job to manage him but refused the chance of a U.S. tour in
1958.

Over the next few years, Laurie London recorded nearly 30 songs for Parlophone,
including other pop/gospel singles like "Joshua", "The Gospel Train" and "I
Gotta Robe" (some under the guidance of George Martin), but the adolescent, who
for an all too brief time had the whole world in his hands, never charted again
in the U.K. or U.S.A.. In 1961 he made a cover of Gene Pitney's "Today's
Teardrops" (I've never heard this - anyone?).

In Germany the young singer became a familiar figure on radio, stage and on
record. He even landed a second hit, "Bum-Ladda-Bum-Bum". Special songs were
written for him, tailored to the German taste in popular music, and he recorded
them in Cologne and Munich with producer, Nils Nobach.

He is now successfully working in the clothing industry in London.



Recommended listening:

"Bum-Lada-Bum-Bum" (Bear Family, BCD 16345)

"He's Got The Whole World In His Hands" (Bear Family, BCD 16494)