From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Fri Dec 20, 2002  6:21 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Terry Dene

TERRY DENE

Born Terence Williams, 20 December 1938, London, England

Dene was discovered singing in the famous Soho coffee bar the 2 I's.
His big break came when he appeared on the BBC Television show
6.5 Special in April 1957. After being rejected by EMI Records, he was
signed by Decca Records' A&R man Dick Rowe and his version of the
Marty Robbins hit "A White Sport Coat (And A Pink Carnation)" became
the first of his three UK Top 20 hits between 1957 and 1958. His other
big hits were "Start Movin'", a cover version of the Sal Mineo original,
and another Marty Robbins song, "Stairway Of Love".
Fame brought him many problems and in 1958 he was fined for both
drunkenness and vandalism. A one-time screen extra, he also starred
in the unsuccessful 1958 British pop film The Golden Disc. Often referred
to as "Britain's Elvis", this singer - with an admitted history of mental
disturbance - was inducted into the army with the full press treatment
in 1959. A large battalion of media representatives was also present
when he was released as "medically unfit" just two months later. The
end of his short marriage to singer Edna Savage continued to give him
the kind of publicity that destroyed what was left of his career.
He next joined Larry Parnes' stable of stars, but the legendary impresario
could not salvage Dene's career. After abandoning pop music, he became
a street-singing evangelist, recording three gospel albums. He spent five
years living in Sweden and in 1974 a book and album, both called I Thought
Terry Dene Was Dead, were issued. In the 80s he returned to singing and
rock 'n' roll with members of his original group, the Dene-Aces.
Despite the fact that Dene was not a great rock 'n' roll original, he was
welcomed back like a true legend by many UK fans.

Further reading: Dan Wooding, I Thought Terry Dene Was Dead. London :
Coverdale House, 1974.
CD: The Real Terry Dene (Rollercoaster, 1998). I haven't heard this CD and
don't know if these are old or new recordings.