From: "Dik de Heer" Date: Tue Jul 16, 2002 1:12 am Subject: Born To Be With You : Tommy Bruce TOMMY BRUCE Born Thomas Charles Bruce, 16 July 1937, London, England. Singer. Tommy Bruce possessed an extraordinary voice which was described as a subtle blending of a corncrake, steam hammer and gravel polisher. Orphaned at the age of 10, he later worked for some years as a driver's mate in London's famous Covent Garden fruit market before his neighbour, the then actor and later successful songwriter Barry Mason, encouraged him to make the demo record that secured him a contract with Norrie Paramor at Columbia Records in 1960. His first release, the Fats Waller oldie "Ain't Misbehavin'", was a UK # 3 hit and his follow-up, another standard, "Broken Doll", also reached the UK Top 40, but was his last record to do so. The singer, who was either loved or hated, was often accused of emulating The Big Bopper. He hotly disputed this claim and still maintains today that he had never heard of The Big Bopper. (Rock 'n' roll didn't figure highly in his life before 1960.) Together with his group the Bruisers, he appeared on television programmes such as WHAM!! and on many live shows, often under the auspices of impresario Larry Parnes. This unique cockney performer, who never claimed that he could actually sing, also recorded on Polydor in 1965, RCA in 1966 and CBS in 1969. In the seventies he bowed out of the recording world and re-emerged on the stage as a cabaret artist. In the '80s he began performing rock again and nowadays Bruce is still to be found singing on rock 'n' roll revival and '60s' nostalgia shows. CD: Tommy Bruce and the Bruisers, That's Rock 'n' Roll (RPM 241), released 2002. 25 tracks from 1960-68.