Britain’s First Guitar Teen Idol
Tommy Steele — Was he more Pop than Rock’n’Roll?
All round entertainer Tommy Steele turned 86 years of age this week. He was born on 17 December 1936 in Bermondsey, London, which makes him a Cockney geezer.
66 years ago this week he had a #1 hit record in the UK with his cover of Guy Mitchell’s ‘Singing The Blues’, which had spent ten weeks at the top of the US Billboard chart.
Tommy was Britain’s first guitar heart-throb, and was hailed as Britain’s answer to Elvis Presley. He’s rightly credited with being Britain’s first ‘teen-idol’ and rock’n’roll star.
Tommy had a cheeky grin, girls thought him cute, and he had that appeal of the happy-go-lucky charm of the boy next door. He certainly didn’t look as menacing as Elvis Presley. Parents felt their daughters were far safer listening to Tommy’s innocent version of rock’n’roll music than the King’s.
Tommy was lucky. He had a head start over other young British kids who picked up cheap guitars wanting to emulate the sounds they heard coming…
