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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 across the Atlantic in early 1956.
In 1952 at the age of fifteen he joined the Merchant Navy with the Cunard Line, sailing out of Liverpool to the USA. He was fortunate that a fellow crew member from the port, a scouser, played guitar. He showed Tommy three chords and during those long voyages Tommy learned to play really well.
He fell in love with the Country music he heard on the other side of the Atlantic. Hank Williams, Red Foley, and Leadbelly where his early influences. But, when he heard Elvis Presley that is when his life changed.
Whilst his vessel was in port he went ashore in Norfolk, Virginia, and later claimed he saw Buddy Holly play there…
