Bunny Lewis
Craig Douglas
Craig Douglas, nicknamed 'The Singing Milkman', was born on 12th August 1941 on the Isle of Wight. Douglas. He got his break on television programme Six – Five Special where he performed alongside Cliff Richard and Joe Brown.
He still managed to create an impression and a few days later he was presented with a sack full of fan mail and signed a recording contract. Manager Bunny Lewis thought it appropriate to change his name as their were a number of 'Terry's' around at the time and he had seen the name Craig Douglas outside a house in Scotland.
Douglas was voted ‘Best New Singer’ in 1959 and went on to record 8 covers of past American hit records and reached number 1 with "Only Sixteen", recorded at EMI's Abbey Road Studios and released by Top Rank records, easily outselling Sam Cooke's original in the UK. He had a string of top 10 hits and reached number 9 with four consecutive songs.
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Douglas wasn't really a rock & roll singer, his diction being too good and his delivery too straight-ahead for that designation. His early records call up images of Ricky Nelson but, like a lot of young British singers of his era, he quickly aimed for a more mature audience. His singing was very emotive but also very clean. He was obviously more comfortable with dignified pop music, such as "Time," than with the more rocking numbers like "Ring-A-Ding" that he was occasionally called upon to record, with its slurred lyrics, honking saxes, and loud electric guitars (although Douglas acquitted himself well in that setting).
1961 saw Douglas enter 'A Song for Europe' in which his song, "The Girl Next Door" fared badly as it went joint bottom with The Allisons 'Are you Sure'. Craig Douglas had a clean cut image which was mirrored in future US stars such as Pat Boone and Ricky Nelson. In 1963 he topped the bill on The Beatles first major stage show which was also the year of his last top 40 hit with "Town Crier" reaching number 36. After the rise of the Liverpool sound, the demand of Craig Douglas's work declined and his major recording career came to an end.
Still touring today Craig can be found on cruise ships or doing cabaret across the UK.
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