Helen Shapiro (born 28 September 1946) is an English singer and actress. She is best known for her 1960s UK chart toppers, "You Don't Know" and "Walkin' Back to Happiness."Contents [hide] 1 Early life 2 Career 3 Religious Connections 4 Recent Activities 5 Discography 5.1 Chart singles 5.2 Albums 5.3 Compilation albums 6 Appearances 7 See also 8 References 9 External links
[edit] Early life
Shapiro was born at Bethnal Green Hospital in the East End district of Bethnal Green, London,[1] and brought up in Clapton in the London borough of Hackney, where she attended the Clapton Park Comprehensive School. She is the granddaughter of Russian Jewish immigrants. Her parents were too poor to own a record player but they encouraged music in their home (Helen had to borrow a neighbour's player to hear her first single). Shapiro played banjo as a child and sang with her brother Ron occasionally in his youth club jazz group. She had a deep timbre to her voice, unusual in a girl not yet in her teens: school friends gave her the nickname 'Foghorn'. [edit] Career
In 1961, at the age of fourteen, she had two number one hits in the UK: "You Don't Know" and "Walkin' Back to Happiness"; and, indeed, her first four single releases all went into the top three of the UK Singles Chart. Most of her recording sessions were at EMI's studios at Abbey Road in north west London. Her mature voice made her an overnight sensation, as well as the youngest female chart topper in the UK. At a mere 14 years and 316 days old when "You Don't Know" hit the top, she was nevertheless a year older than Frankie Lymon had been when "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" hit the UK number one slot in 1956.[1]
Before she was sixteen years old, Shapiro had been voted Britain's 'Top Female Singer'. The Beatles' first national tour of Britain in the late winter/early spring of 1963 was as her supporting act. During the course of the tour, the Beatles had their first hit single and John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote the song "Misery" intended for her, but Shapiro did not record the composition.[2] In 1995, during a This is Your Life installment highlighting her life and career, Shapiro revealed, "It was actually turned down on my behalf before I ever heard it, actually. I never got to hear it or give an opinion. It's a shame, really."[citation needed]
By the time she was in her late teens, her career as a pop singer was on the wane. With the new wave of beat music and newer female singers such as Cilla Black, Sandie Shaw and Lulu - Shapiro appeared old-fashioned and emblematic of the bee-hived pre-Beatles era. She branched out as a performer in stage musicals, a jazz singer, (jazz being her first love musically), and more recently a gospel singer. She played the role of Nancy in Lionel Bart's musical, Oliver! in London's West End and has appeared in British television soap operas; in particular Albion Market where she played one of the main characters up to the time it was taken off-air in August 1986. [edit] Religious Connections
In August 1987 Shapiro became a committed believer in Jesus as the Messiah. She has issued four Messianic albums since then, as well as appearing in a number of gospel outreach meetings, singing and telling of how she found Jesus (Yeshua) as her Messiah. [edit] Recent Activities
Shapiro retired from show business at the end of 2002 to concentrate on her gospel outreach evenings. She is married to John Judd, an actor with numerous roles in British television and cinema, she resides in the town of Highworth, Wiltshire.
Her autobiography, published in 1993, was entitled Walking Back to Happiness.
Shapiro is also mentioned in the BBC Television, science fiction comedy series Red Dwarf, because of her beehive hairstyle. [edit] Discography [edit] Chart singles "Don't Treat Me Like A Child" - 1961 - Number 3 UK "Walkin' Back to Happiness" - 1961 - Number 1 UK, Number 100 U.S. "You Don't Know" - 1961 - Number 1 UK "Tell Me What He Said" - 1962 - Number 2 UK "Let's Talk About Love" - 1962 - Number 23 UK "Little Miss Lonely" - 1962 - Number 8 UK "Keep Away From Other Girls" - 1962 - Number 40 UK "Queen For Tonight" - 1963 - Number 33 UK "Woe Is Me" - 1963 - Number 35 UK "Look Who It Is" - 1963 - Number 47 UK "No Trespassing" / "Not Responsible" - 1963 - Number 1 Australia "Fever" - 1964 - Number 38 UK
[3] [edit] Albums 'Tops' With Me (Columbia) 1962 (SSX 1397/SCX 3428) - Number 2 UK Helen's Sixteen (Columbia) 1963 (SSX 1494/SCX 3470) Helen In Nashville (Columbia) 1963 (SSX 1567) Helen Hit's Out! (Columbia) 1964 (SSX 1661/SCX 3533) Hits and a Miss Helen Shapiro (EMI Encore) 1965 (ENC 20912)
[3]
All the above albums were released in (stereo) and (mono) apart from Helen In Nashville. These are her main albums from the peak of her popularity in the early 1960s from Abbey Road Studios. [edit] Compilation albums The Very Best Of Helen Shapiro (EMI) 1974 Straighten Up and Fly Right (Oval) 1983 The Very Best Of Helen Shapiro (EMI) 2007
