Russ Conway - Conway Capers No.2, Columbia DB 7312

Conway was born Trevor Herbert Stanford in Bristol England. He won a scholarship to Bristol Cathedral Choir School and was largely self-taught on piano as he whiled away hours as a youngster during a three-year term in borstal. His father then let him join the Merchant Navy. Conscripted into the Royal Navy in 1942, he served in the Merchant Navy from 1942 to 1948, and was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal as signalman in a minesweeping flotilla "for distinguished service, efficiency and zeal" in clearance of mines in the Aegean and operations during the relief of Greece 1944-45. During his Navy service, he lost the tip of the 3rd finger of his right hand while using a bread slicer. He was discharged on health grounds because of a stomach ulcer.

Conway was talent-spotted while playing in a London club, signed to EMI's Columbia label and spent the mid-1950s providing backing for artists on their roster, including Gracie Fields and Joan Regan. He recorded his first solo single "Party Pops" in 1957, a "medley of standard songs" which included "Roll the Carpet Up" and "The Westminster Waltz".

Between 1957 and 1963, Conway had 20 U.K. chart hits, achieving a cumulative total of 83 weeks on the UK Singles Chart in 1959 alone. This included two self-penned number one instrumentals, "Side Saddle" and "Roulette", the latter deposing Elvis Presley's "A Fool Such As I". He was a fixture on light entertainment TV shows and radio for many years afterwards, appearing at the London Palladium on a number of occasions and becoming a regular on the Billy Cotton Band Show for several seasons.

Country:	UK
Catalogue:	DB 7312
Date:	Jun 1964
Format:	7"

Track	Artist	Title	Composer	Producer
A	Russ Conway	Conway Capers No. 2
B	Russ Conway	Conway Capers No. 2