Dead: Michael Haslam,Singer who toured with the Beatles
McRyno, Chieftain of Clan Chowder
<bgfare$463$1...@bob.news.rcn.net>.
In response:
>Michael Haslam
>Singer who toured with the Beatles
>02 August 2003
>
> Michael James Haslam, singer: born Bolton, Lancashire 20 December
>1939; twice married (one daughter); died High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire 29
>May 2003.
>
>
>Despite Brian Epstein's massive success with the Beatles, not everybody that
>he managed became a star. Michael Haslam was a sad casualty of Epstein's
>heavy workload - sad because Haslam had genuine talent and deserved better.
>
>He was born and raised in Bolton, Lancashire, and worked the local dance
>halls, specialising in big-voiced ballads. In 1964, the television
>personality Godfrey Winn noticed his talent and recommended him to Epstein.
>"Brian came to see me in Bolton en route to talk to Billy J. Kramer in
>Blackpool," Haslam said in 1999:
>
>He heard me sing and told me he would be back at 9pm. When he returned, he
>had decided to manage me and already had a plan of action. I was to stop
>playing my guitar as he wanted me to be more of a showman.
>
>I could either keep my earnings and pay him 25 per cent or have £60 a week
>with all expenses paid. I chose £60 because I always wanted money in my
>hand.
>
>Epstein put Haslam on the Beatles' UK tour in October and November 1964 and
>then featured him for three weeks in Another Beatles Christmas Show at the
>Hammersmith Odeon. Haslam said:
>
>It was fabulous because it was at the height of Beatlemania. We all got on
>well together, although one night John Lennon pushed me too hard and I fell
>into the orchestra pit.
>
>Haslam, dressed in suits from the Beatles' tailor Douglas Millings, was
>singing "Oh Pretty Woman", "Hawaiian Wedding Song" and Freddy Cannon's
>"Okefenokee" on stage, but Epstein, in conjunction with the Beatles' record
>producer, George Martin, was keen that he should record original material.
>"Brian got hold of an original Burt Bacharach and Hal David composition, 'To
>Wait for Love', and that was a very good song," said Haslam:
>
>Burt Bacharach changed his mind and gave it to Paul Anka instead and Brian
>was furious. I remember him telling Bacharach, "Paul Anka's finished, he'll
>never have another hit." George Martin said, "It doesn't matter, Brian,
>we'll get John and Paul to write something", but it never happened.
>
>Haslam's first single, "Gotta Get a Hold of Myself", was written by Clint
>Ballard Jnr but it wasn't catchy enough for the charts. The second one,
>"There Goes the Forgotten Man", was a little-known Bacharach and David song
>and it remained that way.
>
>As agreed, Epstein paid Haslam's expenses, but it led to friction:
>
>Actually, he never noticed that I was claiming for scores of taxi rides that
>I never had, but he called me in one day and asked why I had spent 4s 7d
>[23p]. It was for a pair of socks and he said, "You can't claim socks as
>expenses", although I argued that I could because I was wearing them on
>stage.
>
>Although Haslam promoted his records on the television shows Ready, Steady,
>Go! and Thank Your Lucky Stars, Winn felt that Epstein should have been
>doing more for him. Epstein, however, decided that he could do without this
>pressure and let Haslam go. "He had also found a blond singer called Alan
>David," said Haslam, "and it may have been been that he didn't like my hair
>any more. I don't know."
>
>Although Haslam continued to play in clubs and casinos, his moment in the
>spotlight was over. Ironically, his sister Annie Haslam went on to become
>the lead singer of the band Renaissance. "He had a great voice, much better
>than mine," says Annie Haslam.
>
>Spencer Leigh
>
Ryno
--
"The true artist will let his wife starve,
his children go barefoot,
his mother drudge for his living at seventy,
sooner than work at anything by his art."
- George Bernard Shaw. .