RUSS CONWAY

British Pianist

1925 - 2000

Chart career 1957-1962

 

Russ Conway was born on 2nd September 1925, and learned to play piano as a child, in the 1930s.  He joined the navy as a teenager during World War II, and won a Distinguished Service Medal.  He decided to stay in the services after the war, and continued developing his naval career until 1955.

When he left the navy, he decided to make piano playing his profession, and soon found employment in various London night-clubs, and as a rehearsal pianist for the stars.  He subsequently became a pianist for top artists like Dennis Lotis, Gracie Fields and Joan Regan.  This brought him into contact with record companies, and in 1957 he signed with EMI, and recorded a medley of old sing-along tunes in a honky-tonk style (Party Pops), which was a hit at Christmas that year. 

He started to appear on tv at this time, in particular, the Billy Cotton Band Show, one of the top tv shows of the time.  As a result, he became immensely popular with his toe-tapping piano style and his charming boyish grin.  He even had his own tv series.

Big time stardom came for Russ in 1959 when five of his own compositions made the Top 10 - the first two of the year going all the way to No 1.  The earlier of those two, Side Saddle, stayed at the top spot for four weeks, and Russ was the top-selling UK artist in 1959.  On the sheet music chart, three of his own compositions were at number one, in total, for over six consecutive months in 1959.

In addition to pop package tours, he starred at the London Palladium several times.  He continued producing hit singles between 1960 and 1962, but only one, Toy Balloons, made the Top 10 in that period.

russ3.jpg (29891 bytes)

 

He recorded a vast number of albums which always contained some slower tracks which demonstrated his true musical talents.  In 1960, he made the Top 20 with a slow piece, Passing Breeze.

In the late sixties he suffered a nervous breakdown and a mild stroke, which prevented him from performing.  By the late 1970's, however, he was back at his piano performing to his legions of loyal fans both at home and abroad.

His health began to fail in the late 1990s, but he still performed a final concert during the spring of 2000 in his home town of Eastbourne, Sussex.  He was suffering from cancer at that time, and died on 16th November 2000.

 


There is a RUSS CONWAY APPRECIATION SOCIETY  and details can be received by sending an A5 SAE to:
47 Laurel Road, Blaby, Leicester LE8 4DL
or e-mail:
bill.murden@sky.com

See also the following web site:
www.russconway.co.uk

 

 

DATA:

Birth details:  born 2nd September 1925, Bristol, England.

Real Name:  Trevor Stanford
(all his composing was under this name)

Hits Totals:
Singles:  20 including 2 No 1s and 5 Top 10s.
Albums:  7 including 6 Top 10s.

 


 

HIT ALBUMS:

DATE

TITLE Pos Weeks
22 Nov 1958 Pack Up Your Troubles 9 5
2 May 1959 Songs To Sing In Your Bath 8 10
19 Sep 1959 Family Favourites 3 16
19 Dec 1959 Time To Celebrate 3 7
26 Mar 1960 My Concerto For You 5 17
17 Dec 1960 Party Time 7 11
23 Apr 1977 Russ Conway Presents
24 Piano Greats
(Ronco budget release)
25 3

 

 

HIT SINGLES:

DATE

TITLE Pos Weeks
29 Nov 1957 Party Pops 24 5
29 Aug 1958 Got A Match 30 1
8 Nov 1958 More Party Pops 10 7
23 Jan 1959 The World Outside 24 4
20 Feb 1959 Side Saddle 1 30
15 May 1959 Roulette 1 19
21 Aug 1959 China Tea 5 13
13 Nov 1959 Snow Coach 5 13
20 Nov 1959 More And More
Party Pops
5 8
10 Mar 1960 Royal Event 15 7
21 Apr 1960 Fings Ain't Wot
They Used To Be
47 1
19 May 1960 Lucky Five 14 9
29 Sep 60 Passing Breeze 16 10
24 Nov 1960 Even More Party
Pops
27 9
19 Jan 1961 Pepe 19 9
25 May 1961 Pablo 45 2
24 Aug 1961 Say It With Flowers
(Dorothy Squires
& Russ Conway)
23 10
30 Nov 1961 Toy Balloons 7 11
22 Feb 1962 Lesson One 21 7
29 Nov 1962 Always You And Me 33 7

 


This web page was
created : 16 Feb 2000
(updated 30 November 2004)

mjs@onlineweb.com

60 Years of British No 1 Hits