Gene Pitney
 Gene
Pitney was born in February 1940 of Polish origin, and grew up in
the Connecticut town of Rockville. While at school there he formed
a beat group, and then went to college to study electronics.
He began writing songs, and by the beginning of the 60s was
having so much success with them that he left college to
concentrate on music.
He penned tunes such as his breakthrough for Bobby Vee, Rubber
Ball (written under the pseudonym Ann Orlowski).
Hello
Mary Lou followed for Ricky Nelson and, shortly after, Pitney
hit the charts himself with (I Wanna) Love My Life Away,
followed by the US Top 10 hit Town Without Pity.
Further hits included The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance,
Bacharach and David's Only Love Can Break A Heart (a US
number two) and Goffin & King's Every Breath I Take.
Pitney wrote The Crystals' number one He's A Rebel and,
in December 1963, he hit in the UK with Hal David's 24 Hours
From Tulsa.
Gene toured Britain, linked up with The Rolling Stones and
re-wrote their That Girl Belongs To Yesterday - recording
it as an operatic ballad - as well as
playing piano on their Little By Little.
Over the next five years he was seldom absent from the charts,
either in America or Britain, where he had ten Top 10 hits. Other
Pitney hits included It Hurts To Be In Love, I Must
Be Seeing Things, Looking Through The Eyes Of Love (a
later hit for David Cassidy), Backstage and I'm Gonna
Be Strong.
 He recorded country tracks with George Jones, Melba Montgomery
and Randy Newman, had his songs recorded by Roy Orbison and Marty
Wilde, and flirted with 70s disco on She's A Heartbreaker.
His
voice was so unique and distinctive that he only needed to sing
one note to be identified. He was also a talented
multi-instrumentalist.
In 1989 he had his first UK number one with a Marc Almond duet
on his 1967 classic, Something's Gotten Hold Of My Heart.
He was inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall Of Fame in 2002 and
toured every year.
Pitney died in the Hilton Hotel in Cardiff (Wales) of heart
disease on 5 April 2006, mid-way through a UK tour.
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