Terry Dene
Terry Dene (born Terence Williams) was one of many early UK
rockers to benefit from the opportunity to sing at London's 2I's
Coffee Bar - The same venue that helped the early musical careers
of Tommy Steele, Cliff Richard, Adam Faith and many others.
During 1956 and 1957 Dene had worked as a record packer, but
was convinced that he could sing as well as the American stars on
the discs he handled during his day-job. He admired Elvis and also
tried to emulate Gene Vincent in the tiny room at the 2I's .
The shy and nervous teenager from South London was fortunate
that rock and roll impresario Jack Good witnessed one of his
performances and gave him the opportunity to record with Decca and
to find a weekly spot on TV's Six-5 Special.
His first release, A White Sports Coat, was an instant
hit but Terry resented not being allowed to sing Rock & Roll
as he wanted, as fans wanted more mellow tunes.
Dene unfortunately fell foul of the press following a drunken
incident which led to his arrest. This was at a time when Rock
& Roll was viewed with deep suspicion by the establishment and
he was painted by the newspapers as a symbol of all that was bad
about the music and its followers.
Unfortunately, his misfortunes did not end there, and in 1958
the already mentally stressed singer was called up for National
Service. Although Dene's emotional state made him unsuitable
material for the call-up and he was discharged within a few days,
the press decided that his apparent keeness to avoid it was
further evidence that the singer was a thoroughly bad lot. It
became a stigma that the poor wretched Dene could not cast off and
his chart career effectively ceased at that point.
After finally recovering from the nervous breakdown that
followed the demise of his professional music career, Terry was
still keen to carry on singing. He turned to religion during the
1970s, joining the Salvation Army and using his singing skills to
produce gospel music.
Despite the adverse publicity of his early career, the artist
eventually became accepted by fans as one of Britain's most
significant rock and roll pioneers, and managed to carve out a
career at Rock & Roll revival concerts that lasted him many
years.
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