In 1973 a single was released by 'Alvin Stardust', with 'My Coo Ca Choo' soon sitting at number 2 in the UK singles chart, faring even better in Australia, where it topped the charts for seven weeks. The song was written, sung, and recorded by Peter Shelley, using the glam rock pseudonym of Alvin Stardust, and although he had already appeared on the Lift Off television programme under the Alvin Stardust persona, Shelley had no desire to take his own stage creation any further than that. If the act were to become more than just a one-hit wonder, then a "face" was required to be, and perform as, Alvin Stardust. The ideal person, in Shelley's opinion, was Bernard Jewry, who at the time was performing in small clubs under the name Shane Fenton, and who had been suggested to Shelley by his manager Hal Carter. Bernard William Jewry was born 27 September 1942 in Muswell Hill, and made his first stage debut in pantomime at the age of four. In the early 1960's he joined the band Shane Fenton and the Fentones, who had recorded a demo tape and mailed it in to a BBC programme with the hope of being picked to appear on television. While awaiting a reply from the BBC, the band's 17-year-old singer Shane Fenton (real name Johnny Theakston) died as a result of the rheumatic fever he had suffered in childhood, following which the rest of the band (guitarists Jerry Wilcock and Mick Eyre, bassist Graham George Squires and drummer Tony Hinchcliffe) decided to break up. Unexpectedly, they received a letter from the BBC inviting them to come to London to audition in person for the programme, and Theakston's mother asked the band to stay together, and to keep its name in honour of her son's memory. Jewry, who was a roadie with them at the time, was asked to join the band and to use the Shane Fenton name, and following the BBC audition the combo had a few hits in the UK with 'I'm A Moody Guy', 'Walk Away', 'It's All Over Now', and their biggest hit 'Cindy's Birthday'.
After The Fentones broke us, Jewry disappeared from the spotlight for a decade, working in music management and performing at small venues with his first wife Iris Caldwell, the sister of Rory Storm. He was contacted by Shelley and agreed to become the face of Alvin Stardust, and appeared on BBC Television's Top of the Pops, lip-synching to 'My Coo Ca Choo' just as the record entered the UK Top 30, before finally reaching number 2. Because of the speed with which this substitution happened, the b-side of 'My Coo Ca Choo', 'Pull Together', is another Shelley composition which was sung by him rather than Jewry, although all future songs were sung by him. Shelley followed up 'My Coo Ca Choo' with a string of hits for Stardust, including 'Jealous Mind', which went to number 1 in the UK in March 1974, 'You, You, You', 'Red Dress' and 'Good Love Can Never Die', amassing seven Top Ten entries, in a chart career lasting almost 25 years. He was also part of the Green Cross Code road safety campaign Children's Heroes in 1976, and released a tie-in song on the b-side of his 1975 single 'Move It'. The glam-rock hits dried up around 1977, but he carried on writing and recording right up to his death in October 2014. Alvin Stardust was one the best and most memorable of the glam rock stars of the early 70's, holding his own against Slade, The Sweet, Suzi Quatro, T Rex, and The Glitter Band, and this collection of non-album singles and rare b-sides should bring back memories of a short but much-loved genre that brought a touch of glamour to the pop charts in the 70's. As a special bonus the albums ends with a song written and recorded by Jewry in 2009, which was to have been included on the jazz-rock album that he was working on at the time, but which remains unreleased to this day.
Track listing
01 Pull Together (b-side of 'My Coo Ca Choo' 1973)
02 Roadie Roll On (b-side of 'Tell Me Why' 1974)
03 Come On! (b-side of 'You You You' 1974)
04 Good Love Can Never Die (single version 1974)
05 The Danger Zone (b-side of 'Good Love Can Never Die')
06 Little Darlin' (b-side of 'Red Dress' 1974)
07 Be Smart Be Safe (The Green Cross Code Song) (b-side of 'Move It' 1975)
08 Sweet Cheatin' Rita (single 1975)
09 Here I Go Again (b-side of 'It's Better To Be Cruel Than Be Kind')
10 The Word Is Out (single 1976)
11 No Parking Space (b-side of 'The Word Is Out')
12 Sweet Little Rock 'n' Roller (single 1977)
13 Save Your Love (b-side of 'Sweet Little Rock 'n' Roller')
14 Growin' Up (single 1977)
15 A Hobo's Life (b-side of 'Growin' Up')
16 Your Dad (previously unreleased 2009)
