Talk:Susan Maughan

Untitled
I have removed the following from the article. It is almost certainly a copyright violation; seemingly a 'copy and paste' exercise from the quoted source. " By her own admission, Susan was a "goody goody" Sixties child. The drugs and the seedier side of rock `n' roll passed her by because, she suggests, she was "brought up proper by the dance band scene". Before that valuable grounding, she was raised within sight and sound of the old Consett Steelworks. But it was the sound of her dad playing the piano that sticks in her mind. "His was the musical side of the family," recalls Susan. "The first recollection I have is standing at the side of the piano while he played something like Bless This House, "I was probably about four years old at the time. I think I've always been musical and there was music in the family. We used to listen to the radio a lot".

Her grandparents ran the old Burton Hotel in Consett while her parents had Castleside Working Men's Club. "I spent my early years between those two places so I was used to the idea of performing, but I was an only child so I was probably spoilt. "I went to Medomsley Road Primary School and took my 11-Plus at 10-and-a-half because I was a clever little thing. I was going to Consett Tech but my mother and father divorced and we uprooted. My mother took me to Berwick and I spent four very happy years at Berwick Grammar School. "Actually, my mother married again and moved to Birmingham and I was distraught. All my friends were in Berwick. So I was allowed to stay behind. I stayed in a little cottage and a wonderful Scottish lady called Mrs Baxter looked after me." She finished the school year and then continued her education in Birmingham.

Afterwards she got a secretarial job. But it was her night-time trips to the local Mecca ballroom with a schoolfriend that were to put her on her career path. She would dance and also sing with the resident band. When she spotted a newspaper ad for a job as a singer, "no experience required but must be willing to learn the ropes", she zapped in her application. She got the job and subsequently joined the Ronnie Hancox Big Band, a 10-piece which billed itself as the danceband for dancers. "He was the Joe Loss of the Midlands," explains Susan. "We used to do balls, private functions, you name it. I was the singer with the band and sang everything. It was the greatest training anyone could have had. I was getting £7 a week in 1959 with Ronnie Hancox but I felt fortunate. I sang and put letters in envelopes and did everything for them.

"One day some of Ronnie's musicians fancied doing some private work and said, `Susie, if we do a tape, would you put the vocals on for us?' They sent the tape away and one producer in London said, `Thankyou very much. We can't use the band but who's the girl singer?' That's how I got the job with the famous Ray Ellington Quarter." This raised her profile and drew her to the attention of Johnnie Franz, recording manager of Philips, who gave her a contract.

"I started recording in 1962 when Chubby Checker was doing the twist. That's why my first recording was a number called Mama Do The Twist. Bobby's Girl was my fourth record in six months and it was released in October 1962. "It was the time when The Beatles and the Stones were just starting out. I was still with the Ray Ellington Quarter but if it hadn't been for them, none of it would have happened. "Suddenly I was incredibly busy. I did a film, What A Crazy World, with Joe Brown, Marty Wilde and Harry H Corbett, and was in a summer show at the London Palladium, 13 shows a week with Frank Ifield topping the bill. Nicholas Parsons was in it, too." She was also on the bill for the Royal Variety Performance on the famous occasion when The Beatles took part and John Lennon ordered those in the posh seats to rattle their jewellery.

Susan Maughan may have figured fleetingly in the charts - Hand A Handkerchief To Helen and She's New To You ducked in and out in 1963 - but she has had a long and busy career. She still performs at Sixties revival shows, meeting many of the people she shared a billing with 40 years ago. She lives in Brighton now with husband Nick Leigh, a theatre director in Croydon, and follows the progress of 29-year-old son Greg”. (David Whetstone, Sunderland Journal, December 13, 2002) "

Whilst such an article can be utilised as the basis for part of the Wikipedia article's wording, lifting any piece wholemeal is a violation of the originator's copyright.

Derek R Bullamore (talk) 15:13, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

Date of birth
Wiki seems to have muddied the waters here. Google throws up numerous 1938s and 1942s often based on the Wiki article. Anyone any idea which is correct?--Egghead06 (talk) 16:42, 17 August 2011 (UTC)

Susan Maughan Age
I believe Susan Maughan was born 1942 making her 77 yrs old. 46.31.83.58 (talk) 21:06, 24 August 2023 (UTC)