User:Clarendon6/Danny Street

"Danny Street" (22nd April, 1941 - 21st April, 2010) was one of the busiest & most able session singers in the 60's & 70's. A musical & vocal talent admired by composers,conductors & fellow singers & musicians alike.

He was born Joseph Wilson Drysdale in Stirling Royal Infirmary, the third son of Mary Anne and Joseph: a Butcher by trade. The family lived at the Upper Craigs in Stirling and the boys attended the Craigs school where they all excelled, Joseph won the Dux of the school in 1953 and so went on to the high school where he continued to excel - especially in music and mathematics.

On leaving school, Joseph worked as an apprentice electrician for 4 years. However his passion for singing was over-whelming and he took professional singing lessons from Herbert Christie, a popular music teacher and choirmaster in Stirling who recognised his talented voice, often asking Joseph to sing the lead solo in church.

In 1962, 21 year old Joseph attended and after giving a first class performance was offered a job in the "The Alec Finlay Summer Season" at the Palladium Theatre in Edinburgh. With little money in his pocket, he travelled on the train down to London where he adopted the stage-name "Danny Street" where between the years 1962-1969 Danny sang with the famous "Johnny Howard Band" which involved a lot of travelling all over the country. So warm was their friendship that Johnny became Wendy's God-Father and Danny’s lifelong friend.

As Danny Street, he recorded over 1500 sessions. Danny represented the BBC in concerts all over Europe and in Switzerland with Anita Kerr. He also managed to find the time to sing on a weekly Radio 2 show: "Sing Something Simple”.

In the 70’s and 80’s he worked on a variety of popular shows including; Des O’Connor, Top Of The Pops, Are You Being Served and The Val Doonican show, One More Time and his very own show “On Stage With Danny Street” with guest Chic Murray.…And those singers you hear accompanying the band on Strictly? Well, that was Danny’s job in an earlier incarnation of the show in the 70’s!

During his career he recorded many albums and singles including a film theme, tribute albums, sessions with The Cliff Adams Singers and backing Cliff Richard. And even - would you believe - a version of Black Sabbath’s rock classic “Paranoid”!

Danny also sparkled in the Radio Scotland football team during a charity match in Grangemouth in 1974 with team-mates including Bill McCue, Peter Morrison & Alistair McDonald up against Radio 1’s cream of the crop; Noel Edmonds, Tony Blackburn and…”Diddy” David Hamilton! Danny’s tired legs may only have allowed him to play the first half but those golden boots he was wearing managed a goal and a passing shot aided another goal to help secure victory against “the auld enemy”!