On the 29th September 1960 ‘Tell Laura I Love Her’ achieved Silver, Gold and Platinum discs as Ricky Valance soared to the top of the British Hit Parade, reaching the coveted Number One position. ‘Tell Laura’ entered the Top 50 on August 25th, and a month later knocked The Shadows with ‘Apache’ off the Top Spot. It remained in the charts for a total of 16-weeks, holding on to Number One for three of them. Up against some stiff competition at the time from more established artists such as Cliff Richard, Eddie Cochran, The Everly Brothers and even Elvis this was a tremendous feat for an artist’s first recording.
Ricky went on to sell over seven million copies of ‘Tell Laura’ worldwide, enjoyed Top 20 chart hits with his other recordings outside of the UK. He recorded in Nashville in 2001, charted in the US Country Charts and even tasted success in the Contemporary Christian charts.
2015 marks 55 years since Ricky Valance topped the charts and to recognise this special anniversary Ricky has been back in the studio with his record label One Media iP and producer Mike Bennett to re-record this chart topping sensation, along with other classic tracks that include Welcome Home, Amore and Jingle Bells.
Ricky was born and brought up in a South Wales valley, where families went to Chapel every Sunday and it was the fate of many a young man to follow his father’s footsteps and work in the ‘pit’. In this respect Ricky was no exception, as he too became a miner before deciding to make a career in that other famous Welsh tradition, singing.
His first record, ‘Tell Laura I love Her’ was originally recorded by US artist Ray Peterson but it was Ricky’s version which proved to be the most popular and enduring around the world. In 2015 Ricky was honoured with a lifetime achievement award commemorating his place in history as the first Welshman to claim the number one chart spot.