After US Army service, band leader’s son Bobby Vinton put together a group and landed a spot down the bill on a 1960 tour featuring Chubby Checker and Brenda Lee.
After signing to Epic, two albums failed to sell but, owing the record company two singles, Vinton recorded the country-sounding Roses Are Red (My Love) in 1962 which promptly went to #1 in the US, shifting three million copies.
Although it broke into the UK Top 20, it was outsold in Britain by a cover version from Ronnie Carroll.
Vinton then enjoyed two more successive #1’s in the US with Blue Velvet and There! I’ve Said It Again. Both were cover versions.
Tony Bennett first recorded Blue Velvet in 1951, and There! had been a US #1 for Vaughn Monroe in 1945.
Blue Velvet made the UK #2 spot in 1990 when it was re-released on the back of a Nivea TV commercial.
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