I have read the detailed article by David Gooch - "the man in the know" concerning Alma' s recording contract with EMI.
It found the article very informative, and furthermore it had unearthed the politics behind Alma Cogan's career, most of which I did not know until today; from my understanding, Alma was not valued by Columbia, given the fact, she made money for EMI with her UK and international recordings - many of which were hits.
To be honest, people who are not appreciated, or not treated in a way that they are not used to, especially when they have worked hard, brought business, revenue and a high profile to the organisation would be "difficult", it is a natural, rational, and survival human behaviour.
Alma was a strong character of value, she had been right to defend herself to get what she wished for, Alma had been very fair by obligating her contract with EMI records, however, this organisation position in this matter was not what you could call being supportive.
I know that Alma Cogan was margingly older than Cilla Black, Helen Shapiro, Sandy Shaw and Dusty Springfield, I cannot see age being a problem, I believe Alma was in the same age group as Shirley Bassey and Petula Clark, and these singers were still having hit recordings throughout the 1960s.
In a sociology context of the 21 century, wo/men can learn from their late sister Alma Cogan, she was one of the rare breed of womanhood who did not dance to the tune played by men, given the fact when she was performing, it was at the time of great inequality for many people.
I don't think one can say Alma was "marginally older than Cilla Black or Helen Shapiro" - Alma was born in 1932, Cilla in 1943 and Helen Shapiro in 1946, so there was an entire decade between them. The popular music industry was and is very much youth-oriented and there are few teenagers today (or then) who would accept someone that much older. Petula Clark's 'comeback' was with "Downtown" which was a happy fluke, since it was actually the 'B' side of the record. Additionally, in the UK, the album for album's sake had not really appeared, albums were generally made because of a hit recording. Had Alma lived, then she would have probably gone on to make themed albums, in much the same way that such as Barbra Streisand has - all Cole Porter or Rodgers and Hart, a Christmas album and so forth. In a perverse way, Alma was her worst enemy professionally, since she still thought she could compete directly with the newest and shiniest stars and had to be persuaded that she had no need to do that. Nevertheless, underneath, I think she still craved that kind of attention - all performers do! (Judy Garland is the classic example; I think she was quoted as saying that she only felt loved when she was in front of an audience.)
The support goes both ways though - EMI produced a very large number of recordings at their expense (unlike other companies) and promoted her; until after her death they had a fully staffed promotion and press office which helped her attain the fame she acquired. Alma benefited as much from EMI as EMI benefitted from her! It's easy to see things in hindsight, but certainly in 1965/66, *everything* was very, very young and executives were caught up in that; my own employment was probably because of my youth. Again, had Alma survived, I have no doubt she would have continued recording, possibly for EMI, but with a different contract, or she would have gone to another label - for example, Vera Lynn was tremendously successful for Decca, but changed to EMI. Any number of companies would have loved to have added Alma to their roster. I think one has to remember that the music industry was changing very rapidly - don't forget that Decca turned down the Beatles, so lots of people made mistakes!! As it was, Alma went out on a high note and probably at the peak of her vocal powers. What more can a star want?
Thanks for the e-mail and the news about the David Gooch article..what a scoop ! I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the 'last album' and the sensitive issues covered by David regarding the recording and subsequent release of the album and singles.
It filled a void for many fans of what really happened during the ill-feted 1965/66 period of Alma's life, I appreciate the time and trouble you must have taken to pursuade David to contribute what must have been a difficult, and maybe even painful subject to cover, and ALL the way from the States too!!..Many Many Thanks !!
I look forward to hearing new public domain recordings, perhaps you could coverin your next newsletter what constitutes a public domain recording ? Is the the length of time after an artists death, or after the song was written or maybe recorded ?
Keep up the good work Eddie, an 'Angel' up there, who will be forever 34, is smiling with you....;-)
I've read it through several times, and certainly found it very interesting.
It certainly illustrated the sheer professionalism of Alma, obviously determined to get the final result of the recording done her way.
I understand she didn't realise how ill she was at this time, but given what happened - it is good to find that the end result was 'without a flaw in evidence'.
Thanks for your reply, you are such a great guy ~ I can take a few lessons from you on devotion to your hero ~ or heroine, in your case. The heavily Eppy-promotional phase of my life will (if fate allows) begin in earnest when my daughter Stephy graduates high school in June 2008, and I move on out of this married life situation. That's also the year "The Fifth Beatle" movie debuts, the first major motion picture covering the last five years of his life.
Lucky you being able to live in Spain for weeks at a time. Brian used to do that prior to his fame days. I've never been to a different country, although Stephy has been to Toronto, Canada once on a school excursion to see a Broadway play. Actually, they say that visiting different areas of the States is similar to visiting foreign countries, except that you don't need a passport and you all still speak English (after a fashion, depending, hahaa). My 10 years living in the South was certainly an education, discovering that a culture can, at the same time, be the most sweetly generous and hospitable but also be the most intolerant and ignorant.
Anyhow, here are the three pages from the Brian bio describing his relationship with Alma. Let me know if you learned anything new. :)
And yes, I had read the article by David Gooch and found it very informative and inspiring, so, after receiving your email I read it again. What a brilliant woman. It reinforces my belief even more strongly that, if Alma had not contracted cancer, Brian would not have gone down that bipolar druggie road as far as he did (she wouldn't have let him), so he wouldn't have died either. She was so good at taking care of so many things at once, including caring for her friends ~ and Brian and Alma meant so much to each other, even if (as rumour has it) the flaky John Lennon was sort of in the mix there. It occurs to me that those three sort of covered for each other and helped each other in so many ways.
When that David Gooch article is read, in tandem with the Alma pages in the Epstein bio, the following scenario seems inevitable, barring unforeseen circumstances:
*the eppylover morphs into her favorite hypothetical conjecture mode*
The stormy relationship between Cilla and Brian appears as if it eventually would have broken apart, and her Bobby would have taken over management in a stellar fashion (as he indeed had done upon Brian's death). Then what would have happened? Brian is free to take on what he calls a "girl singer" (one of those sexist labels that weren't offensive in those days). Consequently, if Brian had not become Alma's actual manager, she would have at least had a chance to jump on board under the NEMS umbrella ~ because, even though his Cilla, along with Dusty and Sandie were the "top girl singers" (along with this "Helen Shapiro" ~ one David Gooch mentions but, along with Alma, we really hadn't heard of over here), Alma quite obviously had the background, experience and popularity longevity far beyond the younger singers. This small career lull was just a temporary phase.
Regarding "management," Alma was a person that Brian would not have been able to dominate, nor would he have wanted to, as he was wont to do with the artistes he managed. He would not have had the least desire to boss her around and tell her what to do because, besides respecting her talent, he greatly respected her theatrical knowledge, flair and acuity, which paralleled and complemented his own. She was on even ground with him, as was Lionel Bart, another of their best friends. She and Brian were two birds of a feather, so to speak, and would have eventually become an unstoppable team.
A couple of years of LiveJournal discussions have brought many of us to the conclusion that, with Brian alive, the Yoko thing would never have had a chance to develop with John, either ~ in short time, Yoko would have gone the same route as Maharishi. Hence, again barring unforseen circumstances, the chain of events leading to the murder of John probably would not have happened.
Ahhhh... as I always tell my readers, my search for that elusive time portal continues! ;P
Back down to earth now.
I wonder why it's never mentioned if Brian was at her funeral? They were deep into filming "How I Won The War" in Sept-Oct, but surely he would have taken the time out. Logic tells me that Brian might have felt the services would have turned into a circus if the Beatles' manager had attended (the very reason Queenie Epstein asked the Boys not to attend Brian's funeral). Or maybe he was there and it never was reported?
One thing I gather about Alma's insistence on working extra hard on her career when she knew death was imminent ~ she did NOT wish to be forgotten.
The UK youngsters on my LJ friends-list all know very well who Alma was, and most say their parents play her music often. So, at least in the UK, the name of Alma Cogan lives on, immensely. And your website definitely will keep it going, seeing as it's a fantastic resource for reference and research, not to mention very entertaining!
After next year, I hope to do the same for Brian, as his official website has become much, much less than what he deserves. I'm getting practice and cutting my teeth on the LiveJournal communities I've tried to create for him, but they are far from what I want to do. I want it to be as perfect as possible. I've come to the conclusion that Brian's "official website" www.brianepstein.com, was put online by Martin Lewis primarily to sell the book, because, after that promotional blitz was over, there were no more updates except on his Hall of Fame signature pages (which is done automatically anyway). I'm not putting-down his Rhino version of the book, which is outstanding! but I do wish he hadn't dropped Brian's site like a hot potato after he made his money off it. Ah well, at least he didn't take the site offline. Probably he thinks he might get a few more stragglers to buy the book if they found it that way. Yes, I am a terrible cynic.
Enough of that. If it's okay with you, I wonder if I could post a copy of David Gooch's article (along with a link to it and your website) soon on my LJ. My readers have heard several times about Alma and your site, and have responded favorably. In fact, I've got one LJ friend who was so inspired by it that she wants to team with me and do the same thing for Brian. Heaven knows, when the time comes, I shall need as much help as I can get!
Come to think of it, I also owe that dear young lady an email response, which I've put off because I sort of have to wait for the husband to go somewhere and vacate the premises when I write tremendous missives (such as this one, hahaa).
By the way, please don't feel you've got to start going through the clippings and photos right away; I'm just tickled that you have gotten them down out of storage. I do agree that your involvement with that wonderful CD compilation, and the newsletter, etc., are much more a priority. What a workload! But what a marvelous cause.
I hope I can even begin to do for Brian half as well as you are doing for Alma.
It's so great to have found a common thread in our devotion to two of the greatest people who ever lived. Granted, mine may have been a lot more wacked-out in some ways, but oh what the heck, that just makes him all the more endearing. :)
love,
Christine
p.s. Those book scans can also be found online, at: http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f368/BrianEpstein/Texts-Books/alma-colemanbook-1.jpg http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f368/BrianEpstein/Texts-Books/alma-colemanbook-2.jpg http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f368/BrianEpstein/Texts-Books/alma-colemanbook-3.jpg
I am very pleased by the website and I enjoyed reading your article and David Gooch's. I thought David Gooch was very fair in his comments and it was interesting to read about Alma's last recording project. I surprised to read that Alma regarded by some EMI as 'difficult' but I suppose if you are an established 'name' you must guard your careervery closely and make sure that any decisions made are the right decisions. I would imagine that any well-known name in the music business would be regarded as 'difficult' to somebody!
I am enclosing my subscription cheque for £12 and I look forward to hearing more about the Brisbane show and the proposed CDs in due course. Keep up the good work Eddie! I really appreciate all you do for we Alma fans!
You asked for comments on the David Gooch article! I found his contribution extremely interesting, informative and detailed, particulary it was quite a shock to discover that at the time of her final recordings, EMI were close to not renewing Alma's contract. Even taking into account how fast the whole music scene was changing then, this decision appears harsh, foolish and shortsighted on their part, considering that Alma was still having big-selling hits abroad in Israel, Germany, Sweden ect, in spite of things undoubtedly being much quieter for her at home. I wonder if this could be the reason that Alma briefly "defected" to pye for her one-off Love Ya IIIya single under the Angela and the Fans pseudonym? Had Alma lived, one can't help wondering now what the outcome would have been regarding her future career.
I wanted more info of Alma such as her birthdate and when she dies..Plus other interesting data on her privat life. Please can you be more comprehensive in you "Biography" section?
Hi Eddie, how are you? We are the LUCKY DUCKIES, a nostalgic band where we do some siongs made popular by Alma Cogan.Watch our duet of "Do It Again" on www.youtube.com/affortunatus
Hi Eddie, how are you? We are the LUCKY DUCKIES, a nostalgic band where we do some siongs made popular by Alma Cogan.Watch our duet of "Do It Again" on www.youtube.com/affortunatus
To David Gooch: Your article was indeed fascinating. But as a longterm admirer of Petula Clark, I can categorically state that 'Downtown' was NOT a b-side. You could call it an unexpected hit though. Petula was lucky to bounce back, and she actually had far more success in the USA, where they didn't know her as a child star.
I can still clearly remember hearing the announcer on BBC Radio 4 forty five years ago telling us that Alma had died. The announcement was immediately followed by an extract from one of her records, and I doubt whether we will ever know whether the choice of "Cheek to Cheek" - which began "Heaven - I'm in heaven" - was deliberate or accidental. I've since heard this incident attributed - probably wrongly - to the deaths of two other singers: only this week Ken Bruce said that it happened when the death of Fred Astaire was announced.
Is there any news of Alma's 50th anniversary celebrations at all. I met Alma in 1958 at the Winter Gardens, Margate at age 11 with my parents, and became a great fan. I always remember seeing her in the blue feathered dress, on the I love to sing LP. She sand The stairway of love her latest recording at that time and a wonderful collection of other songs.
I was saddend to hear of the deaths of Chris White and John Cohen , great friends for years gone by. I attended the conventions in 1977 & 1986.
I can find no record on the Internet of an album called ‘An Hour Of Alma Cogan’ even on Discogs. This CD is mentioned no less than 10 times in the discography with the catalogue number EMI 7243 8 30190210.
I wouldn't be surprised if it has not been reissued under different titles - e.g. 'The Very Best of Alma' contains those 10 tracks.
I am just curious to know if there is any more information out there.
17 Comments:
At 5:46 AM,
Anonymous said…
I have read the detailed article by David Gooch - "the man in the know" concerning Alma' s recording contract with EMI.
It found the article very informative, and furthermore it had unearthed the politics behind Alma Cogan's career, most of which I did not know until today; from my understanding, Alma was not valued by Columbia, given the fact, she made money for EMI with her UK and international recordings - many of which were hits.
To be honest, people who are not appreciated, or not treated in a way that they are not used to, especially when they have worked hard, brought business, revenue and a high profile to the organisation would be "difficult", it is a natural, rational, and survival human behaviour.
Alma was a strong character of value, she had been right to defend herself to get what she wished for, Alma had been very fair by obligating her contract with EMI records, however, this organisation position in this matter was not what you could call being supportive.
I know that Alma Cogan was margingly older than Cilla Black, Helen Shapiro, Sandy Shaw and Dusty Springfield, I cannot see age being a problem, I believe Alma was in the same age group as Shirley Bassey and Petula Clark, and these singers were still having hit recordings throughout the 1960s.
In a sociology context of the 21 century, wo/men can learn from their late sister Alma Cogan, she was one of the rare breed of womanhood who did not dance to the tune played by men, given the fact when she was performing, it was at the time of great inequality for many people.
At 5:49 AM,
Anonymous said…
I don't think one can say Alma was "marginally older than Cilla Black or Helen Shapiro" - Alma was born in 1932, Cilla in 1943 and Helen Shapiro in 1946, so there was an entire decade between them. The popular music industry was and is very much youth-oriented and there are few teenagers today (or then) who would accept someone that much older. Petula Clark's 'comeback' was with "Downtown" which was a happy
fluke, since it was actually the 'B' side of the record. Additionally, in the UK, the album for album's sake had not really appeared, albums were generally made because of a hit recording. Had Alma lived, then she would have probably gone on to make themed albums, in much the same
way that such as Barbra Streisand has - all Cole Porter or Rodgers and Hart, a Christmas album and so forth. In a perverse way, Alma was her worst enemy professionally, since she still thought she could compete directly with the newest and shiniest stars and had to be persuaded that she had no need to do that. Nevertheless, underneath, I think she still craved that kind of attention - all performers do! (Judy Garland is the classic example; I think she was quoted as saying that she only felt loved when she was in front of an audience.)
The support goes both ways though - EMI produced a very large number of recordings at their expense (unlike other companies) and promoted her; until after her death they had a fully staffed promotion and press office which helped her attain the fame she acquired. Alma benefited as
much from EMI as EMI benefitted from her! It's easy to see things in hindsight, but certainly in 1965/66, *everything* was very, very young and executives were caught up in that; my own employment was probably
because of my youth. Again, had Alma survived, I have no doubt she
would have continued recording, possibly for EMI, but with a different contract, or she would have gone to another label - for example, Vera Lynn was tremendously successful for Decca, but changed to EMI. Any
number of companies would have loved to have added Alma to their
roster. I think one has to remember that the music industry was changing very rapidly - don't forget that Decca turned down the
Beatles, so lots of people made mistakes!! As it was, Alma went out on a high note and probably at the peak of her vocal powers. What more can a star want?
At 7:40 AM,
Anonymous said…
Hi Eddie,
Thanks for the e-mail and the news about the David Gooch article..what a scoop ! I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the 'last album' and the sensitive issues covered by David regarding the recording and subsequent release of the album and singles.
It filled a void for many fans of what really happened during the ill-feted 1965/66 period of Alma's life, I appreciate the time and trouble you must have taken to pursuade David to contribute what must have been a difficult, and maybe even painful subject to cover, and ALL the way from the States too!!..Many Many Thanks !!
I look forward to hearing new public domain recordings, perhaps you could coverin your next newsletter what constitutes a public domain recording ? Is the the length of time after an artists death, or after the song was written or maybe recorded ?
Keep up the good work Eddie, an 'Angel' up there, who will be forever 34, is smiling with you....;-)
Regards..
~ Craig ~
At 2:56 AM,
Anonymous said…
I've read it through several times, and certainly found it very interesting.
It certainly illustrated the sheer professionalism of Alma, obviously determined to get the final result of the recording done her way.
I understand she didn't realise how ill she was at this time, but given what happened - it is good to find that the end result was 'without a flaw in evidence'.
Regards.
Robbie.
At 6:47 AM,
Anonymous said…
Hi Eddie,
Thanks for your reply, you are such a great guy ~ I can take a few lessons from you on devotion to your hero ~ or heroine, in your case. The heavily Eppy-promotional phase of my life will (if fate allows) begin in earnest when my daughter Stephy graduates high school in June 2008, and I move on out of this married life situation. That's also the year "The Fifth Beatle" movie debuts, the first major motion picture covering the last five years of his life.
Lucky you being able to live in Spain for weeks at a time. Brian used to do that prior to his fame days. I've never been to a different country, although Stephy has been to Toronto, Canada once on a school excursion to see a Broadway play. Actually, they say that visiting different areas of the States is similar to visiting foreign countries, except that you don't need a passport and you all still speak English (after a fashion, depending, hahaa). My 10 years living in the South was certainly an education, discovering that a culture can, at the same time, be the most sweetly generous and hospitable but also be the most intolerant and ignorant.
Anyhow, here are the three pages from the Brian bio describing his relationship with Alma. Let me know if you learned anything new. :)
And yes, I had read the article by David Gooch and found it very informative and inspiring, so, after receiving your email I read it again. What a brilliant woman. It reinforces my belief even more strongly that, if Alma had not contracted cancer, Brian would not have gone down that bipolar druggie road as far as he did (she wouldn't have let him), so he wouldn't have died either. She was so good at taking care of so many things at once, including caring for her friends ~ and Brian and Alma meant so much to each other, even if (as rumour has it) the flaky John Lennon was sort of in the mix there. It occurs to me that those three sort of covered for each other and helped each other in so many ways.
When that David Gooch article is read, in tandem with the Alma pages in the Epstein bio, the following scenario seems inevitable, barring unforeseen circumstances:
*the eppylover morphs into her favorite hypothetical conjecture mode*
The stormy relationship between Cilla and Brian appears as if it eventually would have broken apart, and her Bobby would have taken over management in a stellar fashion (as he indeed had done upon Brian's death). Then what would have happened? Brian is free to take on what he calls a "girl singer" (one of those sexist labels that weren't offensive in those days). Consequently, if Brian had not become Alma's actual manager, she would have at least had a chance to jump on board under the NEMS umbrella ~ because, even though his Cilla, along with Dusty and Sandie were the "top girl singers" (along with this "Helen Shapiro" ~ one David Gooch mentions but, along with Alma, we really hadn't heard of over here), Alma quite obviously had the background, experience and popularity longevity far beyond the younger singers. This small career lull was just a temporary phase.
Regarding "management," Alma was a person that Brian would not have been able to dominate, nor would he have wanted to, as he was wont to do with the artistes he managed. He would not have had the least desire to boss her around and tell her what to do because, besides respecting her talent, he greatly respected her theatrical knowledge, flair and acuity, which paralleled and complemented his own. She was on even ground with him, as was Lionel Bart, another of their best friends. She and Brian were two birds of a feather, so to speak, and would have eventually become an unstoppable team.
A couple of years of LiveJournal discussions have brought many of us to the conclusion that, with Brian alive, the Yoko thing would never have had a chance to develop with John, either ~ in short time, Yoko would have gone the same route as Maharishi. Hence, again barring unforseen circumstances, the chain of events leading to the murder of John probably would not have happened.
Ahhhh... as I always tell my readers, my search for that elusive time portal continues! ;P
Back down to earth now.
I wonder why it's never mentioned if Brian was at her funeral? They were deep into filming "How I Won The War" in Sept-Oct, but surely he would have taken the time out. Logic tells me that Brian might have felt the services would have turned into a circus if the Beatles' manager had attended (the very reason Queenie Epstein asked the Boys not to attend Brian's funeral). Or maybe he was there and it never was reported?
One thing I gather about Alma's insistence on working extra hard on her career when she knew death was imminent ~ she did NOT wish to be forgotten.
The UK youngsters on my LJ friends-list all know very well who Alma was, and most say their parents play her music often. So, at least in the UK, the name of Alma Cogan lives on, immensely. And your website definitely will keep it going, seeing as it's a fantastic resource for reference and research, not to mention very entertaining!
After next year, I hope to do the same for Brian, as his official website has become much, much less than what he deserves. I'm getting practice and cutting my teeth on the LiveJournal communities I've tried to create for him, but they are far from what I want to do. I want it to be as perfect as possible. I've come to the conclusion that Brian's "official website" www.brianepstein.com, was put online by Martin Lewis primarily to sell the book, because, after that promotional blitz was over, there were no more updates except on his Hall of Fame signature pages (which is done automatically anyway). I'm not putting-down his Rhino version of the book, which is outstanding! but I do wish he hadn't dropped Brian's site like a hot potato after he made his money off it. Ah well, at least he didn't take the site offline. Probably he thinks he might get a few more stragglers to buy the book if they found it that way. Yes, I am a terrible cynic.
Enough of that.
If it's okay with you, I wonder if I could post a copy of David Gooch's article (along with a link to it and your website) soon on my LJ. My readers have heard several times about Alma and your site, and have responded favorably. In fact, I've got one LJ friend who was so inspired by it that she wants to team with me and do the same thing for Brian. Heaven knows, when the time comes, I shall need as much help as I can get!
Come to think of it, I also owe that dear young lady an email response, which I've put off because I sort of have to wait for the husband to go somewhere and vacate the premises when I write tremendous missives (such as this one, hahaa).
By the way, please don't feel you've got to start going through the clippings and photos right away; I'm just tickled that you have gotten them down out of storage. I do agree that your involvement with that wonderful CD compilation, and the newsletter, etc., are much more a priority. What a workload! But what a marvelous cause.
I hope I can even begin to do for Brian half as well as you are doing for Alma.
It's so great to have found a common thread in our devotion to two of the greatest people who ever lived. Granted, mine may have been a lot more wacked-out in some ways, but oh what the heck, that just makes him all the more endearing. :)
love,
Christine
p.s. Those book scans can also be found online, at:
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f368/BrianEpstein/Texts-Books/alma-colemanbook-1.jpg
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f368/BrianEpstein/Texts-Books/alma-colemanbook-2.jpg
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f368/BrianEpstein/Texts-Books/alma-colemanbook-3.jpg
At 3:09 AM,
Anonymous said…
I am very pleased by the website and I enjoyed reading your article and David Gooch's. I thought David Gooch was very fair in his comments and it was interesting to read about Alma's last recording project. I surprised to read that Alma regarded by some EMI as 'difficult' but I suppose if you are an established 'name' you must guard your careervery closely and make sure that any decisions made are the right decisions. I would imagine that any well-known name in the music business would be regarded as 'difficult' to somebody!
I am enclosing my subscription cheque for £12 and I look forward to hearing more about the Brisbane show and the proposed CDs in due course. Keep up the good work Eddie! I really appreciate all you do for we Alma fans!
All best wishes
Geoff
At 5:06 AM,
Anonymous said…
You asked for comments on the David Gooch article! I found his contribution extremely interesting, informative and detailed, particulary it was quite a shock to discover that at the time of her final recordings, EMI were close to not renewing Alma's contract. Even taking into account how fast the whole music scene was changing then, this decision appears harsh, foolish and shortsighted on their part, considering that Alma was still having big-selling hits abroad in Israel, Germany, Sweden ect, in spite of things undoubtedly being much quieter for her at home. I wonder if this could be the reason that Alma briefly "defected" to pye for her one-off Love Ya IIIya single under the Angela and the Fans pseudonym? Had Alma lived, one can't help wondering now what the outcome would have been regarding her future career.
At 8:17 AM,
Anonymous said…
I wanted more info of Alma such as her birthdate and when she dies..Plus other interesting data on her privat life. Please can you be more comprehensive in you "Biography" section?
At 5:08 PM,
Anonymous said…
Reply to David Taylor.
From an Alma Fan
Alma was born 19th May 1932
Alma Past away October 26th 1966
Please read the home page which states:-
Alma's personal life was just that, personal.
This web site does not discuss Miss Cogan's personal life, only her professional life, and musical work.
Hope this helps
At 8:52 AM,
The LUCKY DUCKIES said…
Hi Eddie, how are you?
We are the LUCKY DUCKIES, a nostalgic band where we do some siongs made popular by Alma Cogan.Watch our duet of "Do It Again" on www.youtube.com/affortunatus
At 8:52 AM,
The LUCKY DUCKIES said…
Hi Eddie, how are you?
We are the LUCKY DUCKIES, a nostalgic band where we do some siongs made popular by Alma Cogan.Watch our duet of "Do It Again" on www.youtube.com/affortunatus
At 6:41 AM,
Brian said…
I did not realise that Alma died in 1966
She is a wonderful lady and she has the most beautiful voice of anybody
I go to Utube every day and just view her and listen to her all the time
She is a wonderful lady and has the most beautiful voice of anyone in the world
At 7:19 AM,
mister_tmg said…
To David Gooch:
Your article was indeed fascinating. But as a longterm admirer of Petula Clark, I can categorically state that 'Downtown' was NOT a b-side. You could call it an unexpected hit though. Petula was lucky to bounce back, and she actually had far more success in the USA, where they didn't know her as a child star.
At 4:12 AM,
Unknown said…
I can still clearly remember hearing the announcer on BBC Radio 4 forty five years ago telling us that Alma had died. The announcement was immediately followed by an extract from one of her records, and I doubt whether we will ever know whether the choice of "Cheek to Cheek" - which began "Heaven - I'm in heaven" - was deliberate or accidental. I've since heard this incident attributed - probably wrongly - to the deaths of two other singers: only this week Ken Bruce said that it happened when the death of Fred Astaire was announced.
At 2:35 AM,
Alan Vandyke said…
HI there Eddie
Is there any news of Alma's 50th anniversary celebrations at all. I met Alma
in 1958 at the Winter Gardens, Margate at age 11 with my parents, and became a great fan. I always remember seeing her in the blue feathered dress, on the I love to sing LP. She sand The stairway of love her latest recording at that time and a wonderful collection of other songs.
I was saddend to hear of the deaths of Chris White and John Cohen , great friends for years gone by. I attended the conventions in 1977 & 1986.
Kind regarda
Alan Vandyke London SE23
At 10:33 PM,
voles said…
Is there any chance of a Part 3 of Dean Peirce-Hendriks' excellent discography?
At 3:54 AM,
voles said…
I can find no record on the Internet of an album called ‘An Hour Of Alma Cogan’ even on Discogs. This CD is mentioned no less than 10 times in the discography with the catalogue number EMI 7243 8 30190210.
I wouldn't be surprised if it has not been reissued under different titles - e.g. 'The Very Best of Alma' contains those 10 tracks.
I am just curious to know if there is any more information out there.
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