It was a fantastic weekend at the Metropole Hotel, Blackpool - the best yet. It was Billy all the way starting with the welcome drink at 4pm with Jean and Albie Wycherley, on the Friday when Jivin' Jim Killey, our DJ for the weekend, entertained us with an hour of Billy Fury records, some not so well known, and got us dancing. The place was packed by early evening and Colin Paul and the Persuaders gave us an excellent set of numbers including lots of Billy favourites. It was good to see Martin Davis back with the band after his bereavement last year. He was determined to play for us and did this as a one-off before leaving the band to look after his two young children after the tragic loss of their mother. Well done Martin, we wish you all the best and we're going to miss you. Jivin' Jim played some more great tracks including the now historic Stuart Coleman radio interview with Billy from 1982 - Billy's last interview. Thanks for that Jim. After the evening meal Colin and the band did more Billy music as well as some rockin' classics that we all know and love as well as some more unusual numbers - all brilliant. We were then treated to Billy Dean, a very good rocker who really looks the part. Great voice, and he had us all jiving to songs by Billy, Elvis, Buddy and a great rendition of David Whitfield's "Cara Mia" which got a tremendous round of applause. What a voice!! Jim took to the stage again with more rockin' discs to dance the night away.
On Saturday morning we had the Merchandise tables set out with lots of Memorabillya on sale. BFITOY members Di and Ann Vickers, Vic England and myself helped with the selling along with Jean Wycherley who was willing to talk to people about Billy, sign pictures and pose for photos. Mo Cooper also had her stall of beautiful dance clothes and accessories. Sheila Sneath was a great help as she went round with the Nobody's Child collection box asking for donations. Well done Sheila. Sarahlea held her usual jive class and got a lot of people on their feet dancing to some of Billy's rock'n'roll classics. The afternoon was sunny and some of went out for a walk as it was a free period so we did the shops! In the evening Jim Killey played lots more music to dance to and Colin Paul and the Persuaders gave us another wonderful hour of music, including the fantastic "Hurt" - no-one can sing that like Colin! At 10pm it was the one we were all waiting for. Albie Wycherley stepped on stage to huge applause and launched into Last Night Was Made For Love, looking great in black leather trousers and silk shirt. Everyone crowded close to the stage to take photos and video footage. Albie went through lots of Billy favourites like I'd Never Find Another You, Forget Him, In Thoughts Of You, Once Upon A Dream, Like I've Never Been Gone, Wondrous Place, Maybe Tomorrow, That's Love and When Will You Say I Love You, all backed by Colin Paul and the Persuaders. At one point he came down into the audience, holding hands and singing to several of the women - lovely! After a fantastic encore of It's Only Make Believe he took his Mum's hand and they sang Halfway to Paradise together which was wonderful. H left the stage with our cheers ringing after him. He was in great form and brought a lot of humour to the show as he usually does. Well done Albie, you are the greatest!
How can I follow that? Well, Jim played more tracks into the night and we all enjoyed the friendly atmosphere chatting and drinking with friends old and new. On the Sunday morning the merchandise stalls were busy again and I helped sell tickets for Jean Wycherley's raffle while the jiving competition was taking place. The girls looked fabulous in their rock'n'roll outfits and some of the guys were wearing teddy boy suits and really looked the part. Three couples won prizes and they were well deserved. Colin got up on stage and sang us a few more songs and then Albie again treated us to a wonderful rendition of Jealousy followed by Give Me Your Word and a brilliant acapella version of Open Your Arms. Thanks again Albie. Over the weekend Colin handed out a quiz sheet with various questions about Billy, some of which were really difficult. These were collected and prizes of Colin Paul's new CD were given to the three winning teams. Well done. The CD of Billy's songs is great Colin, thanks. People were asked to come up out of the audience to sing their favourite Billy Fury song. A few did and were all very good. The best was Chris Parsons who sang I'll Show You which was perfect! Well done Chris. Rob Dee then sang Magic Eyes and Sleepless Nights, and Pete Basnett sang Nobody's Child - was that a tear in your eye Pete? Aaah! It was lovely, thank you. Jean drew the raffle and there were a lot of nice prizes including a large framed pictire of Billy. Colin handed out one prize of a potted plant and got down on his knees saying he wanted to smoke it! It was not that kind of plant Colin!! Thanks to everyone who bought raffle tickets - Jean made £191 for her three charities, The British Heart Foundation, The National Kidney Research Trust and her own Nobody's Child Appeal for needy children in the Liverpool area. Jean was presented with a bouquet of flowers by June Roth and Diane Wardle who in turn were presented with a donation to the student fund by Mo Cooper from the takings on her stall who also thanked them for organising such a wonderful weekend.
The last but not least event of the weekend was the presentation of the Fans Of Billy Fury Music Awards to three students from LIPA - the Liverpool Academy of Performing Arts. The two girls and one boy were each given a cheque for £500 towards their tuition in their chosen field of music. They had to say why they deserved the award, what they would do with the money and what their future aims were. They were also asked what they knew about Billy Fury. They all knew about his music and said he was an inspiration to them. It shows what a great legacy Billy has left to the music world for future generations to enjoy. The whole weekend was an inspiration and it was nice to see more younger people coming along. Long may they continue.
BILLY FURY WEEKEND - BLACKPOOL FEB 2007
