Fact #53249
When:
Short story:
A new club, The Blue Angel, opens in Liverpool, England, UK, Europe, with cabaret vocalist Alma Warren and The Terry Francis Quartet.
Full article:
ALMA WARREN : A FEW BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS
When Alma Roza left school about 1945 and began working for a Liverpool football-pools company, big sister Lita was already singing with dance bands in London. A few years later, hoping to follow in Lita's footsteps, Alma too moved South taking secretarial work while she sought her chance to become a singer.
At a charity ball in November 1951 a lady who she chatted to turned out to be the mother of bandleader Vic Lewis and knowing his singer Marion Williams was about to leave, persuaded him to give Alma an audition. The consequence was, as Alma Ross, she joined Vic's orchestra making her first appearance, coincidentaly, at Luton's Alma Theatre (later to become the Cresta Ballroom). Unfortunately her joy of making it into show-business was short lived, because after only a couple of months Vic decided to economise and do without vocalists.
But having tasted success she wasn't giving up easily and several more auditions followed, resulting in two offers of work, one from Jack Nathan's Band and the other from The Squadronaires. She chose to join Jack at the Coconut Grove.
In 1952 Alma moved over to Geraldo joining his orchestra on radio on Christmas Eve, this also being her first broadcast. It was Geraldo who changed her name to Warren. After less than a year Alma moved on again to the Stanley Black Orchestra, where she replaced Diana Coupland and stayed about two years.
It was on a 'Top of the Town' broadcast with Stanley that Parlophone boss George Martin first heard her and decided to give her a chance on record. Alma's first disc was the Frank Sinatra success 'Young at Heart' released April 1954. Not being a runaway success for Alma, her second disc was the obvious 'Try again'.
By August 1955 Alma decided the time had come to leave the comparative protection of being a dance band singer and take her chance in the hard world of the solo artist. Radio and television bookings, although not overwhelming, kept her quite busy. Further recordings included 'Stowaway' a song that did well for Barbara Lyon and 'Stealin' that didn't do Frankie Vaughan any harm. But none of them put Alma on the road to riches.
In May 1956 she travelled with Frankie Howerd out to the Middle East for a month long tour of service camps there. Back home she did a 'Sunday Night at the London Palladium' on 17th June again with Frankie Howerd, joining in the comedy sketches with him. On Monday 23rd July Alma began her first variety tour with a week at the Chatham Empire.
Much of 1957 was taken up with foreign travel, mainly touring service camps, but come Christmas time she joined up with sister Lita in the pantomime 'Aladdin' at the Regal Theatre, Gloucester. There was more touring during 1958 until joining up with Lita again for 'Robin Hood' at Liverpool Pavilion.
After this the trail goes cold with the next mention of Alma I can find being in March 1960 when she was singing with the Ronnie Rand Band at the Astoria Danse Salon in Charing Cross Road. She was at the Hit Parade Ball run by the Trade Music Guild at London's Empire Rooms in February 1962.
(Source : http://whirligigtv.yuku.com/topic/4767/The-Other-Alma#.WD9K0jtWNzo)
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When Alma Roza left school about 1945 and began working for a Liverpool football-pools company, big sister Lita was already singing with dance bands in London. A few years later, hoping to follow in Lita's footsteps, Alma too moved South taking secretarial work while she sought her chance to become a singer.
At a charity ball in November 1951 a lady who she chatted to turned out to be the mother of bandleader Vic Lewis and knowing his singer Marion Williams was about to leave, persuaded him to give Alma an audition. The consequence was, as Alma Ross, she joined Vic's orchestra making her first appearance, coincidentaly, at Luton's Alma Theatre (later to become the Cresta Ballroom). Unfortunately her joy of making it into show-business was short lived, because after only a couple of months Vic decided to economise and do without vocalists.
But having tasted success she wasn't giving up easily and several more auditions followed, resulting in two offers of work, one from Jack Nathan's Band and the other from The Squadronaires. She chose to join Jack at the Coconut Grove.
In 1952 Alma moved over to Geraldo joining his orchestra on radio on Christmas Eve, this also being her first broadcast. It was Geraldo who changed her name to Warren. After less than a year Alma moved on again to the Stanley Black Orchestra, where she replaced Diana Coupland and stayed about two years.
It was on a 'Top of the Town' broadcast with Stanley that Parlophone boss George Martin first heard her and decided to give her a chance on record. Alma's first disc was the Frank Sinatra success 'Young at Heart' released April 1954. Not being a runaway success for Alma, her second disc was the obvious 'Try again'.
By August 1955 Alma decided the time had come to leave the comparative protection of being a dance band singer and take her chance in the hard world of the solo artist. Radio and television bookings, although not overwhelming, kept her quite busy. Further recordings included 'Stowaway' a song that did well for Barbara Lyon and 'Stealin' that didn't do Frankie Vaughan any harm. But none of them put Alma on the road to riches.
In May 1956 she travelled with Frankie Howerd out to the Middle East for a month long tour of service camps there. Back home she did a 'Sunday Night at the London Palladium' on 17th June again with Frankie Howerd, joining in the comedy sketches with him. On Monday 23rd July Alma began her first variety tour with a week at the Chatham Empire.
Much of 1957 was taken up with foreign travel, mainly touring service camps, but come Christmas time she joined up with sister Lita in the pantomime 'Aladdin' at the Regal Theatre, Gloucester. There was more touring during 1958 until joining up with Lita again for 'Robin Hood' at Liverpool Pavilion.
After this the trail goes cold with the next mention of Alma I can find being in March 1960 when she was singing with the Ronnie Rand Band at the Astoria Danse Salon in Charing Cross Road. She was at the Hit Parade Ball run by the Trade Music Guild at London's Empire Rooms in February 1962.
(Source : http://whirligigtv.yuku.com/topic/4767/The-Other-Alma#.WD9K0jtWNzo)