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Fact #105175

When:

Short story:

UK pop idol Shane Fenton marries Liverpool showgirl Iris Caldwell, and announces his intention of retiring from show business. He will, however, re-surface as 70s glam-rocker Alvin Stardust.

Full article:

The Shane Fenton/Alvin Stardust Story by Johnny Black.

Necessity, they say, is the mother of invention, and no-one knows that better than Alvin Stardust.

The night before he exploded onto the mid-70s glitter scene via a mesmerizing first appearance on Top Of The Pops he almost destroyed his chances of appearing at all. Staring at himself in a mirror above the sink in a b+b in London's Sussex Gardens, he realized with shock that, "there was no way I could go on tv looking like that."

The Alvin Stardust story is, without question, one of the most extraordinary tales in British music biz history, filled with twists and turns that no-one would believe if not for the fact that they're all true.

The man who was born Bernard Jewry in London's Mile End Road has, for example, twice found fame by inheriting a name that was never intended for him, jammed with Buddy Holly when he was thirteen, turned down a Beatles-penned song that subsequently launched another artist to stardom and created the foundation for an indie label that later became the UK's No1 singles company, but that's just scratching the surface.

Little wonder then that no less an authority than Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones once dubbed him