When Des and Buddy came to town
IN the aftermath of the sad passing of Des O’connor there has been scant mention in the media of his pivotal role as compere on the Buddy Holly tour in June 1958.
Your Bugle will address that oversight.
Had Des not passed away at 88 following a fall at his home who knows how long he would have endured with his inimitable style as a comedian, television presenter and yes, singer!
Millions
Des sold 20 million records, and achieved four top ten singles, including a number one. During his seven decades in showbiz
The Des O’connor Show
was broadcast in forty countries, he worked in Las Vegas and appeared one thousand times at The London Palladium.
Jokes
He was the butt of jokes from other comedians – many of which he wrote himself. In one of his many gaffes, the Duke of Edinburgh once asked Des, “are you really that bad?”
Des had a natural talent for comedy, and early in his working life at a Northampton shoe factory, he realised that he had a gift for making people laugh. He also went on to become a professional footballer for Northampton Town.
His first opportunity to tread the boards came when serving in the RAF. He was mimicking his commanding officer without realising he was watching and he ‘ordered’ him to enter a talent competition. Des was not of the opinion that ‘opportunity knocks’ – he believed you had to go knocking for it. He paid five of the other contestants a fiver a-piece to drop out of the competition – which he susequently won.
Redcoat
He went on to become a Redcoat at Butlins and was later signed by Granada Television after being discovered at The Palace in Newcastle in 1958, and given the job as host on ATV’S popular weekly Spot The Tune programme.
In 1958 he was also chosen to compere the Buddy Holly tour – a coveted gig to be sure. At a time when the average weekly wage was ten pounds a week, Des was paid one hundred a week – enough for him to buy his first new car.
Gags
Buddy and Des got on extremely well together, with Des giving Buddy plenty of gags to use between numbers, which endeared him even more to his British fans. Buddy even wrote home to his parents in Lubbock, Texas, enthusing that, “I am working with this fantastic English comedian ...”
Upon arriving in England one of the first purchases that Buddy made was a Hofner President acoustic guitar for strumming on the tour bus and
Right: Buddy and Des inside the 1958 tour
back at the digs. He taught Des a few chords and at the end of the tour actually gave the guitar to Des, who treasured it all his life.
Des has often since said that of all his vast experiences, he will never, ever forget the Buddy Holly tour, which covered thirtyone concerts over thirtythree days – taking in The Gaumont, Wolverhampton on 7th March, and Birmingham Town Hall on the 10th.
Ankles
Des said that he, Buddy and his sidemen, Joe B. Mauldin and Jerry Alison were always goofing around, and on one occasion at The Harrogate Hotel he pulled at Buddy’s ankles to wake him up and in a broad Texas drawl he replied, “don’t do that Des, I’m tall enough.”
So, here’s to the man who once famously said, “all I do is walk out on to the stage, chat to the audience and sing a few songs.”