Billy Fury from Liverpool, England began music lessons, on the piano, at age 11. He got his first guitar at age 14. By 1955, the skiffle music boom had begun in England and Fury was leading his own local group, while still working on a tugboat and/or as a stevedore. By 1958, he had won a talent competition and had begun to write his own songs.
In a story which was legend among the British youth of the period, Fury was discovered by impressario Larry Parnes on October 1, 1958. That night, Fury attended a performance of The Larry Parnes Extravaganza, hoping to offer his songs to Marty Wilde, one of the featured performers and a well-known rock-&-roll star because of his appearances on the television series, "Oh Boy!" Fury did get backstage, and was seen by Parnes while performing one of his own songs for Wilde. Parnes booked Fury to appear on the Extravaganze that same night and the rest, as they say, is history - the applause which Fury received earned him a permanent spot on the tour and Parnes as his agent. Parnes' established proceedure was to give his singers stage names representing emotions and attributes: Marty Wilde, Johnny Gentle, Vince Eager. Thus, Ronald Wycherley became Billy Fury.
By the British standards of the day, Fury's early performances were so suggestive that a curtain was brought down on one of his shows. This forced Fury to restrain himself from his more overtly sexual stage moves. Fury's recording career began in early, 1959, with "Maybe Tomorrow," a song which he had written and which charted soon after its release. Fury's television debut came soon after in "Strictly For Sparrows." After that, Fury became a fixture on musical showcases such as "Oh Boy!"
After a string of hit singles, Fury cut his debut album, "The Sound of Fury," in 1960. Fury's back-up players included Joe Brown, one of England's few serious rockabilly players at that time, and drummer Andy White, who later played on the original release version of The Beatles' debut single "Love Me Do." The album sold well and has been re-released a half-dozen times since, including a CD version in the early 1990s. In an interview during the '70s, Keith Richards declared "The Sound of Fury" one of the greatest rock 'n roll albums of its era.
In 1960, DECCA Records decided to soften Fury's sound, at least on his singles, and Fury's early 60's recordings took on a more sophisticated air. "Talkin' In My Sleep" and "Don't Worry," backed by The Four Kestrels, were two results of this change. "Halfway to Paradise," in 1961, began Fury's brief assault on the top of the charts. The orchestrated "Halfway to Paradise" hit #3. A few months later, "Jealousy" reached #2; "I'd Never Find Another You" reached #5. By 1962, Fury was England's top rock-n-roll attraction, backed by the legendary Tornadoes of "Telstar" fame, appearing regularly on television. During this time, he also ventured to America where he got to meet Elvis Presley on the set of "Girls, Girls, Girls." (Many considered Fury to be the closest that England came to producing its own Elvis Presley, capable of dark, brooding, sexual performances, as well as gentle, vulnerable ballads.)
It was the arrival of another group from Liverpool, The Beatles, which ended Fury's dominance of the British teen music scene. (Interesting aside - The Beatles had tried, and failed, to become Fury's back-up during one of his tours.) Nonetheless, Fury continued to chart records into 1964. During that summer, he starred in a semi-autobiographical movie, "I've Got a Horse." Later the same year, he got his own television show. By 1965, however, Fury's health had begun to deteriorate and his records seldom charted better than the mid-20s.
Fury left DECCA Records in 1966 and signed a five-year contract with EMI's Parlophone Records. During those five years, Fury saw some very modest success but nothing like the frenzied stardom of his first seven years in music.
Fury underwent heart surgery in 1970 and in 1971, but resumed performing in 1972. England's rock-n-roll revival during the mid-70s saw the re-release of "The Sound of Fury," as well as other parts of Fury's catalog. During those years, Fury toured England with his one-time idol Marty Wilde. When he wasn't performing, Fury looked after his other interests, including wildlife preservation.
Another heart operation, in 1976, essentially ended Fury's musical career although there were still occasional recordings and television appearances. In 1978, Fury re-recorded his classic songs for K-Tel; in the early '80s he recut his old hits yet again for Polydor, which, by that time, owned DECCA Records. In 1981, a single, "Be Mine Tonight," just missed the British charts.
On March 4, 1982, Fury collapsed and nearly died while working on his farm. Nonetheless, that summer, he again went back on tour and placed the singles "Love Or Money" and "Devil Or Angel" on the English charts. Plans were made for a new album and a national tour, but Fury was found unconscious in his home on January 28, 1983. He died that same day in hospital.
A posthumous single, "Forget Him," charted in England later that same year. Numerous re-issues, as well as releases of previously unreleased material, have continued to appear in the compact disc era, most recently the "40th Anniversary Anthology," a double CD set and Beat Goes On's two-on-one CD of "We Want Billy" and "Billy."
On 10 April 1983, a tribute concert for Billy was held at the Beck Theatre in Hayes, Middlesex. All the artists performed for free and the money raised was donated to the Billy Fury memorial fund for research into heart disease. On the bill were such names as Marty Wilde with his daughter Kim Wilde, Joe Brown, Alvin Stardust, Dave Berry, Helen Shapiro, and John Miles.[citation needed]
In 1999 a TV documentary about Billy called Halfway to Paradise was broadcast on the BBC channel. It was narrated by Ian Dury.
Between 1999 and 2000 the song "Wondrous Place", a favourite of Fury's (he re-recorded it at least three times during his career), later received wide airplay on British television when it was used as the theme for a Toyota Yaris car advertisement.
On 19 April 2003 a bronze statue of Fury was unveiled by Jack Good at the National Museum of Liverpool Life. The sculpture, by Tom Murphy, a Liverpool sculptor, was donated by 'The Sound of Fury' fan club after the money was raised by fans.
In 2005 Spencer Leigh from BBC Radio Merseyside published a biography book about Billy Fury called Wondrous Face – The Billy Fury Story.
In 2008 a biographical documentary film Billy Fury His Wondrous Story was released on DVD.
Eight of his EMI recordings remained unreleased on mainstream CD until June 2010, when they appeared on a 29-track issue, The Complete Parlophone Singles, released by Peaksoft (PEA009). The singer's estate licensed the tracks to benefit his memorial fund, which finances equipment purchases for hospital heart units.
In November 2011, further co-operation between the estate and Peaksoft resulted in the issuing of a second CD, The Lost Album (PEA014), which attempted to construct the format of an album recorded by Fury in 1967–71, but which was never released.
In 2010 Camden Council, London, named a small formerly nameless road Billy Fury Way in his honour. It starts just off Finchley Road near Finchley & Frognal station and runs to West Hampstead Station. He had recorded at the nearby Decca Studios. The alleyway was decorated with a large mural of his face (at the West Hampstead end), which was unveiled and blessed on Friday 29 July 2011.
Play It Cool was released for the first time on DVD on 10 February 2014.
Turn My Back on You
Billy Fury Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Makin' love with someone new
I thought you was my baby and I
Took it you love me true
Then I come along and find you
Makin' love with someone new
You haunt the honky-tonk places on
All you wanna do is knock a man's heart down
I thought you was my babe and I
Took it you love me true
Then I come along and find you
Making love to someone new
Well tears were flowing from my eyes
Oh wee baby, what a surprise
I love you with all of my heart
And now it's broken all apart
Bye bye baby, bye bye to you
Bye bye baby, I guess I'm gonna go again
I'm gonna swing around honey
Gonna turn my back on you (Oh, swing around)
I'm gonna swing around honey
Gonna turn my back on you
You broke a million hearts
You won't break mine
Not now or any other time
I thought you was my baby and I
Took it you love me true
Then I come along and find you
Making love to someone new
Well, tears flowing from my eyes
Oh ooh baby what a surprise
I loved you with all my heart
And now it's broken all apart
Bye bye baby, ah bah, bye bye to you
Ah ba ba ba ba ba bah, bye bye baby
I guess I wanna go on too
I'm gonna swing around honey
Gonna turn my back on you
Well I'm gonna turn my back on you
I'm gonna turn my back on you
I'm gonna swing around you honey
Gonna turn my back on you
Well I'm gonna turn my back on you
I'm gonna turn my back on you
I'm gonna swing around you honey
Gonna turn my back on you
Well I'm gonna turn my back, back, back
Honey turn my back, back, back
Baby, turn my back, back, back
Honey turn my back, back, back
I'm gonna swing around honey
Gonna turn my back on you back, back, back
In Billy Fury's song, "Turn My Back on You," the singer tells a story of heartbreak and betrayal. He explains that he caught his lover cheating on him with someone else. He believed that this woman was his true love, but now he's devastated to have discovered that she'd been unfaithful all along. He thought she was his baby and that she loved him, but now he has lost all faith and trust in her. She frequents bars and clubs and has a reputation for breaking men's hearts. Despite all this, he still loves her, but he knows he needs to move on. He says goodbye to her, turning his back on her for good.
The song is filled with sorrow and pain, as the singer struggles to comprehend how the person he loves could hurt him so deeply. The lyrics show how love can be a fickle thing and how easily it can be shattered by the actions of others. In the end, the singer decides that he must move on and let go of the woman who broke his heart, even though it hurts.
Line by Line Meaning
Well I come along one day and I caught you
Makin' love with someone new
I thought you was my baby and I
Took it you love me true
Then I come along and find you
Makin' love with someone new
One day, I caught you cheating on me with someone else. I thought you were my true love, but now I know that's not true. You betrayed my trust and broke my heart.
You haunt the honky-tonk places on
The side of town
All you wanna do is knock a man's heart down
I thought you was my babe and I
Took it you love me true
Then I come along and find you
Making love to someone new
You spend your time frequenting bars and clubs in shady parts of town, where you enjoy breaking men's hearts. I thought we had a special connection, but I see now that you were not loyal to me and instead were with someone else.
Well tears were flowing from my eyes
Oh wee baby, what a surprise
I love you with all of my heart
And now it's broken all apart
I was overwhelmed with sadness and cried when I found out about your infidelity. I had genuine feelings of love for you that now have been shattered by your actions.
Bye bye baby, bye bye to you
Bye bye baby, I guess I'm gonna go again
I'm gonna swing around honey
Gonna turn my back on you (Oh, swing around)
I'm gonna swing around honey
Gonna turn my back on you
It's time for me to say goodbye to you and move on. I'll leave you behind and start over again. I'm going to turn my back on you and forget about the love we shared.
You broke a million hearts
You won't break mine
Not now or any other time
I thought you was my baby and I
Took it you love me true
Then I come along and find you
Making love to someone new
You have a reputation for breaking the hearts of many, but you won't break mine. I trusted that you had true love for me, but my discovery of your unfaithfulness shattered that trust.
Well, tears flowing from my eyes
Oh ooh baby what a surprise
I loved you with all my heart
And now it's broken all apart
Once more, I cry tears of despair over the loss of the love we shared. It comes as a surprise to me that you could betray me in this way, given the depth of my love for you.
Bye bye baby, ah bah, bye bye to you
Ah ba ba ba ba ba bah, bye bye baby
I guess I wanna go on too
I'm gonna swing around honey
Gonna turn my back on you
I need to move on from you, and so I say goodbye again. I will continue living my life without you. I'll turn my back on you and leave our relationship behind.
Well I'm gonna turn my back on you
I'm gonna turn my back on you
I'm gonna swing around you honey
Gonna turn my back on you
Well I'm gonna turn my back on you
I'm gonna turn my back on you
I'm gonna swing around you honey
Gonna turn my back on you
Well I'm gonna turn my back, back, back
Honey turn my back, back, back
Baby, turn my back, back, back
Honey turn my back, back, back
I'm gonna swing around honey
Gonna turn my back on you back, back, back
In summary, I'm going to make it clear that I'm turning my back on you and leaving you behind. I'll swing away and walk away, not looking back. I won't allow you to hurt me any further and will keep moving forward without you.
Lyrics © Kanjian Music, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: BOB BOGLE, NOLE EDWARDS, DON WILSON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind