Shapiro was born at Bethnal Green Hospital in the East End district of Bethnal Green, London. Her early childhood was spent in a Clapton council house in the London borough of Hackney, where she attended Northwold Primary School and Clapton Park Comprehensive School until Christmas 1961. She is the granddaughter of Russian Jewish immigrants; her parents, who were piece-workers in the garment industry, attended Lea Bridge Road Synagogue. The family moved from Clapton to the Victoria Park area of Hackney, on the Parkside Estate, when she was nine. "It was, and remains, a beautiful place," she said in a 2006 interview.
Although too poor to own a record player, Shapiro's parents encouraged music in their home (she had to borrow a neighbour's player to hear her first single). Shapiro played banjolele as a child and sang with her brother Ron occasionally in his youth club skiffle group. She had a deep timbre to her voice, unusual in a girl not yet in her teens: school friends gave her the nickname "Foghorn".
Aged ten, Shapiro was a singer with "Susie and the Hula Hoops," (with her cousin, 60s singer, Susan Singer) a school band which included Marc Bolan (then using his real name of Mark Feld) as guitarist. At 13 she started singing lessons at The Maurice Burman School of Modern Pop Singing, based in London's Baker Street, after the school produced singing star Alma Cogan. "I had always wanted to be a singer. I had no desire to slavishly follow Alma's style, but chose the school merely because of Alma's success", she said in a 1962 interview. Burman's connections eventually led her to a young Columbia Records A&R man named John Schroeder, who recorded a demo of Shapiro singing "Birth of the Blues".
In 1961, aged fourteen, she had a UK No. 3 hit with her first single, "Don't Treat Me Like a Child" and two number one hits in the UK, "You Don't Know" and "Walkin' Back to Happiness". The latter did not top the UK chart until 19 October 1961, by which time Shapiro had reached 15, on 26 September. She had a No. 2 in 1962 with "Tell Me What He Said", achieving her first four single releases in the top three of the UK Singles Chart. Most of her recording sessions were at EMI's studios at Abbey Road in north west London. Her mature voice made her an overnight sensation, as well as the youngest female chart topper in the UK.
Shapiro's final UK Top Ten hit single was with the ballad "Little Miss Lonely", which peaked at No. 8 for two weeks in 1962. Shapiro's recording manager at the time was Norrie Paramor.
Before she was sixteen years old, Shapiro had been voted Britain's "Top Female Singer". The Beatles first national tour of Britain, in the late winter/early spring of 1963, was as one of her supporting acts. During the course of the tour, the Beatles had their first hit single and John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote the song "Misery" for her, but Shapiro did not record the composition. In 1995, during a This is Your Life highlighting her life and career, Shapiro revealed, "It was actually turned down on my behalf before I ever heard it, actually. I never got to hear it or give an opinion. It's a shame, really." Shapiro lip-synched her then-current single, "Look Who It Is", on the British television programme Ready Steady Go! with three of the Beatles (John Lennon, Ringo Starr and George Harrison).
In 1962, Shapiro appeared as herself in the Billy Fury film Play It Cool, and played the lead female role in Richard Lester's movie, It's Trad, Dad!, which co-starred another early 60s hitmaker, Craig Douglas. On 31 December 1969, Shapiro appeared on the BBC/ZDF co-production Pop Go The Sixties, singing "Walkin' Back to Happiness".
By the time she was in her late teens, her career as a pop singer was on the wane. With the new wave of beat music and newer female singers such as Dusty Springfield, Cilla Black, Sandie Shaw and Lulu, Shapiro appeared old-fashioned and emblematic of the pre-Beatles, 50s era. As her pop career declined, Shapiro turned to cabaret appearances, touring the workingmen's clubs of the North East of England. Her final cabaret show took place at Peterlee's Senate Club on 6 May 1972, where she announced she was giving up touring as she was "travel-weary" and had had enough of "living out of a suitcase". Later, after a change of mind, she branched out as a performer in stage musicals, and jazz (being her first love musically).
She played the role of Nancy in Lionel Bart's musical, Oliver! in London's West End and appeared in a British television soap opera, Albion Market, where she played one of the main characters until it was taken off air in August 1986.
Between 1984 and 2001, she toured extensively with legendary British jazz trumpeter Humphrey Lyttelton and his band, whilst still performing her own jazz and pop concerts. Her one-woman show "Simply Shapiro" ran from 1999 to the end of 2002, when she finally bade farewell to show business.
Her autobiography, published in 1993, was entitled Walking Back to Happiness. She appeared as a guest on BBC Radio 4's 'The Reunion' in August 2012. In March 2013 she appeared on BBC Radio 3's 'Good Morning Sunday'
Helen Shapiro has been married since 31 August 1988 to John Judd (real name, John Williams), an actor with numerous roles in British television and cinema.
It's My Party
Helen Shapiro Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Cry if I want to, cry if I want to
You would cry too, if it happened to you
Nobody knows where my Johnny has gone
But Judy left the same time
Why was he holding her hand
When he's supposed to be mine
It's my party and I'll cry if I want to
Cry if I want to, cry if I want to
You would cry too, if it happened to you
Judy and Johnny just walked through that door
But like a queen with her king
Oh, what a birthday surprise
Judy's wearing his ring
It's my party and I'll cry if I want to
Cry if I want to, cry if I want to
You would cry too, if it happened to you
It's my party and I'll cry if I want to
Cry if I want to, cry if I want to
You would cry too, if it happened to you
It's my party and I'll cry if I want to
Cry if I want to, cry if I want to
You would cry too, if it happened to you
It's my party and I'll cry if I want to
Cry if I want to, cry if I want to
You would cry too, if it happened to you
It's my party and I'll cry if I want to
Cry if I want to, cry if I want to
You would cry too, if it happened to you
In this popular oldies song, Helen Shapiro is expressing her sadness and frustration over her boyfriend Johnny's recent departure from her party with another girl, Judy. She belts out the famous lyrics, "It's my party and I'll cry if I want to. You would cry too, if it happened to you," to emphasize her right to feel hurt and upset. She wonders why Johnny was holding Judy's hand when he's supposed to be hers. When Judy and Johnny come back, she is shocked to see Judy wearing his ring, which adds insult to injury. However, Shapiro stands her ground and repeats the famous line, reminding herself and listeners that it's completely valid to react emotionally to this kind of hurtful situation.
The lyrics have been interpreted in different ways, some as a statement of female empowerment, while others see it as an exaggerated response to a teenage heartbreak. However, regardless of the interpretation, the song has stood the test of time and remains a classic representation of teenage heartbreak and the universal human emotion of grief.
Line by Line Meaning
It's my party and I'll cry if I want to
I have the right to express my emotions and cry if I feel like it during my party
Cry if I want to, cry if I want to
I will not hold back my tears just because it's my party
You would cry too, if it happened to you
If you were in my situation, you would also feel emotional and cry
Nobody knows where my Johnny has gone
I don't know where my boyfriend Johnny is
But Judy left the same time
Judy, who is supposed to be my friend, also left at the same time as Johnny
Why was he holding her hand
I feel betrayed and confused that Johnny was holding Judy's hand when he's supposed to be with me
When he's supposed to be mine
I believed that Johnny was my boyfriend and that we were exclusive
Judy and Johnny just walked through that door
Judy and Johnny have arrived at my party
But like a queen with her king
Judy is acting as if she has won Johnny's affection and is triumphant
Oh, what a birthday surprise
The fact that Judy is wearing Johnny's ring is an unexpected and unpleasant surprise on my birthday
It's my party and I'll cry if I want to
Regardless of what is happening around me, I will not hold back my emotions during my party
Writer(s): Wally Gold, Tyrone Griffin, D. Yates, John Jackson, John Gluck Jr, Rodney Price, Taiwan Green, Herb Weiner, Marcus Sepehrmanesh, Herb Wiener, T. Williams, Herbert Weiner, Seymour Sy Gottlieb, Elof Loelv, Wyclef Jean
Contributed by Harper P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@VinDcator
Grows on 'ya.
@BennettGreenspon
It drags. It's a totally different interpretation of the song. Lesley was defiant, where Helen seems mopey and depressed.
@rogerczerwin9495
The original version of "It's my party", not Shelly Fabres
@michaelcalcina1446
The correct spelling of her name is Shelley Fabares!
@pause10two4
It is Lesley Gore’s version credited as the first single. Shapiro’s wasn’t released soon enough.
@laurah6845
I prefer Lesley Gore's version 100%
@musicrocksoffical
I think Helen did great on this. It’s a close one for me.
@lenb7275
Who doesn't this version is dreadful 🤮
@lenb7275
This is dreadful version its probably her deep voice and it's too slow I prefer Lesley gore by 100 %