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.
Lipstick On Your Collar
Helen Shapiro Lyrics
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The lyrics to Helen Shapiro's "Lipstick On Your Collar" detail a heartbreaking story of infidelity and betrayal. The song begins with the singer's partner leaving her alone at a record hop, promising to return after grabbing a soda pop. However, when he comes back, she notices lipstick on his collar and realizes that he has been unfaithful. The lipstick is a physical representation of the evidence of his infidelity, and it tells the tale of his dishonesty.
The singer's anger and betrayal are palpable in the lyrics. She expresses her hurt and anger by saying that she and her partner are through, staking her claim with the powerful line "bet your bottom dollar you and I are through." She even accuses him of possibly cheating with her best friend Mary Jane.
The repetitiveness of the chorus, with its insistent declaration of "lipstick on your collar told a tale on you," underscores the message of the song. The lipstick is not just an innocent smudge, but a damning indictment of the partner's disloyalty.
Overall, "Lipstick On Your Collar" is a poignant and relatable song about the pain of betrayal and the toll it takes on a relationship.
Line by Line Meaning
When you left me all alone at the record hop
When you abandoned me at the music event
Told me you were going out for a soda pop
Stated that you were heading out for a drink
You were gone for quite a while, half an hour or more
You were missing for a lengthy period
You came back and man oh man this is what I saw
Upon your return, I made a significant discovery
Lipstick on your collar told a tale on you
The lipstick mark on your shirt gave me a hint about your disloyalty
Lipstick on your collar said you were untrue
The lipstick stain revealed that you were not faithful
Bet your bottom dollar you and I are through
I have no doubt that our relationship has ended
Cause lipstick on your collar told a tale on you, yeah
Because the mark on your shirt exposed your wrongdoing
You said it belonged to me, made me stop and think
You suggested that the lipstick was mine, which made me ponder
Then I noticed yours was red, mine was baby pink
I realized that my lipstick was a different color than yours
Who walked in but Mary Jane, lipstick all a mess
Mary Jane entered with her lipstick smudged
Were you smooching my best friend, if the answer's yes
Did you kiss my closest friend? If so, confess
Lipstick on your collar told a tale on you
The lipstick mark on your shirt gave me a hint about your disloyalty
Lipstick on your collar said you were untrue
The lipstick stain revealed that you were not faithful
Bet your bottom dollar you and I are through
I have no doubt that our relationship has ended
Cause lipstick on your collar told a tale on you, boy
Because the mark on your shirt exposed your wrongdoing
Told a tale on you, man
The lipstick on your collar revealed the truth
Told a tale on you, yeah
The mark on your shirt exposed your actions
Writer(s): Edna Lewis, George Goehring Copyright: Chappell & Co. Inc., Anne Rachel Music Corp.
Contributed by Victoria V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.