The early Bandstand years on The Best of Bandstand Volume 5 (1960–1962), available from the Jukebox Saturday Night store
On 2 December 1962 a scruffy four-piece from Liverpool walked out first at the Embassy Cinema in Peterborough. They played about ten minutes, for no fee, and the crowd sat on its hands. The local paper’s man said they “failed to excite” him (The Beatles Bible).
The fella everyone had actually paid to see was Frank Ifield, a lanky lad raised on a farm near Dural, New South Wales, who had the biggest record of the year in Britain. Years later he told interviewer Gary James that the Beatles “didn’t go down with the audience very well on that first night” (Classic Bands). Things changed fast after that. For 1962, though, the yodeller was king.
There’s a nice footnote too. According to the Beatles Bible, it was Ifield who suggested Brian Epstein get in touch with promoter Arthur Howes, the man behind that Peterborough bill (The Beatles Bible). Not many headliners can say they gave the Beatles a leg-up.
Is Frank Ifield still alive?
Sadly, no. Frank Ifield died of pneumonia at Hornsby Hospital in Sydney on 18 May 2024, aged 86 (Wikipedia). He was born in Coundon, Coventry, on 30 November 1937, and the family came out to Australia on the RMS Orion in January 1948. He’s one of the voices in our Rock n Roll Heaven.
Campfire Favourites and a regular spot on Bandstand
Frank was 13 when he sang ‘Did you see my daddy over there?’ on Brisbane station 4BK’s Youth Parade in November 1953. That became his first single, on Regal Zonophone. In 1956 he hosted Campfire Favourites on TCN-9 in Sydney, described as the first weekly western programme by a local artist on Australian TV (Campfire Favourites). It only lasted a couple of months, but it opened doors. Somewhere in there he’d also had a go on Sydney station 2GB’s Amateur Hour (Wikipedia).
“That shot me into doing a lot of television from there on,” he told Gary James. “I was doing Bandstand regularly.” He meant our Bandstand, Brian Henderson’s show on Channel Nine, which started in November 1958, and he added that he did American Bandstand much later (Classic Bands). He sailed for England in November 1959, just before the period our Best of Bandstand volume 5 picks up, so if you want a look at the show in its early years, that’s where to start.
That yodel and ‘I remember you’
‘I remember you’ was hardly a new song. Victor Schertzinger and Johnny Mercer wrote it for the 1942 film The Fleet’s In. Frank recorded it on 27 May 1962 with a country lilt and that falsetto flip into a yodel on the long notes (‘I remember you’ history). It spent seven weeks at number one in the UK and sold 1.1 million copies there. In America it reached number five on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the Easy Listening chart. He told Gary James he was the first Australian to have hits in America, and it was ‘I remember you’ that did it.
The yodel is what people remember, though. Plenty of country singers could yodel. What Frank did was drop it into a pop record, a quick flick up into falsetto at the end of a line, and make it sound easy. Older listeners heard the country boy in it and younger ones just thought it was catchy.
Three more UK number ones followed. ‘Lovesick blues’, his upbeat take on the Hank Williams classic, was a double A-side with ‘She taught me how to yodel’ in 1962, then ‘The wayward wind’ and ‘Confessin’ (that I love you)’ in 1963 (Wikipedia). At the Royal Variety Performance in November 1962 the Queen Mother asked for a yodelling song, so he gave her ‘She taught me how to yodel’ as an encore. He also came second in the 1962 British heat for Eurovision with ‘Alone too long’.
The Beatles, Jolly what! and the long road back
In 1964 America’s Vee-Jay Records put out Jolly what!, eight Frank Ifield tracks padded out with four early Beatles songs. Vee-Jay had been the Beatles’ first American label, so it had the tapes handy. It says a lot about where both acts stood at the time. Beatles collectors still chase copies, and our guide to Beatles memorabilia has more on that sort of thing.
In 1986 pneumonia cost him part of a lung and damaged his vocal cords, and for years he couldn’t sing or yodel at all. He made a cheeky return to the UK chart in 1991 when a dance remix, ‘The yodeling song’, credited to Frank Ifield featuring the Backroom Boys, reached number 40. That was his 16th UK chart entry. Back home he went into the Australian Roll of Renown in 2003 and the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2007, and received the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in June 2009.
Do you remember ‘I remember you’ coming over the wireless? Tell us in the comments.
Frequently asked questions
Is Frank Ifield still alive?
No. Frank Ifield died on 18 May 2024 at Hornsby Hospital in Sydney, aged 86, from pneumonia. He was born in Coundon, Coventry, on 30 November 1937 and grew up in Australia after his family arrived in 1948.
Did the Beatles support Frank Ifield?
Yes. On 2 December 1962 the Beatles opened for him at the Embassy Cinema in Peterborough, playing a short unpaid set in each of two shows. The crowd wasn’t impressed, and Ifield later recalled they didn’t go down well that first night.
Was Frank Ifield on Bandstand?
Yes, by his own account. In an interview with Gary James he said that after Campfire Favourites he did a lot of TV and was on Bandstand regularly, meaning the Australian show. He also appeared on American Bandstand much later.
Who originally sang ‘I remember you’?
Victor Schertzinger and Johnny Mercer wrote it for the 1942 film The Fleet’s In, and Jimmy Dorsey’s band recorded it first. Frank Ifield’s 1962 version, with its falsetto and touch of yodel, made it a hit all over again.
How long was ‘I remember you’ at number one?
Seven weeks at the top of the UK chart in 1962. It sold 1.1 million copies in Britain alone, and in the US it reached number five on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Easy Listening chart.
How many UK number ones did Frank Ifield have?
Four. ‘I remember you’ and ‘Lovesick blues’ went to the top in 1962, then ‘The wayward wind’ and ‘Confessin’ (that I love you)’ followed in 1963. That’s a remarkable run for a boy who learnt his trade on Australian radio.
Why did Frank Ifield stop singing?
In 1986 he came down with pneumonia and had part of a lung removed. The illness damaged his vocal cords and he couldn’t sing or yodel for years while he recovered.
What was Frank Ifield’s first TV show?
Campfire Favourites on TCN-9 Sydney in 1956, described as the first weekly western programme by a local artist on Australian television. It had a very short run of less than two months.
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Disclaimer: The information provided is for educational and entertainment purposes only. While we strive for accuracy, music history is often based on available documentation and interpretation.
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