Vince Eager

Vince Eager

Vince Eager in 1980
Background information
Birth name Roy Taylor
Also known as Vince Eager
Born (1940-06-04) 4 June 1940
Grantham, Lincolnshire, England, UK
Genres Rock and roll, pop
Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter, musician
Instruments Guitar, vocals
Years active 1958–present
Labels Decca, Parlophone, Top Rank, Pye, Avenue, Nevis, Charley Farley, Rollercoaster, Pink 'n' Black, Western Star
Associated acts Marty Wilde, Billy Fury, The Vagabonds, The Memphis Tones, The Puppets
Website vinceeager.co.uk

Vince Eager (born Roy Taylor, 4 June 1940, Grantham, Lincolnshire, England)[1] is an English pop singer. He was widely promoted by impresario Larry Parnes, but later quarrelled with him over his commercialising of Eddie Cochran's tragic early death. Eager has since appeared in cabaret and on the West End stage.

Youth and early career

As a teenager, he formed the Harmonica Vagabonds, later the Vagabonds Skiffle Group, with Roy Clark, Mick Fretwell, and bassist Brian Locking.[2] The group reached the final round of a televised "World Skiffle Championship" in 1958, and were offered a residency at the 2 I's Coffee Bar in London. There, they were signed by impresario Larry Parnes, who took Taylor into his stable of performers, and gave him one of his characteristic stage names, Vince Eager. After touring and releasing an EP as Vince Eager & the Vagabonds, Clark and Fretwell returned home. Vince Eager and Brian Locking remained in London, Locking performing with Marty Wilde before joining the Shadows.

Larry Parnes era

During 1959 Vince Eager was a regular on BBC TV's Drumbeat, often accompanied by the John Barry Seven. In 1960 he was one of the contestants on A Song for Europe. His song, "Teenage Tears", in the semi-final was ranked last in the total of six entries for nomination to the Eurovision Song Contest. According to Vince Eager's website, "the death of his best friend Eddie Cochran in a car crash on Easter Sunday 1960 was to prove a turning point in Vince's career. He was disgusted with the manner in which Parnes sought to gain publicity from the accident and he began the process of getting away from the "Parnes Stable" of popsters."[3]

Later career

In the years that followed the Parnes era, he toured on the cabaret circuit, and performed in theatre and pantomime. For five years he starred in the West End musical Elvis. In 1986, he moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA where he worked as a cruise director on American luxury cruise ships.

Now residing back in the UK, Eager's career has had something of a resurgence. Teaming up with producer and musician Alan Wilson, there have been new recordings some of which have featured Eager's old friends including; Marty Wilde, Albert Lee and Chas Hodges. The resulting album release, titled 788 years of Rock n Roll sold well enough for Wilson's Western Star record label to invite Eager back for another session in 2013. The latest album, Rockabilly Dinosaur was released in 2014. Eager now lives in Nottinghamshire.[3]

Discography

Singles

Extended plays

Studio albums

Live albums

Compilations

References

  1. ↑ "Vince Eager". Rockabilly.nl. Retrieved 2 August 2014.
  2. ↑ "Vagabonds". Vinceeager.co.uk. Retrieved 2 August 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Vince Eager : Homepage". Vinceeager.co.uk. Retrieved 2 August 2014.
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