Maureen Evans

Maureen Evans (born 23 March 1940, Cardiff, Wales)[1] is a Welsh pop singer who achieved fame in the 1950s and 1960s.

Maureen Evans
Maureen Evans in 1964
Background information
Born (1940-03-23) 23 March 1940
Cardiff, Wales
Years active1955-1968

Career

Evans career began as a singer with Waldini's Gypsy Band in the mid-1950s, mainly doing summer seasons at UK holiday resorts such as Llandudno.[2]

She released her first singles in 1958 on the Embassy Records label.[1]

She entered the UK Singles Chart in 1960 at No. 26 with the song "The Big Hurt", but her biggest hit was 1962's "Like I Do", which peaked at No. 3 in the UK in late January 1963 and achieved silver certification for selling in excess of 250,000 copies in the United Kingdom. "Like I Do" was the UK's 43rd best-selling single of 1963 selling in excess of 300,000 copies.[3]

In 1963, Evans competed in the British trials for the Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Pick the Petals", but came in third; Ronnie Carroll represented the UK that year in the competition. She continued releasing singles through the 1960s, as well as one EP (1963's Melancholy Me, on Oriole Records) and an album, Like I Do, also on Oriole (1963). One reviewer noted about one of her latter singles, "Never Let Him Go",[4] that it was "an excellent interpretation of a David Gates song".[5]

She had a total of four UK Top 40 hits and sold well over one million records in the UK.

She owned the Maureen Evans Theatre School in West Grove, Cardiff, which taught children aged 6 to 18 years old, how to sing, dance and act, from 1998 to 2010.[6]

In 2013, Stage Door Records released Maureen Evans – The Singles Collection, as a digital download on Amazon, iTunes, and Spotify.

Like I Do: The Sixties Recordings was released on 25 November 2016 by RPM Records. This is the first time that Evans' work has been treated to a proper CD release. The album contains 31 tracks which includes her best known hits and rare B sides, from her time with both Oriole Records and the UK branch of Columbia Records (now a unit of Sony Music Entertainment), which purchased Oriole in 1964. Evans wrote the sleeve notes that accompany the CD.

Singles
Embassy Records
Oriole Records
CBS Records
  • 1965 "All The Angels Sing" / "Speak Sugar Speak"
  • 1965 "Never Let Him Go" / "Poco Sole"
  • 1967 "Somewhere There's Love" / "It Takes A Little Time"
  • 1968 "I Almost Called Your Name" / "Searching For Home"[3]

See also

References
  1. "BBC Essex Website - John's Journey Back in Time". Archived from the original on 15 February 2006. Retrieved 24 April 2008.
  2. "The Great Waldini – Times Past – Three Towns Forum – Talk about Llandudno, Colwyn Bay & Conwy". Three Towns Forum. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  3. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 189. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  4. "Maureen Evans - Never Let Him Go". 45cat.com. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  5. Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 809. ISBN 0-85112-939-0.
  6. "Maureen's latest hit". Walesonline.co.uk. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  7. "Embassy Records". Rateyourmusic.com. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
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