Web Page No 2562

9th March 2019

                                                 Twinkle

1st Picture. Twinkle in the family home

 2nd Picture. Twinkle

 3rd Picture. Twinkle Album Cover 

 4^th Picture. Twinkle in later years

Lynn Annette Ripley better known as Twinkle was born on 15th July 1948 and died on 21st May 2015 after a six year battle with cancer,  She had chart successes in the 1960s with her best known song, "Terry" which she wrote aged 14 while bored during French lessons at Queen’s Gate School in Kennsington.

She was born in Surbiton, Surrey into a well-to-do family, and was always known to her family as "Twinkle". She attended Queen's Gate School with Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, and was the aunt of actress Fay Ripley.

She owed her rapid entry into the recording world at the age of 16 to her then-boyfriend, Dec Cluskey, of the The Bachelors, who was introduced to her by her sister, a music journalist, and who passed on to his manager a demo that Twinkle's father played to him. Her song "Terry" was a teenage tragedy song about the death of a boyfriend in a motorcycle crash. The recording conjured up a dark mood with its doleful backing vocals, spooky organ, 12-string guitar but the record caused a furore, accusations of bad taste leading to a ban from the BBC. Its success owed something to her dolly-bird looks – but also to the horror with which it was greeted by the establishment. Condemned as “dangerous drivel” by Lord (Ted) Willis, the song was subsequently banned by both the BBC and by Ready Steady Go! on ITV, though it brought Twinkle a good luck card from Sir Alec Douglas-Home, a friend of her father’s.

The follow-up, "Golden Lights", was also written by Twinkle She dated Peter Noone in 1965. Twinkle made few live appearances but performed "Terry" at the annual New Musical Express hit concerts. After recording six singles for Decca Records she "retired" at the age of eighteen in 1966. She said that the £15,000 she made from ‘Terry’ was gone in a couple of weeks, but the money did not matter. “I moved into a flat owned by Daddy in Hampton, and he gave me an allowance. I lived there with a housekeeper, seven dogs and a pig and spent my time writing songs and taking in stray animals.”

In 1969 she recorded a self-written single, produced by Mike d'Abo for the Immediate label. The single vanished, unpublicised. In the ensuing years she recorded a suite of songs inspired by her relationship with "Micky", the actor/model Michael Hannah, who was killed in an air-crash in 1974. These remained unreleased until they were included on CD compilations. Her later recordings appeared under the name Twinkle Ripley. She recorded a 1975 single, "Smoochie" with her father, Sidney Ripley as "Bill & Coo".

Photographic publicity portraits of Twinkle taken in the mid-1960s are exhibited in the National Portrait Gallery.^[7]

In 1972, she married actor-model Graham Rogers, who starred in the Milk Tray chocolate adverts. They had two children, Michael and Amber.

She died at the age of 66.

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On this day 9^th March 1960-1965.

On 09/03/1960 the number one single was Why - Anthony Newley and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was The Larkins (ATV) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Burnley were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 09/03/1961 the number one single was Walk Right Back/Ebony Eyes - Everly Brothers and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was No Hiding Place (AR) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmatians. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 09/03/1962 the number one single was Rock-a-Hula Baby/Can't Help Falling In Love - Elvis Presley and the number one album was Blue Hawaii - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 09/03/1963 the number one single was The Wayward Wind - Frank Ifield and the number one album was Summer Holiday - Cliff Richard & the Shadows. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Great Escape. A pound of today's money was worth £12.64 and Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 09/03/1964 the number one single was Anyone Who Had a Heart -Cilla Black and the number one album was With the Beatles - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove. A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 09/03/1965 the number one single was I'll Never Find Another You - Seekers and the number one album was Rolling Stones Number 2 - The Rolling Stones. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was First public talking computer.