Web Page No 2622

5^th October 2019

Pearl Carr and Teddy Johnson

1^st Picture: Pearl Carr and Teddy Johnson in Scottish mode

2^nd Picture: Early publicity shot of the couple

3^rd Picture: Cover of ‘Sing Little Birdie’

4^th Picture: Bryan Johnson, Teddy Johnsons brother.

Back to the early days of television light entertainment Pearl Carr and  "Teddy" Johnson were rarely off our screens.

Pearl Lavinia Carr  was born on 2nd November 1923 and Edward Victor "Teddy" Johnson  on 4th September 1919. She was born in Exmouth, Devon, and he in Surbiton, Surrey. They were both successful solo singers before their marriage in 1955. She had been lead singer with the Keynotes, who had two British hits in 1956 with Dave King: "Memories Are Made of This"  which reached No. 5 in the charts and "You Can't Be True To Two" which got to No. 11. She was also a popular radio singer and comedian on Bernard Braden's Bedtime With Braden radio show.

Teddy Johnson had led his own teenage band, was a professional drummer and a recording artist for Columbia in the early 1950s. He was also a DJ on Radio Luxembourg and later on BBC Radio 2, and had appeared in television shows such as the BBC's children's Crackerjack. During the second world war Johnson served in the merchant navy, working on the Queen Mary as a butcher on the transatlantic run. Ashore in New York City, he attended shows by Frank Sinatra and Benny Goodman’s orchestra, as well as buying a state-of-the-art drum kit. After the war he joined the resident band at the Locarno dance hall in Streatham, south London, and broadcast as a singer with the bandleader Jack Payne.

Once they joined together they were frequently on British television light entertainment programmes, such as The Winifred Atwell Show as well as Big Night Out and Blackpool Night Out and they represented the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1959 and finished second with the song "Sing, Little Birdie". This peaked at No. 12 on the UK Singles Chart. 

In 2011 Teddy Johnson revealed they initially thought the contest to become the British entry was the extent of their booking. “We had never heard of the Eurovision Song Contest before and were going to be booked as solo singers, but that consummated Pearl and Teddy as a double act. As far as we were concerned it was just another gig, but it was the easiest money we had ever had. There were two heats - one on the Monday and another on the Wednesday, with the final on Saturday night. When we won, the BBC Head of Television Light Entertainment Eric Maschwitz said he was thrilled that Pearl and I would now represent our country in the Eurovision Song Contest in Cannes. I said: ‘What? What do you mean?’ I didn't know we had to represent the country. We had no idea whatsoever. He gave me the dates for Cannes and I just hoped we had them available. As it happened, we did. Pearl flew out with three guys from the BBC but I was doing a small show for ATV and got a later flight."

The duo also tried to represent the United Kingdom again in 1960 entering two songs into the pre-selection, "Pickin' Petals" and "When The Tide Turns", the latter making the final. It was up against Teddy’s own brother, Bryan Johnson. In the end Bryan won and went on to represent the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1960. He also came second, with the song "Looking High, High, High". Pearl Carr and Teddy Johnson released another single the following year entitled, "How Wonderful To Know", which charted at No. 23 in the UK.

In 1986, the two were the subject of an edition of This Is Your Life. After this success they appeared in the West End revival of the Stephen Sondheim musical Follies. playing the roles of "Wally and Emily Whitman" and performing the song "Rain on the Roof". It was at the conclusion of its 18-month run in 1990 that they decided to retire.

In later life they both lived at Brinsworth House in Twickenham, a home for retired entertainers and Teddy appeared in a short piece to camera in a Morecambe and Wise tribute in 2018. He died on 6^th  June 2018, aged 98. Pearl survives him.

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Peter

gsseditor@gmail.com

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News and Views:

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