The Allisons

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Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Singles
Fontana 294.jpg
Are you sure
  DE 11 06/01/1961 (13 weeks)
  UK 2 03/01/1961 (16 weeks)
Words
  UK 34 05/24/1961 (5 weeks)
Goodbye, Farewell!
  DE 11 06/01/1961 (16 weeks)
Lessons in Love
  UK 30th 02/21/1962 (6 weeks)
Surfer Street
  US 93 December 14, 1963 (1 week)

The Allisons were a British singing duo who were successful with pop music in the early 1960s and were best known for their second place at the Grand Prix Eurovision in 1961 .

Members

history

The Allisons have their roots in the duo The Shadows Brothers, which began in the youth clubs of South West London in the 1950s. Founded by Brian Alford and John White, it peaked in popularity in 1958 with an appearance on the British talent show Television Discoveries . In early 1959, White broke the duo, and Alford formed The Allisons duo with Colin Day in the summer of 1959. Both actors changed their names: Alford became John Allison and Day became Bob Allison.

The Allisons first appeared in the famous London coffee bar Bread Basket . After several successful appearances in talent shows, Alford sent the Fontana record company a demo tape in 1961 with the song Are You Sure composed by him . Fontana grabbed it immediately and released the title in February 1961 on the single Fontana 294. In the same month the British music newspaper New Musical Express added the song to its Top 30 chart. On April 7, 1961, Are You Sure had reached the top spot that the title held for two weeks. In March of that year, the Allisons had already represented Great Britain with Are You Sure at the Grand Prix Eurovision in Cannes and had achieved second place.

The Allisons also made it into the NME Top 30 with the titles Words (1961, 25th) and Lessons in Love (1962, 23rd). Their success with Are You Sure also helped them to release singles worldwide. Three records were released in the USA and four in Germany. Nevertheless, the Allisons' popularity quickly waned, which was also due to poor management. Fontana ended the record deal in 1962 after the sixth single. The duo then split up and John Alford began working full-time as a songwriter. In the 1970s and 1980s, both actors appeared again as the Allisons at some concerts.

Discography

Vinyl singles

From page Catalog no. published
Great Britain Fontana
Are You Sure / There's One Thing More 294 02/1961
Words / Blue Tears 304 05/1961
What a mess! / Lorraine 336 10/1961
Lessons in Love / Oh, My Love 362 01/1962
Sweet and Lovely / Sugar Love 267231 06/1962
I'll Cross My Fingers / You Should Be Sorry 267255 12/1962
United States
Are You Sure / There's One Thing More London 1977 03/1961
Words / Blue Tears Columbia 42034 05/1961
Lessons in Love / Oh, My Love Smash 1749 03/1962
Germany Fontana
Are You Sure / There's One Thing More 267139 05/1961
Goodbye, farewell / There's One Thing More 267139 0x / 1961
Words / Blue Tears 267145 08/1961
Lessons in Love / Oh, My Love 267191 03/1962

Vinyl long-playing records

title Catalog no. published
Are you sure Fontana 5135 UK 1961
The Allisons Spindle top 128 USA 1980
Inside and Out Skyline 009 UK 1985

literature

swell

  1. ↑ Chart sources: DE1 DE2 UK US

Web links