Before the pop revolution rocked the early part of the decade, Helen had a string of successful singles…
The early 1960s charts were still replete with pop hits from up-and-coming stars before The Beatles and The Rolling Stones destroyed everything.
One of them was Helen Shapiro, who a year prior to the release of “Love Me Do,” had not one, but two UK chart-toppers.
Because of her immense popularity, the Fab Four even went on tour with her in early 1963, opening 14 gigs for the then-16-year-old Shapiro, with the Beatles scheduled midway through the bill.
At the beginning of the decade, Helen had a string of hit songs, but the pop revolution upended everything and ended her days of chart-topping triumph.
Though it appeared as though she could vanish entirely, she eventually rose to prominence as a jazz and musical theater performer.
Born in Bethnal Green, London, on September 28, 1946, Helen Kate Shapiro was the granddaughter of Russian-Jewish immigrants.
Before relocating to Victoria Park in Hackney when she was nine years old, she was raised in a council apartment in Clapton. Helen attended Clapton Park Comprehensive after leaving Northwold Primary School.
She was too impoverished to own a record player, but at an early age she sung with her brother Ron’s skiffle group and played the banjolele, a hybrid of ukulele and banjo.
Helen, then ten years old, was nicknamed Foghorn for her remarkably deep and powerful voice. She performed in a band called Susie & the Hula Hoops with her cousin Susan Singer and guitarist Mark Feld, who would later become Marc Bolan—yes, THE Marc Bolan.
She studied at The Maurice Burman School of Modern Pop Singing at the age of 13, imitating Alma Cogan.
Through the course, she not only honed her craft but also got to know Columbia Records A&R guy John Schroeder.
