Age: 82
Popularity: 
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Biography
Thomas David "Tommy" Roe (born May 9, 1942, Atlanta, Georgia) is an American pop music singer-songwriter.
Best-remembered for his hits "Sheila" (1962) and "Dizzy" (1969), Roe was "widely perceived as one of the archetypal bubblegum artists of the late 1960s, but cut some pretty decent rockers along the way, especially early in his career", wrote the Allmusic journalist Bill Dahl.
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Biography
Roe was raised in Atlanta where he attended Brown High School. After graduating, he landed a job at General Electric soldering wires.
He had a Billboard number 1 hit in the U.S. and Australia in 1962 with the track "Sheila". A buildup of global sales of "Sheila" meant that the R.I.A.A. did not present the gold record until 1969. When "Sheila" became a hit, ABC-Paramount Records asked him to go on tour to promote the hit. He was reluctant to give up his secure job at GE until ABC-Paramount advanced him $5,000.
However, in March 1963, the UK music magazine NME reported that he and Chris Montez had both been upstaged by The Beatles and their fans on a 21-day UK tour. Late that year Roe scored a Top 10 hit with "Everybody", which reached US number 3 and UK number 9, and "The Folk Singer" (number 4 UK) written by Merle Kilgore was also popular.
Following a more successful tour of the United Kingdom by his friend Roy Orbison, Roe toured there and then moved to England where he lived for several years. In 1964 Roe recorded a song written by Buzz Cason entitled, "Diane From Manchester Square." It was a story in song about a girl called Diane, who worked in an upstairs office at EMI House, when it was based in London's Manchester Square. Sales of this single in the UK were poor, and it failed to chart. During the 1960s, he had several more Top 40 hits, including 1966's number 8 "Sweet Pea" (number 1 Canada) and number 6 "Hooray for Hazel" (number 2 Canada). In 1969, his song "Dizzy" went to number 1 on the UK Singles Chart, number 1 in Canada, as well as number 1 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. This transatlantic chart-topper sold two million copies by mid-April 1969, giving him his third gold disc award.
Roe guest-starred in an episode of the American sitcom, Green Acres, called "The Four of Spades", which first aired on 8 November 1969, one week to the day before the Hot 100 debut of his final Top 10 single, a track co-written with Freddy Weller, "Jam Up and Jelly Tight", which became his fourth gold record, peaking at number 8 in the U.S. and number 5 in Canada.
In 1986 Roe was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame, and his pioneering contribution to the genre has been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. Although his style of music declined in popularity with the 1970s mass market, he maintained a following and continued to perform at a variety of concert venues, sometimes with 1960s nostalgia rock and rollers such as Freddy Cannon and Bobby Vee.
Personal life
A resident of Beverly Hills, California, he is married to Josette Banzet, an actress from France who won a Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe Award for her performance in the 1976 television mini-series, Rich Man, Poor Man.
Partial discography
Albums
| Year | Album | Chart Positions |
|---|---|---|
| 1963 | Sheila | 110 |
| Something for Everybody | — | |
| 1964 | Everybody Likes Tommy Roe | — |
| 1965 | Ballads and Beat | — |
| 1966 | Sweet Pea | 94 |
| 1967 | Phantasy | — |
| It's Now Winter's Day | 159 | |
| 1969 | Dizzy | 25 |
| 1970 | 12 In A Roe | 21 |
| We Can Make Music | 134 | |
| 1971 | Beginnings | — |
| 1976 | Energy | — |
| 1977 | Full Bloom | — |
| 1990 | Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow | — |
Singles
| Year | Single (A-side, B-side) |
Album | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | "Caveman" |
- | - | - | - | - | - | Non-album tracks |
| "Sheila" |
- | - | - | - | - | - | Sheila | |
| "I Got a Girl" |
- | - | - | - | - | - | Non-album tracks | |
| 1962 | "Sheila" |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | Gold | Sheila |
| "Susie Darlin'" / | 37 | 13 | 21 | 35 | - | - | ||
| "Piddle De Pat" | - | 13 | 21 | - | - | - | ||
| "Rainbow" / | - | 82 | - | - | - | - | Non-album tracks | |
| "Town Crier" | - | 82 | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1963 | "Gonna Take a Chance" |
- | 78 | - | - | - | - | |
| "Everybody" |
9 | 18 | 3 | 3 | - | - | Sweet Pea | |
| "The Folk Singer" |
4 | 20 | 34 | 84 | - | - | ||
| "Kiss and Run" |
- | 77 | - | - | - | - | Non-album tracks | |
| 1964 | "Carol" |
- | 16 | - | 61 | - | - | 12 in a Roe: A Collection of Tommy Roe's Greatest Hits |
| "Come On" |
- | 42 | 23 | 36 | - | - | Non-album tracks | |
| "A Wild Water Skiing Weekend" |
- | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| "Oh So Right" |
- | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| "Party Girl" |
- | 7 | - | 85 | - | - | Sweet Pea | |
| 1965 | "Diane from Manchester Square" / | - | 84 | - | - | - | - | Non-album tracks |
| "Love Me, Love Me" | - | 84 | - | - | - | - | ||
| "Fourteen Pairs of Shoes" |
- | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| "I'm a Rambler, I'm a Gambler" |
- | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| "Wish You Didn't Have to Go" |
- | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| "Doesn't Anybody Know My Name " |
- | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1966 | "Sweet Pea" |
- | 7 | 1 | 8 | - | Gold | Sweet Pea |
| "Hooray for Hazel" |
- | 28 | 2 | 6 | - | - | ||
| 1967 | "It's Now Winter's Day" |
- | - | 13 | 23 | - | - | It's Now Winter's Day |
| "Sweet Sounds" |
- | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| "Sing Along with Me" |
- | - | - | 91 | - | - | ||
| "Little Miss Sunshine" |
- | - | - | 99 | - | - | Phantasy | |
| "Melancholy Mood" |
- | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1968 | "Dottie I Like It" |
- | - | - | - | - | - | Non-album tracks |
| "Sugar Cane" |
- | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1969 | "Dizzy" |
1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | Gold | Dizzy |
| "Heather Honey" |
24 | 9 | 6 | 29 | 23 | - | ||
| "Jack and Jill" |
- | 27 | 10 | 53 | - | - | 12 in a Roe: A Collection of Tommy Roe's Greatest Hits | |
| 1970 | "Jam Up and Jelly Tight" |
- | 5 | 5 | 8 | - | Gold | |
| "Pearl" |
- | 60 | 17 | 50 | - | - | We Can Make Music | |
| "Stir It Up and Serve It" |
- | 69 | - | 50 | - | - | ||
| "We Can Make Music" |
- | 87 | - | 49 | - | - | ||
| "Brush a Little Sunshine" |
- | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1971 | "Little Miss Goodie Two Shoes" |
- | - | - | - | - | - | Non-album tracks |
| "Pistol Legged Mama" |
- | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1971 | "Stagger Lee" |
- | 92 | 17 | 25 | - | - | Beginnings |
| 1972 | "Sarah My Love" |
- | - | - | - | - | - | Non-album tracks |
| "Mean Little Woman, Rosalie" / | - | - | - | 92 | - | - | ||
| 1973 | "Working Class Hero" | - | - | - | 97 | - | - | |
| "Working Class Hero" |
- | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1975 | "Glitter and Gleam" |
- | - | - | - | - | - | Energy |
| "Rita and Her Band" |
- | - | - | - | - | - | Non-album tracks | |
| 1976 | "Slow Dancing" |
- | - | - | - | - | - | Energy |
| "Everybody" |
- | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| "Early in the Morning" |
- | - | - | - | - | - | Non-album track | |
| 1977 | "Your Love Will See Me Through" |
- | - | - | - | - | - | Full Bloom |
| 1978 | "Love The Way You Love Me Up" |
- | - | - | - | - | - | Non-album tracks |
| 1979 | "Massachusetts" |
- | - | - | - | - | - | |
| "You Better Move On" |
- | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1980 | "Charlie, I Love Your Wife" |
- | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 1985 | "Some Such Foolishness" |
- | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 1986 | "Let's Be Fools Like That Again" |
- | - | - | - | - | - |
Legacy
- Sheila's stage name was taken from the title of her first release, which was a French cover of the song "Sheila".
- In 1991, The Wonder Stuff and Vic Reeves released a cover of "Dizzy" that topped the UK Singles Chart.
[ Source: Wikipedia ]
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