| Track | Album |
|---|---|
| What’s Good About Goodbye | Love Is A Now And Then Thing |
| Solitude | In My Solitude |
| No Such Thing As Love | Newley Delivered |
| This Dream | The Roar Of The Greasepaint… |
| Bye Bye Brown Eyes | Newley Recorded |
| Pure Imagination | Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory |
| I Do Not Love You | The Good Old Bad Old Days |
| Who Can I Turn To? | The Roar Of The Greasepaint… |
| The Man Who Makes You Laugh | The Singer And His Songs |
| I’m All I Need | Can Heironymus Merkin… |
| Love Songs Don’t Come Easy… | The Last Song – The Final Recordings |
Anthony Newley playlist
Anthony Newley was a singer, songwriter, composer, director and a fine actor. He was a star of the stage and the small screen and his amazing career spanned over fifty years. As a child he acted, and was the first Artful Dodger in David Lean’s Oliver Twist (1948). He became a reluctant pop star in the 50s after Idle On Parade. He had two number 1 hits in the UK with Why and Do You Mind. His only number 1 in America was Pop Goes The Weasel. Anthony Newley was an inspiration to later artists including David Bowie.
My selection of music starts from the sixties.
What’s Good About Goodbye is an early song from 1960 and it’s on the album, Love Is A Now And Then Thing. Tony’s voice was pure, life was gentle.
Solitude is from the 1964 LP, In My Solitude. Newley called this an albumn for suicidal lovers, I adore it. It still gives me goosebumps.
No Such Thing As Love from Newley Delivered (1964) is the only song written by Tony and Ian Fraser, his music director. It’s a beautiful forgotten song.
I’ve picked two songs from the Leslie Bricusse/Anthony Newley show, The Roar Of The Greasepaint – The Smell Of The Crowd (1965). The first is This Dream. Greasepaint was the first musical I ever saw and I fell in love with the show and Anthony Newley on the spot.
Bye Bye Brown Eyes is on Newley Recorded (1966). I met Tony in the early seventies and we became good friends. He would sing this to me, I had to include it.
Pure Imagination is simply one of the most beautiful songs ever written; it still moves me to tears.
I Do Not Love You is from the third Bricusse/Newley musical, The Good Old Bad Old Days (1972). I saw this show maybe fifteen times. A new CD featuring Newley singing all the demos is being released this month; this version is stunning and the song can also be heard on his album from the same year, Ain’t It Funny.
My second choice from The Roar Of The Greasepaint is Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me). When I saw the show aged nine, Tony fell to his knees right in front of me as he sang this. When we met and I told him this story, he looked me in the eye and said, “Yes, Flower, I remember you”. Him I will never forget.
The Man Who Makes You Laugh from the 1977 LP The Singer And His Songs was written originally for the American Comedy Awards. It comes from Newley’s heart and it is about him as much as the comedians he wrote it for (video link below).
I’m All I Need is from the wonderful movie Can Heironymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe And Find True Happiness. Newley’s life in celluloid, this song sums him up with beautiful lyrics that make me weep (video link below).
The last song on my playlist will be Love Songs Don’t Come Easy Anymore. This was a poem Tony wrote for me (I still have it) and it appeared on the 2012 CD The Last Song. I never knew it had been set to music until the release and I wept like a baby. Although he could be moody and withdrawn as most creatives can be, he was a kind and considerate man.
And I’d like to finish with two songs that hold special memories for me and that are not readily available on record.
The first is Remember Me from Chaplin, a show Tony wrote in 1983. It’s very beautiful but sadly the show failed and it broke him financially and emotionally. Here’s a video clip from the musical.
He used to perform this last number in concert. I Promised You A Love Song is written by Tony about a forbidden romance. This is my song. Tony told different stories to introduce it. The real story lives in my heart. There is a montage clip of him singing the song live in Monte Carlo here.
Tony was my friend for twenty-eight years. It saddens me how he has been erased from our minds. I run his FB group and will launch the new CD at Joe Allen in London on 26th January. He was afraid he would be forgotten but I will never let that happen. I love and miss him and always will.
Anthony Newley (1931-1999)
Dear Tony – Sue Selfe’s Facebook page on Anthony Newley
Anthony Newley performs The Man Who Makes You Laugh on the Michael Parkinson Show
Sue Selfe is the author of Dear Tony, her story of how she met and fell in love with the greatest British entertainer who ever lived. It was published by Stagedoor Productions in 2013.
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The Black Keys
Good to see Anthony Newley here and I’m ignorant of the breadth of his catalogue so will enjoy exploring further. I only know his earlier material. We bought the “Strange World of Gurney Slade” series on DVD last year (with Max Harris’s iconic theme music). I’m also fond of the “Idle on Parade” EP , but the one I’d most like to add is “Strawberry Fair” which I have on an in-car compilation CD for my grandkids who love it too. Anthony Newley may be the true beginnings of an English accent in popular music (Tommy Steele was perhaps too parody cockney), and the route runs from Anthony Newley through to Ray Davies, David Bowie, Paul Weller, Ian Dury, Billy Bragg …. I recall that David Bowie has acknowledged this.
The English accent continues through to the Gallaghers, Blur and I suspect also allows female vocalists like Lulu right through to Lily Allen. Pretty remarkable.
A fascinating article. So interesting and wonderful to have so many video clips to look into and discover more.Thank you for sharing this insight into one of my very favourite all round artists.
Well done. I really enjoyed all of it–your recollections (touching), your recommendations (perfect) and your commentary (peerless). Tony was pure magic as a performer and a composer. He was totally unique in the way he delivered a song–always touching, he painted a picture with his performance like no other. He isn’t forgotten my dear. I can’t tell you how many people I meet who are thrilled when I mention him and comment how fortunate I was to have worked with him on Chaplin, and the younger ones all light up when I mention Willy Wonka. Tony is a keeper. LOL.
Well done Sue. A truthful, heartwarming account of the most amazing man I ever met. Everyone has their own favorite Newley song. I, like you, have too many to mention. He will never be forgotten. His music will live on forever, and he would have been the most surprised of all.
A lovely tribute to a great man and a great talent. I was born in the 70’s and grew up listening to his songs as my mum was a great admirer too. Songs like, ‘D-Darling’ and ‘A Lifetime Of Happiness’ bring back so many memories. I was lucky enough to meet him in 1993 after seeing him in the wonderful ‘Scrooge’ (he was so lovely and gracious to us) and I learned more about his work and it was a wonderful adventure; finding wonderful songs I’d never heard of and he is such a performer and storyteller that he leaves me hungry for more. So, don’t worry Tony you’ll never be forgotten xxx
This is the ultimate selection, containing rarities and classics. It gives a comprehensive look into the career of this polymath British genius!
A beautifully curated list from someone who knows!
So so interesting, everyday something wonderful is learnt about the fabulous Mr Anthony Newley. Thank you for this insight into his amazing talent.
A thoughtful and eclectic selection from this unique artist. You could make a selection 20 times with no duplication and still be amazed by his talent. I urge anyone viewing here unfamiliar with his work to delve deeply and enjoy.
Ms. Selfe’s long friendship with Mr. Newley gives her an intimate perspective on this personal selection of some of his better and lesser known songs. It’s a wonderful, wide ranging collection. Kudos to Ms. Selfe for gently pulling back the curtain and revealing more of the man through music and anecdote. Newley was a singular talent and it’s important for us to honor his multi-faceted career.
Sue There are no words. Brilliant.
Anthony Newley était un artiste complet, auteur, compositeur et singulier, excellent interprète…
Une collaboration exceptionnelle et fertile avec Mr Bricusse.
Je ne me lasse pas de visionner Sammy Davis Jr interprétant “What kind of fool am I” extrait du musical “Stop the world, I want to get off”
ainsi que “Who can i turn to” par Mr Newley, en personne extrait du musical “The roar of the greasepaint, the smell of the crowd”
Merci beaucoup pour votre site…