"
Tell Laura I Love Her," a
teenage tragedy songThe teenage tragedy song, also known as a splatter platter, is a style of ballad popular between the late 1950s and the late 1960s that lamented the early deaths of teenagers, either sung from the viewpoint of the dead person's sweetheart, or sometimes from the viewpoint of the dead ...
written by
Jeff BarryJeff Barry is an American pop music songwriter, singer, and record producer.-Early career:...
and Ben Raleigh, was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Top TenA record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
popular musicPopular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres, and stands in contrast to art music, and traditional music which was disseminated orally...
hit for singer
Ray PetersonRay Peterson was an American pop music singer.-Career:Ray T. Peterson was born in Denton, Texas. As a boy he had to overcome polio. Blessed with a four octave singing voice, Peterson moved to Los Angeles, California where he was signed to a recording contract by RCA Victor Records in 1958...
in
1960-Events:*January 14 - Elvis Presley is promoted to Sergeant in the U.S. Army*February 6 - Songwriter Jesse Belvin dies in an automobile accident in Los Angeles, California...
on RCA Victor Records, reaching #7 on the
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chartThe Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday; while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
. Later that same year, the song was recorded and released by
Ricky ValanceRicky Valance is a Welsh singer. He is best known for the number one single, "Tell Laura I Love Her", which sold over a million copies in 1960.-Life and career:...
in the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
, where it went all the way to the #1 spot in the
UK Singles ChartThe UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record industry. The full chart contains the top 200 singles based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 of this list...
. "Tell Laura I Love Her" has been a hit in 14 countries, and has sold over seven million copies.
"Tell Laura I Love Her" is the tragic story of a teenage boy named Tommy who is desperately in love with a girl named Laura.
"
Tell Laura I Love Her," a
teenage tragedy songThe teenage tragedy song, also known as a splatter platter, is a style of ballad popular between the late 1950s and the late 1960s that lamented the early deaths of teenagers, either sung from the viewpoint of the dead person's sweetheart, or sometimes from the viewpoint of the dead ...
written by
Jeff BarryJeff Barry is an American pop music songwriter, singer, and record producer.-Early career:...
and Ben Raleigh, was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Top TenA record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
popular musicPopular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres, and stands in contrast to art music, and traditional music which was disseminated orally...
hit for singer
Ray PetersonRay Peterson was an American pop music singer.-Career:Ray T. Peterson was born in Denton, Texas. As a boy he had to overcome polio. Blessed with a four octave singing voice, Peterson moved to Los Angeles, California where he was signed to a recording contract by RCA Victor Records in 1958...
in
1960-Events:*January 14 - Elvis Presley is promoted to Sergeant in the U.S. Army*February 6 - Songwriter Jesse Belvin dies in an automobile accident in Los Angeles, California...
on RCA Victor Records, reaching #7 on the
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chartThe Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday; while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
. Later that same year, the song was recorded and released by
Ricky ValanceRicky Valance is a Welsh singer. He is best known for the number one single, "Tell Laura I Love Her", which sold over a million copies in 1960.-Life and career:...
in the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
, where it went all the way to the #1 spot in the
UK Singles ChartThe UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record industry. The full chart contains the top 200 singles based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 of this list...
. "Tell Laura I Love Her" has been a hit in 14 countries, and has sold over seven million copies.
"Tell Laura I Love Her" is the tragic story of a teenage boy named Tommy who is desperately in love with a girl named Laura. Although they are only teenagers, he wants to marry her, so he enters a racing car championship, planning to use the prize money to buy Laura a wedding ring if he wins. The second verse tells the mysterious story of how the boy's car overturned and burst into flames - no-one knows why - and the boy was killed, his last words being "Tell Laura I love her...my love for her will never die".
Recording history
Decca RecordsDecca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; later the link with the British company was broken for several decades...
in England decided not to release Ray Peterson's 1960 recording on the grounds that it was "too tasteless and vulgar", and destroyed about twenty thousand copies that had already been pressed. An alternate cover version by Ricky Valance, released by
EMIThe EMI Group is a British music company. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major publishing arm- EMI Music Publishing- based in New York City...
on the
ColumbiaThe Columbia Graphophone Company was one of the earliest gramophone companies in the United Kingdom.- Early history :In 1922, Columbia Phonograph, as it was then known, sold its UK subsidiary Columbia Graphophone. However, in 1925 Columbia Graphophone bought its former parent for $2.5 million. In...
label, was #1 on the British charts for three weeks.
In 1962, the Smash label released the album,
The Tale of Patches by Dickey Lee, that included a cover of "Tell Laura I Love Her". A cover version by
J. Frank WilsonJ. Frank Wilson was the lead vocalist for J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers.Born in Lufkin, Texas, he joined the Cavaliers after his discharge from Goodfellow Air Force Base in 1962. The Cavaliers' first chart hit was "Last Kiss"...
and
The CavaliersThe Cavaliers formed around 1955 with leader/guitarist Sid Holmes, bassist Lewis Elliott, saxophonist Rob Zeller, drummer Ray Smith and vocalist Alton Baird. Baird was drafted shortly after the group formed; the band brought in J. Frank Wilson, stationed at Goodfellow Air Force Base, in the early...
on the album
Last Kiss was released on the
Josie RecordsJosie Records was a subsidiary of Jubilee Records in New York and was active from 1954 through to 1971. Single records were numbered from 760 through to 1031.Their best sellers were The Cadillacs, Bobby Freeman and The Meters.-Notes:
...
label in 1964. Another cover was done by singer Ricky Nelson.
John LeytonJohn Leyton is a English actor and singer. As a singer he is best known for his hit song, "Johnny Remember Me" , which reached Number 1 in the UK Singles Chart in August 1961.-Career:Leyton went to Highgate School and after completing his National Service, he...
attended a singing audition with producer
Joe MeekJoe Meek was a pioneering English record producer and songwriter...
and subsequently recorded the song, which was released on the
Top RankTop Rank may refer to:*Top Rank Boxing, Nevada boxing promotion company formed in 1973* Top Rank Records, 1950s subsidiary record label of the Rank Organisation, British company which ran from 1937 to 1996...
label. At that time, however, Top Rank was undergoing a takeover by
EMIThe EMI Group is a British music company. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major publishing arm- EMI Music Publishing- based in New York City...
, which had already released Ricky Valance's version of the same song. The John Leyton recording was withdrawn from sale.
A decade later, Johnny T. Angel's recording on Bell Records peaked at #94 on June 8, 1974 (US). The Boppers also released a version on their
compact discA Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store sound recordings exclusively, but later it also allowed the preservation of other types of data. Audio CDs have been commercially available since October 1982...
album
Number 1 (1978).
An Italian version, "Dite a Laura che l'amo", recorded by Michele can be heard on www.italiangraffiati.com.
The Spanish version, "Dile a Laura que la quiero", recorded by Chilean Singer Ray Palavicino.
Tell Laura I Love Her, was adapted for stage and turned into a Musical in 2007 By Richard C Hague. Called Tell Laura I Love Her -The Musical!
Answering lyrics
Later in an album named
The Answer To Everything - Girl Answer Songs Of The '60'S , there was a song that named "Tell Tommy I miss him" to respond this song. It was performed by
Marilyn MichaelsMarilyn Michaels is an American singer. She attended the High School of Music and Art as a music major, and in Sophomore year switched to as her major. At graduation she auditioned and won an RCA recording contract singing the follow- up song to Ray Peterson's "Tell Laura I Love Her", entitled,...
.
Parodies
In 1977 the Swedish Band Rohdes Rockers recorded a parody, which peaked in the chorus 'Köp Aldrig en Folkvagn' (Never Buy a Volkswagen).
Scottish comedian
Billy ConnollyBilly Connolly, CBE is a Scottish comedian, musician, presenter and actor. He is sometimes known, especially in his native Scotland, by the nickname The Big Yin...
performed a spoof of the song in 1981. It can be found on the footage of
Billy Connolly Bites Yer Bum!Billy Connolly Bites Yer Bum! is a recording of a 1981 performance by comedian Billy Connolly, filmed in London....
. In his version, it is Laura herself who is killed in a road traffic accident.
The song is also referenced and parodied by Frenchie in the Broadway musical
GreaseGrease is a 1972 musical by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey.The show takes its name from the 1950s United States working-class youth subculture known as the greasers. The musical, set in 1959 at fictional Rydell High School , follows ten working-class kids as they navigate the complexities of love,...
.