Hull's Musical Heritage - David Whitfield 1 | Page 6

After David returned to England,
he returned to more chart success
with 4 more releases, all of which
reached the Top 20. “Beyond the
Stars”, “Mama”, and “When You
Lose The One You Love” all sold
well, but the track “Everywhere”
was the most successful of the
quartet, reaching Number 3.
Throughout the 1950’s, David
continued to have hits that reached
the Top 10, but with Rock and Roll
now having more of an influence
over music, the ballad style was
harder to sell in the large numbers
that were required to make an impact on the chart.
The last release to make the Top 10
was “The Adoration Waltz” which
reached Number 9 in March 1957.
After this, the only major success
was the theme song to the film
“Sea Wife”, which starred Richard
Burton, and Joan Collins, which
gave great exposure in cinemas,
but only reached Number 27 in the
chart.

David Whitfield provided the theme song
“Sea Wife” in 1957

One of David Whitfield’s many albums, that
sold all across the world

As the sales declined, David
returned to touring the country,
performing in stage performances,
and roles in pantomimes. The first
pantomime role came at the end of
1957, as Robinson Crusoe opposite
Arthur Askey and Tommy Cooper.
Other pantomimes included
Humpty Dumpty and Sleeping
Beauty at venues across the North
of England, Sheffield and Leeds
being two of the cities visited.
After his final chart success, a
re-release of “I Believe” in 1960,
David toured with various stage
shows, the first of which being
“Rose Marie”, which started in
London’s Victoria Palace, before
touring around the country taking
in venues such as the Bristol
Hippodrome, and Sheffield Lyceum.
Whilst touring the UK, David toured
the world, adding to the global
following he had. Between 1954
and 1980, his travels took him to
places such as the Far East, New
Zealand and Australia. David also
returned to North America, where
his worldwide career started, and
there was also a Forces tour taking
in Malta, Libya and Cyprus.