Des O’Connor was better known as the butt of the jokes by my favourite comedy duo Morecombe and Wise. In fact it was probably there nonstop ribbing through the late 60s and 1970s that kept Des in the public Eye.
Des was a London boy born in 1932 and during the fabulous 1970s had two long running TV shows on the air. The Des O’Connor Show which aired from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s. When it went colour it was sold by ATV to America. So even the poor Americans had to listen to Des sing!
When that went off the air he was back with Des O’Connor entertains, no question mark in the title? And finally in 1977 he showed us not only could he sing (well maybe), but also he was a great chat show host in Des O’Connor Tonight. That show ran for over two decades.
But believe or not Des did have great chart success too. In the 60s he had five top thirty hits including the classic? Dick—Dum-Dum. Enough said.
He entered the 1970s with a song called Loneliness which had Alyn Ainsworth and his Orchestra backing Des, as they did through many of his TV shows. The song reached No. 18 in the UK charts by January 1970.
Lucky (or unlucky) for us he had two more hits in 1970. I’ll Go On Hoping and The Tips of my Fingers. Aptly named hit as I’ll go on hoping that the tips of my fingers in my ears will block out the noise.
But seriously Des was in our lives though the 60s and the fantastic 1970s. And guess what? Sir Des has been married four times, and now in his eighties has a young boy. He must be doing something right.
Let the 70s music ease the stress from your bones.Take off your disco shoes and sit yourself down on my giant bean bag, that's it just sit back and relax. Let me pry those memories from the deepest corners of your mind by taking you for a stroll through the archives.
