Adam Faith

A working class lad who grew up in a council house in East Acton, London, Terry Nelhams changed his name to Adam Faith to become one of Britain's first bona fide pop stars in the pre-Beatles era of the early 1960s; later reinventing himself as a successful actor, journalist and financial specialist. Faith left school at 12, became a newspaper salesman and odd-job boy for a printing firm and then got a job as a film cutter. His entree into music began with a skiffle group called The Worried Men, who he sang with and managed. A residency at the 2is coffee bar in Soho led to an appearance on the famous BBC TV show Six-Five Special, and the show's producer Jack Good was so impressed that he offered Faith a solo recording contract. His debut single Heartsick Feeling in 1958 flopped as did his second, High School Confidential. Yet more TV appearances followed on the show Drumbeat, leading to an appearance in the film Beat Girl, with music written by John Barry. This in turn led to his breakthrough hit single What Do You Want?, a UK Number 1 characterised by Faith's strange pronunciation of baby as "bay-beh". The follow-up Poor Me also went to Number 1 and further hits followed, including the novelty hit Lonely Pup (In A Christmas Shop) in 1960. Faith's career as a teen idol faded with the onset of Beatlemania, though he made a comeback in 1974 with a more mature style on the album I Survived. He managed Leo Sayer's successful early pop career before returning to acting, starring as an ex-convict in TV series Budgie and the movies Stardust, McVicar and Foxes. Faith then became a financial journalist but died of a heart attack in 2003.