- Craig Douglas Trivia: Craig Douglas (stage name), an English pop singer, was born on the Isle of Wight on August 12, 1941.
- Craig Douglas Trivia: His birth name was Terence Perkins, and he was one of a pair of twins (and those twins were one of three sets among nine children).
- Craig Douglas Trivia: Not a serious student, he preferred athletics and being outdoors, which led to his volunteering during a school holiday to help the milkman make his deliveries....
- ... which got him labeled the Singing Milkman at the beginning of his career.
- Craig Douglas Trivia: When Craig was 16, his mother, herself a signer, entered him in a local talent contest which he won by singing "Love Letters in the Sand".
- Craig Douglas Trivia: He performed on a variety show on the island, where he was seen by London agent Bunny Lewis, who arranged for singing lessons for the 16-year-old, grooming him for a career on the stage in London.
- Craig Douglas Trivia: Bunny Lewis gave him the stage name "Craig Douglas". Lewis saw the name outside a house in Scotland. Apparently there were a number of Terrys around at the time and not many Craigs, so the switch.
- Craig Douglas Trivia: His big breakthrough came on The Six-Five Special, then the only real showcase for rock & roll on British television. Douglas was booked on the show the same week that Cliff Richard and Joe Brown appeared...
- ... but he made an impression even in their company.
- Craig Douglas Trivia: The Six-Five Special led Douglas to a recording contract and a string of successes. Much of his career was spent atEMI.
- Craig Douglas Trivia: Voted "Best New Singer" in 1959 in the British music magazine, NME, Douglas went on to record eight cover versions of former American hit songs, in his total of nine Top 40 UK singles....
- ... Amongst that tally, Douglas had a Number One single in 1959 with "Only Sixteen", which easily outsold Sam Cooke's original version in the UK.
- Craig Douglas Trivia: He also charted very high with "A Teenager in Love", "The Heart of a Teenage Girl", "Pretty Blue Eyes", and "When My Little Girl Is Smiling".
- Craig Douglas Trivia: But Douglas wasn't really a rock & roll singer, his diction being too good and his delivery too straight-ahead for that designation. His early records call up images of Ricky Nelson but, like a lot of young British singers of his era, he quickly aimed for a more mature audience.
- Craig Douglas Trivia: When filming Ring-A-Ding Rhythm (It's Trad, Dad) in 1962, Douglas stood the tallest cast member, at 6'. Chubby Checker was second tallest at 5'11. Lastly Del Shannon was the shortest at 4'11.
- Craig Douglas Trivia: He topped the bill on the Beatles' first major stage show, although their emergence ultimately spelled the end of Douglas's chart career...
- ... His final chart entry came in February 1963, when "Town Crier" flopped at Number 36.
- Craig Douglas Trivia: Douglas' time on the English charts ended in 1962 and his major recording career came to a halt a year later with the advent of the Liverpool sound, ...
- ... but he continues to perform regularly in clubs, on cruises, and in cabarets, as well as international tours.
