Eddie Calvert

<Daily Telegraph, August 8, 1978>

<Mr Eddie Calvert>

EDDIE CALVERT, the trumpeter, who has died in Johannesburg aged 56, sprang to fame in 1954 with his recording of "Oh Mein Papa". It sold more than a million copies, even though he was prevented by trade unions from playing personally in the United States. He was the first British instrumentalist to qualify for a "Golden Disc", presented to artists who top a million sales.

Born in Preston, he was playing in Lancashire brass bands when he was six and got his first dance band job in Manchester in 1942 after being invalided out of the Army.

He joined the BBC Dance Orchestra the following year. By 1948 he had his own band after playing with Maurice Winnnick, Joe Loss, Harry Roy and Geraldo, but he was not particularly successful.

In 1953 he recorded "Mystery Street" with the unregarded "Oh Mein Papa" on the flip-side. The flip-side tune caught on in Britain and had a second innings when it became a phenomenal success in America. But Calvert came to hate the tune that had brought him fame. "Hearing it is like having a six inch nail jammed through my head," he said.

He appeared in several Royal Variety performances. He was known as "The Man with the Golden Trumpet" and once insured his lips for £25,000. He had lived in South Africa for many years.

END