Denise Nolan - The Official Website

It seems strange to think, but I have been a professional entertainer since I was eleven years old. My parents, Tommy and Maureen Nolan had been successful performers as the 'Sweethearts Of Song' in Dublin, Ireland in the post war heyday of the big band. One by one a total of eight children were born, I was the second eldest daughter. In the early 1960's my family relocated to Blackpool on the UK's North West coast where "The Sweethearts Of Song" made a living touring the Northern club circuit until one evening a child minder let my parents down and the entire Nolan family had to accompany Mum and Dad to a gig. Each of the family appeared on stage that night and The Singing Nolans were born. The group was The act featured an early version of the Nolans with my sisters singing three and four part harmonies, as well as solo performances from the Anne, and myself - The 'elder sisters'. Plus of course, Mum and Dad. We even ventured into the recording studio and in two days completed our debut album. "The Singing Nolans" It's pretty basic even for it's time, but to is it was fabulous to be recording at such a young age. we also recorded a Christmas EP. Our biggest thrill at that time was recording the theme song for Blackpool Football Club. Incidentally the song still gets played now at home games. As an act we toured the Working Men's Clubs around the North of England, and we were fortunate enough to see many parts of the World on cruise ships as guest artists. None of us ever felt pressured to go into show business in fact we pressured our parents to let us sing. However my Parents always used to make sure we never worked on Christmas Day. Then one year the phone rang on Christmas Eve, the Cliffs Hotel needed an artist as the one booked had cancelled. My Dad asked a very and astronomical high fee of £80. Confident they wouldn't want to pay such a large fee.

Dad was horrified, moments later when the phone rang once more offering us the money. Dad felt obliged to fulfil the booking, and so on Christmas Day we went to the Cliffs Hotel, Blackpool - To work! The booking was a success and afterwards one of the hotel's guests approached my Dad and they started chatting about show business. The man called Joe Lewis claimed to work as a music impresario and wanted to offer our family work in London. My Dad was used to people offering us unbelievable work and they always turned out to be just that. This job in particular was incredible. He wanted the five Sisters and our Parents to headline six nights a week at a new club on Drury Lane in London. The Company concerned was called Hanover Grand, and not only were they offering great money but the chance to go on TV. My Dad gave the Joe our telephone number and to our surprise he called the next day. Eventually my Dad agreed to sing for a two night booking to see if it was going to be as good as it seemed. After the two nights Joe turned up at our house once more, this time accompanied by a solicitor and a contract. We practically bullied Dad into signing. Our parents were reluctant in some ways because work was plentiful for us and the younger members of the family had schools and friends in the area. Still, four months after signing the contract we were on our way. Our Brothers decided to stay in Blackpool and would be looking after our house. For myself and my Sisters the club was a real eye opener. It was very luxurious, especially when you consider Working Men's clubs with tiny dressing rooms that had to be shared by the ten of us. There was the added bonus that there wasn't any bingo in between to cope with either! There was a band too and a great sound system. most of the time we would never have such luxuries. Hanover Grand had four night clubs one was "The London Room" Another was "The Cockney" which, as the name suggests had a London feel to it with Fish 'n' Chips, Pearly Kings and Queens and so on. there was also "The Caledonian" which had a Scottish theme with bagpipes and the like. I think there was also one called "The Hanover" and "The Beefeater" but we were headlining in the London Room. Sharing the bill with us were dancers who wore Busby hats and Grenadier Guards playing drums. It was so fabulous for us. Often celebrities were in the audience and that concentrated the mind I can tell you!

The original contract with Hanover Grand was for five years. The company were our sole management too. This was difficult for our Parents and even more so when the first decision they made was to ask Mum and Dad to leave the act. They thought that the group would have more scope with five Sisters rather than five Sisters and their Mum and Dad. They took the retirement hard I think, but they never complained. It was as if they said "Yeah ok." and just retired. I am not saying we were badly managed there but when we were offered the chance to appear in Summer Season shows with people like Ronnie Corbett and Janet Brown we were given the time off, but we just got out usual salary. Which was good, by 1970's standards but I am not sure I would want to be so restricted nowadays! We recorded an album too that was for sale at the venue. It's very rare so I am told now, and collectors pay a fortune for it. The album was basically the whole of our set from 1975, recorded in the right running order. In fact, not many people know this but it was recorded 'Live' We went in to the studio with the band and recorded it. Obviously we had breaks for drinks and so on. but it's more or less live! That's for anyone who likes a bit of trivia.
Because the venue was a nightclub often people from the industry came in to see new people in town. One such night a gentleman came in who came to be a huge influence on our early career. Stewart Morris was the chap's name. He watched our show and afterwards he took us to one side and told us what he thought of the act. He basically said that we could sing but that the patter in between songs was rubbish and that we lacked a certain polish that could, with his intervention, be achieved. He was such a good mentor to us. He not only improved our patter, but he worked with our vocal techniques too. Giving us coaching to sharpen our harmonies. He suggested singing an Andrews Sisters medley and between us we gave some of the song the elbow. We rejected Julie Andrews medleys from The Sound of Music in favour of more mature material like the Andrews Sisters or Broadway medleys that would appeal to an international audience. Stewart introduced us to musical director Alyn Ainsworth who we worked with extensively. He was able to work with our music to further improve the act. It turned out after a year of working in the London Room, with the show much improved, that Stewart brought his friend - Cliff Richard to see the show!

Cliff was and is, a super star and we were completely frozen with nerves in the dressing room. But at the end of the show he was cheering us along and whistling. Cliff had his own BBC prime time show that aired on Saturday nights. Incredibly for us, the BBC offered us, via our management a six week run. the format of the show was different to most shows. Most guest artists go on, sing their song, take their bows and leave. this was not the case with Cliff's show. Of course he was singing, and his other resident atrist was Pearly Gates. Other artists who came on the show as one off artists sang with Cliff, or with us, and at the end the whole company would sing. This was different for us to be able to sing Abba songs mixed in with soul numbers like "Love Train" and "Be My Baby". We were also able to perform both sides of our debut single 'But I Do' as the Nolan Sisters. It was even more exciting for us that we would get recognised in the street. One thing my Sisters and I have agreed on, was the dreadful costumes we were to wear. Not only on the Cliff Richard show but on the scores of other TV shows we did. Shows like 'Basil Brush' 'Wednesday at Eight' 'The Harry Seacombe Show' 'Mike Yarwood in Person' two series of Vince Hill's 'Musical Time Machine' and latterly 'The Two Ronnies' which we guest starred on for two full series and a Christmas Special. Those shows are just a small amount of the TV appearances we made. Sadly for us, after a long time of working for the BBC, we were presented bills for the very outfits we had complained so loudly about. The BBC had made a huge mistake we thought in trying to make Anne and Me wear the same outfit as Coleen who was a chubby 9 year old. While Anne and me were in our early 20's. Much later in our career we gained more control of what we wore

All our family are mad keen Frank Sinatra fans. Me I think more than any of them. In 1975 it was announced that he was to tour Europe including a concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Dad had bought two tickets from a rather dubious ticket tout and had paid a small fortune for them. The plan he hatched would see him have one ticket and the other was to be raffled between the rest of us. Nothing could have prepared us for what happened shortly afterwards. Our management had approached the Sinatra people and offered our service as support act. We found out one afternoon and to say we were elated is an understatement. I still think now almost thirty five years later that this is still the highlight of my professional life. Meeting other entertainment legends as also been such a reward. Stevie Wonder, Tom Jones and Englebert Humperdink to name but three. During a sound check before Sinatra started singing he said to us "You won't know any of these kids" but we knew every word. After each show he would come to us and say "How did it go tonight girls?" and I would just mumble" Harrumph humph hurrumph" I was totally struck dumb. He was very kind and used to say to the audience after we had exited the stage that "The kids sound good". After the tour he presented each of us with a bracelet that was inscribed 'Peace and love - Frank Sinatra' A few years later I was devastated when we were in a recording studio and the sound engineer said the bracelet made a noise against some other jewellery. He said I should take it off. I placed it on the side and as soon as I was outside the studio I realised I had left it. I ran inside the studio and it was missing. I still have my backstage laminated access all areas pass. It might sound sad but I carry it almost everywhere.
From 1976 onwards I worked with my Sisters and more TV work followed. Highlights for me included a Christmas special with Morecambe and Wise, a South African tour with Rolf Harris and a tour of America with Englebert Humperdink. We even appeared on Vera Lynn's TV show. Altogether nine singles were released while I was with the group. The promotion was not very good and although some of the records were good they all sank without a trace. Two stand out for me. Firstly 'Love Transformation' was recorded, firstly as an anonymous soundtrack for a TV commercial. The product being Dulux paint. While we recorded it the producers wanted me to sing the soprano notes. Each time we reheared the song he kept asking if I could sing a bit higher! Needless to say both he and I were eventually happy with the result. I was to be the lead singer on the 1977 single. 'Love Bandit' the song was actually quite contemporary of the time and we were mildly confident of a hit. The song actually almost entered the charts and managed to sell almost 60,000 copies which would put the song at number one for six months in today's market. We we able to sing the song on an episode of the Two Ronnies. We had learned a decent dance routine for the song too, so we were disappointed that it didn't have the impact we had hoped for. In 1978 my Dad had decided the contract we had with Hanover Grand was not working. He led negotiations for an early release from the contract. The original deal was for five years and this was only four. Once again financially we lost out and the family kitty was almost wiped out. I have always been outspoken and I found it very difficult to keep quiet about management decisions. I would lock horns with them over song choice, choreography and almost everything else. My Sisters were able to go along with what was being done, but I couldn't. Because the act was free from the binding contract, I realised that the time was now right to leave. I finished the promotion of the album that culminated with a week in London as support act to Frankie Valli and the four Seasons, and left quietly. The story did make the newspapers but I was able to say truthfully that I was leaving the act not the family.
By late 1977 I was beginning to not enjoy my time as one of the Nolan Sisters. The pop sound that the group was aiming at was certainly not to my liking. I like pop music don't get me wrong. But I don't like to sing it. I enjoy standards, love songs and jazz. I also enjoy dancing, but I don't enjoy dance routines. I discussed first with Anne that I wanted to leave the act. Obviously it wasn't a popular decision and there were lots of meetings to decide what to tell the press and fans. I don't think I could have gone back to the group had it not worked how it has but I was prepared for that at the time and I still am. The record company who were behind our singles was part of the Warner Brothers umbrella. The company had apparently been doing market research to find out 20 of the Nation's favourite songs. They then approached our management, who in turn informed us. No one has ever said why we were not entitled to Royalties from the album "20 Giant Hits" The album was a massive success. It was TV advertised and sold more than 350,000 in the UK alone. It reached number three during the Christmas run. Sadly for us, the contract that we were so eager to sign with Hanover Grand was not in our favour. Any profits made from TV, records, tours, Summer seasons and the like went to them. We were paid the same salary regardless of what we made. That said I enjoyed making the album. It was recorded in a week, which by today's standards is rushed, to say the least. I was lead singer on 'Sailing' 'Without You' and 'the Way We Were' All the other songs I took part in too. The vocals were good if I say so myself.

To be honest it was eight months before I was able to make my professional debut. I had been doing the odd bit of singing in London bars to gain some confidence. I was badly affected by nerves. I have never lacked confidence in my vocals, but my looks - that's a different matter. When I was with my Sisters, in the act one floor manager had told the entire studio not to give the fat one on the end any close ups. On another occasion I was supposed to be singing the lead vocal on a TV appearance and was told, once again to a packed studio that the singer had been changed. At least if I was solo that wouldn't happen again! I did spend a lot of the time lazing around and when, after seven months, My manager Selwyn Turnbull offered me a tour with Matt Monro I was in a state of panic. Tom Anderson, my partner, was booked to play drums on a cruise and I went along with him so I could be quiet in the cabin and rehearse. I had already found a musical director and he sorted my music out. I just had a tape recorder to sing along to. Working with Matt was a dream. He is such a gifted singed. He was also kind backstage and joked he thought he might have been upstaged. He loved a drink and when I retired to bed he stayed up with the band. I then went on tour with Gene Pitney which was another dream come true. Gene was a lovely singer and a delightful man. The end of that tour came with me singing in the London Palladium. I know I had some great achievements under my belt as one of the Nolan Sisters, but now everything I achieved was as Denise Nolan. To appear at the London Palladium as a solo performer gave me such a high. Even more so when it was sharing the bill with Gene Pitney. It is a sad loss to show business that these two musical giants are no longer with us.

I had only been solo for a year and I had two successful tours to my CV. Then I was introduced Selwyn to a company called Bron. As an agency Bron specialised in heavy metal, which is as far away from me as it gets. But they wanted to manage me and I gave them a go. To be fair they got me a record deal with PYE records and before I knew it I was in the studio recording my first single. The song 'Sorry seems to be the hardest word' was destined to fail really. It had not long since been a major hit for Elton John. I had spent two hours recording it, so I don't think any effort was put in there either. The record was not given airplay and no promotion at all. I was sad of course. But there was still a lot to do. I started off 1980 with a tour with Frankie Vaughn and loads of one night cabaret spots. I did my first panto too in 1980. Pantomimes could last 3 months in the 70's and 80's. I played Cinderella with Terry Hall and Lenny The Lion. Looking back on the video of it I see how inexperienced I was. Altogether I have done 25 pantomimes, but more of them later. I was reunited with my Sisters for a TV show in 1982 when the whole family including Mum and Dad and Brian and Tommy appeared and sang. Brian sand 'You To Me Are Everything' while Tommy played drums. Mum and Dad had a solo song as did I. Anne had left the act briefly to have a baby, but now she had returned and with her first daughter Amy appeared in the line up for Russell Harty's TV show. The last song that night was 'I write the songs' which was a happy time for me.

I never saw myself as a pop star, Don Percival had become my new manager in 1981 and he, like others had wanted me to record pop songs. I am very proud of the songs I recorded for Mercury. They were written by a couple of guys who at that time were unheard of. Although they were not great hits they mean a lot to me. It seems that when my people were approaching radio stations they were refusing to play stuff I had recorded because they felt the airwaves were already over saturated by Nolans songs as it was. It seems that my Sisters were now in competition with me! Still the three singles 'Don't you say it' 'Girls Do It Boys Do It' and 'In Love With Love' are great memories. Quick plug here - there is an album available of my recordings on CD, on the shop page. Also during 1982 I took part in the Castlebar Music Festival in Ireland. I sang and Andy Hill song called 'Where The Ending Starts' It was a great experience and the song went on to be recorded by Bucks Fizz. Live music is especially thrilling for me. I was lucky to work with the BBC orchestra during a series of radio chows in the early 1980s and that was a complete joy. To work with people who are so at the top of their profession is a magical experience. I was beginning to feel more secure about myself as an act. I was the one who decided what I was going to wear on stage and to an extent what I was going to sing as well. Not many artists can be totally self indulgent as to sing what they like all the time. Summer seasons are usually a great way to ensure regular earnings and to have the same address for a while. I have worked in Ayr, Scarborough, Blackpool and just about everywhere in between.
I decided that I would like to do a tour that would pay tribute to Judy Garland. This was never going to be a lookie likey sounda likey show. I would use the original music score from Judy's Carnegie hall performance. It was hard vocally and the show is two and a half hours long so it's physically draining as well. The first time I took the show out on the road saw me going to places as diverse as Dartford, Northampton and Sutton. I recruited a Rainbow Orchestra of seven musicians which works best for me because I adore love music. That show went out in 1991 and I was very busy that year with a Summer show in Ayr from July until September. I then did an Edgar Wallace play in Yeovil, Bournemouth Aberdare and Bognor. That was the first time I had acted in a straight play. Nerve wracking yes, but thrilling as well. I ended 91 in Kent again Playing Snow White. You know altogether I have played Snow White 15 times in my career. Including a long run in the Phoenix Theatre in London which, as you may know was to feature very heavily in my life later on. Talking of Panto - I have now started playing the wicked Queen or the Fairy Godmother - That's time for you! But I have been fortunate with them, I have done them in Hull, Liverpool, Eastbourne. Southend, Buxton, Reading, Mansfield, London, Gravesend, Bradford, Phwehelli, Shrewsbury, Telford, Porthcawl, Wimbledon and York - to name a few. It took my Sisters a long time to catch up. But they certainly have now!

In 1997 I came home to Blackpool for a Summer Season. It was not really my cup of tea - the show was one of those River Dance type shows. This one was called "Spirit of the Dance" They were all really talented of course. I never quite know how my bit was going to sit in between all that dancing but it seemed to go well enough. The icing on the cake for me was to be given the number one dressing room. The funny thing was that before I got that gig I moved out of Blackpool and moved to London. I then had a five month gig in Blackpool - typical!

Following on from that I began working on the cruise ships again. It's a fairly easy way to make a living, but it means I am away from home with only limited facilities. When you are in one place you can rent a house and see all the local sights. But there is the bonus on cruises that you are seeing loads of beautiful places for a day at a time. Capri is one of my favourite places. When I win the lottery I will buy a place there. I did play Nancy in Oliver! too. It was only for a short run in Northampton but I loved it. It the opportunity comes up for more musicals I am certainly up for that. My Sister Bernie had been playing Mrs. Johnstone in Willy Russell's 'Blood Brothers' for a long time when she was offered a part in Channel 4's Brookside. The producers allowed Bernie to get out of her contract. My other Sister Linda had auditioned for the touring production and was offered that. I was to go to the West End in London. The irony was that it would be in the Phoenix theatre where I had played Snow White a few years earlier.

I was terrified on opening night. I had only had about 7 days rehearsal for a part that has eight or nine solo songs. Plus there's all the speaking. I had learned a "Scouse" accent but Bill Kenwright who was now the show's producer had said he wanted me to do it with an Irish accent. Apparently Bill never goes to see the show - of course the night I opened he chose to do so. I was told while I was in make up. I also almost missed my cue as I was stuck in the loo! Altogether I was in the West End for 9 months and on the tour for four years. Happy times, but difficult times. I can't see me going back but in showbiz - you can never say never. I went straight after that to panto and then once more to a tour of the Judy Garland show again. This time a very busy one of about 40 dates. I have spent the last couple of years doing one night gigs and of course pantomime. I took part in a Rat Pack show and I have travelled to Spain for work and recently visited America. There's loads to do with the charities that I am supporting. There's information about those charities and how to help support them on my charity page.

Now there's one little thing that has been on many people's lips. The family rift that has been in the papers and internet. Yes there has been a family upset and I have always kept silent about this. Coleen has decided to name myself and Anne and to give her version of events. I believe she has mentioned it in her book. I will not read it for that reason. I don't want to get into a public slanging match. I love ALL my Sisters. I doubt now that that we will ever make up. The argument is distressing and I hate to see a family torn apart. I made a statement on my website which you can find on the contacts and more page.