Maureen Evans born 23 March 1940

Maureen Evans (born 23 March 1940) is a Welsh pop singer who achieved fame in the 1950s and 1960s. 

Maureen Evans was born in Cardiff, south Wales. She was educated at Caer Castell Secondary Modern School, before studying for three years at the College of Music and Drama, Cardiff Castle, where she gained a diploma. 

When her aunt heard that local impresario Waldini was looking for a comedienne to join his show, she suggested that Maureen should go along to audition. Whilst there she sang “Blue Moon” and although he wasn’t looking for a singer, Waldini immediately gave her a spot on his show. Waldini's Gypsy Band mainly did summer seasons at UK holiday resorts such as Llandudno in the mid 50’s.  

Maureen soon became known throughout Wales after appearing on the regional television show New airs and faces and the radio series Welsh rarebit. Her first acting role on screen was as a schoolgirl in the BBC TV drama The Corn Is Green, which starred Flora Robson. Maureen’s first important public appearance was at the New Theatre, Cardiff, in 1955, when Dickie Valentine topped the bill. Maureen stayed under the guidance of Waldini for nearly three years. She started to visit London regularly, looking for new material at the song publishers on Denmark Street and leaving copies of her demo recordings with record companies. 

In 1958, Maureen was noticed by Reg Warburton at Embassy – a subsidiary of Oriole records, which produced budget-price cover versions of current hit sounds exclusively for Woolworth stores. She successfully auditioned for Reg with her trusty party piece Blue moon and was signed up. Her first disc was a take on the Connie Francis double A-side Carolina moon backed with Stupid Cupid which is believed to have outsold the original, selling around one million copies. Subsequently, Maureen would often be chosen to record Connie’s latest hit and went on to release a string of Francis covers. A precise replication of Peggy Lee’s Fever and Sarah Vaughan’s Broken hearted melody were further notables which Maureen recorded for the label. 

                              

She soon became the most popular female singer on Embassy – which didn’t go unnoticed by Oriole executives, who upgraded Maureen to their core label. Now she could prove herself as a singer in her own right and not just as a sound-alike. Her first recording for Oriole, “The Years Between” failed to chart. 

However, her next attempt,” The Big Hurt”, took Maureen to number 26 in January 1960 – gaining the upper hand over the original version by American singer Toni Fisher, which stalled at number 30. But her biggest hit was 1962's "Like I Do", which peaked at No. 3 in the UK in late-January 1963 and achieved silver certification for selling in excess of 250,000 copies in the United Kingdom. Like I Do was the UK's 43rd best-selling single of 1963 selling in excess of 300,000 copies. 

Maureen made many stage and TV appearances. Her style was always polished and professional but, despite her wonderful singing voice, she never quite broke through into the top flight of UK singing stars. During 1963, she hoped to sing the song "Pick The Petals" in the Eurovision song contest. Unfortunately the song was voted third in the qualifying heats and the prize went to Ronnie Carroll with "Say Wonderful Things" which ultimately came 4th in the contest. 

She continued releasing singles through the 1960s, as well as one EP (1963's Melancholy Me, on Oriole Records) and an album, Like I Do, also on Oriole (1963). She had a total of four UK Top 40 hits and sold well over one million records in the UK. Although she transferred to the CBS record label during the latter half of the 1960s, her chart prospects slowly faded and eventually she retired from foreground pop music. Her last single “I Almost called Your name” was released in 1968. Since then Maureen has played several summer seasons at Marbella in Spain. 

In 1998 Maureen and her second husband, Roy founded their own theatre school in Cardiff , teaching children aged six to 18 years old all aspects of singing, dancing and drama. After Maureen turned 70 years old she decided to give up the drama school and enjoy her retirement. However during an interview she insisted that age is only a number. “I still feel as if I’m in my 30s, so I try and keep my birthdays very low key.” 

In 1997 an unofficial CD release from “Marginal Records” appeared which included 31 tracks. Then a six year wait until 2013 when Maureen Evans – The Singles Collection” was released as a digital download on Amazon, iTunes, and Spotify. “Like I Do: The Sixties Recordings” was released in 2016 by RPM Records. This is the first time that Evans' work has been treated to a proper CD release and in 2020 Jasmine records released “Maureen Evans - Embassies & Orioles: the Very Best of 1958-1962” containing some previously unreleased material. 

(Edited from Ready steady girls, Wikipedia & 45-rpm)