Chart entered : 12 June 1959
Chart peak : 13
Number of hits : 11
At this distance in time Craig seems like the most anonymous of the pre-Beatles teen idols , his most obvious legacy being the need to distinguish him from Carl Douglas of Kung Fu Fighting fame.
Craig was born Terence Perkins on the Isle of Wight in 1941. He was a twin and like the island's other famous musical son started out as a milkman. He was discovered by Bunny Lewis of Decca a songwriter and producer ( notably of David Whitfield's Cara Mia ) who gave him his new name and became his manager.
His first single on Decca in August 1958 was a cover of an early Bacharach and David number recorded by Marty Robbins "Sittin In A Tree House" a generic teen pop number. the second was a cover of a Jimmie Rodgers hit "Are You Really Mine" which has an interesting little guitar part. By the time of his third single "Come Softly To Me" he had switched to Top Rank records . This also has features some nice guitar work but was crowded out of the charts by The Fleetwoods' original and a rival cover by Frankie Vaughan.
There was a grave danger of the same fate happening with this one as Craig was one of many to jump on the genre-defining Pomus-Shuman classic first recorded by Dion and the Belmonts. Marty Wilde actually won the British chart battle reaching number two ; Craig and the original may have prevented him claiming the top spot. Craig's version has the fullest sound and is probably the most ambitious vocally but his isn't a voice that you'd instantly recognise.
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