Laurie London – England's 14-Year Old Singing Sensation (1958)

London was born in Bethnal Green, East London. At the age of thirteen, whilst a pupil at The Davenant Foundation Grammar School in Whitechapel Road, he made an up-tempo version of "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" with the Geoff Love Orchestra for Parlophone Records (45-R4359) which was picked up by its co-owned American sister label Capitol Records (F3891). In April 1958, it reached number 1 on Billboard's "Most Played by Jockeys" chart and remained there for four weeks, but it was to be his only hit record. It was the most successful record by a British male in the 1950s in the United States, topping the charts. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA in 1958.

According to one online source,"he worked at the Abbey Road Studios, London with such renowned record producers as Norman Newell and George Martin" and "special songs were written for him, tailored to the German taste in popular music, and he recorded them in Cologne and Munich with producer, Nils Nobach." He Ju in the 1959 Deutsches Schlager-Festival (German Hit-Festival) singing "Bum Ladda Bum Bum".

London is mentioned along with his hit song "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" in the Colin MacInnes novel, Absolute Beginners.

London has a credit as "singer" in the 1961 German movie … und du mein Schatz bleibst hier  and he also appeared in the 1958 Danish film Soldaterkammerater, where he performed "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands".

He originally retired from singing at the age of nineteen. Later cover versions of the Cliff Richard hit "Lucky Lips" (1963), and "The Bells of St. Mary" (CBS, 1966) went unnoticed.

 1. Laurie London - He's Got the Whole World in His Hands 

 2. Laurie London - Handed Down 

 3. Laurie London - The Gospel Train 

 4. Laurie London - Boomerang 

 5. Laurie London - The Cradle Rock 

 6. Laurie London - I Gotta Robe 

 7. Laurie London - Pick a Bale of Cotton 

 8. Laurie London - Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho 

 9. Laurie London - I'm Gonna Walk and Talk with My Lord 

 10. Laurie London - Up Above My Head I Hear Music in the Air 

 11. Laurie London - Basin Street Blues 

 12. Laurie London - Casey Jones 

 13 (bonus). Laurie London - Pretty Eyed Baby 

 14 (bonus). Laurie London - She Sells Sea Shells 

 15 (bonus). Laurie London - Three O'Clock 

 16 (bonus). Laurie London - Bum-Ladda-Bum-Bum 

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