Born 10th April 1939 - Ricky Valence, (born David Spencer) was the first Welsh male singer to have a U.K. No. 1 with the 1960 single 'Tell Laura I Love Her'.
He was born in Ynysddu, Monmouthshire and started his musical career after leaving the RAF and being spotted in local clubs got signed to EMI's Columbia label and recorded 'Tell Laura I Love Her' in his very first recording session, covering the song that had been an American hit for Ray Peterson. BBC refused to play it because of a ban on the current trend for teen tragedy songs and had Radio Luxembourg to thank for its airplay without which would not have been heard.Valence was also fortunate that Decca, Peterson's UK label considered the song in bad taste and therefore refused to release it.
Following his success, Valence appeared in the Song For Europe competition to choose a song for the 1961 Eurovision Song Contest but was pipped by the Allisons pop duo with 'Are You Sure'
Valance proved to be a true one-hit wonder as sadly none of his follow-ups made an impact on the UK charts. He did achieve some success with singles "Movin' Away" and "Jimmy's Girl". Over 100,000 copies were sold of "Jimmy's Girl", and "Movin' Away" made it to number one in Australia and Scandinavia, with 150,000 copies sold.