Tommy Quickly

Tommy Quickly (born July 7, 1943 in Liverpool, England), whose real name was Thomas Quigley, was a Liverpool rock and roll singer in the early 1960s. He was a later signing of artist manager Brian Epstein, whose biggest act was The Beatles. Spotted as the vocalist with local group the Challengers, Epstein liked Quigley but not the band, suggesting first a name change (to "Tommy Quickly and the Stops"), then pairing him instead with the Remo Four. The next change was in song selection; while Quickly's voice was best suited to Rhythm & Blues, Epstein steered him toward pop songs, starting with his first single, "Tip of My Tongue", written by Beatles songwriters Paul McCartney and John Lennon. He then made the usual round of appearances onstage and in public, and was promoted by Epstein as part of his NEMS Enterprises artist stable. "Tip of My Tongue" was a surprising flop, as were his next four singles. His fifth single, "The Wild Side of Life", charted in the top forty, spending four weeks in the charts. Described as young, naive and impulsive, and seemingly overwhelmed with matters since parting with the Challengers, Quickly was ill-prepared for the spotlight. When followup hits didn't come, and with manager Epstein unable to push him farther, Quickly retired from the music industry in 1965. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.