I'm 64 and I had never heard of Helen either. I also came across this video about a year ago. I absolutely love this and the song. 😎👍

She blows my primitive mind too. I think I’m in love with her haha. Helen Shapiro has got to be one of the greatest singers of all time. Beautiful as hell to top it off.

I 'discovered" Helen Shapiro a couple of days ago and I have watched this video at least ten times and feeling to watch 100 more times..one of my life's best videos..Your every remark about this wonderful lady or better- the girl, is absolutely bang on. What a voice she had at 17. God Gifted..and her personality..wow! What a command and grace, the way she carried herself..The Beatles although not yet the fab 4, but still ..The Beatles she showed real character to stand tall with those fab 3..admire you Helen Shapiro

One of my favourite 60's songs, an amazing song in fact. She's special.

A most awesome performance. She was adorable and captivating.

Between 1961 and 1963 Helen Shapiro was the biggest star in England before the Beatles.

I have never seen this until tonight when I stumbled upon the original video. My reactions were EXACTLY the same as yours! I SOOOOOOOO wish I could go back in time and live this! I was born 20 years too late for all this great music and television. Such a fun and innocent time. Thanks so much for posting!

At 17 she was damn good. And her poise in this video is absolutely amazing.

I am 62 and I first heard this song last night and my reaction was wow what a voice and I just can't get away from it I listen to a few more of what she sang but this one blow me away. I think her manager was an idiot and she could have gone on with the right songs but he had it in his mind that he knew best and in my mind he had no clue. Now I will say I liked her walking back to happiness in her church setting better than on record. I am so happy to have heard this lady and this song in my life time even if it did take me 62 years to do it.

Helen Shapiro Is the complete package- fantastic voice, personable, and very attractive. Like you, I never heard of her until I got on You Tube. America was cheated out of her talents. I think one reason Americans should care about her is that she managed to evade the self destruction of many pop stars. She was able to reinvent herself to complete a show business career. I find her fascinating. She is a role model for a life well lived. I have tried to buy her autobiography "Walking back to Happiness" in the U.S. with little success. May God continue to bless this lady!

That deep voice was so unique and unusual. I just love her personality in this clip. Man have times ever changed, imagine someone 16 looking or doing this today. The Beatles were just about to explode if my history memory serves me right.

Back in the early 60s so many great uk female singers were overshadowed by the beatles, im a friend of helens and this was when music was real.

My favorite Helen Shapiro song. She had a strong mature voice and had to be the best looking British pop queen of the 60's,and that's saying something with Lulu et al.

Aw it was great seeing your reaction to Helen....She is an amazing performer and singer.....I concur with you I don't think this was choreographed either and I have seen it umpteen times ....

Well this guy hosting the show epitomize exactly my thoughts what a beautiful young woman and a powerful charismatic persona and so nostalgic

The first time I saw a video of her singing, my jaw dropped. She's right up there with timeless singers like Patsy Cline and Nina Simone.

An amazing unknown gem!!!!!!!!

I love how you present that video. You hit the nail on the head, everything you said is true. Been admiring Helen from the very start, she was probably at her best during the Columbia years (1961/1967) - if you ask me I think that those are the most interesting ones for you to listen to. I also advise you to listen to her version of "Blues in the Night" (1963), the story goes that the orchestra members started to applaud after the recording..

Man, great voice, American idol singers can’t come close

I ran across her on KZfaq about a decade ago and was blown away by her upbeat voice and personality. Never understood why she didn't make it big on this side of the Atlantic. Whereas, Petula Clark, Lulu and Dusty Springfield were quite successful stateside.

I love Helen too !!!! What a voice....and if you like this, also try some music from Cila Black. Also such a great voice from the 60ties

Helen Shapiro was well known and very popular in Australia. Over the last few months I have mentioned her name to a few of my American friends to find out they had never heard of her. The story was that Helen had a huge crush on George Harrison. I don't know if it was true but there is certainly a very noticeable friendship between the two of them.

I love that you love it as much as I do. Helen should have had huge longevity with that voice. This is the most perfect time capsule imaginable

I agree completely. Helen Shapiro is a legend, has wonderful confidence, a fantastic voice and spreading happiness all around.

She didn't fade away, she found her natural home with jazz.

Helen Shapiro a tremendous talent. The real deal. Greatly admired by Amy Winehouse.

Being a huge Beatles fan, I have seen this video before many times, but I love the way you presented it and your comments. Your review was just perfect!! I too was blown away by this video on so many levels!! Thank you!

I just recently learned about her and was looking at all her vids and stuff. she's amazing cutie pie too she has that deep voice. she did not screw around she put it out there, lot of character.

I discovered Helen 4 years ago when I first saw this video, and have become a huge fan. She's absolutely amazing with off the charts God given talent.

Helen Shapiro Could Belt it 💖🌟🎼🎶🎵💫🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧☮️🌟💖

I never heard of her until today. Since then been checking out her stuff. I was a young kid in elementary school when this was done. I was into the latest hits of the day. I suspect because she was British her music got little airplay in the US. Probably didn't have an aggressive music promoter.

If one wasn't alive back then, same could never fathom the UNREAL ENERGY burning thru the world during that time period!..... I pity the poor bastards who never, ever shall know said feeling.......

Still remember when I'm watching this video for the first time, really surprised me. And her voice is so beautiful, strong and powerful. I'm really love how Ringgo look so cute to her. Helen so charming, till today.

как это может выйти из моды!? Шикарно!

daXmusiX I totally agree with every single one of your comments, you are a cool guy for doing this post. I also just found this and can't get the darn song out of my head.

It blew my mind when I read that the Beetles opened for Helen Shapiro, eventually it becomes the other way around.

I can verify that she was real big in Europe in the very early sixties, I was there and she was on Scopitone, not TV or video. You put a Mark in the jukebox and selected your tune on the large color screen, when nobody in the US had color TV. I never figured why she never caught on here?

Oh by the way ready steady go was the show's name it was on Friday nights nights and ran from 1963 till 1966. It was conceived by Elkan Allan the head of Rediffusion TV.

What a lovely, feel-good clip - glad you sign-posted it. America got a British invasion when they were a bit down in the dumps (Kennedy etc etc) sadly Ukraine got a Russian one.

What a cool fun song and I did like her stage Presence too ? Didn’t act too goofy messing w Beatles !

"Ready, Steady, Go" was a UK TV pop show aired on a Friday early evening in front of a live studio audience, which showcased all the big stars of the day. Have a listen to Helen Shapiro's "Walking Back to Happiness" which went to number 1 when she was just 14! And if you like Brits who made it young, have a listen to Lulu singing "Shout" - another number 1 aged 15! As ever, regards from the UK

daXmusiX, On the Helen Sharpio tour of England in Feb, 1963 The Beatles sat at the back of the bus. Helen sat at the front with her " team." By the end of the tour ( 30 performances) she spent most of her time sitting at the back of the bus with the 4 Lads. Back in the early 60's artist's didn't have a long career. When John was asked at the time how long would the Beatles last he thought 2 years at the most. If Helen's manager and record company were more interested in her they could have kept her career going longer. But she lost out while everyone wanted " boy" bands. And yet by '64 girl singers like Dusty, Cilla Black, Sandy Shaw, Lulu were very popular in the "mix." See Cilla Black with John and Paul singing a song they wrote for her. Cheers, Chris Perry.

Yeah WOW! Never expected a voice like that to come out of her! Funny thing is I didn't detect any sign of a British accent. If I didn't now better I would've thought she was American. And that little chunk of history with the Beatles was priceless. They were all such clowns!

It makes me think about how history unfolds. Imagine if she had recorded that Beatles song. What if they had backed her up on the record? But I am just learning about her now.

Ready Steady Go was the sister show to our Shindig! on American TV. Her popularity around the world who enjoyed English speaking music was PHENOMENAL. Australia, UK, Japan, etc. The reason she started losing popularity because as she got older, the novelty of her voice was not so novel. Over here, we already had enough talented Novelty voices... Wayne Newton, Brenda Lee, etc so she got almost no airplay. She did a couple of movies. You MUST hear her sing You Don't Know. She later went into all Christian music, is still around, became best friends with Cliff Richard and they both profess to be lifelong virgins. She is very religious. She created the UK Chapter of Jews For Jesus. She had a great life by all you can see online.

I just found your channel with this video, and like very much your reaction, mine was almost the same, especially realizing Helen is just 17 years, her self confidence and behaviour is that of an adult woman, not to mention her voice, amazing!! Shame that Paul was not present, and as you stated this is a 'Must see video' no doubt. PS I can see you also have reacted to my favorite band ever 'The Bee Gees' I will check those too.

Need to check out "You Don't Know" Walking Back to Happiness and "It Might as well rain until September" and "Tell me What he Said" You'll be going down the Helen Shapiro rabbit hole. The Beatles were supporting her on her show.

Love at first sight.

Helan Shapiro one of my favourite singer . What a voice she was !

If you like Helen than you should like Kathy Kirby from about the same time, both with powerful voices.

It's crazy to think that at the time this video was done, she was more famous than The Beatles. They were a supporting act on her tour. The Beatles... a _supporting_ act! Things soon changed of course.

Hello daXmusiX, my fellow Helen Shapiro fan! I, like you, never heard of her until I stumbled onto this video on youtube (thank you God for youtube!!!). But she (Helen) has so captivated me that I had to share this with someone else who seems to feel the same way. You've probably done some research yourself by now (if you haven't, shame on you! LOL!) and you have discovered a trove of videos she made in the early 60's. This link will take you to (paradise) many of the songs I have never heard her sing. My favorite so far is "After You've Gone" from The Ed Sullivan Show in '62, a song written in 1918. To me, it actually is a better vocal than "Look Who It Is" which is for me the most incredibly mature sounding and looking that I have ever heard. I hope you will listen to some of these songs because of all the people commenting about her, no one comes close to being a more adoring fan than you! And with good reason! She is still out and about singing for her legion of fans that rightfully idolize her. Enjoy this my friend and keep up the good work with the reaction videos. This one (Look Who It Is) actually impacted my life in a very positive way. Happy New Year!!

As everyone probably knows, Paul's not in this as he was in another part of the studio getting ready to (or having just, I can't remember if it was before or after this section) judge the dancing / miming competition won by... the girl who would later inspire "She's Leaving Home".

Check out Helen's really great "You Don't Know" and "Little Miss Lonely".

It's definitely worth watching "Helen Shapiro : This is your life" here. What a lovely woman she is! kzfaq.info/get/bejne/ZrWlgNOUsd6pf4U.html

I never heard of Helen Shapiro until I saw an old musical in 2020. In this movie, I first heard Helen Shapiro singing.

Helen Shapiro did very well internationally except the USA, recently seen her in two films from that era, 'Its Trad Dad' and 'Play it Cool' also an interesting colour short Look at Life film showing the process of recording and manufacturing a vinyl record.

look who it is It's look who it is

Она просто насадила всех этих ,,битлов,, на булавки как жуков своим великолепным пением и невозмутимым видом😬👍

What a unique, powerful voice and beautiful woman oozing quality and gracious femininity. I also loved her song "Walking Back to Happiness".

I love the look on her face when Ringo puts his head on her shoulder!

It's often been said that the Beatles pretty much ended the careers of a lot of musical artists once Beatlemania swept the world. They jumpstarted an earthquake that would shake the musical landscape and within the span of a few months made earlier music sound old and dated.

The show series was called 'Ready Steady Go' i think weekly, a very different looking pop show for that time, a modern swinging London look, you saw the fourth wall, cameras, gallery and technicians, tv presenters and artists mingled with the audience, yes it was lip sync but everything was then, nobody minded.

She's still singing today

there's a live vid of helen circa 90s? on here where she sings all her old songs. don't worry her voice is still the same. it's in 2 parts, about 30 mins each?

The Silver Beatles

Helen Shapiro had a wonderful contralto voice, the lowest female range, which is fairly rare. I am one myself but NOT a good one, LOL! She was actually was more popular than The Beatles early on. They were good friends. If I'm not mistaken, she went onto the stage (Oliver) and then religious music. The UK in the 60's had more great talent than the rest of the planet! Many songs were lip synched back then. Easier and cheaper. The BBC was pretty cheap with pop musicians. They were considered disposable back then. Ringo is a sweet guy. A friend worked at a casino in Niagara Falls, Canada and her job was to cater to any special requests of performers. She said some "nobodies" were demanding big pains. Ringo was sweet with no demands and actually invited her in and chatted with her for a while. While you are listening to teen prodigies, please have a listen to Robin Gibb who just turned SIXTEEN and was trying out his big boy voice, doing a karaoke version of "Somewhere" from "West Side Story" to a backing track he found in their producer's office in Australia. One take! kzfaq.info/get/bejne/oKeWm6ll1LHap58.html Cheers.

Strangely this only got to 47 in the UK Charts. Written by John Schroeder and M Hawker musical arrangement by Johnny Keating who was more associated with the Pye group of labels, and Schroeder was a producer / arranger with Oriole then into (running) Piccadilly as part of Pye. Basically a pair of people that created a lot of the 1960s music.

Try Brenda Lee as well 14yrs old what a powerhouse voice if you think Helen’s voice is good

I love her singing! But I can’t believe that Harrison slapped her. What a jerk!

Get the green Columbia UK 45singles, On a decent Valve Amp record player and get the full richness . For comparison , get the HMV discs of Alma Cogan, not dissimilar

The beatles was the opening act but by the end they got promoted to do the closing act, they knew that the beatles was gonna be bug just never realised just how big

Helen had the same notorious female jewish charisma like some others. Cass Elliot was something same in US but years later. Cass had similar bold relationship with british and US male stars too.

Hello. I enjoyed your review of this Helen Shapiro clip. Could you tell us a bit about your own music background, please? Are you a singer yourself?

La pregunta es: ¿Porqué no está Paul McCartney en este performance?, Saludos desde México capital, CDMX.

It is terrible her career collapsed. Her voice is kd Lang great. I LOVE her personality and it is a pity her management did not help her evolve into a Rock singer like another favorite of mine Grace Slick. *Her voice is EPIC.* She was beautiful and charismatic as well. Even with that not very flattering style. Too bad she is not known well enough, rather like another one of a kind, Lene Lovitch as well from whom we got Siouxsie, Kate Bush etc. I am not much into Pop music but talent is talent and she had it in spades. If she had made it in the 1950's or even the 1970's+ she would have been a giant but she was not part of the 60's counter culture vibes and we ALL lost out on her talent.

I wonder whether the dear lady is still alive in this world?

Por que falto Paul McCartney ?

Dusty wasn't a "new" sound. She was sounding pretty the same.

It's not so much that she has a "powerful voice" but rather she's just got a very low register voice. it's almost like a young man's voice coming out of a woman's body. So, it's gonna give the impression of a powerful female voice because you know it's a woman singing. Case in point, If you listen to her song "You've Guessed" audio only, you would almost think it's actually a male singing if you didn't know it was a woman. She basically has a "masculine" voice. She does have a lot of charisma and expression! And this is a 'great' song!

Great voice, crappy song.