Valerie Murtagh (born Patricia Valerie Jenkins, 1936,

Willesden Willesden () is an area of northwest London, situated 5 miles (8 km) northwest of Charing Cross. It is historically a parish in the county of Middlesex that was incorporated as the Municipal Borough of Willesden in 1933, and has formed ...

, London, England, also known under the pseudonym Valerie Avon) is an English singer and songwriter, who was a member of

The Avons The Avons were a British pop vocal group. Originally composed of Valerie Murtagh (born 1936, Willesden, London) and Elaine Murtagh, (born 1940, County Cork, Ireland) and known as 'The Avon Sisters', they added Raymond S. Adams (born 1938, Jersey, C ...

Career

After singing with the Avons vocal trio in the 1950s and 60s, alongside her husband's sister

Elaine Murtagh Elaine Murtagh (born Elaine Patricia Murtagh, 1940, County Cork, Ireland) is an Irish singer, songwriter and a member of The Avons, a pop vocal group popular in the 1950s and early 1960s. Career Murtagh was a member of The Avons with her sister- ...

and Elaine's husband Ray Adams, Murtagh became a songwriter under the name Valerie Avon. Together with Adams and Elaine Murtagh, she wrote "

Dance On! "Dance On!" is an instrumental by British group the Shadows, released as a single in December 1962. It went to number 1 on the UK Singles Chart and the Irish Singles Chart. A vocal version, with lyrics by Marcel Stellman, was recorded by Britis ...

". This was a UK

number one Number One most commonly refers to: * 1 (number) Number One, No. 1, or #1 may also refer to: Music Albums * ''Number 1'' (Big Bang album), and the title song * ''No. 1'' (BoA album), and the title song * ''No.1'' (EP), by CLC * ''n.1 ...

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

in 1963, and the year later returned to the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in a vocal version by

Kathy Kirby Kathy Kirby (born Catherine Ethel O'Rourke; 20 October 1938 – 19 May 2011) was an English singer, reportedly the highest-paid female singer of her generation. She is best known for her cover version of Doris Day's " Secret Love" and for re ...

with lyrics by Marcel Stellman. With her songwriting partner,

Harold Spiro Harold Jacob Spiro (25 June 1925 – 11 December 1996) was an English songwriter. He is best known for his co-writing with Valerie Avon, particularly the song " Long Live Love" (1974) performed by Olivia Newton-John, which was the UK's entry i ...

, she later wrote " Long Live Love", which was performed by

Olivia Newton-John Dame Olivia Newton-John (26 September 1948 – 8 August 2022) was a British-Australian singer, actress and activist. She was a four-time Grammy Award winner whose music career included 15 top-ten singles, including 5 number-one singles on the ...

, the UK entry to the

Eurovision Song Contest 1974 The Eurovision Song Contest 1974 was the 19th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Brighton, United Kingdom and was organized by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster British Broadcasting Corporati ...

. She also co-wrote the following songs: *"In Summer" (

Billy Fury Ronald Wycherley (17 April 1940 – 28 January 1983), better known as Billy Fury, was an English singer, musician, songwriter, and actor. An early star of rock and roll, he equalled the Beatles' record of 24 hits in the 1960s and spent 332 week ...

) – Ray Adams, Valerie Avon and Elaine Murtagh *"Don't Move Away" (

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...

) – Valerie Avon, Harold Spiro *"Annabella Umbrella" (

) – Valerie Avon, Neilburg, Harold Spiro *"Easy Lovin', Easy Livin'" (

Georgie Fame Georgie Fame (born Clive Powell; 26 June 1943) is an English R&B and jazz musician. Fame, who had a string of 1960s hits, is still performing, often working with contemporaries such as Alan Price, Van Morrison and Bill Wyman. Fame is the on ...

) – Valerie Avon, Harold Spiro *"Easy Loving" (

The Troggs The Troggs (originally called the Troglodytes) are an English garage rock band formed in Andover, Hampshire in May 1964. Their most famous songs include the US chart-topper " Wild Thing", "With a Girl Like You" and "Love Is All Around", all o ...

) – Valerie Avon, Harold Spiro *"

Desdemona Desdemona () is a character in William Shakespeare's play ''Othello'' (c. 1601–1604). Shakespeare's Desdemona is a Venetian beauty who enrages and disappoints her father, a Venetian senator, when she elopes with Othello, a Moorish Venetian ...

" (

The Searchers ''The Searchers'' is a 1956 American Technicolor VistaVision epic Western film directed by John Ford and written by Frank S. Nugent, based on the 1954 novel by Alan Le May. It is set during the Texas-Native American wars, and stars John Wa ...

) – Valerie Avon, Harold Spiro -- U.S. #94 *"I'm Gonna Find Myself A Girl" (

Gene Pitney Gene Francis Alan Pitney (February 17, 1940 – April 5, 2006) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. Pitney charted 16 top-40 hits in the United States, four in the top ten. In the United Kingdom, he had 22 top-40 hit singles, inclu ...

) – Ray Adams, Valerie Avon and Elaine Adams (Elaine Murtagh)

References

External links

Songwriting database
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Murtagh, Valerie 1936 births Living people English women singers English songwriters People from Willesden Singers from London

Career

See also

References

External links