Tribute to rock star - Frankie star Holly Johnson says Billy Fury mural will help to improve area around West Hampstead

ROCK ’N’ ROLL crooner Billy Fury has been immortalised on a street close to where he recorded his biggest hits.

A large mural has gone up on the side of Tower Mansions flats on the pathway linking West End Lane and Finchley Road in West Hampstead. It was christened Billy Fury Way last year.
 

An unveiling of the mural, created by Graffiti Light, and a belated official naming ceremony took place on Friday.

Fury, who lived in Cavendish Road, died in 1983 after a career that included hits such as It’s Only Make Believe, I’d Never Find Another You, I Will, and Halfway to Paradise, all recorded in Decca Studios in Broadhurst Gardens.
 

Among those who turned out to pay tribute to 1950s and 60s popstar Fury was fellow Liverpudlian Holly Johnson, former lead singer of  Frankie Goes To Hollywood, who enjoyed massive success in the 1980s.

Mr Johnson, who has since become a respected painter, said: “The mural will mean the council have to do more to keep that pathway clean. 

“It was quite a scary road, so having that there will help to enhance the quality of life a bit. English musicians have made such a massive creative contribution to the world, but we are still so undervalued compared to sports stars. 
 

“I would like to see Camden do more to commemorate the wonderful musicians who have come from here, but I’m happy they’ve done this too. 

“Billy lived here and recorded here, but he was from Liverpool, so I can see why the council may not done more.”

The path was named after Fury following a public survey by Liberal Democrat councillor John Bryant and Camden Police’s Safer Neighbourhoods team.

Cllr Bryant said: “It all came about because if people wanted to accurately report a crime on the footpath, they could never describe where they were. That’s when we decided to rename it.
 

“Billy’s music was a bit before my time, but I can completely understand its relevance to the British music scene.”

And he revealed that a mural to former Camden residents Amy Winehouse and Dusty Springfield was planned for the coming months on the footbridge over Billy Fury Way.

“Graffiti Light are engaged in it, and we want to get as many local kids involved as possible, to help design it, paint it, take part in all aspects of creating it,” added Cllr Bryant. 

“Basically the mural will be of a train and there will be carriages of famous people from all over Camden looking out of the windows. That could even include ­people like Jimi Hendrix because he played at ­venues here.”
 

Despite the excitement, however, Fury’s former friend, the popstar Vince Eager, said: “They could have chosen somewhere a bit classier. They should have chosen a highway or something after him, because he lived in West Hampstead and even recorded Sound of Fury at studios in Hampstead, and it’s still widely regarded as the best British rock ’n’ roll album of all time.”

He added: “Billy was so special that a walkway doesn’t really do him justice. 

“Anyway, a mural can be defaced like any of the other graffiti that’s up there. Having heard what I’ve heard about that pathway, and all the ­graffiti and stray items lying around on the floor there, Billy could have been done much much prouder. 

“It’s the best of intentions. But will the youths who deface that path now, really stop with the mural?”