Born Charles Springall in London on June 19, 1925, singer-turned-comedian Charlie Drake had a long and successful career as a stage and television performer in Britain. He also had a few hit records, of which the best-known is the 1961 novelty hit My Boomerang Won't Come Back, which reached #14 in the UK and #21 in the US.

In 1975, Drake recorded a very unusual single for Charisma, unusual in that it is a novelty record with connections to the world of progressive rock. Written by Peter Gabriel and Martin Hall (who also co-wrote the light-hearted Excuse Me from Gabriel's first solo album), the record has long been rumored to feature Genesis members and has been a source of great confusion for Genesis & Peter Gabriel collectors. Recently, in response to a post in the forum at www.philcollins.co.uk, Phil Collins offered the following recollection of the sessions for this single.

CHARLIE DRAKE....the post about Charlie Drake and his recording session brought back many memories. It did indeed feature Robert Fripp, Percy Jones, Keith Tippett, me and Peter G. A friend of Pete's, Martin Hall wrote the song, or possibly co-wrote it with Peter, called You Never Know. Apparently Charlie Drake who was a huge comedy star of the 50's and 60's wanted to make a record. How he ended up with this line up I have no idea !!! It seems the most obscure set of people to make a comedy record. On the day Charlie, who was quite small, turned up with a brand new denim outfit for his rock debut....it was quite touching to see him at it. Percy Jones and I were already in Brand X by then. The whole session was one of life's interesting snapshots !!!!

So there you have it! The above post is reproduced with permission from www.philcollins.co.uk. Please do not repost Phil's comments without crediting the original source.

Here are some interesting Charlie Drake links:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/guide/talent/d/drake_charlie.shtml

http://www.45-rpm.org.uk/dirc/charlied.htm

http://www.nostalgiacentral.com/tv/comedy/charliedrake.htm

©Mark J. Moerman. This information may not be reposted without permission and proper acknowledgement.