A LIVERPOOL singer/songwriter, who had a big hit in the USA when the Beatles were still playing church fairs, has died in a council flat, aged 76.
In 1957, when he was working as a Butlin’s Redcoat in Clacton, Russ Hamilton (real name Ronnie Hulme) recorded We Will Make Love.
The song, which expresses his love for a lost girlfriend, reached number two in the UK chart and sold the mil- lion needed to make it a gold record.
The flip-side, Rainbow, reached number four in the USA. Russ was in huge demand for a while, appearing alongside major stars such as Perry Como.
But the following single, Wedding Ring, only scraped into the UK Top 20.
Before stardom, Russ (Ronnie) had worked as a costings clerk for a cardboard box factory, near his home in Everton.
He then did two years of National Service with the RAF, before starting to write songs to his own guitar accompaniment.
After that the hits dried up, but Russ continued to record fine songs for a several years and then settled in a flat at Prince of Wales Court, in Lane End, Buckley, North Wales, occasionally complaining that he had seen very little of the money he had earned for others.
One resident, who did not want to be named, said: “He seemed down on his luck in recent years, but was well-liked.”
Bus driver Andrew Hutchinson, who works in his family’s Buckley-based business, said: “Ronnie was a regular on our shopping bus. He was a nice, polite man who would always chat. I know he had been unwell recently and it’s sad he’s died.”
Buckley mayor John Thornton said: “I knew Mr Hulme was once a well-known singer.
“He never bragged about his success. I notice he had drawn into himself in later life, and had been ill for a long time.”
It is understood Ronnie’s sister has flown in from Canada for his funeral.
The family has been too upset to talk about the former pop star’s death. Ronnie released 17 singles between 1957-64.
