The Avons

There is also an American 1950s doo-wop group of this name. Their biggest hit in 1957 was entitled "Baby".

The Avons were a British pop music vocal group, composed of Valerie Murtagh (born 1936, Willesden, London) and Elaine Murtagh, (born 1940, County Cork, Eire) and they were originally known on stage as 'The Avon Sisters'. They then added Raymond S. Adams (born 1938, Jersey, Channel Islands), and changed their name to 'The Avons'.

There was another UK band called "The Avons" formed in the late Eighties by Hal Jordan, Nero Caballero, Ed Street and Baz from the Farmer's Boys. They released one Album - "Songs from Three Rivers Reach" and an EP called "Four Songs". They didn't feature in the music charts but got regular airplay on Radio 1 courtesy of Andy Kershaw.

Early days

The two sisters-in-law Valerie and Eileen, known as Elaine Murtagh, performed as The Avon Sisters at the 1958 BBC Radio Exhibition, in the Olympia Exhibition Halls at Earls Court, London. There they were heard by Norrie Paramor, who signed them to the UK's Columbia Records label. Their first recording was with The Mudlarks, on their cover version of "Witch Doctor". Following this they added Ray Adams and became The Avons.

Biggest hit

Their first single release in 1959 was a cover version of Paul Evans and the Curls', Stateside hit song, "Seven Little Girls (Sitting in the Back Seat)". This record reached number 3 in the UK Singles Chart, and stayed on the chart for thirteen weeks. The song, "Seven Little Girls (Sitting in the Back Seat)", was written by Bob Hilliard and Lee Pockriss.

Later career

The Avons had three other chart entries in the Top 50, but they never achieved the same success as their first record. The charting follow-ups were "We're Only Young Once", "Four Little Heels", and another cover, of Bobby Vee's, "Rubber Ball". The group also recorded for the Decca and Fontana labels. The Avons had been approached to perform the song "Pickin' Petals" in the UK heat of the 1960 Eurovision Song Contest, but their participation was cancelled due to a European Broadcasting Union rule, that then stated that trios could not compete.

In 1962 a song they had jointly written, "Dance On!", became a UK number 1 instrumental hit for The Shadows. It returned to the Top 20 the following year, with a vocal version by Kathy Kirby. They also wrote "In Summer", a number 5 UK hit for Billy Fury in 1963.

Valerie Murtagh became a successful songwriter, and remained involved with the British music industry. With her songwriting partner, Harold Spiro, she wrote (under the name Valerie Avon) the UK entry to the Eurovision Song Contest 1974, "Long Live Love", as performed by Olivia Newton-John, along with many other hit songs.