Michael Holliday

Michael Holliday (26 November 1924 - October 29, 1963) was a British singer (real name Norman Milne) popular in the late 1950s and early 1960s, who sang in a very similar style to Bing Crosby. Born in Liverpool, he had a string of chart hits in the pre-Beatles era in the UK, including two number one singles, "The Story of My Life" and "Starry Eyed".
Holliday suffered from stage fright and had a nervous breakdown in 1961; he committed suicide two years later.
Holliday's life is detailed in a 2004 biography by Ken Crossland, titled The Man Who Would Be Bing.

Michael Holliday had a method of crooning that was heavily influenced by and similar to Bing Crosby; although his overall style was probably closer to that of Perry Como.
Michael served in the Merchant Navy during World War II, having been born into a seafaring family. On a 'stop-off' in New York, Mike took the opportunity to enter a talent contest at Radio City Hall- which he won. This gave him the confidence to try and become a professional singer and he began by offering his services around Liverpool's dance halls. His first important professional work came as a member of the Eric Winstone Orchestra. From this he soon became a top performer during the dying days of the Variety theatre and drew sufficient attention to get into Television and records.

Mike's career peaked during the late 1950s at a time when it was common for multiple cover versions of the same song to be released. In these circumstances, as often as not, it would be the Michael Holliday version that would succeed; such was his popularity. In fact much of his recorded output, in common with other British MOR artists, were covers of American songs. He also hosted his own TV series and was one of the first to adopt a 'relaxed' style as used by Val Doonican a few years later.
Sadly, despite his popularity as a performer, his chart presence was erratic and the 1960s brought a long series of failures. Michael Holliday died from a suspected drugs overdose on 29th October 1963 in Croydon, Surrey.

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