This Englishman made them swoon

Ultrasmooth balladeer Engelbert Humperdinck was often billed as "the King of Romance," and for millions of fans around the world, he more than lived up to that title. Despite the strange name and the latter-day ads hawking his music on late-night TV, Humperdinck was one of the finest middle-of-the-road balladeers around, a sensitive lyric interpreter with excellent vocal technique and a three-and-a-half-octave vocal range. During his heyday in the late '60s and early '70s, Humperdinck cultivated the image of a mysterious heartthrob, sporting shaggy sideburns and a flamboyant wardrobe that, when coupled with his rich, silky crooning, drove female fans wild. He was especially popular in Europe and his native U.K., and his worldwide record sales — counting both albums and singles — eventually totaled well over 100 million.

Arnold George Dorsey was born May 2, 1936 in Madras, India. Raised in Leicester, England, and originally known as Gerry Dorsey, this singer had attempted to achieve mainstream success in the UK during the 50s. He was a featured artist on the television series Oh Boy!, toured with Marty Wilde and recorded a failed single, "I'll Never Fall In Love Again". It was during this period that he first met Gordon Mills, a singer in the Viscounts, who later moved into songwriting and management. By 1963, Dorsey's career had hit rock bottom. The beat boom hampered his singing career and to make matters worse, he fell seriously ill with tuberculosis. Mills, meanwhile, was beginning to win international success for Tom Jones and in 1967 decided to help his old friend Gerry Dorsey. Soon after, the singer was rechristened Engelbert Humperdinck, a name inspired by the composer of the nineteenth-century opera Hansel And Gretel, and relaunched as a balladeer. His first single for Decca Records, "Dommage Dommage", failed to chart, but received considerable airplay. There was no mistake with the follow-up, "Release Me", which sold a million copies in the UK alone, dominated the number 1 spot for five weeks and, most remarkably, prevented the Beatles from reaching the top with "Penny Lane"/"Strawberry Fields Forever". The single also reached number 4 in the Billboard Top 200. Humperdinck's follow-up, "There Goes My Everything", climbed to number 2 in the UK and by the end of the summer he was back at the top for a further five weeks with "The Last Waltz". The latter once again sold in excess of a million copies in the UK alone.

In a year dominated by psychedelia and experimentation in rock, Humperdinck was the biggest-selling artist in England. His strong vocal and romantic image ensured regular bookings and brought a further series of UK Top 10 hits including "Am I That Easy To Forget" (number 3, January 1968), "A Man Without Love" (number 2, April 1968), "Les Bicyclettes De Belsize" (number 5, September 1968), "The Way It Used To Be" (number 3, February 1969) and "Winter World Of Love" (number 7, November 1969)."After The Lovin'" gave him a number 8 US hit in October 1976. Although he faded as a hit-making artist after the early 70s, his career blossomed in America where he took up residence and became a regular on the lucrative Las Vegas circuit.