No, that's not Buddy Hackett opening for Elvis Costello.
Elvis enjoyed paying tribute to his Dad. When a geezer came up to Elvis and said, "Yer not the singer yer father was," Elvis smiled and agreed.
Ross McManus was certainly a fine big band singer when he was with Joe Loss, but also, a very versatile one. He could sing in a lot of different styles. He was sought after for a lot of lucrative if anonymous work.
When he died in 2011, some of the obits headlined: "Elvis Costello's Father: Secret Lemonade Drinker." What?
The last part refers to a very popular ad on British TV. It ran from about 1973 to 1981, which could've meant that while Elvis Costello was having a hit with "Alison," his Dad was actually reaching more listeners!
The singing voice for the pyjama (we're talking England) clad secret lemonade drinker (Julian Chagrin) was Ross's. The odd thing is that Julian doesn't look that far removed from Elvis Costello, or, of course, a young Ross McManus. Connoisseurs of this idiot commercial have noted all the variations on how the guy walks downstairs at night (hushing his curious dog), gets all excited about having a bottle of R. White's, and then gets caught by his wife. There were several different wives including the old comedy legend Frankie Howerd.
EVERYBODY seemed to have a reason to know and appreciate Ross McManus. This includes Tommy Roe? Well, maybe not. Back in the days of copycat cover versions, McManus used yet another alias for his version of "Everybody" in 1966. Here's "Hal Prince" singing the Tommy Roe song...
EVERYBODY -- download or listen online. No dopey passwords, no creepy German or Russian server or malware
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