| "Tears" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Ken Dodd | ||||
| from the album Tears of Happiness | ||||
| B-side | "You and I" | |||
| Released | August 1965 | |||
| Format | 7", 45rpm | |||
| Genre | Easy listening | |||
| Length | 2:52 | |||
| Label | Columbia DB 7659 | |||
| Writer(s) | Capano/Uhr | |||
| Ken Dodd singles chronology | ||||
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"Tears" ("Tears for Souvenirs") is a song written by lyricist Frank Capano and composer Billy Uhr,[1][2] and was first recorded by Rudy Vallee in 1929.[3] It was made famous as a single by Ken Dodd, which was released in 1965. It became a #1 hit in the UK Singles Chart and the biggest selling single of 1965.
Although best known as a comedian, Ken Dodd had been a prolific recording artist throughout the 1960s. His debut single, "Love is like a Violin" had reached #8 in 1960, but there had been a further 9 singles, none of which had made the top 20, between then and "Tears"[4].
The single spent 24 weeks in total on the chart, with 5 at number 1. It sold over a million copies in the UK, becoming the biggest-selling single of 1965, and was the third biggest-selling single of the 1960s.[5] In 2002 it was listed as the UK's 19th best-selling single of all time, with sales of 1,521,000.[6]
| Preceded by "Make It Easy on Yourself" by The Walker Brothers |
UK number one single (by Ken Dodd) 30 September 1965 (5 weeks) |
Succeeded by "Get off of My Cloud" by The Rolling Stones |
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