Editing Gene Pitney (section)

==Career==

===Rise to fame (1961–1964)===
Signed to songwriter [[Aaron Schroeder]]'s newly formed [[Musicor Records|Musicor]] label in 1961, Pitney scored his first chart single, which made the Top 40, the self-penned "[[(I Wanna) Love My Life Away]]", on which he played several instruments and [[Multitrack recording|multi-tracked]] the vocals. He followed that same year with his first Top 20 single, "[[Town Without Pity (song)|Town Without Pity]]", from the 1961 [[Town Without Pity|film of the same title]]. Written by [[Dimitri Tiomkin]] and [[Ned Washington]], the song won a [[Golden Globe Award]] and was nominated for an [[Academy Award for Best Song]], but lost to "[[Moon River]]". Pitney performed the song at the Oscars ceremony on April 9, 1962.

He is also remembered for the [[Burt Bacharach]]–[[Hal David]] song "[[(The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance]]", which peaked at #4 in 1962. Though it shares a title with [[The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance|the John Wayne western]], the song was not used in the film because of a publishing dispute.

Meanwhile, Pitney wrote hits for others, including "Today's Teardrops" for [[Roy Orbison]], "Rubber Ball" for [[Bobby Vee]], "[[Hello Mary Lou]]" for [[Ricky Nelson]], and "[[He's a Rebel]]" for [[the Crystals]] (later recorded by [[Vikki Carr]] and [[Elkie Brooks]]). "Rebel" kept Pitney's own #2 hit "[[Only Love Can Break a Heart]]", his highest-charting single in the US, from the top spot on 3 November 1962, the only time that a writer shut himself (or herself) out of the #1 position.<ref>[[Casey Kasem]], ''[[American Top 40]]'', 24 May 1986.</ref>

He followed up in December with "[[Half Heaven, Half Heartache]]", which reached #12 on the ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' chart. Because of his success on the music charts, and as he explained to his friend, oldies DJ 'Wild' Wayne, an unknown radio disc jockey at the time gave Pitney the nickname 'The Rockville Rocket', which caught on.

Pitney's popularity in the UK market was ensured by the breakthrough success of "[[Twenty Four Hours from Tulsa]]", a Bacharach and David song, which peaked at #5 in Britain at the start of 1964. It was only Pitney's third single release in the UK to reach the singles chart, and the first to break into the Top Twenty there; it was also a hit in the US, peaking at #17 on the Hot 100.

===Involvement with the Rolling Stones (1964)===
Pitney was present with [[Phil Spector]] at some of [[the Rolling Stones]]' early recording sessions in London, including "[[Little by Little (The Rolling Stones song)|Little by Little]]" and other tracks for [[The Rolling Stones (album)|their debut album]];<ref name="nzentgraf">{{cite web |last=Zentgraf |first=Nico |title=The Complete Works of the Rolling Stones 1962–2008 |url=http://www.nzentgraf.de/books/tcw/works1.htm |access-date=2008-02-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080227031309/http://www.nzentgraf.de/books/tcw/works1.htm |archive-date=27 February 2008 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all}}</ref> he played piano, though the extent of this is uncertain.

The song "That Girl Belongs to Yesterday" was the very first [[Jagger/Richards]] composition to make the American music charts and also was #7 UK hit for Pitney in 1964. it was the first song composed by the Rolling Stones duo to become a Top 10 hit in the UK.<ref name="elliottp16">{{cite book |last=Elliott |first=Martin |title=The Rolling Stones: Complete Recording Sessions 1962–2002 |publisher=Cherry Red Books |year=2002 |isbn=1-901447-04-9 |page=16}}</ref> In the US, the single stalled at #49, ending a run of seven Top 40 singles for Pitney as a performer.

===Maintaining popularity===
After another low-charting single, 1964's "Yesterday's Hero", Pitney rebounded with another string of hits in the mid-1960s, including the 1964 singles "[[It Hurts to Be in Love]]" and "[[I'm Gonna Be Strong]]", which reached #7 and #9, respectively, in the US, and 1966's "Nobody Needs Your Love", which peaked at #2 in the UK, matching the #2 UK peak of "I'm Gonna Be Strong". "It Hurts to Be in Love" had been planned for and recorded by [[Neil Sedaka]], but RCA refused to release it because Sedaka had recorded the song outside [[RCA Victor]] in violation of his contract. The writers, [[Howard Greenfield]] and [[Helen Miller (songwriter)|Helen Miller]], presented the song to Pitney. Miller replaced Sedaka's voice with Pitney's, though Sedaka's trademark backing harmonies were left intact.

In 1965, Pitney recorded two successful albums with country singer [[George Jones]]. They were voted the most promising country-and-western duo of the year. Pitney also recorded songs in Italian, Spanish, and German and twice finished second in Italy's prestigious annual [[Sanremo Music Festival]], where his strong vibrato reminded older listeners of the Italian tenor [[Enrico Caruso]]. He had a regional hit with "[[Nessuno mi può giudicare (song)|Nessuno mi può giudicare]]".

Pitney's career in the US took a downturn after mid-1966, when "Backstage" ended another run of Top 40 hits. He returned one last time to the Top 40 in April 1968 with "She's a Heartbreaker" (#16) and placed several singles in the lower reaches of the Hot 100 after that, but by 1970 he was no longer a hit-maker in the United States.

===UK, Australian and European stardom (1966–1970s)===
Pitney maintained a successful career in Britain and the rest of Europe into the 1970s, appearing regularly on UK charts as late as 1974. UK pianist Maurice Merry was his musical director from 1970 onward. In Australia, after a fallow period in the early 1970s, Pitney returned to the Top 40 in 1974, when both "Blue Angel" (#2) and "Trans-Canada Highway" (#14; production by [[David Mackay (producer)|David Mackay]]) were substantial hits. Pitney continued to place records in the Australian charts through 1976, including the hit "Down This Road", written and produced by distant relative Edward Pitney. They also collaborated in the production of the hit song "Days of Summer".

In the early 1970s, Pitney decided to spend only six months each year on the road in order to spend more time with his family.

===Later career===
Pitney's last hit on the UK charts came in 1989, after an absence of 15 years, when he and [[Soft Cell]] singer [[Marc Almond]] recorded a duet version of "[[Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart]]" by British writers [[Roger Cook (songwriter)|Roger Cook]] and [[Roger Greenaway]]. The song had been a UK #5 for Pitney in 1967. The duet brought him his first UK #1, in late January 1989. The single remained at the top for four weeks, and also went to #1 in Germany, Finland, Switzerland and Ireland. Pitney and Almond appeared on several episodes of [[Top of the Pops]] and the [[Terry Wogan]] television show in Britain.

In 2000, Pitney sang harmony vocals on [[Jane Olivor]]'s recording of his 1962 hit "[[Half Heaven – Half Heartache]]", which was released on her 'comeback' album ''Love Decides''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/love-decides-mw0000103755 |title=Love Decides - Jane Olivor |publisher=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=June 18, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160506172105/http://www.allmusic.com/album/love-decides-mw0000103755 |archive-date=6 May 2016 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

On 18 March 2002, Pitney was inducted by singer Darlene Love into the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]].<ref>"[http://www.cleveland.com/rockhall/index.ssf/2012/01/rock_and_roll_hall_of_fame_cla_17.html Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2002] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160924232038/http://www.cleveland.com/rockhall/index.ssf/2012/01/rock_and_roll_hall_of_fame_cla_17.html |date=24 September 2016}}", ''[[The Plain Dealer]]'', January 01, 2012. Retrieved June 18, 2016.</ref>

====''This Morning'' incident====
Pitney was involved in a gaffe on [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]]'s ''[[This Morning (TV programme)|This Morning]]'' in 1989, owing to a "technical mishap".<ref name="anniversary">{{cite episode |title=25th Anniversary |series=[[This Morning (TV programme)|This Morning]] |network=[[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] |station=[[ITV Studios]] |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCbalCVq4dA  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/XCbalCVq4dA| archive-date=2021-12-11 |url-status=live|date=3 October 2013}}{{cbignore}}<br>[[Phillip Schofield]]: "Well, today we're live from the [[Royal Albert Dock, Liverpool|Albert Dock]] where 24 years ago, this happened."<br>''[Clip rolls]''<br>[[Holly Willoughby]]: "Oh my goodness. I just broke out into a cold sweat, watching that...Gene Pitney's technical mishap."</ref> Giving a performance of his track "You're the Reason", Pitney missed his cue and was seen "failing dismally to [[Lip-synching in music|mime]] along in time to his backing track";<ref name="echo">{{cite web |url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/TV+REVIEW+-+Romantic+interlude%3B+TELLY.-a085002778 |title=TV REVIEW – Romantic interlude |last=Mills |first=Barrie |date=23 April 2002 |website=[[Liverpool Echo]] |publisher=[[TheFreeDictionary.com#TheFreeLibrary.com|TheFreeLibrary]] |access-date=29 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402093539/http://www.thefreelibrary.com/TV+REVIEW+-+Romantic+interlude%3B+TELLY.-a085002778 |archive-date=2 April 2015 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all}}</ref> he continued with the song, and found humor in the incident.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.virginmedia.com/tvradio/galleries/thismorning-highlights.php?ssid=7 |title=This Morning's top moments |date=1 October 2002 |publisher=[[Virgin Media]] |access-date=29 March 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140321010655/http://www.virginmedia.com/tvradio/galleries/thismorning-highlights.php?ssid=7 |archive-date=21 March 2014 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> It has been repeated on television over the years, notably on a 2002 episode of [[BBC One]] series ''[[Room 101 (British TV series)|Room 101]]'',<ref name="echo"/> in which host [[Paul Merton]] described it as a "very funny moment" in which Pitney came in "unbearably late".<ref>{{cite episode |title=[[Ricky Gervais]] |series=[[Room 101 (British TV series)|Room 101]] |first=Paul |last=Merton |author-link=Paul Merton |network=[[BBC One]] |station=[[BBC|British Broadcasting Corporation]] |date=22 April 2002 |season=7 |number=8 |minutes=10 |quote=You [Gervais] mentioned people being late: this is a very funny moment from ''[[This Morning (TV programme)|This Morning]]'' with Gene Pitney, where Gene Pitney was unbearably late.}}</ref> It was re-aired on the 25th anniversary edition of ''This Morning'' in 2013, in which presenter [[Holly Willoughby]] "broke out into a cold sweat" while reliving the moment.<ref name="anniversary"/>