There is a saying that you make your own luck, I’ve found that to be true and this story underlines that. Throughout his life Chris Morris made the most of his opportunities and still is today. He still has a passion for music.
From the 70s to the early 90s Chris was playing in various line up’s of pop band Paper Lace. “However, in the new millennium I decided it was time to concentrate on writing and pursue a solo career. In 2020, I teamed up with fellow songwriter and singer Mark Aynsley Hay – together we have written over thirty new songs”.
When growing up in Nottingham Chris’ only ambition was to be a musician and his mother fully supported him by buying him a guitar and encouraging him to enter into talent competitions, but his father had other ideas. Chris remembers him asking ‘when are you going to get a proper job?’
A young Chris focused on forming a three-piece band and worked the pubs and clubs around the Nottingham area. One of the first bands was ‘Infant’, the name reflected the fact that the members were so young.
His reputation as a guitarist and singer spread throughout the music industry and opportunities were presented that were too good to turn down. First, he was asked to play guitar and sing backing vocals for 60’s pop legend Billy Fury – then by 1973 he had joined Paper Lace. His mother’s enthusiasm and encouragement had paid off.
The original line-up was Philip Wright on drums/lead vocals, Mick Vaughan on lead and rhythm guitar, Cliff Fish on bass and Chris Morris on guitar and vocals. In the 70s a few bands had drummers who were also lead vocalists and programmes like Top of the Pops positioned them at the front of the stage.
Their big break came when Paper Lace won TV talent show ‘Opportunity Knocks’ broadcast on ITV with regular audience figures of 7 million. The entertainment show was the forerunner of today’s X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent.
Based on their television success the band released ‘Billy Don’t Be A Hero’ in March 1974.The single spent three weeks at number 1 in the UK charts.
Chris recalls “I was 18 years old still very naive when Paper Lace had their first number one record in the charts. I’d never been on a tour bus never mind on an aeroplane and the band were booked for a six week tour of Australia – the plane journey seemed to take forever”.
“During the flight I had no concept of time and distance. Two members of the band seemed to be very worldly and connoisseur in cuisine compared to myself and bassist Cliff Fish. We were two boys who preferred our mothers home made Yorkshire pudding, meat, potato and two veg.”
“The inflight menu offered a choice between salad and curry and other dishes that I’d never heard of. I didn’t like lettuce and tomato so I asked the stewardess for the curry. The flight was long possibly 22 hours with one refuelling stop”.
“After dozing off all I remember is that every time I opened my eyes it seemed to be time for food again. I was very reluctant to try anything else on the menu so I just asked for curry again. I’m not exaggerating when I say that during that flight I must have had at least four curries”.
“We finally landed, were picked up at the airport in pop star style and taken to a luxurious hotel. A porter took our bags and we followed him in the elevator. That’s when nature took over”.
“I sneezed and the worst happened which needs no description. I’ll leave that to the imagination of the readers. Let’s just say it was an incident that would never be used by our publicity team”.
Following on from the success of ‘Billy Don’t Be A Hero’ was ‘The Night Chicago Died’. A song about a shoot out between American gangster Al Capone and the Chicago police. The single reached number 3 in the UK charts. In America it reached number 1 – the single was awarded a gold disc.
Later that year a third release ‘The Black-Eyed Boys’, took Paper Lace to number 11 in the UK and number 37 in the American charts.
Chris pulls out more memories from his time in Paper Lace ”During our Australian tour the band were flown to different venues in an aircraft which could only now be described as vintage. It had two side propellers and looked like something from the 1960’s TV program the Australian Flying Doctor”.
“This was 1974, and although I was a smoker in those days I’d never seen anyone smoking or using soft drugs. We noticed the pilot was rolling his own cigarettes which carried a distinctive smell. He was obviously smoking cannabis or marijuana or as the Aussies would say “that funny French stuff”.
“Needless to say, I was nervous every time we flew and considering the flights were always very close to the ground, I was a little worried that the curry syndrome could happen again”.
“One good thing about flying close to the ground is that I saw lots of beautiful wild animals that I would never have seen had the plane flew at the normal altitude”.
“To finish on a lighter note, in the hotel we all had our own room with a balcony overlooking the pool. There was a beautiful looking parrot which would fly around the pool every day”.
“Each morning it would land on our balconies expecting food. I would give the parrot some food and sing ‘Billy Don’t Be Hero’ in the hope it might repeat our hit to following guests. It never did, or maybe I never heard it, I’ll never know”.
“Looking back one of my proudest career moments was when I invited my parents to see me perform at the Royal Variety performance in front of her Majesty the Queen Mother in 1975”.
Final words from Chris “I’m a very fortunate man, but if you’re listening Dad, I’ve still not found a proper job!”
For further information or listen to a compilation of music by Chris Morris & Mark Aynsley Hay plus family, friends and associates check out the official website >>>
chrismarkmusic.com | The joint music of Mark Aynsley Hay and Chris Morris
Check out the interview with Mark Aynsley Hay, March 2025.
Alikivi May 2025
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