#61: The Last Farewell by Roger Whittaker
Peak Month: May-June 1975
14 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG Chart
Peak Position #2
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #19
YouTube.com: “The Last Farewell”
Lyrics: “The Last Farewell”
Roger Henry Brough Whittaker was born in Nairobi, Kenya, in 1936. Upon completing his high school education, he was called up for national service and spent two years in the Kenya Regiment fighting the Mau Mau in the Aberdalre Forest. In 1956 he was demobilised and decided on a career in medicine. He enrolled at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. However, he left his studies in medicine behind after a year and a half, and joined the civil service education department as a teacher. He moved to Wales in 1959, and while a student at university, he gained attention as a local singer. In 1962, he got a recording contract with Fontana Records. His first single was “The Charge of the Light Brigade”. In the summer of 1962, Whittaker performed in Portrush, Northern Ireland. He achieved a breakthrough when he was signed to appear on an Ulster TV show called This and That. His second single was a cover version of “Steel Men”, released in June 1962. On his Fontana releases he was billed as Rog Whittaker.