#45: Not Responsible by Helen Shapiro

City: Saskatoon, SK
Radio Station: CKOM
Peak Month: November 1963
Peak Position in Saskatoon ~ #6
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Not Responsible”
Lyrics: “Not Responsible”

In 1946 Helen Kate Shapiro was born in East End, London. She is the granddaughter of Russian Jewish immigrants and her parents, who were piece-workers in the garment industry, attended Lea Bridge Road Synagogue. Although too poor to own a record player, Shapiro’s parents encouraged music in their home. Helen had to borrow a neighbor’s record player to hear her first hit single. Shapiro played banjolele as a child and sang occasionally with her brother, Ron, in his youth club skiffle group. Helen had a deep timbre to her voice, atypical in a girl who was still a child. Her elementary school friends gave her the nickname “Foghorn.” When she turned ten years old, Helen Shapiro became a member of Susie and the Hula Hoops, with her cousin, 60’s pop singer, Susan Singer. Shapiro also participated in a school band which included Marc Bolan (then using his real name of Mark Feld, and later founder of glam rock group T. Rex) as guitarist.

When she turned thirteen, Shapiro took singing lessons at The Maurice Burman School of Modern Pop Singing, based in London’s Baker Street. The school had earlier produced a young singing star in the 1950’s named Alma Cogan, who covered traditional pop hits by Teresa Brewer, Jo Stafford, Kitty Kalen, Rosemary Clooney, Patti Page and others. “I had always wanted to be a singer. I had no desire to slavishly follow Alma’s style, but chose the school merely because of Alma’s success,” Shapiro said in a 1962 interview in the Sunderland Echo. Burman’s connections eventually led Helen Shapiro to a young Columbia Records A&R man named John Schroeder. While still age fourteen in February, 1961, Helen Shapiro released “Don’t Treat Me Like a Child“, which became a #3 single on the UK singles chart. This debut was followed up with two #1 hits on the UK singles chart, “You Don’t Know” and “Walking Back to Happiness”.

She had a #2 hit in the UK in 1962 with “Tell Me What He Said”. Later that year she charted “Little Miss Lonely” into the Top Ten in Ireland, New Zealand, and the UK. In 1962, Helen Shapiro appeared as herself in the teen rock ‘n roll movie, Play It Cool, featuring Billy Fury and Bobby Vee who perform in nightclub after nightclub. Shapiro also appeared in the UK film, It’s Trad, Dad! along with John Leyton, Gene Vincent, Craig Douglas, Chris Barber’s Jazz Band, Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen and Mr. Acker Bilk and His Paramount Jazz Band. The pop music comedy was released under a different name in North America as Ring-A-Ding Rhythm which co-starred Chubby Checker, Gene McDaniels, Gary U.S. Bonds and The Paris Sisters.

Before she was sixteen years old, Shapiro had been voted Britain’s Top Female Singer. The Beatles first national tour of Britain, in the late winter/early spring of 1963, was as her supporting act. Her biggest international hit in 1963 was “Not Responsible”.

“Not Responsible” was co-written by Mark Barkan and Ben Raleigh.

Ben Wingate was born in 1913 in New York City. He assumed the pen name of Ben Raleigh. In 1941 Eddy Duchin had a #6 hit on the US pop charts with “You Walk By”. In 1946, “Laughing On The Outside (Crying on the Inside)” was a #3 hit for Dinah Shore, and also Swing and Sway with Sammy Kaye, as well as a #4 hit for Teddy Walters, and Andy Russell. Raleigh went on to write “Dungaree Doll”, a #7 hit in 1955 for Eddie Fisher, and the Top 20 hits “Wonderful Wonderful” for Johnny Mathis (1957), and “Love Is All We Need” for Tommy Edwards (1958). In 1960, Ray Peterson took Raleigh’s “Tell Laura I Love Her” to #7 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was covered by Ricky Valance in the UK who had a number-one hit with the song. In 1963, Baby Washington had a #10 R&B hit with “That’s How Heartaches Are Made”. The Times covered “Wonderful Wonderful” in 1963 and reached #7 on the Hot 100. Other Top Ten pop hits Ben Raleigh wrote in the mid-60s include “She’s A Fool” for Lesley Gore (co-written with Mark Barkan) and “Midnight Mary” for Joey Powers. His final commercial success was in 1966 with Lou Rawls number-one R&B recording of “Love Is A Hurtin’ Thing”. Ben Raleigh died at the age of 83 in a kitchen fire in 1997.

Mark Barkan was born in 1934 in Brooklyn (NY). He had his first commercial success as a songwriter in 1961 with “The Writing On the Wall” which became a #5 hit for Adam Wade. He also wrote a minor hit that year for Johnny Maestro titled “Mr. Happiness”. As well in ’61 he penned “Flying Blue Angels” for George Johnny and the Pilots which became a number-one hit in Vancouver. Among his other songwriting successes are “I’m Gonna Be Warm This Winter” for Connie Francis – a Top 20 hit in 1962; “She’s Fool” – a #5 hit for Lesley Gore in 1963, as well as Lesley Gore’s Top 20 hit “That’s The Way Boys Are” (also co-written with Ben Raleigh). Barkan wrote other songs for Sonny & Cher, the Archies, the Monkees, Vic Dana, Chuck Jackson, Dusty Springfield, Shelley Fabares, Nat “King” Cole, Tommy Steele, Billy Fury, the Dupree’s, Paul Anka, Elvis Presley, Jay & The Techniques, BT Express and others. In 1968, Marcus Barkan was the musical director for NBC cartoon series The Banana Splits Adventure Hour. This included composing the theme “Tra-La-La Song”. Mark Barkan died at age 85 in 2020.

“Not Responsible” is a song that warns a guy that if he makes eyes with her, thrills her with his lips, and his fingertips, that she’s not responsible for what is going to happen next. She doesn’t want to be held so close, or to have him tempt her with his special charms. Otherwise, she might get “carried away.”

“Not Responsible” reached #5 in Grande Prairie (AB), #6 in Saskatoon (SK), and Calgary, #7 in Halifax (NS), and #8 in Moose Jaw (SK). Internationally, the single climbed to #1 in Australia for two weeks in October 1963.

Though Helen Shapiro barely made the Top 40 in the UK in 1963, Helen had a #1 hit in Australia titled “No Trespassing”, which was the B-side to “Not Responsible”, making the disc a double-sided number-one hit down under.

By 1964 Helen Shapiro had her tenth and final Top 40 hit in the UK. Her career as a pop singer was on the wane. Her bee-hive and vocal sound seemed dated faced with a stable of new female pop stars making the charts like Dusty Springfield, Jackie Trent, Sandie Shaw, Cilla Black and Lulu. Shapiro continued touring until 1972.

To celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s Silver Jubilee, on December 31, 1976, Shapiro performed “Walkin’ Back To Happiness” on A Jubilee Of Music on BBC1. In 1977 she played was cast in the role of Nancy in a West London production of the musical Oliver! In all, Helen Shapiro released 35 singles between 1961 and 1989, the final one being a new recording of “Walking Back To Happiness”. Her autobiography, titled Walking Back To Happiness, was published in 1993. In her personal life, Shapiro converted from Judaism to Christianity in 1987, as reported in Haaretz.

May 27, 2026
Ray McGinnis

References:
Helen Shapiro, Electric Earl.com
It’s Trad Dad!, Amicus Productions, Surrey, England, 1962.
David B. Green, This Day In Jewish History: Helen Shapiro is Born, Haaretz, September 28, 2012.
Helen Shapiro Biography, Jew Age.com.
“Veteran pop and rock songwriter Mark Barkan dies at age 85,” ABC, May 8, 2020.
“Ben Raleigh,” Wikipedia.org.

Fabulous Fifty – CKOM 1250-AM Saskatoon (SK) | November 10, 1963