BILLY
RAYMOND
1973
At the beginning of January 1973 Billy again came home to Paisley. On 24 January he appeared in an STV news and features show called “Dateline”, fronted by Bill Tennent, to talk about the good things Australia had to offer.
On 28 January he flew out of Scotland to Las Vegas for four or five days. He had a ticket to see Raquel Welch in cabaret. He then went on to Los Angeles to visit film star Kathryn Grayson and her husband, whom he had befriended while working in cabaret a few years previously.
During his trip to Las Vegas, Billy was sitting in the concourse of the airport in Los Angeles. Due to the traffic gridlocks, for which LA is infamous, Billy left his hotel earlier to make certain he didn’t miss his flight to Vegas. The concourse was very quiet. He saw a couple of people coming towards him and realised that one of them was Engelbert Humperdinck. As Billy hadn’t seen his old mate Gerry Dorsey since touring with him for two years in the early 1960s, he thought that Engelbert would have forgotten him so, as they passed by, Billy just smiled at Engelbert, who smiled back and walked on. Engelbert did a beautiful “double take”, came back and said “You are Billy Raymond!!” “Yes, but I didn’t think you’d remember me!!” Engelbert said “Are you joking? After two years touring together, how could I not etc., etc.” To cut a long story short, Engelbert was heading to Vegas with his MD to rehearse for a season at the Riviera. They met up the next day at the “Riv” and stories and grog flowed for many hours!!
Before Billy left Australia for this holiday, he had supper with Cyd Charise, his “all-time dream girl” and Yvonne de Carlo.
On his return to Sydney, he started work on a new TV series, “Stars for Children”. The programmes were recorded once a month in Sydney City Halls. The nominal admission charge went to a children’s charity.
In May he was the compere of NBN 3’s talent contest, “Starquest” and in June he presented “Showtime Scottish Festival” , featuring Sydney Thistle Pipe Band, Lynn Dickson, John McDonald, Larry Burns, Jonnie Donaghy and the Dancing Stuarts.
On 28 January he flew out of Scotland to Las Vegas for four or five days. He had a ticket to see Raquel Welch in cabaret. He then went on to Los Angeles to visit film star Kathryn Grayson and her husband, whom he had befriended while working in cabaret a few years previously.
During his trip to Las Vegas, Billy was sitting in the concourse of the airport in Los Angeles. Due to the traffic gridlocks, for which LA is infamous, Billy left his hotel earlier to make certain he didn’t miss his flight to Vegas. The concourse was very quiet. He saw a couple of people coming towards him and realised that one of them was Engelbert Humperdinck. As Billy hadn’t seen his old mate Gerry Dorsey since touring with him for two years in the early 1960s, he thought that Engelbert would have forgotten him so, as they passed by, Billy just smiled at Engelbert, who smiled back and walked on. Engelbert did a beautiful “double take”, came back and said “You are Billy Raymond!!” “Yes, but I didn’t think you’d remember me!!” Engelbert said “Are you joking? After two years touring together, how could I not etc., etc.” To cut a long story short, Engelbert was heading to Vegas with his MD to rehearse for a season at the Riviera. They met up the next day at the “Riv” and stories and grog flowed for many hours!!
Before Billy left Australia for this holiday, he had supper with Cyd Charise, his “all-time dream girl” and Yvonne de Carlo.
On his return to Sydney, he started work on a new TV series, “Stars for Children”. The programmes were recorded once a month in Sydney City Halls. The nominal admission charge went to a children’s charity.
In May he was the compere of NBN 3’s talent contest, “Starquest” and in June he presented “Showtime Scottish Festival” , featuring Sydney Thistle Pipe Band, Lynn Dickson, John McDonald, Larry Burns, Jonnie Donaghy and the Dancing Stuarts.
