MORE POPULAR THAN THE BEATLES?

Settling in for tea at the posh Langham Hotel here, Helen Shapiro put both elbows up on the table and flashed the same smile she made famous on British television back in the early 1960s. "How did you ever hear about me?" the 64-year-old asked, mystified that anyone from the U.S. would know of her earlier fame in Britain or even care. (click below to read more)

Fifty years ago this summer, Ms. Shapiro was a 14-year-old pop sensation in the U.K. The singer—with her upbeat manner and swinging, soulful delivery—was more popular than the Beatles in Britain prior to their 1964 arrival in the U.S. So big that during a joint tour of the U.K. in early 1963, the Fab Four opened for her. Earlier this year, EMI released "The Ultimate Helen Shapiro," a three-CD, 90-track set celebrating her pop career.
But as the British Invasion unfolded in the '60s, Ms. Shapiro was left behind. With a beehive hairdo, young face and Jewish last name that she refused to change, Ms. Shapiro lacked the willowy maturity of Petula Clark and Dusty Springfield, who swept the U.S. charts.
"Pet and Dusty were so talented and popular," said Ms. Shapiro, whose deep voice remains richly melodic. "By the time the Beatles broke through in the U.S., I was 17 and no longer high up on the charts."
Ms. Shapiro first formed a band at age 10 in 1956 with a cousin and a couple of friends, including Mark Feld—who later became Marc Bolan of T-Rex. Then she went on to win a string of talent contests, followed by enrollment at the Maurice Burman School of Modern Pop Singing in 1959. "It was a singing school where you learned microphone technique, diction and how to carry yourself on camera the way the stars did," she said.
By 1960, Ms. Shapiro came to the attention of Norrie Paramor, a powerful Columbia Records executive in London who had produced hits for British pop star Cliff Richard. At first listen, Paramor thought Ms. Shapiro was a boy, given her basso-profundo voice on a demo of "Birth of the Blues." Signed to a six-month contract, she recorded "Don't Treat Me Like a Child" in January 1961. After her appearance on a British TV show, the tune shot to No. 3 in May. "Teens identified with the lyrics," Ms. Shapiro said. "They were going through the very same things I was singing about."
Her U.K. follow-up, "You Don't Know," was released in June, hitting No. 1 by August and selling 500,000 copies. Promoted as the British Brenda Lee, Ms. Shapiro became red meat for the London tabloids. "My celebrity caused quite a stir in the classroom. So I left school when I turned 15, at the end of 1961."
Ms. Shapiro's third single, "Walkin' Back to Happiness," came out that September and rocketed to No. 1 in October. "It was jaunty, and I thought it was corny at the time, but it stuck with me and became my signature hit," she said.
After Ms. Shapiro's next single, "Tell Me What He Said," sailed to No. 2 in March 1962, she was cast in two teen-rocker films. A subsequent summer concert tour of Australia, New Zealand and Canada was a success, capped by an "Ed Sullivan Show" appearance in October. "Being on the show was a big deal, but it didn't have that big of an impact," she said. "Before the Beatles, British acts on American TV were thought of mostly as music hall."
A pop tour of the U.K. was arranged for February and March 1963, featuring five other acts, including the Beatles, who were billed last. "I had a big crush on John [Lennon], but he was secretly married at the time," Ms. Shapiro said. "We all knew but had to keep it quiet."
But Ms. Shapiro's good fortune was already getting wobbly. First, she learned from Paul McCartney that her team at Columbia had turned down "Misery," which he and Lennon had written specifically for her. The label viewed it as unsuitable for their upbeat star. Then, halfway into the tour, the Beatles' "Please Please Me" hit No. 1 on several U.K. charts, putting the band on equal footing with Ms. Shapiro. "It was all just good fun," she said. "At one of our stops, my fans and the Beatles' fans were shouting our names. We were in and out of our hotel windows tossing out autographed photos. The Beatles were newly famous and had been practicing their signatures on my stills."
When the tour ended, Ms. Shapiro flew to Nashville, Tenn., to make an album with saxophonist Boots Randolph and the Jordanaires, Elvis Presley's vocal group. One of the new songs she recorded told of a teenage girl's teary agony over a cheating boyfriend.
But Columbia found "It's My Party" too bratty and held off releasing it as a single. The move was a costly error—allowing Mercury and Leslie Gore to cover the song, which went to No. 1 in the U.S. in June 1963. Sporting a flip hairdo and knit suits way beyond her 16 years, Ms. Gore had all but become Ms. Shapiro in the States.
"There was no rivalry," Ms. Shapiro insisted. "Leslie's version was so much better than mine—it had much more snap and lots more energy."
As the British Invasion unfolded without her in the U.S., Ms. Shapiro continued to record singles in the U.K. When pop-rock cooled in the late '60s, she performed on the stage in London's West End, sang with English jazz stars and toured world-wide. In 1987, she became a Messianic Jew—viewing Jesus as the Messiah—releasing several well-received gospel albums.
One last question for Ms. Shapiro: Why was the charismatic Mr. McCartney missing from her October 1963 appearance on the British TV show "Ready Steady Go"? On the YouTube clip, Ms. Shapiro is seen singing her hit "Look Who It Is" to only three of the four Beatles, whose backs are to the camera until she motions for each to turn around.
"The song had just three verses, so only three of them could appear," she said. "They flipped a coin or something to see who would be on, and Paul came up short."
Mr. Myers writes daily about jazz, soul, rock and R&B at JazzWax.com.