As Cliff Richard celebrates 60 years in showbiz with his new album Rise Up, we look back at his early years and unearth the unlikely story of an ex-pat Australian wrestler known as Dr. Death who gave Cliff his start and oversaw the original breeding ground of British rock. 

Australia has many rock’n’roll heroes, from Johnny O’Keefe to Billy Thorpe to George, Malcolm & Angus Young, though to Jimmy Barnes and beyond. Some of these figures were British immigrants, who, it could perhaps be said, brought some sort of innate rock sense with them from the Mother Country. But if the UK had any innate rock sense to begin with it could be just as truthfully said that it was an Australian who helped foster it.

An Australia wrestler, no less. 

While this man, Paul Lincoln – aka Dr. Death – remains unrecognised by any Australian musical – or sporting – institution,  he remained known enough in the UK for his 2011 death to be newsworthy, and for the likes of Sir Cliff to attend his funeral. Lincoln had arrived in London in the early 50s at the age of 19, after initially breaking into wrestling in Sydney. He had a successful career as a wrestler which he parlayed into the business side of things. As the BBC reported at the time:

Known during his career as "Dr. Death," Mr. Lincoln, who was 78, had been battling Parkinson's disease and cancer. He died on Wednesday.

The "god of wrestling" came to the UK from Australia in the 1950s and set up his own wrestling promotions company.

He also owned the 2i's coffee bar in Soho, central London, where he is credited with helping the careers of music stars like Sir Cliff Richard.

The 2i’s Coffee Bar in Soho was indeed rock’n’roll central in London in the late 50s, and Paul Lincoln’s influence on his clientele and talent was such that he is said to have influenced the likes of Billy Fury and Marty Wilde to adopt their rock’n’roll stage names, just like it was done in the wrestling world. 

Lincoln and partner Ray Hunter took over the coffee bar – which was named for previous owners - in April 1956, just as the rock’n’roll age was dawning. A uniquely British derivation of American folk and early rock called skiffle was already thriving, and coffee bars were where the hipsters hung out. Soho was cool central. In addition to Sir Cliff, the likes of Tommy Steele, Adam Faith, Joe Brown, Eden Kane, Screaming Lord Sutch, Tony Sheridan, Johnny Kidd and various members of the Shadows all got their start at the 2i. Little known British rock pioneer Wee Willie Harris – who Lincoln managed at the time - wrote and sung about it on one of his early singles:

Such was the fame of the 2i that the classic British rock movie Expresso Bongo – the story of fledgling young teenage idols mismanaged by unscrupulous impresarios, starring a young Cliff Richards himself – was based around a Soho coffee bar.

Of course, this Soho scene would have a largely unsung influence on future developments in British rock. John Lennon and Paul McCartney were fans of some of the early British artists like Wee Willie Harris as well as the American originators – and Ringo Starr specifically mentioned the 2i in the 2015 song “Rory and the Hurricanes” which eulogized his pre-Beatles band led by Rory Storm.

Paul Lincoln – Dr. Death – unsung Australian hero of rock’n’roll - died in Southhampton on 11 January 2011.

Listen to Cliff Richard's brand new album Rise Up below on Spotify...