He tried to set up his own label, Columbus Records, and kept on playing until 1965, but subsequently dedicated himself to his floor-laying business.When the people at Ace tracked him down in 1979, Sonny Fisher visited the UK and played gigs backed by Johnny and the Roccos. Following the release of Texas Rockabilly, he recorded an EP of new material for Ace in May 1980. In January 1955, Sonny Fisher and the Rocking Boys cut four titles including "Rockin' Daddy", a Fisher composition which became his first release.He also wrote "Sneaky Pete", the follow-up single, and recorded "Rockin' and A'Rollin'" (September 1955) and the excellent "Pink and Black" (1956) but, when he received a royalty cheque for only $126 for the four releases, he refused to sign another contract. In the early Fifties, he put together a hillbilly band which became the Rocking Boys after Sonny Fisher saw an Elvis Presley show at the Texas Korral in Houston in 1954.Following an appearance at the Cosy Corner nightclub in Houston, Fisher was offered a one-year contract with Starday Records by a local entrepreneur, Jack Starnes, who was looking to capitalise on the new rock'n'roll craze. Entitled Texas Rockabilly, the album came complete with an old-style brown paper inner sleeve and proved a steady seller for Ace records.Born Therman Fisher in 1931 on a farm close to Chandler, Texas, "Sonny" grew up listening to his father playing guitar and singing cowboy songs and was also influenced by the country singer Hank Williams and bluesmen Joe Turner and B.B King. Sonny Fisher was one of several American rockabilly artists who had been unable to break out of their regional markets in the Fifties but greatly benefited from the upsurge of interest in the genre at the tail end of the Seventies and subsequently acquired a new following in Europe. Nicknamed the "Wild Man from Texas", Fisher cut a distinctive figure with his jaw-length sideburns and raven pompadour. In 1980, Ted Carroll and Roger Armstrong gathered eight sides Fisher had recorded in 1955 and 1956 for the Houston-based Starday label and reissued them on a 10" LP.
Therman Fisher (Sonny Fisher), singer, guitarist and songwriter: born Chandler, Texas 13 November 1931; twice married (four sons, three daughters); died Houston, Texas 8 October 2005. The school says that it uses the interviews to determine parents' commitment to their faith, whatever it is.Last night Comprehensive Future, a Labour party pressure group set up to campaign for an end to selection in schools, warned that the decision would allow all faith groups to follow suit.Sources suggested Ms Kelly had no choice but to allow the practice to continue in view of a High Court ruling last year that it would require new legislation to ban interviews.. Ms Kelly's decision gave the green light to the London Oratory School, where Tony Blair sends his three children, to carry on the practice. Government policy on school admissions was in disarray last night in the wake of a ruling from the Education Secretary Ruth Kelly that a church school could carry on interviewing parents to select its pupils.
Parents' leaders and pressure groups claimed that the decision would open the floodgates to schools of all faiths to adopt the practice - thus paving the way for more segregation in schools. The row comes embarrassingly just days before a government White Paper on education is expected to tackle the controversy over school admissions.It is set to back moves, including "busing", to open up better performing schools in the leafy suburbs to families from poorer homes. This included backing a scheme used by many primary schools - whereby pupils are given yellow cards for misbehaviour and face detention once they are given three.Sir Alan added: "Contrary to what is often said, most schools are orderly places that, for some children, provide the stability and security they don't have in the rest of the lives."Dr Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, described it as "an essential first step in rebalancing the equation between the individual rights of each pupil and the collective rights of the school community".Patrick Nash, of the Teacher Support Network, said: "Not only could this threaten personal safety but it would also have a negative effect on the pupil/teacher relationship as students would view headteachers as police officers rather than as a source of support and guidance."Ruth Kelly, the Education Secretary, said: "These proposals can help bring change not just to the rules but to the culture reaffirming respect in classrooms and putting teachers firmly in charge.". Pupils could be told they must "listen and respond properly" to adults; teachers that they should promote positive behaviour "by modelling the behaviours they wish to see" and parents that they must "support the schools' behaviour policies".Sir Alan said his team's report offered "a detailed, balanced and substantial set of recommendations that builds on a lot of what is already working in schools". Instead, it recommended that they should be compelled to arrange appropriate supervision for the first five days of the suspension. After that, it says, suspended pupils should be guaranteed full-time education - possibly in a "sin-bin" (pupil referral unit) - rather than have to wait for 16 days as at present.Ministers want to make it an offence to allow children to roam unsupervised in a public place. The new law could be used against parents of truants as well. Jacqui Smith, the Schools minister, said a breach of the new law could involve a fixed-term penalty notice or a parenting order requiring the parent to make arrangements for the child.The Government is backing another recommendation from the inquiry task-force - to give teachers the legal right to discipline pupils and restrain them with "reasonable force" if they are engaged in a fight.The task-force says the current in loco parentis principle, which gives teachers the same authority as parents, is out of date as many parents now challenge a school's right to discipline their child.It also calls for a national behaviour charter - a demand made by the National Union of Teachers last month - which would spell out the rights and responsibilities of parents, pupils and teachers.
