Names on the buses

6 Adam Faith

649 Adam Faith

Connections with Brighton and Hove : Born Terry Nelhams in Shepherd’s Bush, West London, Faith left school at 15 and started work at a TV commercials company. He quickly showed promise and the following year became an assistant film editor on commercial television, then in its infancy. Faith joined a skiffle group and appeared at the Two Is coffee bar in Soho where Tommy Steele had recently been discovered. He was spotted there by producer Jack Good who put the young singer on his show, the 6-5 Special, on TV. Faith recorded What Do You Want? In 1959 and the winsome song went straight to the top of the charts, staying thee for a month. The follow up, Poor Me, also reached number one. He had embarked on a long run of pop success which resulted in 11 chart hits. But he branched out into cabaret and then acting. Faith made his stage debut in Night Must Fall but his big success came in the TV series Budgie, written by Keith Waterhouse. In 1972 he discovered Leo Sayer and helped make him a big star. But the following year Faith had a car accident in West Sussex which almost cost him his life. He later became a successful businessman but in 1986 had to undergo open heart surgery. He also suffered serious financial losses in the Nineties and was declared bankrupt in 2002. Faith loved Brighton and often paid visits to the city to see his close friend and colleague David Courtney Never a man to let adversity defeat him, Faith resumed his acting career but sadly suffered major heart failure and died in March 2003 aged only 62.

Originally on Dart 6 from September 1999 until October 2004, Adam Faith reappeared April 2005 on Scania Omnidekka 649 on Metro 49. Metro 49 branding removed September 2012. Bus sold in November 2020. Name reappeared on Mercedes Streetdeck 931 in February 2024.