Billy Don't Be a Hero Billy Don't Be a Hero "Billy Don't Be a Hero" is a 1974 pop song that was first a UK hit for Paper Lace and then, some months later, a US hit for Bo Donaldson and The Heywoods. The song was written and composed by two British songwriters, Mitch Murray and Peter Callander. Because the song was released in 1974, it was associated by some listeners with the Vietnam War, though the war to which it actually refers is never identified in the lyrics. It has been suggested that the drum pattern, references to a marching band leading soldiers in
Anyone Who Had a Heart (song) around 950,000 copies. Petula Clark also recorded "Anyone Who Had a Heart" in several foreign language versions for the international market. Clark reached No.7 in France with "Ceux Qui Ont Un Coeur" in the spring of 1964, then No.5 in Italy with "Quelli che hanno un cuore" that September. In October 1964, Clark reached No.1 in Spain - for a two-week period - with "Tú no tienes corazón". "Anyone Who Had a Heart" was presented to Dionne Warwick in unfinished form while she, Burt Bacharach and Hal David were rehearsing in Bacharach's Manhattan apartment for an upcoming recording session. Bacharach