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) hit "All the Grey Haired Men" (#109); it is the second track on the first side of their album "Goin' Out of My Head" (Capitol ST2865). Peter Rivera of Rare Earth sang lead on a 1975 remake of "Anyone Who Had a Heart" fronting HUB. In 2008, the Shelby Lynne recording from "Just a Little Lovin"' was issued as a digital single release. Wynonna Judd performed "Anyone Who Had a Heart" on the TNT special "One Amazing Night" broadcast in 1998; her version is included on the soundtrack album. Judd also performed the song with Dionne Warwick on the latter's