Johnny Douglas (conductor)
Encyclopedia
Johnny Douglas was an English composer, Musical Director and string arranger
, perhaps best known for his work in the easy listening
genre. He recorded over 500 tracks
for DECCA and over 80 album
s for RCA, and wrote the soundtrack to the 1971 film The Railway Children
, plus 37 other feature films.
In the 1980s, he also composed
and conducted music for many television series, including the children's TV animation
series Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends
, Dungeons & Dragons
, The Incredible Hulk
, and The Transformers
.
, London
, England
, on June 19, 1920, the eldest of two sons of John and May Douglas. The family moved to Bermondsey
where his mother was a housewife and his father held a secretarial position until he became Alderman of West Bermondsey Council
.
One of his earliest recollections was playing gramophone records on a machine that produced sound via a large green horn. By associating the music he heard with the colour and design of the labels on the 10” heavy and sometimes single sided records, he learned how to select the tune he wanted to hear. At 2½, his parents listened, not believing their own ears, when he played on the piano, one finger fashion, one of the popular tunes of the day that he had heard on one of his father’s records. He remembered playing "The Washington Post
" that he learned from a record, which he felt sure was a green labelled Regal Zonophone
.
Douglas went to school at 3 years where he was soon asked to demonstrate his pianistic ability to the assembled teachers. At 3½ years he played a duet with the head teacher at a school concert - the piece, "Rendezvous". He started piano lessons when he was 4 years old and gradually became interested in how music sounds were made. His music teacher discovered that he could name the notes with his back to the piano. This seemed not in the least extraordinary to him until she brought in all the occupants of the house to witness his “trick”. He then began to realise that he had performed something unusual.
He discovered the mysteries of arranging and orchestration
at about 10 years old and gleaned knowledge of instruments
and transpositions by studying printed band
parts and listening to records. He won a government scholarship to St. Olaves & St. Saviours, a grammar school
in Tooley Street, Bermondsey and at 13 formed a band, mainly of school friends, which won several dance band contests. He left school when he was 18 years old, continued with his band and began working as a clerk in an accounts office.
with the Neville Hughes Sextet and soon afterwards was called up for war service in the Royal Air Force
, serving on various aerodromes in Scotland
and England
. He formed his own R.A.F. dance band
and when, later, an arm injury prevented him from playing the piano for about two years, he concentrated on arranging and composing
. He won a Melody Maker
Jazz Jamboree award for the best dance band composition
.
After the war he sent a copy of one arrangement to all the bandleaders of the day. George Elrick
replied and engaged him as staff arranger. He began arranging for many famous bands including Bert Ambrose, Ted Heath and Edmundo Ros
then became pianist/arranger with the Cyril Stapleton
Band and pianist with broadcasting outfits of all kinds and at society balls.
as staff arranger and there began to write for orchestras rather than dance bands. He started scoring and conducting
vocal backings for Decca
in 1952 and his first hit was Tex Ritter
’s "High Noon", released on Capitol
. During the next three years he recorded over 500 titles for Decca, backing many famous names including Al Martino
, and was Musical Director on many hits.
It was at this time that he started broadcasting with his own orchestra but it was not until 1958 that he was asked to score Living Strings Play Music of the Sea
for RCA. It was recorded at the Kingsway Hall
, London, with an orchestra of 61 musicians, an experience he was never to forget. This began his long association with RCA, New York
, where it was his good fortune to work with A & R producer, Ethel Gabriel
. During the next twenty-five years he scored and conducted 80 albums for RCA Living Strings
alone and received a gold disc
for the RCA album entitled Feelings.
, with his own programme entitled In the Still of the Night, and there have been countless broadcasts since. From 1960 onwards his work increased tremendously. He began composing and scoring
for films, had his own programme, again on BBC radio
, entitled Swing Song, which ran for two years, and was arranging for TV shows for such international
stars as Shirley Jones
, Howard Keel
, Vera Lynn
and Shirley Bassey
. He was also arranging for numerous other recording artists.
Douglas had to his credit over 100 albums and 36 feature films, the most well known of the latter being The Railway Children
, for which he received a British Academy Film & TV Arts BAFTA Nomination, and "Dulcima", for which he conducted the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
. He composed
and arranged the music for the American
TV children’s series Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends
, Dungeons & Dragons
and The Incredible Hulk
. He was also composer of the incidental music and arranger of all the music for The Transformers
and G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero
.
During the 1970s Douglas was a frequent contributor to BBC Radio 2
programmes such as Open House, Top Tunes, After Seven, The Terry Wogan
Show, The Tony Branson Show, The Late Night Extra, Music To Midnight and Charlie Chester
’s Sunday Soapbox”, either with his own orchestra or conducting one of the Radio orchestras. Tracks from his albums with The Johnny Douglas Orchestra and The Johnny Douglas Strings are frequently played on the various easy listening
programmes.
, Dulcima Records, producing top quality digitally recorded easy listening albums with different artists and with his own orchestra
. At the end of 1999 he completed his first classical
composition
- a symphonic poem. It is a light classical work with three movements, entitled "The Conquest". The work was recorded for the label and was highly acclaimed by musicians, colleagues and radio presenters
. This encouraged him to write a sequel, another symphonic poem entitled "The Aftermath", as well as a descriptive composition for solo
flute
entitled "The Blue Damsel-fly". These compositions are available on an album of new classical works entitled Johnny Douglas in Concert, with the Dulcima Symphony Orchestra.
for several years and died on April 20, 2003, at his home in Bognor Regis
. He was survived by his wife, Marion, two daughters (his son died in 1988) and three grandchildren.
Since his death, Dulcima Records has continued to keep his music alive by licensing his past recordings from the records companies that he worked for throughout his career. The ninth Johnny Douglas release on the label, and one of the most successful, is The Railway Children. In 2008 the Dulcima Label obtained the licience from Sony Music
to release the Johnny Douglas albums from the RCA
Living Strings
Series, and they have continued to re-release these recordings on CD to the present day.
Douglas's biography has been written by his daughter, Norma Camby, and permission has been given by her to certain other sites to use the content.
, Shirley Bassey
, The Bachelors
, John Boulter
, June Bronhill
, Dora Bryan
, Max Bygraves
, Stuart Gillies
, Dulcie Gray
, John Hanson
, Dickie Henderson
, Vince Hill
, Frankie Howerd
, Teddy Johnson, Denis Lotis, Vera Lynn
, Janie Marden, Alfred Marks
, Kenneth McKellar
, Lita Roza
, Mike Redway, Joan Regan
, Malcolm Roberts
, Patricia Routledge
, Harry Secombe
, Semprini
, Anne Shelton, Jimmy Tarbuck
, Bruce Trent, Dickie Valentine
, Frankie Vaughan
, David Whitfield
, Rita Williams, Mark Wynter
and Jimmy Young
, Shirley Jones
, Howard Keel
, Al Martino
, Barbra Streisand
, Tex Ritter
.
Arranger
In investment banking, an arranger is a provider of funds in the syndication of a debt. They are entitled to syndicate the loan or bond issue, and may be referred to as the "lead underwriter". This is because this entity bears the risk of being able to sell the underlying securities/debt or the...
, perhaps best known for his work in the easy listening
Easy listening
Easy listening is a broad style of popular music and radio format that emerged in the 1950s, evolving out of big band music, and related to MOR music as played on many AM radio stations. It encompasses the exotica, beautiful music, light music, lounge music, ambient music, and space age pop genres...
genre. He recorded over 500 tracks
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
for DECCA and over 80 album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
s for RCA, and wrote the soundtrack to the 1971 film The Railway Children
The Railway Children
The Railway Children is a children's book by Edith Nesbit, originally serialised in The London Magazine during 1905 and first published in book form in 1906...
, plus 37 other feature films.
In the 1980s, he also composed
Musical composition
Musical composition can refer to an original piece of music, the structure of a musical piece, or the process of creating a new piece of music. People who practice composition are called composers.- Musical compositions :...
and conducted music for many television series, including the children's TV animation
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
series Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends
Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends
Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends is an animated series produced by Marvel Productions starring established Marvel Comics characters Spider-Man and Iceman and an original character, Firestar...
, Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons (TV series)
Dungeons & Dragons is an American fantasy animated television series based on TSR's Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. A co-production of Marvel Productions and TSR, the show originally ran from 1985 through 1987 for three seasons on CBS for a total of twenty seven episodes.The show focused on a...
, The Incredible Hulk
The Incredible Hulk (1982 animated TV series)
The Incredible Hulk is an animated television series based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. The series ran for 13 episodes on NBC in 1982, part of a combined hour with Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends...
, and The Transformers
The Transformers (TV series)
The Transformers is an animated television series depicting a war among giant robots who could transform into vehicles, other objects and animal-like forms. Written and recorded in America, the series was animated in Japan and South Korea...
.
The early years
Douglas was born in HackneyLondon Borough of Hackney
The London Borough of Hackney is a London borough of North/North East London, and forms part of inner London. The local authority is Hackney London Borough Council....
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, on June 19, 1920, the eldest of two sons of John and May Douglas. The family moved to Bermondsey
Bermondsey
Bermondsey is an area in London on the south bank of the river Thames, and is part of the London Borough of Southwark. To the west lies Southwark, to the east Rotherhithe, and to the south, Walworth and Peckham.-Toponomy:...
where his mother was a housewife and his father held a secretarial position until he became Alderman of West Bermondsey Council
Bermondsey West (UK Parliament constituency)
Bermondsey West was a parliamentary constituency centred on the Bermondsey district of South London. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....
.
One of his earliest recollections was playing gramophone records on a machine that produced sound via a large green horn. By associating the music he heard with the colour and design of the labels on the 10” heavy and sometimes single sided records, he learned how to select the tune he wanted to hear. At 2½, his parents listened, not believing their own ears, when he played on the piano, one finger fashion, one of the popular tunes of the day that he had heard on one of his father’s records. He remembered playing "The Washington Post
The Washington Post (march)
"The Washington Post" is a march composed by John Philip Sousa in 1889. Since then, it has remained as one of his most popular marches throughout the United States and many countries abroad.-History:...
" that he learned from a record, which he felt sure was a green labelled Regal Zonophone
Regal Zonophone Records
Regal Zonophone Records was a British record label formed in 1932, through a merger of the Regal Records and Zonophone Records labels. This followed the merger of those labels' respective parent companies - the Columbia Graphophone Company and the Gramophone Company - to form EMI.Originally Regal...
.
Douglas went to school at 3 years where he was soon asked to demonstrate his pianistic ability to the assembled teachers. At 3½ years he played a duet with the head teacher at a school concert - the piece, "Rendezvous". He started piano lessons when he was 4 years old and gradually became interested in how music sounds were made. His music teacher discovered that he could name the notes with his back to the piano. This seemed not in the least extraordinary to him until she brought in all the occupants of the house to witness his “trick”. He then began to realise that he had performed something unusual.
He discovered the mysteries of arranging and orchestration
Orchestration
Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra or of adapting for orchestra music composed for another medium...
at about 10 years old and gleaned knowledge of instruments
Musical instrument
A musical instrument is a device created or adapted for the purpose of making musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can serve as a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. The history of musical instruments dates back to the...
and transpositions by studying printed band
Band (music)
In music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform music. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* All-female band* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band...
parts and listening to records. He won a government scholarship to St. Olaves & St. Saviours, a grammar school
Grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...
in Tooley Street, Bermondsey and at 13 formed a band, mainly of school friends, which won several dance band contests. He left school when he was 18 years old, continued with his band and began working as a clerk in an accounts office.
Early professional career
He made his first professional appearance in 1939 as pianistPianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
with the Neville Hughes Sextet and soon afterwards was called up for war service in the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
, serving on various aerodromes in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
and England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. He formed his own R.A.F. dance band
British dance band
British dance bands developed a unique style of popular jazz and dance music during the 1920s and 1930s that developed in British dance halls and hotel ballrooms thousands of miles away from the true origins of jazz...
and when, later, an arm injury prevented him from playing the piano for about two years, he concentrated on arranging and composing
Musical composition
Musical composition can refer to an original piece of music, the structure of a musical piece, or the process of creating a new piece of music. People who practice composition are called composers.- Musical compositions :...
. He won a Melody Maker
Melody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
Jazz Jamboree award for the best dance band composition
Musical composition
Musical composition can refer to an original piece of music, the structure of a musical piece, or the process of creating a new piece of music. People who practice composition are called composers.- Musical compositions :...
.
After the war he sent a copy of one arrangement to all the bandleaders of the day. George Elrick
George Elrick
George Elrick , was a British musician, impresario and radio presenter, known as 'The Smiling Voice of Radio' and probably best known for presenting the popular record request show Housewives' Choice during the 1950s and 1960s.George Elrick was born in Aberdeen in 1903...
replied and engaged him as staff arranger. He began arranging for many famous bands including Bert Ambrose, Ted Heath and Edmundo Ros
Edmundo Ros
Edmundo William Ros OBE was a Trinidadian musician, vocalist, arranger and bandleader who made his career in Britain. He directed a highly popular Latin American orchestra, had an extensive recording career and owned one of London's leading nightclubs.- Life :Ros was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad...
then became pianist/arranger with the Cyril Stapleton
Cyril Stapleton
Cyril Stapleton was an English violinist and jazz bandleader.Born in Mapperley, Nottingham, Stapleton began playing violin at age 7, and played on local radio at the age of 12. He performed on the BBC Radio often in his teenage years, and played in film orchestras accompanying silent films...
Band and pianist with broadcasting outfits of all kinds and at society balls.
Association with RCA
In 1948, to gain more experience, he joined a music publisherMusic publisher (sheet music)
The term music publisher originally referred to publishers who issued printed sheet music....
as staff arranger and there began to write for orchestras rather than dance bands. He started scoring and conducting
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
vocal backings for Decca
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
in 1952 and his first hit was Tex Ritter
Tex Ritter
Woodward Maurice Ritter , better known as Tex Ritter, was an American country music singer and movie actor popular from the mid-1930s into the 1960s, and the patriarch of the Ritter family in acting...
’s "High Noon", released on Capitol
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
. During the next three years he recorded over 500 titles for Decca, backing many famous names including Al Martino
Al Martino
Al Martino was an American singer and actor. He had his greatest success as a singer between the early 1950s and mid 1970s, being described as "one of the great Italian American pop crooners", and also became well known as an actor, particularly for his role as singer Johnny Fontane in The...
, and was Musical Director on many hits.
It was at this time that he started broadcasting with his own orchestra but it was not until 1958 that he was asked to score Living Strings Play Music of the Sea
Living Strings
The Living Strings was an easy listening studio orchestra, founded in 1959. It was operated by RCA Records on its Camden label. There were also related groups called the Living Voices, the Living Brass, the Living Guitars. All of the Living... records were produced by the same group of people...
for RCA. It was recorded at the Kingsway Hall
Kingsway Hall
The Kingsway Hall, Holborn, London, built in 1912, was the home of the West London Mission of the Methodist Church, and eventually became one of the most important recording venues for classical music and film music...
, London, with an orchestra of 61 musicians, an experience he was never to forget. This began his long association with RCA, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, where it was his good fortune to work with A & R producer, Ethel Gabriel
Ethel Gabriel
Ethel deNagy Gabriel is an American record producer with a four-decade career at RCA Records.Gabriel grew up in the Philadelphia area, learning the music business as a trombone player and bandleader of her own dance band in the 1930s...
. During the next twenty-five years he scored and conducted 80 albums for RCA Living Strings
Living Strings
The Living Strings was an easy listening studio orchestra, founded in 1959. It was operated by RCA Records on its Camden label. There were also related groups called the Living Voices, the Living Brass, the Living Guitars. All of the Living... records were produced by the same group of people...
alone and received a gold disc
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
for the RCA album entitled Feelings.
Broadcasting
In 1955 he began broadcasting with the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, with his own programme entitled In the Still of the Night, and there have been countless broadcasts since. From 1960 onwards his work increased tremendously. He began composing and scoring
Film score
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...
for films, had his own programme, again on BBC radio
BBC Radio
BBC Radio is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927. For a history of BBC radio prior to 1927 see British Broadcasting Company...
, entitled Swing Song, which ran for two years, and was arranging for TV shows for such international
International
----International mostly means something that involves more than one country. The term international as a word means involvement of, interaction between or encompassing more than one nation, or generally beyond national boundaries...
stars as Shirley Jones
Shirley Jones
Shirley Mae Jones is an American singer and actress of stage, film and television. In her six decades of television, she starred as wholesome characters in a number of well-known musical films, such as Oklahoma! , Carousel , and The Music Man...
, Howard Keel
Howard Keel
Harold Clifford Keel , known professionally as Howard Keel, was an American actor and singer. He starred in many film musicals of the 1950s...
, Vera Lynn
Vera Lynn
Dame Vera Lynn, DBE is an English singer-songwriter and actress whose musical recordings and performances were enormously popular during World War II. During the war she toured Egypt, India and Burma, giving outdoor concerts for the troops...
and Shirley Bassey
Shirley Bassey
Dame Shirley Bassey, DBE , is a Welsh singer. She found fame in the late 1950s and was "one of the most popular female vocalists in Britain during the last half of the 20th century"...
. He was also arranging for numerous other recording artists.
Douglas had to his credit over 100 albums and 36 feature films, the most well known of the latter being The Railway Children
The Railway Children (film)
The Railway Children is a 1970 British drama film based on the novel of the same name by E. Nesbit. The film was directed by Lionel Jeffries, and stars Dinah Sheridan, Jenny Agutter , Sally Thomsett and Bernard Cribbins in leading roles...
, for which he received a British Academy Film & TV Arts BAFTA Nomination, and "Dulcima", for which he conducted the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It tours widely, and is sometimes referred to as "Britain's national orchestra"...
. He composed
Musical composition
Musical composition can refer to an original piece of music, the structure of a musical piece, or the process of creating a new piece of music. People who practice composition are called composers.- Musical compositions :...
and arranged the music for the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
TV children’s series Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends
Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends
Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends is an animated series produced by Marvel Productions starring established Marvel Comics characters Spider-Man and Iceman and an original character, Firestar...
, Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons (TV series)
Dungeons & Dragons is an American fantasy animated television series based on TSR's Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. A co-production of Marvel Productions and TSR, the show originally ran from 1985 through 1987 for three seasons on CBS for a total of twenty seven episodes.The show focused on a...
and The Incredible Hulk
The Incredible Hulk (1982 animated TV series)
The Incredible Hulk is an animated television series based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. The series ran for 13 episodes on NBC in 1982, part of a combined hour with Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends...
. He was also composer of the incidental music and arranger of all the music for The Transformers
The Transformers (TV series)
The Transformers is an animated television series depicting a war among giant robots who could transform into vehicles, other objects and animal-like forms. Written and recorded in America, the series was animated in Japan and South Korea...
and G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero (1989 TV series)
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero is a half-hour American animated television series based on the successful toyline from Hasbro and the comic book series from Marvel Comics. The series was produced by DIC Entertainment and ran from 1989 to 1991....
.
During the 1970s Douglas was a frequent contributor to BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
programmes such as Open House, Top Tunes, After Seven, The Terry Wogan
Terry Wogan
Sir Michael Terence Wogan, KBE, DL , or also known as Terry Wogan, is a veteran Irish radio and television broadcaster who holds dual Irish and British citizenship. Wogan has worked for the BBC in the United Kingdom for most of his career...
Show, The Tony Branson Show, The Late Night Extra, Music To Midnight and Charlie Chester
Charlie Chester
Charlie Chester was a British comedian and TV and radio presenter, broadcasting almost continuously from the 1940s to the 1990s. His style was similar to that of Max Miller.- Life and career :...
’s Sunday Soapbox”, either with his own orchestra or conducting one of the Radio orchestras. Tracks from his albums with The Johnny Douglas Orchestra and The Johnny Douglas Strings are frequently played on the various easy listening
Easy listening
Easy listening is a broad style of popular music and radio format that emerged in the 1950s, evolving out of big band music, and related to MOR music as played on many AM radio stations. It encompasses the exotica, beautiful music, light music, lounge music, ambient music, and space age pop genres...
programmes.
Record label
In 1983 Douglas started his own record labelRecord label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
, Dulcima Records, producing top quality digitally recorded easy listening albums with different artists and with his own orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
. At the end of 1999 he completed his first classical
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
composition
Musical composition
Musical composition can refer to an original piece of music, the structure of a musical piece, or the process of creating a new piece of music. People who practice composition are called composers.- Musical compositions :...
- a symphonic poem. It is a light classical work with three movements, entitled "The Conquest". The work was recorded for the label and was highly acclaimed by musicians, colleagues and radio presenters
Radio personality
A radio personality is a person with an on-air position in radio broadcasting. A radio personality can be someone who introduces and discusses various genres of music, hosts a talk radio show that may take calls from listeners, or someone whose primary responsibility is to give news, weather,...
. This encouraged him to write a sequel, another symphonic poem entitled "The Aftermath", as well as a descriptive composition for solo
Solo (music)
In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...
flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
entitled "The Blue Damsel-fly". These compositions are available on an album of new classical works entitled Johnny Douglas in Concert, with the Dulcima Symphony Orchestra.
Death and legacy
Douglas had suffered from prostate cancerProstate cancer
Prostate cancer is a form of cancer that develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system. Most prostate cancers are slow growing; however, there are cases of aggressive prostate cancers. The cancer cells may metastasize from the prostate to other parts of the body, particularly...
for several years and died on April 20, 2003, at his home in Bognor Regis
Bognor Regis
Bognor Regis is a seaside resort town and civil parish in the Arun district of West Sussex, on the south coast of England. It is south-south-west of London, west of Brighton, and south-east of the city of Chichester. Other nearby towns include Littlehampton east-north-east and Selsey to the...
. He was survived by his wife, Marion, two daughters (his son died in 1988) and three grandchildren.
Since his death, Dulcima Records has continued to keep his music alive by licensing his past recordings from the records companies that he worked for throughout his career. The ninth Johnny Douglas release on the label, and one of the most successful, is The Railway Children. In 2008 the Dulcima Label obtained the licience from Sony Music
Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation....
to release the Johnny Douglas albums from the RCA
RCA
RCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor...
Living Strings
Living Strings
The Living Strings was an easy listening studio orchestra, founded in 1959. It was operated by RCA Records on its Camden label. There were also related groups called the Living Voices, the Living Brass, the Living Guitars. All of the Living... records were produced by the same group of people...
Series, and they have continued to re-release these recordings on CD to the present day.
Douglas's biography has been written by his daughter, Norma Camby, and permission has been given by her to certain other sites to use the content.
Filmography
Douglas composed, arranged and conducted for the following selected films:- Touch of Death (1961)
- The Day of the Triffids (1962)
- Scales of JusticeScales of Justice (TV miniseries)Scales of Justice is a three-part Australian drama miniseries, made in 1983 by director Michael Jenkins. Scales of Justice was one of the most controversial Australian mini-series ever produced, examining corruption in all levels of law enforcement....
(1962-1967) - The TraitorsThe Traitors (1962 film)The Traitors is a 1962 British thriller film directed by Robert Tronson and starring Patrick Allen, Jacqueline Ellis, Zena Walker and James Maxwell.-Cast:* Patrick Allen - John Lane* Jacqueline Ellis - Mary* James Maxwell - Ray Ellis...
(1962) - The Hi-JackersThe Hi-JackersThe Hi-Jackers is a 1963 film directed by Jim O'Connolly. It stars Antony Booth and Jacqueline Ellis.-Cast:* Antony Booth as Terry McKinley* Jacqueline Ellis as Shirley* Derek Francis as Jack Carter* Patrick Cargill as Inspector Grayson...
(1963) - Strictly for the Birds (1963)
- The Bay of St. Michel also known as Operation Mermaid (1963)
- Gunfighters of Casa GrandeGunfighters of Casa GrandeGunfighters of Casa Grande is a 1964 Eurowestern film, co-produced by the United States and Spain. Based on a story by Borden and Patricia Chase, it was later developed into a screenplay with the assistance of screenwriter Clark Reynolds and directed by Roy Rowland, one of the last films he...
(1964) - Crack in the WorldCrack in the WorldCrack in the World is an American science-fiction disaster movie filmed in Spain in 1964 and released by Paramount Pictures. While noted for its attempts at scientific accuracy, its premise—a crack in the solid crust of the Earth threatening life on it—was disproved by the conclusive...
(1965) - Mozambique (1965)
- Kid Rodelo (1966)
- Bikini Paradise (1967)
- Run Like a Thief (1968)
- The Railway ChildrenThe Railway Children (film)The Railway Children is a 1970 British drama film based on the novel of the same name by E. Nesbit. The film was directed by Lionel Jeffries, and stars Dinah Sheridan, Jenny Agutter , Sally Thomsett and Bernard Cribbins in leading roles...
(1970)
Collaborating recording artistes
Moira AndersonMoira Anderson
Moira Anderson, OBE is a Scottish singer.- Life and career :Following an education at Lenzie Academy, Anderson quickly established herself at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow before getting her big break in the media after a successful audition at the BBC.She landed her...
, Shirley Bassey
Shirley Bassey
Dame Shirley Bassey, DBE , is a Welsh singer. She found fame in the late 1950s and was "one of the most popular female vocalists in Britain during the last half of the 20th century"...
, The Bachelors
The Bachelors
The Bachelors are a popular music group, originating from Dublin, Ireland.-Career:The founding members of the group were Conleth Cluskey , Declan Cluskey , and John Stokes...
, John Boulter
John Boulter
John Boulter is a British tenor best known for his appearances as a soloist in the BBC's long-running variety series The Black and White Minstrel Show...
, June Bronhill
June Bronhill
June Bronhill OBE was an internationally acclaimed Australian soprano opera singer.-Biography:She was born June Mary Gough in the inland Australian city of Broken Hill, New South Wales...
, Dora Bryan
Dora Bryan
Dora May Bryan OBE is an English actress of stage, film and television.-Early life:Bryan was born as Dora May Broadbent in Southport, Lancashire, England. Her father was a salesman and she attended Hathershaw County Primary School in Oldham, Lancashire...
, Max Bygraves
Max Bygraves
Max Bygraves OBE is an English comedian, singer, actor and variety performer. He appeared on his own television shows, sometimes performing comedy sketches between songs...
, Stuart Gillies
Stuart Gillies
Stuart Gillies is an English chef. He is currently head chef at the Gordon Ramsay-owned Boxwood Café and will be Chef Patron at the reopened Savoy Hotel in October 2010....
, Dulcie Gray
Dulcie Gray
Dulcie Gray, CBE was a British singer and actress of stage, screen and television, a mystery writer and lepidopterist.-Early life and career:...
, John Hanson
John Hanson
John Hanson was a merchant and public official from Maryland during the era of the American Revolution. After serving in a variety of roles for the Patriot cause in Maryland, in 1779 Hanson was elected as a delegate to the Continental Congress...
, Dickie Henderson
Dickie Henderson
Dickie Henderson, OBE was a London-born entertainer.-Early years:His father, Dick Henderson was a music hall comedian and singer famous for his short, rotund appearance, bowler hat and beautiful singing voice...
, Vince Hill
Vince Hill
Vince Hill is an English traditional pop music singer, songwriter and record producer.-Biography:...
, Frankie Howerd
Frankie Howerd
Francis Alick "Frankie" Howerd OBE was an English comedian and comic actor whose career, described by fellow comedian Barry Cryer as "a series of comebacks", spanned six decades.-Early career:...
, Teddy Johnson, Denis Lotis, Vera Lynn
Vera Lynn
Dame Vera Lynn, DBE is an English singer-songwriter and actress whose musical recordings and performances were enormously popular during World War II. During the war she toured Egypt, India and Burma, giving outdoor concerts for the troops...
, Janie Marden, Alfred Marks
Alfred Marks
Alfred Edward Marks OBE was a comic actor and comedian.-Biography:Marks was born as Ruchel Kutchinsky in Holborn, London. He left Bell Lane School at 14 and started in entertainment at the Windmill Theatre. He then served in the RAF as a Flight Sergeant in the Middle East where he arranged...
, Kenneth McKellar
Kenneth McKellar
Kenneth Douglas McKellar was an American politician from Tennessee who served as a United States Representative from 1911 until 1917 and as a United States Senator from 1917 until 1953...
, Lita Roza
Lita Roza
Lita Roza was a British singer. Her 1953 number one hit record " That Doggie in the Window?" afforded Roza the privilege of being the first British female singer to top the UK Singles Chart, and the first Liverpudlian to do so.-Biography:Born Lilian Patricia Lita Roza in Liverpool, Lancashire,...
, Mike Redway, Joan Regan
Joan Regan
Joan Regan is a traditional pop music singer from the UK, popular during the 1950s and early 1960s.-Biography:...
, Malcolm Roberts
Malcolm Roberts
Malcolm Roberts was an English traditional pop music singer, who enjoyed three hit singles from 1967 to 1969 in the UK Singles Chart.-Career:...
, Patricia Routledge
Patricia Routledge
Katherine Patricia Routledge, CBE is an English character comedy actress and singer. She is best known for her role as character Hyacinth Bucket in the British television series Keeping Up Appearances and Hetty Wainthropp in the British television series Hetty Wainthropp Investigates...
, Harry Secombe
Harry Secombe
Sir Harry Donald Secombe CBE was a Welsh entertainer with a talent for comedy and a noted fine tenor singing voice. He is best known for playing Neddie Seagoon, the central character in the BBC radio comedy series The Goon Show...
, Semprini
Semprini
Alberto Fernando Riccardo Semprini known by his stage name Alberto Semprini, or Semprini, was an English pianist, famous for appearances on the BBC, mainly on radio....
, Anne Shelton, Jimmy Tarbuck
Jimmy Tarbuck
Jimmy Tarbuck OBE or Tarby is an English comedian. Growing up he was a schoolmate of John Lennon.His first television show was It's Tarbuck 65! on ITV in 1964. He has also hosted numerous quiz shows, including Winner Takes All, Full Swing, and Tarby's Frame Game...
, Bruce Trent, Dickie Valentine
Dickie Valentine
Dickie Valentine was an English pop singer in the 1950s.-Early life:Valentine was born Richard Maxwell , though Valentine was known as Richard Bryce as his mother later married Bryce and gave her young son the same name. He was born in Marylebone, London...
, Frankie Vaughan
Frankie Vaughan
Frankie Vaughan, CBE, DL was an English singer of traditional pop music, who issued more than 80 recordings in his lifetime. He was known as "Mr. Moonlight" after one of his early hits.-Life and career:...
, David Whitfield
David Whitfield
David Whitfield was a popular British male tenor vocalist. This operatic-style tenor had a formidable and predominantly female fan base in the 1950s.-Life and career:...
, Rita Williams, Mark Wynter
Mark Wynter
Mark Wynter is an English actor and former singer, who had four Top 20 singles in the 1960s, including "Venus in Blue Jeans" and "Go Away Little Girl"...
and Jimmy Young
Jimmy Young (disc jockey)
Sir Jimmy Young CBE was a British singer, disc jockey and radio interviewer.-Early life:...
, Shirley Jones
Shirley Jones
Shirley Mae Jones is an American singer and actress of stage, film and television. In her six decades of television, she starred as wholesome characters in a number of well-known musical films, such as Oklahoma! , Carousel , and The Music Man...
, Howard Keel
Howard Keel
Harold Clifford Keel , known professionally as Howard Keel, was an American actor and singer. He starred in many film musicals of the 1950s...
, Al Martino
Al Martino
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, Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
, Tex Ritter
Tex Ritter
Woodward Maurice Ritter , better known as Tex Ritter, was an American country music singer and movie actor popular from the mid-1930s into the 1960s, and the patriarch of the Ritter family in acting...
.
Bands and Orchestras (alphabetically)
- Bert Ambrose
- Stanley BlackStanley BlackStanley Black OBE was an English Bandleader, Composer, conductor, arranger and pianist. He wrote and arranged many film scores and recorded prolifically for the Decca label...
- Frank ChacksfieldFrank ChacksfieldFrank Chacksfield was an English pianist, organist, composer and conductor of popular light orchestral easy listening music, who had great success in Britain and internationally in the 1950s and early 1960s.-Life and career:...
- Billy CottonBilly CottonWilliam Edward Cotton , better known as Billy Cotton, was a British band leader and entertainer, one of the few whose orchestras survived the dance band era. Today, he is mainly remembered as a 1950s and 1960s radio and television personality, although his musical talent emerged as early as the 1920s...
- Ted Heath
- Joe LossJoe LossJoshua Alexander "Joe" Loss LVO OBE was a British musician and founder of the Joe Loss Orchestra.-Life:Loss was born in Spitalfields, London, the youngest of four children. His parents, Israel and Ada Loss, were Russian Jews and first cousins. His father was a cabinet-maker who had an office...
- Ken MackintoshKen MackintoshKen Mackintosh Mackintosh was one of Britain's most distinguished bandleaders of the 20th century, accompanying singers such as Tom Jones, Shirley Bassey and Matt Munro. He was born in Halifax Road, near Knowler Hill, in 1919 and devoted his life to music, after buying his first alto saxophone, at...
- MantovaniMantovaniAnnunzio Paolo Mantovani known as Mantovani, was an Anglo-Italian conductor and light orchestra-styled entertainer with a cascading strings musical signature. The book British Hit Singles & Albums states that he was "Britain's most successful album act before The Beatles .....
- Jack ParnellJack ParnellJohn Russell Parnell was an English bandleader and musician.-Biography:Parnell was born into a theatrical family in London....
- Lou Prager
- Edmundo RosEdmundo RosEdmundo William Ros OBE was a Trinidadian musician, vocalist, arranger and bandleader who made his career in Britain. He directed a highly popular Latin American orchestra, had an extensive recording career and owned one of London's leading nightclubs.- Life :Ros was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad...
- Cyril StapletonCyril StapletonCyril Stapleton was an English violinist and jazz bandleader.Born in Mapperley, Nottingham, Stapleton began playing violin at age 7, and played on local radio at the age of 12. He performed on the BBC Radio often in his teenage years, and played in film orchestras accompanying silent films...
- Eric WinstoneEric WinstoneEric Winstone was an English big band leader and composer.Playing piano in his spare time from a job as Westminster Gas and Coke Company led him to form his first band in 1935...
- All the BBC RadioBBC RadioBBC Radio is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927. For a history of BBC radio prior to 1927 see British Broadcasting Company...
orchestras
External links
- Dulcima Records, his record label