Ken Bolam
Encyclopedia
Ken Bolam is a British film and TV composer
who has worked extensively over the past twenty years. He is best known for his work on popular TV shows such as Ready Steady Cook
(BBCTV), Derren Brown - The Events
(Channel Four), and The Cube
(ITV1
), as well as on the BAFTA award-winning Jim Henson
TV series The Hoobs
. Recent work includes many credits for TV shows written together with Nick Foster
.
circuit in the 70s as a singer-songwriter, before moving to London
to teach Drama in the East End, going on to compose music for theatre, film and TV.
In 1994 he teamed up with Initial Film and Television (part of Endemol UK
) as Music Supervisor, Associate Producer and Executive Producer, working on numerous projects including The White Room (Channel Four), Club Class (Channel Five), and Roll With It
(Flextech
).
He was instrumental in the setting up of Initial Kids and the production of Miami 7
(BBC), Cleopatra's
Comin' Atcha
, and Wild Track for ITV
. He then headed up Global Talent TV with Chris Cowey
, executive-producing Urbanation (Nation 277/Sky TV) and G4
at the Royal Albert Hall
(DVD Sony Music). He was also responsible for brokering music publishing administration deals for Endemol
, Initial, Zeal, and Whizzkid Entertainment. He is currently working on a number of projects with Nick Foster
, one of which is the development of HomeMade Music.
, The Brit Awards, BrainTeaser
, Can’t Cook Won’t Cook
, and recently The Cube
, Derren Brown - The Events
and Let’s Dance for Comic Relief
, co-written with Nick Foster
. Ken worked extensively in the field of children's TV, working on long-running big-audience shows such as Dizzy Heights
, Tricky Business
, and Dooby Duck. He also composed over 200 songs and wrote the incidental music (excluding the theme tune) for the BAFTA award-winning series The Hoobs
(Jim Henson
/Channel Four) and wrote the incidental music for the groundbreaking Children's BBC series Miami 7
which was sold to over 100 countries around the world.
and Eileen Quinn at Initial Films on the Helen Mirren
film The Hawk (1993), and on Seaforth (starring Lia Williams
), The Wexford Trilogy by Billy Roche
(all for BBC) and No Worries (starring Geraldine James
) for Film4
.
(for more details, see the publications list at WorldCat, accessible from the external link below).
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
who has worked extensively over the past twenty years. He is best known for his work on popular TV shows such as Ready Steady Cook
Ready Steady Cook
Ready Steady Cook was a BBC daytime TV cooking programme it first debuted on 24 October 1994 and the last edition was broadcast on the 2 February 2010. The programme was hosted by Fern Britton from 1994 until 2000 when celebrity chef Ainsley Harriott became the new host...
(BBCTV), Derren Brown - The Events
Derren Brown: The Events
Derren Brown: The Events is a Channel 4 television series featuring the illusionist Derren Brown. Filmed in front of a live studio audience, this series is made up of four one-hour specials, during which Brown attempts what he has described as "some of the most incredible feats to date"...
(Channel Four), and The Cube
The Cube (game show)
The Cube is a BAFTA Award–winning British television game show which first aired on ITV on 22 August 2009. Presented by Phillip Schofield, it offers contestants the chance to win a top prize of £250,000 by completing challenges from within a 4x4x4 metre Perspex cube...
(ITV1
ITV1
ITV1 is a generic brand that is used by twelve franchises of the British ITV Network in the English regions, Wales, southern Scotland , the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their...
), as well as on the BAFTA award-winning Jim Henson
The Jim Henson Company
The Jim Henson Company, an American entertainment organization, traces its origins to the founding of Muppets, Inc. in 1958 by puppeteer Jim Henson, creator of The Muppets. The Muppets helped the company gain worldwide acclaim in family entertainment for more than four decades...
TV series The Hoobs
The Hoobs
The Hoobs is a BAFTA-winning children's television programme created and produced by The Jim Henson Company. It stars five creatures called Hoobs from the fictional Hoobland, and their interactions with Earth and the human race...
. Recent work includes many credits for TV shows written together with Nick Foster
Nick Foster
Nick Foster is a BAFTA-winning British TV composer and music producer who has worked extensively over the past fifteen years. Originally best known for his work as part of production team Rose and Foster, he now composes music for television shows such as Derren Brown - The Events , and The Cube ,...
.
Career
Born in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, he played the North EastNorth East England
North East England is one of the nine official regions of England. It covers Northumberland, County Durham, Tyne and Wear, and Teesside . The only cities in the region are Durham, Newcastle upon Tyne and Sunderland...
circuit in the 70s as a singer-songwriter, before moving to 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...
to teach Drama in the East End, going on to compose music for theatre, film and TV.
In 1994 he teamed up with Initial Film and Television (part of Endemol UK
Endemol UK
Endemol UK plc is one of the largest independent producers in the country. The UK group is part of Endemol, a worldwide network of leading production companies spanning 24 countries....
) as Music Supervisor, Associate Producer and Executive Producer, working on numerous projects including The White Room (Channel Four), Club Class (Channel Five), and Roll With It
Roll with It (game show)
Roll with It was a British music-themed quiz show that aired on The Family Channel in 1995. It was hosted by Keith Chegwin.-External links:* at UKgameshows.com...
(Flextech
Flextech
Living TV Group was a British television content subsidiary of British Sky Broadcasting. It is now defunct as a company but Sky Living, Sky Livingit, Sky Living Loves and Challenge are still in operation by BSkyB.-Overview:...
).
He was instrumental in the setting up of Initial Kids and the production of Miami 7
Miami 7
Miami 7 is a television series starring British pop group S Club 7. Thirteen episodes were produced and aired on CBBC from 8 April 1999 to 1 July 1999 During each episode, the members would perform one of the songs from their album S Club. All seven members of the band starred as themselves...
(BBC), Cleopatra's
Cleopatra (band)
Cleopatra are a platinum-selling, BRIT Awards and MOBO Awards nominated, R&B/pop girl group from the UK whose members are sisters Cleo, Yonah, and Zainam Higgins.The girls were signed to Madonna's Maverick record label...
Comin' Atcha
Comin' Atcha! (TV Series)
In 1998 CITV premiered Cleopatra's one hour Christmas special for their brand new sitcom. With a host of stars to help launch the show it was a ratings smash. The show was twenty minutes per episode and followed the girls' lives on tour and at home with their family. The girls' mother and younger...
, and Wild Track for ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
. He then headed up Global Talent TV with Chris Cowey
Chris Cowey
Chris Cowey is a television producer specialising in music shows, who most notably produced Top of the Pops from 1997 until 2003...
, executive-producing Urbanation (Nation 277/Sky TV) and G4
G4 (band)
G4 were a four-piece British vocal troupe who first came to prominence when they finished second in ITV's talent show The X Factor in 2004. The members met at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, from which the name G4, standing for "Guildhall 4", derives.-The X Factor:G4 auditioned for the...
at the Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
(DVD Sony Music). He was also responsible for brokering music publishing administration deals for Endemol
Endemol
Endemol is an international television production and distribution company based in the Netherlands, with subsidiaries and joint ventures in 23 countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Mexico, Spain, Italy, Germany, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Dominican Republic, Poland,...
, Initial, Zeal, and Whizzkid Entertainment. He is currently working on a number of projects with Nick Foster
Nick Foster
Nick Foster is a BAFTA-winning British TV composer and music producer who has worked extensively over the past fifteen years. Originally best known for his work as part of production team Rose and Foster, he now composes music for television shows such as Derren Brown - The Events , and The Cube ,...
, one of which is the development of HomeMade Music.
TV
Bolam composed the theme tune for UK TV shows Ready Steady CookReady Steady Cook
Ready Steady Cook was a BBC daytime TV cooking programme it first debuted on 24 October 1994 and the last edition was broadcast on the 2 February 2010. The programme was hosted by Fern Britton from 1994 until 2000 when celebrity chef Ainsley Harriott became the new host...
, The Brit Awards, BrainTeaser
BrainTeaser
BrainTeaser was a British game show, first broadcast in 2002, produced by Endemol UK subsidiary Cheetah Productions.BrainTeaser was live, with phone-in viewer puzzles being announced and played during the show in addition to the studio game...
, Can’t Cook Won’t Cook
Can't Cook, Won't Cook
Can't Cook, Won't Cook was a UK game show and cooking programme that was broadcast on BBC1 on weekday mornings usually after the Breakfast News from 20 November 1995 to 7 July 2000.-Format:...
, and recently The Cube
The Cube (game show)
The Cube is a BAFTA Award–winning British television game show which first aired on ITV on 22 August 2009. Presented by Phillip Schofield, it offers contestants the chance to win a top prize of £250,000 by completing challenges from within a 4x4x4 metre Perspex cube...
, Derren Brown - The Events
Derren Brown: The Events
Derren Brown: The Events is a Channel 4 television series featuring the illusionist Derren Brown. Filmed in front of a live studio audience, this series is made up of four one-hour specials, during which Brown attempts what he has described as "some of the most incredible feats to date"...
and Let’s Dance for Comic Relief
Let's Dance for Comic Relief
Let's Dance for Comic Relief is a British television programme shown on BBC One, featuring celebrities performing famous dance routines to raise money for the charity Comic Relief. The programme is currently presented by Steve Jones and Alex Jones, who replaced previous host Claudia Winkleman in...
, co-written with Nick Foster
Nick Foster
Nick Foster is a BAFTA-winning British TV composer and music producer who has worked extensively over the past fifteen years. Originally best known for his work as part of production team Rose and Foster, he now composes music for television shows such as Derren Brown - The Events , and The Cube ,...
. Ken worked extensively in the field of children's TV, working on long-running big-audience shows such as Dizzy Heights
Dizzy Heights (TV Series)
Dizzy Heights was a BBC television series about a disastrous partnership of two managers trying to run a seaside hotel. The show was about Mr Heap and Mr Wall's many adventures and regularly featured a Spitting Image style family of puppets called the Gristles who lived, and caused chaos in, the...
, Tricky Business
Tricky Business
Tricky Business was a British children's sitcom which ran for three series from 1989 to 1991. It featured Anthony Davis and Sally Ann Marsh and Una Stubbs in the first series, David Wood, Anthony Davis, Patsy Palmer and a puppet rabbit called Crabtree in the second and Bernie Clifton and Leslie...
, and Dooby Duck. He also composed over 200 songs and wrote the incidental music (excluding the theme tune) for the BAFTA award-winning series The Hoobs
The Hoobs
The Hoobs is a BAFTA-winning children's television programme created and produced by The Jim Henson Company. It stars five creatures called Hoobs from the fictional Hoobland, and their interactions with Earth and the human race...
(Jim Henson
The Jim Henson Company
The Jim Henson Company, an American entertainment organization, traces its origins to the founding of Muppets, Inc. in 1958 by puppeteer Jim Henson, creator of The Muppets. The Muppets helped the company gain worldwide acclaim in family entertainment for more than four decades...
/Channel Four) and wrote the incidental music for the groundbreaking Children's BBC series Miami 7
Miami 7
Miami 7 is a television series starring British pop group S Club 7. Thirteen episodes were produced and aired on CBBC from 8 April 1999 to 1 July 1999 During each episode, the members would perform one of the songs from their album S Club. All seven members of the band starred as themselves...
which was sold to over 100 countries around the world.
Film
Film composer credits include Lost Dogs (2005) and Flirting With Flamenco (2006) (both directed by Jim Doyle for Optimist Films). He was Music Supervisor for both Eric FellnerEric Fellner
-Life and career:Fellner went to Cranleigh School in Surrey, England from 1972-77. He attended the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. He is a good friend of Hugh Grant, who is the star of some of Working Title's biggest box office hits. Fellner and his long-time partner, model Laura...
and Eileen Quinn at Initial Films on the Helen Mirren
Helen Mirren
Dame Helen Mirren, DBE is an English actor. She has won an Academy Award for Best Actress, four SAG Awards, four BAFTAs, three Golden Globes, four Emmy Awards, and two Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Awards.-Early life and family:...
film The Hawk (1993), and on Seaforth (starring Lia Williams
Lia Williams
Lia Williams is an English actress and film director, notable for many stage, film, and television appearances. She is possibly best known for her role in the motion picture, Dirty Weekend...
), The Wexford Trilogy by Billy Roche
Billy Roche
Billy Roche is an Irish playwright and actor. He was born and still lives in Wexford and most of his writings are based there...
(all for BBC) and No Worries (starring Geraldine James
Geraldine James
Geraldine James, OBE is an English actress.-Early life and family:James was born in Maidenhead, Berkshire, to a cardiologist father...
) for Film4
Film4
Film4 is a free digital television channel available in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, owned and operated by Channel 4, that screens films.-Programming:...
.
Musical Theatre
- Rockafella (Published by Samuel FrenchSamuel French Ltd.Samuel French Ltd is the UK sister company of Samuel French Inc., an American company, bearing the name of its co-founder Samuel French. The company publishes stage plays for the UK market, mostly acting editions, serves as licensing agent for performance rights, and runs the UK's leading...
) - The Frankenstein Monster Show (Samuel French)
- United We Stand (Samuel French)
Other
Ken has also been active in the field of children's educational materials, having devised, written, and produced over 50 children's learning CDs for CYP Music, and also published several educational folk song collections through Faber MusicFaber Music
Faber Music is a British sheet music publisher best known for contemporary classical music. It also publishes music tutor books, and in 2005 acquired popular music publisher International Music Publications....
(for more details, see the publications list at WorldCat, accessible from the external link below).
External links
- Ken Bolam at the Internet Movie Database
- Ken Bolam's published works at WorldCat
- Ken Bolam's biography and detailed work list at HomeMade Music.