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Ted Astley
Edwin Thomas "Ted" Astley (12 April 1922 – 19 May 1998) was a British composer. His best known works are British television themes and scores, most notably the main themes for ''The Saint'', ''Danger Man'' and '' The Baron''. He also successfully diversified into symphonic pop and the arrangement of his theme to ''The Saint'', as re-recorded by Orbital, reached number three in the UK Singles Chart. Personal life and family Astley was born in Warrington, Lancashire to Lawrence Astley and Mary Alice Pester. He served in the Second World War as a musician in the Royal Army Service Corps band playing saxophone and clarinet for the troops. Astley married Hazel Balbirnie in 1945. Their eldest daughter Karen Astley married Pete Townshend of The Who, and their son Jon Astley produced and remastered The Who's reissues. Daughter Virginia Astley is a singer-songwriter. His other children are Virginia's twin Alison, and son Gareth. Career In the early 1950s, Astley was arranging for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Warrington
Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimated at 165,456 for the town's urban area, and just over 210,014 for the entire borough, the latter being more than double that of 1968 when it became a new town. Warrington is the largest town in the ceremonial county of Cheshire. In 2011 the unparished area had a population of 58,871. Warrington was founded by the Romans at an important crossing place on the River Mersey. A new settlement was established by the Saxon Wærings. By the Middle Ages, Warrington had emerged as a market town at the lowest bridging point of the river. A local tradition of textile and tool production dates from this time. The town of Warrington (north of the Mersey) is within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire and the expansion and urbanisation ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered one of the most influential rock bands of the 20th century, and have sold over 100 million records worldwide. Their contributions to rock music include the development of the Marshall Stack, large PA systems, the use of the synthesizer, Entwistle and Moon's influential playing styles, Townshend's feedback and power chord guitar technique, and the development of the rock opera. They are cited as an influence by many hard rock, punk rock, power pop and mod bands, and their songs are still regularly played. The Who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990. The Who developed from an earlier group, the Detours, and established themselves as part of the pop art and mod movements, featuring auto-destructive art by d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gideon's Way
''Gideon's Way'' is a British television crime series made by ITC Entertainment and broadcast by ITV in 1964–1966, based on novels by John Creasey (writing as 'J. J. Marric'). The series was made at Elstree Studios in twin production with ''The Saint'' television series, which was likewise produced by Robert S. Baker and Monty Berman. The show did not acknowledge any help from Scotland Yard or any other police force or advisor. Synopsis Daphne Anderson starred as Gideon's wife, Kate; their three children were played by Giles Watling as younger son Malcolm, Richard James as elder son Matthew (who seemed to have a lot of new girlfriends), and Andrea Allan as daughter Pru. Unusually for police stories, Gideon was shown as a family man at home—though urgent phone calls from his bosses tend to disrupt family plans too often. However, he did admit in "State Visit" that his wife had walked out on him for a while years ago, when he put the job first and her second. They live in a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Randall And Hopkirk (Deceased)
''Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)'' is a British private detective television series, starring Mike Pratt and Kenneth Cope respectively as the private detectives Jeff Randall and Marty Hopkirk. The series was created by Dennis Spooner and produced by Monty Berman, and was first broadcast in 1969 and 1970. In the United States, it was given the title ''My Partner the Ghost''. ITC Entertainment produced a single series of 26 episodes in 1968 and 1969, which was aired from September 1969 to March 1970. The pilot episode was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on 19 September 1969 by ATV in the Midlands. London Weekend Television broadcast the pilot two days later on 21 September 1969. The series was remade in 2000, starring Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer. The show was parodied as "Curtis & Ballard (Deceased)" in the 1996 BBC Radio 4 comedy series ''Fab TV''. Plot In the initial episode, Hopkirk is murdered during an investigation but returns as a ghost. Randall is the on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Department S (TV Series)
''Department S'' is a British spy-fi adventure series, produced by ITC Entertainment. It consists of 28 episodes which originally aired in 1969 and 1970. It stars Peter Wyngarde as author Jason King (later featured in spin-off series '' Jason King''), Joel Fabiani as Stewart Sullivan, and Rosemary Nicols as computer expert Annabelle Hurst. These three are agents for a fictional special department (the "S" of the title) of Interpol. The head of Department S is Sir Curtis Seretse (Dennis Alaba Peters). Production "When a case proves too baffling for the minds of Interpol, they turn to the talents of Department S." – from the ITC trailer for the series. The series was created by Dennis Spooner and Monty Berman, although neither wrote any of the episodes, which were instead scripted by ITC regulars such as Terry Nation and Philip Broadley. Many of the directors on the show had also worked on other ITC shows such as ''The Saint'', ''Danger Man'' and ''Randall and Hopkirk ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Secret Agent Man (Johnny Rivers Song)
"Secret Agent Man" is a song written by P. F. Sloan and Steve Barri. The most famous recording of the song was made by Johnny Rivers for the opening titles of the American broadcast of the British spy series ''Danger Man'', which aired in the U.S. as ''Secret Agent'' from 1964 to 1966. Rivers's version peaked at #3 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and #4 on the Canadian RPM chart, one of the biggest hits of his career. Numerous covers and adaptations have been recorded since then with the song becoming both a rock standard and one of Johnny Rivers's signature songs. History According to composer P.F. Sloan, the American television network that licensed ''Danger Man'', CBS, solicited publishers to contribute a 15-second piece of music for the opening of the U.S. show to replace the small section of the British theme, an instrumental by Edwin Astley entitled "High Wire", which started each episode. CBS executives were worried the show might not be successful without a "hummable" th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Adventures Of Robin Hood (series)
''The Adventures of Robin Hood'' is a British television series comprising 143 half-hour, black and white episodes broadcast weekly between 1955 and 1959 on ITV. It starred Richard Greene as the outlaw Robin Hood, and Alan Wheatley as his nemesis, the Sheriff of Nottingham. The show followed the legendary character Robin Hood and his band of merry men in Sherwood Forest and the surrounding vicinity. While some episodes dramatised the traditional Robin Hood tales, most were original dramas created by the show's writers and producers. The programme was produced by Sapphire Films Ltd for ITC Entertainment, filmed at Nettlefold Studios with some location work, and was the first of many pre-filmed shows commissioned by Lew Grade. In 1954, Grade was approached by American producer Hannah Weinstein to finance a series of 39 half-hour episodes, at a budget of £10,000 an episode, of a series she wished to make called ''The Adventures of Robin Hood''. She had already signed Richard Greene ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Champions
''The Champions'' is a British espionage thriller/science fiction/occult detective fiction adventure television series. It was produced by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment production company, and consists of 30 episodes broadcast in the UK on ITV during 1968–1969. The series was broadcast in the US on NBC, starting in summer 1968. Plot Agents Craig Stirling, Sharron Macready and Richard Barrett work for a United Nations law enforcement organization called 'Nemesis', based in Geneva. Barrett is a codebreaker, Stirling a pilot, and Macready a recently widowed scientist and doctor. In the pilot episode, the team is escaping by air from a spying mission in China. Their stolen plane, damaged by gunfire during the getaway, crashes in the Himalayas. They are rescued by an advanced civilization living secretly in the mountains of Tibet, who save their lives, granting them enhanced abilities, including extrasensory powers to communicate with one another over distances (telepathy) and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anne Shelton (singer)
Anne Shelton (born Patricia Jacqueline Sibley, 10 November 1923 – 31 July 1994) was a popular English vocalist, who is remembered for providing inspirational songs for soldiers both on radio broadcasts, and in person, at British military bases during the Second World War. During the 1950s and 60s, Shelton had some success on the UK Singles Chart, topping it in 1956 with " Lay Down Your Arms". Early life Shelton was born on 10 November 1923 in Dulwich, South London. Singing career In May 1940 at age 16, she appeared on the BBC talent radio show "Monday Night at Eight" and sang 'Let the Curtain Come Down'. The dance-band leader Bert Ambrose heard her performance, and signed her to sing with his prestigious and popular 'Ambrose Orchestra'. She made her first broadcast with Ambrose in June 1940 and she soon made her first solo record for Rex Records "I Can't Love You Any More" backed with "Fools Rush In (Where Angels Fear to Tread)". In January 1941 she commenced weekly radio b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Tauber
Richard Tauber (16 May 1891 – 8 January 1948) was an Austrian tenor and film actor. Early life Richard Tauber was born in Linz, Austria, to Elisabeth Seifferth (née Denemy), a widow and an actress who played soubrette roles at the local theatre, and Richard Anton Tauber, an actor; his parents were not married and his father was reportedly unaware of the birth as he was touring North America at the time. The child was given the name Richard Denemy; he was sometimes known as arlRichard Tauber, and also used his mother's married name, Seiffert; but the claim by the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' that he was ever known as Ernst Seiffert has no support from any of the 12 published books and monographs about him listed in Daniel O'Hara's comprehensive Richard Tauber Chronology. After he was adopted by his father in 1913, his legal name became Richard Denemy-Tauber. Tauber accompanied his mother on tour to theatres, but she found it increasingly difficult to cope, and left him with fos ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vera Lynn
Dame Vera Margaret Lynn (; 20 March 191718 June 2020) was an English singer and entertainer whose musical recordings and performances were very popular during World War II. She is honorifically known as the " Forces' Sweetheart", having given outdoor concerts for the troops in Egypt, India and Burma during the war as part of the Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA). The songs most associated with her include "We'll Meet Again", " (There'll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover", "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" and "There'll Always Be an England". She remained popular after the war, appearing on radio and television in the United Kingdom and the United States, and recording such hits as "Auf Wiederseh'n, Sweetheart" and her UK number-one single "My Son, My Son". Her last single, "I Love This Land", was released to mark the end of the Falklands War. In 2009, at the age of 92, she became the oldest living artist to top the UK Albums Chart with the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gerald Bright
Gerald Walcan Bright (10 August 1904 – 4 May 1974), better known as Geraldo, was an English bandleader. He adopted the name "Geraldo" in 1930, and became one of the most popular British dance band leaders of the 1930s with his "sweet music" and his "Gaucho Tango Orchestra". During the 1940s, he modernised his style and continued to enjoy great success. Biography Bright was born in London, where he played piano and organ and studied at the Royal Academy of Music. He started his career as a pianist playing for silent films. Geraldo became a major figure on the British entertainment scene for four decades, having fronted just about every kind of ensemble and influenced the successful careers of numerous top singers. For his broadcasts he varied the style of his orchestra quite considerably, and a particular series ''Tip Top Tunes'' (employing a full string section alongside the usual dance band) enjoyed great popularity. Several commercial recordings were made, spotlighting the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
