Alyn Ainsworth (24 August 1924 – 4 October 1990)
was a British musician, singer and conductor of light entertainment music.

Education and early career

Born in

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish weavers settled in the area in the 14th ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancas ...

, England, he was educated at

Canon Slade Grammar School Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western can ...

on a scholarship but never completed his education there because, at the age of 14, his talent as a singer was recognised by Herman Darewski, who signed him up to tour with his dance band as a boy soprano. When his voice broke he learnt to play the guitar and played in local dance bands whilst working as a hat salesman, then for Bolton Parks Department and later as a golf professional. He then joined

Oscar Rabin Oscar Rabin (26 April 1899 – 20 June 1958) was a Latvian-born English bandleader and musician. He was the musical director of his own big band. Rabin was born in Riga to a family of Jewish origin, and came to London, England as a child. A b ...

's orchestra, where he both played with the band and did musical arrangements; they also broadcast on the radio. Ainsworth also worked with Geraldo, but turned down an offer from Val Parnell to conduct the

London Palladium The London Palladium () is a Grade II* West End theatre located on Argyll Street, London, in the famous area of Soho. The theatre holds 2,286 seats. Of the roster of stars who have played there, many have televised performances. Between 1955 a ...

Orchestra, and chose in 1951 to join the BBC Northern Dance Orchestra, the BBC's then in-house big band, as its arranger-conductor.

Later career

Ainsworth achieved a huge degree of success with the BBC NDO, whose reputation as one of the top bands in the UK was in no small amount due to his hard work, and high standards. In 1956, he announced during ''

Sunday Night at the London Palladium ''Tonight at the London Palladium'' is a British television variety show that is hosted from the London Palladium theatre in the West End. Originally produced by ATV for the ITV network from 1955 to 1969, it went by its original name ''Sunday ...

'' his engagement to Teddie Beverley of the

Beverley Sisters The Beverley Sisters ( MBE) were an English female close harmony pop vocal and light entertainment trio, consisting of three siblings from London. They were most popular during the 1950s and 1960s, and became well-known through their radio and ...

. They could not marry immediately and, in 1957, he announced that the engagement was cancelled. He resigned from the BBC in 1960 and went freelance. He was signed up by

Granada TV ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire but only on weekdays as ABC Weekend Television was its ...

to replace Peter Knight as presenter of ''

Spot the Tune ''Spot the Tune'' is a British television game show which aired from 1956 to 1962 on ITV. It was produced by Granada Television. It was very similar to the popular US series ''Name That Tune'' (a format which would be picked up by ITV/Thames i ...

''. In 1965, he conducted the orchestra at the

Royal Command Performance A Royal Command Performance is any performance by actors or musicians that occurs at the direction or request of a reigning monarch of the United Kingdom. Although English monarchs have long sponsored their own theatrical companies and commis ...

at the

for the third time. He conducted the UK entry in the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

four times in 1975, 1976, 1978 and 1990 and once for Belgium in 1977. He was the musical director for the BBC's anniversary programme ''

Fifty Years Of Music ''Fifty Years Of Music'' was a one-off BBC Television production, broadcast to coincide with the BBC's Fiftieth Anniversary in 1972. Originally broadcast on BBC 2 on 6 November 1972, from 8:50 – 10:05pm, it was later repeated on BBC1 on 27 De ...

'' broadcast in 1972. In 1978, he provided the music for the LWT show ''

Lena and Bonnie On Sunday March 26, 1978 LWT broadcast Lena and Bonnie. It was a one-off special starring Lena Zavaroni and Bonnie Langford. It is also known as "The Lena and Bonnie Easter Special" or as "The Lena and Bonnie Show" Summary of Show Part 1 of the ...

'', and in 1979 Alyn Ainsworth and His Orchestra provided the music for the BBC show '' Lena Zavaroni and Music''. Along with Alan Roper he provided the musical arrangements for the show. Throughout his final years, he continued to collaborate with composers for some of LWT's biggest entertainment shows including

Cilla Black Priscilla Maria Veronica White (27 May 1943 – 1 August 2015), better known as Cilla Black, was an English singer, actress and television presenter. Championed by her friends the Beatles, Black began her career as a singer in 1963. Her ...

's '' Surprise Surprise'' and Live From Her Majesty's. Ainsworth died in London aged 66.

References

External links

Leader of the band..., Bolton Evening News, 29 February 1992
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ainsworth, Alyn Musicians from Manchester Musicians from the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton English bandleaders British music arrangers Eurovision Song Contest conductors 1924 births 1990 deaths People educated at Canon Slade School 20th-century English composers