Brian Michael Fahey (25 April 1919 – 4 April 2007) was a British musical director, composer and arranger, best known for composing " At the Sign of the Swingin' Cymbal", the signature tune to BBC Radio's long running programme '' Pick of the Pops''. From 1972 he was principal conductor of the
BBC Scottish Radio Orchestra
The BBC Scottish Radio Orchestra (SRO) was a light music broadcasting orchestra based in Glasgow, Scotland, maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation from 1940 until disbandment in 1981.
History
Established by the BBC in 1940 as the S ...
, until it was disbanded in 1981.
Biography
Fahey was born in
Margate
Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and Westbrook, Kent, ...
,
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
, England, and educated at
Colfe's Grammar School
Colfe's School, previously Colfe's Grammar School is a co-educational independent day school in Lee in the London Borough of Lewisham, in southeast London, England, and one of the oldest schools in London. The school is a member of the Headmast ...
. He learned piano and cello from his father, and became interested in
big band
A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s an ...
arranging and composing. During the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
he served in the
Royal Artillery
The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...
; he was wounded in the leg during the
Dunkirk
Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France. He was shot during the
Wormhoudt massacre
The Wormhoudt massacre (or Wormhout massacre) was the mass murder of 81 British and French POWs by Waffen-SS soldiers from the 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler during the Battle of France in May 1940.
Fighting
As part of the Brit ...
on 28 May 1940. After recovering from his wounds and the removal of a lung, he spent five years in
prisoner-of-war camp
A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured by a belligerent power in time of war.
There are significant differences among POW camps, internment camps, and military prisons. P ...
s, during which time he worked on his musical skills.
After the war, Fahey became a pianist with the Rudy Starita Band which, supported by ENSA, toured Egypt and Palestine. During that tour he met the band singer Audrey Laurie (birth name Audrey Watkins). They married in 1947. After that he played in various bands, but his passion was for arranging. Between 1949 and 1959, he worked for the music publishers Chappells and Cinephonic Music, specialising in arrangements for singers, bands and orchestras, mainly for radio broadcasts. His compositions include "The Creep" (with
Ken Mackintosh
Kenneth Victor Mackintosh (4 August 1919 – 22 November 2005) was an English saxophonist, composer and bandleader. He accompanied singers such as Tom Jones, Shirley Bassey and Matt Monro.
Early life
Mackintosh was born in Liversedge, Y ...
), which reached No. 10 in the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
in January 1954, "Fanfare Boogie" (1955, written with Max Kaye for the Eric Winstone Band), which won an Ivor Novello Award, and "Here in a Smoky Room", which (as played by the Otto Keller Band – O.K. being a pseudonym for
Syd Dale
Syd Dale (20 May 1924 – 15 August 1994) was an English self-taught composer and arranger of funk, easy listening and library music. His music played an important role on television, radio and advertising media of the 1960s and 1970s and is sti ...
) was one of the staples of BBC test card transmission music in the early 1970s.
Fahey freelanced after 1959, working with recording companies, the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
and in the theatre. His most famous piece, " At the Sign of the Swingin' Cymbal", was first released in September 1960 under the name Brian Fahey and his Orchestra. It was used as the theme tune for ''Pick of the Pops'' from 1961 to 1966, and again from 1970 until the present day.
He provided scores for films such as '' The Break'' (1963), ''
Curse of Simba
''Curse of Simba'', also known as ''Voodoo Blood Death'', is a black-and-white 1965 British-American supernatural horror film set in Africa, but filmed in England in 18 days. Its producer was Kenneth Rive and it was directed by Lindsay Shonteff. ...
Rhubarb
Rhubarb is the fleshy, edible stalks ( petioles) of species and hybrids (culinary rhubarb) of ''Rheum'' in the family Polygonaceae, which are cooked and used for food. The whole plant – a herbaceous perennial growing from short, thick rhizo ...
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...
show ''Open House''. Between 1967 and 1972, he was
Shirley Bassey
Dame Shirley Veronica Bassey (; born 8 January 1937) is a Welsh singer. Best known for her career longevity, powerful voice and recording the theme songs to three James Bond films, Bassey is widely regarded as one of the most popular vocalists ...
's musical director. In 1972, he became principal conductor of the BBC Scottish Radio Orchestra. Under his direction the orchestra did a lot of television work, accompanying Kenneth McKellar,
Lena Martell
Lena Martell (born Helen Thomson; 15 May 1940) is a Scottish singer, with a long career in theatre, television and musicals. She has recorded thirty albums which include the number one UK single with " One Day at a Time" in 1979.
Biography
Marte ...
,
Moira Anderson
Moira Anderson (born 5 June 1938) is a Scottish singer.
Life and career
Moira Anderson was born on 5 June 1938 in Kirkintilloch, Dunbartonshire, Scotland. She was educated at Lenzie Academy, She then attended the Royal Scottish Academy of Mu ...
Lena Zavaroni
Lena Hilda Zavaroni (4 November 1963 – 1 October 1999) was a Scottish singer and a television show host. At ten years of age, with her album ''Ma! (He's Making Eyes at Me)'', she was the youngest person in history to have an album in the top ...
and
Anne Lorne Gillies
Anne Lorne Gillies ( gd, Anna Latharna NicGillìosa) is a Scottish singer, writer, and activist.
Early life
Gillies was born in Stirling, Scotland in 1944 and moved to Oban at the age of 5. She attended Rockfield Primary School, Oban and ...
. It also had its own BBC One programme, ''Make Way for Music''. They recorded 'inserts' for the many music and chat shows on BBC Radio 2 and Radio Scotland, recording with artists including
Cleo Laine
Dame Cleo Laine, Lady Dankworth (born Clementine Dinah Bullock; 28 October 1927)Georgie Fame,
Carol Kidd
Carol Kidd MBE (born 19 October 1945) is a Scottish jazz singer.
Kidd was born in Glasgow, Scotland. She came to prominence in the mid-1970s, as the vocalist in the band led by vibraphonist / saxophonist Jimmy Feighan. In 1990, she released he ...
and trombonist Don Lusher. Fahey continued to work for the BBC after the orchestra was disbanded in 1981.
Personal life and death
Fahey was a close friend of
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...
(with whom he shared the same birthday) and of the American arrangers
Billy May
Edward William May Jr. (November 10, 1916 – January 22, 2004) was an American composer, arranger and trumpeter. He composed film and television music for ''The Green Hornet'' (1966), ''The Mod Squad'' (1968), ''Batman'' (with '' Batgirl'' them ...
and
Nelson Riddle
Nelson Smock Riddle Jr. (June 1, 1921 – October 6, 1985) was an American arranger, composer, bandleader and orchestrator whose career stretched from the late 1940s to the mid-1980s. He worked with many world-famous vocalists at Capitol Records ...
, who both attempted to persuade him to emigrate to the US, where he was offered several lucrative contracts. But he preferred not to disrupt his family life and so instead lived for many years in Purley,
Surrey
Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...
. In 1972, he moved to the Ayrshire village of
Skelmorlie
Skelmorlie is a village in North Ayrshire in the south-west of Scotland. Although it is the northernmost settlement in the council area of North Ayrshire, it is contiguous with Wemyss Bay, which is in Inverclyde. The dividing line is the Kelly B ...
on the west coast of Scotland, where he and his wife remained until her death in November 2006. He was an avid cricket and football fan and supported
Arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
. He died on 4 April 2007 at
Worthing Hospital
Worthing Hospital is a medium-sized District General Hospital (DGH) located in Worthing, West Sussex, England. It is managed by University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust.
History
Worthing's first hospital was a dispensary created in 18 ...
, aged 87, and was survived by his six children, 13 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Imperial War Museum
Imperial War Museums (IWM) is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, the museum was intended to record the civil and military ...