Bridges Georges McGibbon Lewis (12 November 1918 – 7 September 2001) professionally known under pen name Bunny Lewis, also known professionally under various pseudonyms was a London-based

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

, record producer and composer and music manager whose songwriting abilities were used in a number of films. Sometimes this coincided with involvement in films of musicians whom he personally managed, most notably the actor and singer,

Craig Douglas Craig Douglas (born Terence Perkins, 13 August 1941) is an English pop singer, who was popular in the late 1950s and early 1960s. His sole UK chart-topper, " Only Sixteen" (1959), sold more copies in the UK than Sam Cooke's original version. C ...

. He also co-composed the 1954 song "

Cara Mia "Cara Mia" is a popular song published in 1954 that became a UK number 1, and US number 10 hit and Gold record for English singer David Whitfield in 1954, and a number 4 hit for the American rock group Jay and the Americans in 1965. The titl ...

", which was a bestseller. Authorship was accredited to 'Tulio Trapani and Lee Lange'; Lee Lange was the pseudonym for

David Whitfield David Whitfield (2 February 1925 – 15 January 1980) was a popular British male tenor vocalist from Hull. He became the first British artist to have a UK No.1 single in the UK and in the United States with " Cara Mia", featuring Mantovani an ...

's producer, Lewis, and Tulio Trapani was the pen name of the song's other co-writer and arranger,

Mantovani Annunzio Paolo Mantovani (; 15 November 1905 – 29 March 1980) was an Anglo-Italian conductor, composer and light orchestra-styled entertainer with a cascading strings musical signature. The book ''British Hit Singles & Albums'' sta ...

Biography

Lewis was born in November 1918 in Kensington, London, England. he served in

World War II 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 opposing ...

in the

Black Watch The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland (3 SCOTS) is an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The regiment was created as part of the Childers Reforms in 1881, when the 42nd (Royal Highland) Regime ...

and was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC ...

. After being demobbed in January 1946, Lewis worked at Decca Records. His major work was connected to three late 1950s and early 1960s productions; ''

Expresso Bongo ''Expresso Bongo'' is a 1958 West End musical and a satire of the music industry. It was first produced on the stage at the Saville Theatre, London, on 23 April 1958. Its book was written by Wolf Mankowitz and Julian More, with music by Davi ...

'' (1959), ''

The Frightened City ''The Frightened City'' is a 1961 British neo-noir gangster film about extortion rackets and gang warfare in the West End of London. It stars Herbert Lom, John Gregson and a pre-Bond Sean Connery, who plays a burglar called Paddy Damion. He ...

'' (1961), and also ''

It's Trad, Dad! ''It's Trad, Dad!'' (1962), known in the U.S. as ''Ring-A-Ding Rhythm'', is a British musical comedy featuring performances by a variety of Dixieland jazz bands and rock-and-roll singers. The film was one of the first produced by Amicus Produc ...

'' (1961), which co-starred Douglas.

Film credits

Other film credits included work on ''A Change of Heart'' (1962), ''The Painted Smile'' (1962) and '' One Too Many'' (1950).

Management

Lewis managed

Doug Sheldon Doug Sheldon (born Bernard Bobrow, 22 June 1936, Stepney, London) is a former English pop singer, actor, and novelist. Sheldon was born into a family of carnival businesspeople, and he worked as a barker while receiving training in acting.Bruce ...

, Tony King, Bourbon Street, Christine Quaite and Douglas, giving the singer previously known as Terry Perkins, the name under which he would become famous. Sheldon was discovered by Lewis while acting on stage, and was offered a recording contract with Decca.Bruce Eder,

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

As a composer, Lewis contributed the song " A Voice in the Wilderness", to the

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...

film, ''

''. Lewis also wrote a handful of songs that figured in the repertoire of early 1960s UK pop star Helen Shapiro; specifically "Kiss 'n' Run", "Let's Talk About Love", "Little Miss Lonely", and "Marvellous Lie". Craig Douglas'

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of "

Oh Lonesome Me "Oh Lonesome Me" is a popular song written and recorded in December 1957 by Don Gibson with Chet Atkins producing it for RCA Victor in Nashville. Released in 1958, the song topped the country chart for eight non-consecutive weeks. On what beca ...

" (1962) was produced by Lewis. As well as Lee Lange, Bridges also wrote and produced his songs under the pseudonyms of Johnny May and Emile Reisdorff.

Composer

Lewis' record production tally extended to David Whitfield's "

" and "

Answer Me "Answer Me" is a popular song, originally titled "Mütterlein", with German lyrics by Gerhard Winkler and Fred Rauch. "Mütterlein" was published on 19 April 1952. English lyrics were written by Carl Sigman, and the song was published as "Answer ...

Eden Kane Richard Graham Sarstedt (born 29 March 1940Some sources, including his own website, give 1942 as his birth year; but official sources give 1940.), known by the stage name Eden Kane, is an English pop/ rock singer, musician, record producer and ...

's " Well I Ask You"; plus Craig Douglas' version of "

Only Sixteen "Only Sixteen" is a song by American singer-songwriter Sam Cooke, released in May 1959. The song was a top 15 hit on ''Billboard's'' Hot R&B Sides chart and also charted within the top 30 of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart. ...

". All of these songs were number one hits 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 ...

. Lewis' UK chart-topping effort of four production credits exceeds notables such as

Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (born Harvey Philip Spector; December 26, 1939January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter, best known for his innovative recording practices and entrepreneurship in the 1960s, followed decades later by ...

, Mickie Most,

Denny Cordell Dennis Cordell-Lavarack (1 August 1943 – 18 February 1995), known as Denny Cordell, was an English record producer. He is notable for his mid-1960s and early 1970s productions of hit singles for The Moody Blues, Leon Russell, The Move, Procol ...

Phil Coulter Philip Coulter (born 19 February 1942) is an Irish musician, songwriter and record producer from Derry, Northern Ireland. He was awarded the Gold Badge from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors in October 2009. Coulter ha ...

and

Albhy Galuten Albhy Galuten (born Alan Bruce Galuten; December 27, 1947) is an American technology executive and futurist, Grammy Award-winning record producer, composer, musician, orchestrator and conductor. He has numerous inventions and has produced 18 ...

, all of whom managed only three such achievements.

Awards

In 1999, Lewis was presented with a Gold Badge award by the

British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors The Ivors Academy (formerly the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors – BASCA) is one of the largest professional associations for music writers in Europe. The academy exists to support, protect, and campaign for the interests ...

(BASCA).

Death

Lewis died in

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

, London, in September 2001, at the age of 82.

References

External links

Film credits at IMDb
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Bunny 1918 births 2001 deaths English songwriters English composers English record producers English music managers Musicians from London People from Kensington 20th-century English businesspeople