Edward William Welch (born 22 October 1947) is an English songwriter, composer, conductor and arranger.
Early life and education
Ed Welch had a classical music upbringing. He attended Christ Church Cathedral School from 1957-1961, where he was Head Chorister at
Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford
Christ Church Cathedral is the cathedral of the Anglican diocese of Oxford, which consists of the counties of Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire. It is also the chapel of Christ Church, a college of the University of Oxford. This dua ...
then a first music scholar at Ardingly College in Sussex. He gained a scholarship to
Trinity College of Music
Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance is a music and dance conservatoire based in London, England. It was formed in 2005 as a merger of two older institutions – Trinity College of Music and Laban Dance Centre. The conservatoire has ...
London, studying composition with Arnold Cooke. Upon graduating in 1965, he joined United Artists Music where he learned the various branches of the music business. He wrote arrangements, composed 'B' sides and plugged the UA catalogue at the BBC.
Songwriting
In 1971, Welch recorded an album, ''Clowns'', including songs he had co-written with
Tom Paxton
Thomas Richard Paxton (born October 31, 1937) is an American folk singer-songwriter who has had a music career spanning more than fifty years. In 2009, Paxton received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. and session musicians including Mike de Albuquerque and Cozy Powell. In 1972, he acted as producer on a version of " I Don't Know How to Love Him" by Sylvie McNeill on a UK 45 on United Artists UA UP35415 released in time for the first UK Stage Musical of ''
Jesus Christ Superstar
''Jesus Christ Superstar'' is a sung-through rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Loosely based on the Gospels' accounts of the Passion, the work interprets the psychology of Jesus and other characters, with ...
''. In 1973 he wrote the title song to
Spike Milligan
Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish actor, comedian, writer, musician, poet, and playwright. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Colonial India, where he spent his ...
's film '' Adolf Hitler: My Part in his Downfall'', which marked the start of a 25-year collaboration with Milligan.
Welch made his television debut in 1972, on ''
The Old Grey Whistle Test
''The Old Grey Whistle Test'' (sometimes abbreviated to ''Whistle Test'' or ''OGWT'') is a British television music show. The show was devised by BBC producer Rowan Ayers, commissioned by David Attenborough and aired on BBC2 from 1971 to 1988. ...
''. In 1978 and 1979, he appeared in the Spike Milligan BBC series Q8 and Q9, performing his own songs (including "The Carpet is Always Greener Under Someone Else's Bed" and "Love to Make Music by") and songs co-written with Milligan, including "I've Got This Photograph of You!" and "Silly Old Baboon". This unlikely duo released an album in 1979 on the United Artists label, ''Spike Milligan and Ed Welch Sing Songs from Q8''. In 1976, he composed the score for Milligan's adaptation of
Paul Gallico
Paul William Gallico (July 26, 1897 – July 15, 1976) was an American novelist and short story and sports writer.Ivins, Molly,, ''The New York Times'', July 17, 1976. Retrieved Oct. 25, 2020. Many of his works were adapted for motion pictu ...
's '' The Snow Goose''. Narrated by Milligan and performed by the
London Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...
with Welch conducting, the RCA recording was such a success that it entered the pop LP charts and has been performed at many concerts since.
Welch's songs have been recorded by artists including Cilla Black,Davy Jones,
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 vocalist ...
Design
A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design'' ...
Stand Up, Virgin Soldiers
''Stand Up, Virgin Soldiers'' is a 1977 British film directed by Norman Cohen and starring Robin Askwith and Nigel Davenport. It is a sequel to '' The Virgin Soldiers'' (1969). and '' Rosie Dixon - Night Nurse'' (1978). Also in 1978, he composed the score for the remake of '' The Thirty Nine Steps'', including an extended piano piece entitled ''The Thirty Nine Steps Concerto'' (a nod to Richard Addinsell's ''
Warsaw Concerto
The ''Warsaw Concerto'' is a short work for piano and orchestra by Richard Addinsell, written for the 1941 British film ''Dangerous Moonlight'', which is about the Polish struggle against the 1939 invasion by Nazi Germany. In performance it norm ...
''), later recording it with
Christopher Headington
Christopher John Magenis Headington (28 April 1930 – 19 March 1996) was an English composer, pianist, musicologist, and music critic.
Career
Born in London, he was educated at Taunton School and was a Scholar of the Royal Academy of Music. ...
as soloist. In the same year, he moved to the
West Country
The West Country (occasionally Westcountry) is a loosely defined area of South West England, usually taken to include all, some, or parts of the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, and, less commonly, Wiltshire, Glouce ...
where he was appointed Musical Director for Television South West (TSW). He composed the station identification music for TSW, as well as scores for TSW films such as the musical ''Doubting Thomas'' (1983; written by John Bartlett, starring Paul Nicholas and
Stephanie Lawrence
Stephanie Lawrence (16 December 1949 – 4 November 2000) was a British musical theatre actress.
Background
Stephanie Lawrence was born in 1949 in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. She was the daughter of a Welsh singer, to whom sh ...
), and numerous local programmes, including
Gus Honeybun
Gus Honeybun was the station mascot for Westward Television, and later Television South West, from 1961 to December 1992.
A puppet rabbit, and star of ''Gus Honeybun's Magic Birthdays'', he achieved a longevity for a TV puppet second only to the S ...
in 1987. Welch also composed and conducted music for Television South (TVS), from 1987 until the channel disappeared on 31 December 1992. His credits at TVS included conducting a live two and a half hour New Year's Eve show, with 56 musical items, some of which he had also arranged.
In 1982 Welch composed the score for the play ''Private Dick'', by Richard Maher and
Roger Michell
Roger Michell (5 June 1956 – 22 September 2021) was a South African-born British theatre, television and film director. He was best known for directing films such as ''Notting Hill'' and ''Venus'', as well as the 1995 made-for-television fi ...
. He also composed the score to the Cannon and Ball comedy film '' The Boys in Blue''. The following year he wrote the theme to the popular ITV, BBC Two and Sky1 quiz show ''Blockbusters'', which ran from 1983 to 2001; the tune soon became one of the most recognisable television themes of all time.
Among his work for children, Welch composed the score for Andrew Bailey's ''Aesop in Fableland'' (
Arista Records
Arista Records () is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously handled by BMG Entertain ...
, 1979), which was narrated by Arthur Lowe and performed by the
London Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...
. He adapted fairy tales and wrote the scripts for a 1982 LP with Spike Milligan, later developed into a children's
cartoon series
An animated series is a set of animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can have eithe ...
of the same name, '' Wolves, Witches and Giants'', which ran from 1995 to 1999. He is credited for the music in the 2001 cartoon series, '' Binka''. He wrote songs for the new format of ''
Thomas & Friends
''Thomas & Friends'' (originally known as ''Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends'' and later ''Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures!'') is a British children's television series that aired across 24 series from 1984 to 2021. Based on ''The ...
'' from 2004 to 2008.
Other work
With Roger Messer, Welch ran South Western Studios in Torquay, a company which produced professional demonstration tapes for aspiring songwriters. In 2004, he composed a piece of music for Liberal Democrat candidate, Mike Treleaven.
Catchphrase
A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture
Popular culture (also called mass culture or pop culture) is generally recogni ...
'' (1986-1994)
* ''
Connections
Connections may refer to:
Television
* '' Connections: An Investigation into Organized Crime in Canada'', a documentary television series
* ''Connections'' (British documentary), a documentary television series and book by science historian Jam ...
'' (1988-1989)
* ''
Construction Site
Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and ...
'' (1999-2003)
* ''
Crosswits
''Crosswits'' was a British game show produced by Tyne Tees in association with Cove Productions and Action Time and filmed from their City Road studios in Newcastle upon Tyne. It was first shown on 3 September 1985 originally hosted by Barry C ...
The National Lottery
The National Lottery is the state-franchising, franchised national lottery established in 1994 in the United Kingdom. It is regulated by the Gambling Commission, and is currently operated by Camelot Group, to which the licence was granted in 1 ...
'' (1998)
* ''
New Faces
''New Faces'' is a British television talent show that aired in the 1970s and 1980s. It has been hosted by Leslie Crowther, Derek Hobson and Marti Caine. It was produced for the ITV network by ATV, and later by Central.
Original series: 197 ...
'' (1986-1998)
* '' North Tonight'' (1988-1990)
* ''
One Foot in the Grave
''One Foot in the Grave'' is a British television sitcom written by David Renwick. There were six series (each consisting of six half-hour shows) and seven Christmas specials over a period of ten years from early 1990 to late 2000. The first fi ...
The Ratties
''The Ratties'' is a British animated series about a family of six rats who live in the wall of a country house. The rats try to emulate the human family who own the house.
The idea for ''The Ratties'' was conceived by Laura Milligan, daught ...
'' (1987)
* '' Thomas and Friends'' (2004–2008)
* '' Shillingbury Tales'' (1981)
* '' Sweethearts'' (1987)
* ''That's My Dog!''
Ed Welch also composed over 300 pieces, including pieces for a music library and a number of local programmes for a number of ITV contractors, mainly
TVS TVS may refer to:
Mathematics
* Topological vector space
Television
* Television Sydney, TV channel in Sydney, Australia
* Television South, ITV franchise holder in the South of England between 1982 and 1992
* TVS Television Network, US dis ...