Francis Charles Chacksfield (9 May 1914 – 9 June 1995) was an English pianist, organist, composer, arranger, and conductor of popular light orchestral
easy listening
Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, n ...
music, who had great success in Britain and internationally in the 1950s and early 1960s.
Life and career
Chacksfield was born in
Battle, East Sussex
Battle is a small town and civil parish in the local government district of Rother in East Sussex, England. It lies south-east of London, east of Brighton and east of Lewes. Hastings is to the south-east and Bexhill-on-Sea to the south. Batt ...
, and as a child learned to play piano and organ. His organ teacher was J. R. Sheehan-Dare (1857-1934). He had appeared at
Hastings
Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England,
east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...
Music Festivals by the time he was 14, and then became deputy church organist at
Salehurst
Salehurst is a village in the Rother district of East Sussex, England, within the civil parish of Salehurst and Robertsbridge. It lies immediately to the north-east of the larger village of Robertsbridge, on a minor road; it is approximately ...
. After working for a short period in a solicitor's office he decided on a career in music, and by the late 1930s, led a small band at
Tonbridge
Tonbridge ( ) is a market town in Kent, England, on the River Medway, north of Royal Tunbridge Wells, south west of Maidstone and south east of London. In the administrative borough of Tonbridge and Malling, it had an estimated population ...
in Kent. At the beginning of
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 opposin ...
, he joined the
Royal Army Service Corps
The Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) was a corps of the British Army responsible for land, coastal and lake transport, air despatch, barracks administration, the Army Fire Service, staffing headquarters' units, supply of food, water, fuel and dom ...
, and, following a radio broadcast as a pianist, was posted to
ENSA
The Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA) was an organisation established in 1939 by Basil Dean and Leslie Henson to provide entertainment for British armed forces personnel during World War II. ENSA operated as part of the Navy, ...
at
Salisbury
Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath.
Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...
where he became the arranger for ''Stars in Battledress'', an armed forces entertainment troupe, and shared an office with comedian
Charlie Chester
Charlie Chester MBE (26 April 1914 – 26 June 1997) was an English comedian, radio and television presenter and writer, broadcasting almost continuously from the 1940s to the 1990s. His style was similar to that of Max Miller.
Life and ...
.
After the war, he worked with Chester and on
BBC Radio
BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering th ...
as an arranger and conductor. He also worked as musical director for both
Henry Hall and
Geraldo, and began recording under his own name in 1951 as "Frank Chacksfield's Tunesmiths". In early 1953, he had his first
top ten hit, "Little Red Monkey", on the
Parlophone
Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a German–British record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 192 ...
label. This was a novelty recording featuring Jack Jordan on the
clavioline
The clavioline is an electronic keyboard instrument, a forerunner to the analog synthesizer. It was invented by French engineer Constant Martin in 1947 in Versailles.
The instrument consists of a keyboard and a separate amplifier and speaker ...
, and reportedly the first record featuring an
electronic instrument
An electronic musical instrument or electrophone is a musical instrument that produces sound using electronic circuitry. Such an instrument sounds by outputting an electrical, electronic or digital audio signal that ultimately is plugged into ...
to feature on the UK singles chart. He signed a
recording contract
A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist (or group), where the artist makes a record (or series of records) for the label to sell and promote. Artists ...
with
Decca Records
Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...
in 1953, and formed a 40-piece orchestra with a large
string section, the "Singing Strings". His first record release for Decca,
Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is consider ...
's theme for his film ''
Limelight
Limelight (also known as Drummond light or calcium light)James R. Smith (2004). ''San Francisco's Lost Landmarks'', Quill Driver Books. is a type of stage lighting once used in theatres and music halls. An intense illumination is created when ...
'', won him a
gold disc
Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...
in the United States,
and in the United Kingdom, where it reached No. 2 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 ...
, and won him the ''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' award as 'Record of the Year'. It spent eight weeks at No. 2 (an all-time UK chart record), and in all thirteen weeks in the top five chart positions, without dislodging
Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine (born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio; March 30, 1913 – February 6, 2007) was an American Singing, singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spanned nearly 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to hi ...
's "
I Believe".
His next
78 single, "
Ebb Tide
Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another.
Tide tabl ...
", became the first British instrumental recording to reach No. 1 in some
American charts, providing a second gold disc,
and he was voted the most promising new orchestra of the year in the US.
He became one of Britain's best known orchestra leaders internationally, and is estimated to have sold more than 20 million albums worldwide.
His material was "mood music", similar to that of
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'' stat ...
, including ballads, waltzes, and film themes.
In 1954, he began presenting a series on
BBC TV
BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 19 ...
, which continued occasionally until the early 1960s. Chacksfield was responsible for the musical
arrangement
In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...
of the first UK entry into the
Eurovision Song Contest 1957
The Eurovision Song Contest 1957 was the second edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster (HR) on behalf of ARD, the contest, originally known as the (English: Euro ...
; "
All
All or ALL may refer to:
Language
* All, an indefinite pronoun in English
* All, one of the English determiners
* Allar language (ISO 639-3 code)
* Allative case (abbreviated ALL)
Music
* All (band), an American punk rock band
* ''All'' (All al ...
" by
Patricia Bredin
Patricia Bredin (born 14 February 1935) is an English actress and one-time singer, who is best known as the first representative of the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest. She took part in the 1957 contest, held in Frankfurt and fini ...
. He continued to write music, release singles and albums through the 1950s and 1960s, and appeared regularly on BBC radio.
He continued to record occasionally until the 1990s, from the 1970s primarily on the
Phase 4 Phase 4, Phase IV or Phase Four may refer to:
Media
* Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase Four, a group of superhero films and television series beginning in 2021
* ''Phase IV'' (1974 film), a 1974 film
* ''Phase IV'' (2002 film), a 2002 film
* ...
label.
He also developed business interests in publishing and recorded for Starborne Productions, a company supplying "
canned music
''Canned Music'' is an EP by New Zealand band Tall Dwarfs
Tall Dwarfs are a New Zealand rock band formed in 1981 by Chris Knox and Alec Bathgate, who helped pioneer the lo-fi style of rock music. The duo were former members of Toy Love.
The ...
" for use by easy listening radio stations and others. Many of these recordings were made commercially available in 2007. Many of his recordings were used during Testcard and Ceefax intervals on BBC1 and BBC2 during the 80s and 90s. His last album was ''Thanks for the Memories (Academy Award Winners 1934–55)'', released in 1991.
Chacksfield died in Kent in 1995, after having suffered for several years from
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...
.
The main theme from his
Latin-American
Latin Americans ( es, Latinoamericanos; pt, Latino-americanos; ) are the citizenship, citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their diasporas a ...
style track "Cuban Boy" is used as the theme music for the
BBC Scotland
BBC Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: ''BBC Alba'') is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland.
It is one of the four BBC national regions, together with the BBC English Regions, BBC Cymru Wales and BBC Northern Ireland. I ...
sitcom ''
Still Game''.
His song "Après Ski" was featured in the 2006 video game ''
Saints Row
''Saints Row'' is a series of action-adventure video games created by Volition and published by THQ and Deep Silver. The series follows the 3rd Street Saints, a fictional street gang originally operating out of the Saints Row district, hence ...
'', for the
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation ...
.
From the album ''All Time Top T.V. Themes'' (Decca PFS 4087, 1966; also as ''The Great TV Themes'' on London SP 44077), several tracks were used by Dutch offshore pirate radio station Radio Veronica in the 1960s. "Rawhide" and "Dragnet" were used in the news jingles; "The Alfred Hitchcock Theme" was also used.
Discography (selected)
Albums
* ''Presenting Frank Chacksfield and his Orchestra'', Michael LL 1041
* ''Ebb Tide'', London LL 1408
* ''Velvet'', London LL 1443
* ''Love Letters in the Sand'', London LL 3027
* ''Hollywood Almanac'', London LL 3102/3
* ''On the Beach'', London LL 3158
* ''Evening in Paris'', Decca LK 4081
* ''The Music of Noel Coward'', Decca LK 4090
* ''Evening in Rome'', Decca LK 4095
* ''The Music of George Gershwin'', Decca LK 4113
* ''If I Had a Talking Picture of You'', Decca LK 4135
* ''Close Your Eyes'', Decca LK 4138
* ''Broadway Melody'', Decca LK 4151
* ''Mediterranean Moonlight'', Decca LK 4168
* ''South Sea Island Magic'', Decca LK 4174
* ''In the Mystic East'', Decca LK 4231
* ''Academy Award Songs Vol. 1 (1934–1945)'', Decca LK 4302
* ''Academy Award Songs Vol. 2 (1946–1957)'', Decca LK 4311
* ''Glamorous Holiday'', Decca SKL 4016
* ''Immortal Serenades'', Decca SKL 4018
* ''Evening in London'', Decca SKL 4057
* ''Music for Christmas'', Decca SKL 4069
* ''The Million Sellers'', Decca SKL 4072
* ''Opera's Golden Moments'', London Phase 4 21092
* ''The New Ebb Tide'', London Phase 4 44053
* ''Globe-Trotting'', London Phase 4 SP 44059
* ''The New Limelight'', London Phase 4 SP 44066
* ''Hawaii'', London Phase 4 SP 44087
* ''Foreign Film Festival'', London Phase 4 SP 44112
* ''New York'', London Phase 4 SP 44141
* ''Beatles Songbook'', London Phase 4 44142
* ''Simon & Garfunkel & Jimmy Webb'', London Phase 4 44151
* ''Plays Bacharach'', London Phase 4 44158
* ''Plays Ebb Tide and Other Million Sellers'', London Phase 4 44168
* ''Chacksfield Plays Rodgers & Hart'', London Phase 4 SP 44223
* ''The Glory That Was Gershwin'', London Phase 4 44254
* ''Plays Hoagy Carmichael'', London Phase 4 44275
* ''TV's Golden Hits'', Compleat Records 671020-1
A number of the Decca/London Phase 4 titles have been reissued on CD by
Dutton Vocalion
Dutton Vocalion specialises in re-issuing on CD music recorded between the 1920s and 1970s, and in issuing albums of modern digital recordings. It was established by British recording and re-mastering engineer Michael J. Dutton.
Dutton Laborator ...
.
Singles
References
External links
The Frank Chacksfield Band in the 1930sFrank Chacksfield Complete Discography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chacksfield, Frank
1914 births
1995 deaths
20th-century English musicians
Neurological disease deaths in England
Deaths from Parkinson's disease
Easy listening musicians
English bandleaders
English conductors (music)
British male conductors (music)
English music arrangers
Decca Records artists
London Records artists
People from Battle, East Sussex
Royal Army Service Corps soldiers
20th-century British male musicians
British Army personnel of World War II