Harry Dacre was the pen-name of Frank Dean (September 1857–16 July 1922), a British

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

best known for his composition "

Daisy Bell (Bicycle Built For Two) "Daisy Bell (Bicycle Built for Two)" is a song written in 1892 by British songwriter Harry Dacre with the well-known chorus "Daisy, Daisy / Give me your answer, do. / I'm half crazy / all for the love of you", ending with the words "a bicycle bu ...

Biography

Dean was born on the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

, where he was baptised on 6 September 1857. He moved to

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, and then to

Preston, Lancashire Preston () is a city on the north bank of the River Ribble in Lancashire, England. The city is the administrative centre of the county of Lancashire and the wider City of Preston local government district. Preston and its surrounding distri ...

around 1882. He decided to make a career in songwriting, and used the pseudonyms Harry Dacre and Henry Decker (which some sources state was his birth name). He later claimed to have sold some 600 songs in the first two years of his career, but his first popular success was with the song "The Ghost of Benjamin Binns", which was first sung by Harry Randall in

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

in 1885. Claiming that the stress of constant songwriting was affecting his health, he emigrated to Australia, where he stayed for four years before returning to England and then leaving for America in 1891. He took with him an early version of the song "Daisy Bell", and a bicycle on which he had to pay

import duty A tariff is a tax imposed by the government of a country or by a supranational union on imports or exports of goods. Besides being a source of revenue for the government, import duties can also be a form of regulation of foreign trade and poli ...

. Supposedly, his friend

William Jerome William Jerome Flannery, September 30, 1865 – June 25, 1932) was an American songwriter, born in Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York of Irish immigrant parents, Mary Donnellan and Patrick Flannery. He collaborated with numerous well-known composers a ...

told him that if he had brought a

tandem Tandem, or in tandem, is an arrangement in which a team of machines, animals or people are lined up one behind another, all facing in the same direction. The original use of the term in English was in ''tandem harness'', which is used for two ...

he would have had to pay double, inspiring Dacre to rewrite the words of his song to refer to a "bicycle built for two". While in New York, he persuaded singer

Katie Lawrence Katie Lawrence (17 September 1868 – 21 October 1913) was an English music-hall singer, best known for Harry Dacre's 1890s' hit "Daisy Bell". Appearances in other media The Impressionist painter Walter Sickert produced some hundred and sixty ...

to perform the song when she appeared in London in 1892. The song soon became popular in London music halls, and then a worldwide hit. Dacre returned to London, and in 1895 set up his own publishing house, Frank Dean and Co.. He continued to write successful songs, including "Katie O'Connor" (1891); "I Can't Think of Nuthin' Else But You, Lulu" (1896); and "I'll Be Your Sweetheart" (1899), which became a popular success performed by

Lil Hawthorne Lil Hawthorne (4 July 1877 – 22 March 1926) was an American-born British stage beauty, music hall performer and pantomime Principal Boy. In 1910, Hawthorne was involved in bringing Dr. Crippen to justice for the murder of his wife, Cora Hen ...

. When it became clear that the law could do little to prevent the pirating of

sheet music Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses List of musical symbols, musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chord (music), chords of a song or instrumental Musical composition, musical piece. Like ...

, Dacre withdrew from the music business for several years, returning only when

T. P. O'Connor Thomas Power O'Connor (5 October 1848 – 18 November 1929), known as T. P. O'Connor and occasionally as Tay Pay (mimicking his own pronunciation of the initials ''T. P.''), was an Irish nationalist politician and journalist who served as a ...

's proposals were enacted in the 1906 Musical Copyright Act. Thereafter, Dacre lived in comfort in Langham Place in London. He died there in 1922.

References

External links

* 1857 births 1922 deaths English songwriters {{England-musician-stub