Malcolm Neville Lockyer (5 October 1923 – 28 June 1976) was a British film composer and conductor.

Biography

Lockyer was born in

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England. In his early years he developed an interest in dance and from here gathered an interest in music. At the age of nineteen he became a musician in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

and in 1944 joined the

Buddy Featherstonhaugh Rupert Edward Lee "Buddy" Featherstonhaugh ( ; 4 October 1909 – 12 July 1976) was an English jazz saxophonist and clarinetist. Musical career Born in Paris in 1909, the son of an English marine architect and his Scottish wife. His grandfath ...

Sextet. His biggest successes in composition were for the BBC series' ''Friends and Neighbours'' (1954) and ''The Pursuers'' (1961) for which he wrote the themes. He scored several films for

Harry Alan Towers Harry Alan Towers (19 October 1920 – 31 July 2009) was a British radio and independent film producer and screenwriter. He wrote numerous screenplays for the films he produced, often under the pseudonym Peter Welbeck. He produced over 80 ...

, such as ''

Sandy the Seal ''Sandy the Seal'' is a 1965 British family film directed by Robert Lynn and starring Heinz Drache, Marianne Koch and Gert Van den Bergh. Produced and co-written by Harry Alan Towers, the film was shot in South Africa in Technicolor and Techn ...

'' (1965), ''

Our Man in Marrakesh ''Our Man in Marrakesh'' (released in North America as ''Bang! Bang! You're Dead!'') is a 1966 British comedy spy film shot in Morocco produced and co-written by Harry Alan Towers, directed by Don Sharp and starring Tony Randall, Herbert Lom an ...

'' (1966), ''

Five Golden Dragons ''Five Golden Dragons'' is a 1967 international co-production comedy action film set in Hong Kong and photographed in Techniscope on location in September 1966 at the Tiger Balm Pagoda and Shaw Brothers studios. It was directed by Jeremy Summe ...

'' (1967) and ''

The Vengeance of Fu Manchu ''The Vengeance of Fu Manchu'' is a 1967 British crime thriller adventure film directed by Jeremy Summers and starring Christopher Lee, Horst Frank, Douglas Wilmer and Tsai Chin (actress), Tsai Chin. It was the third British/West German Constant ...

'' (1967). His other film scores include ''

The Pleasure Girls ''The Pleasure Girls'' is a 1965 British drama film directed by Gerry O'Hara and starring Francesca Annis, Ian McShane and Klaus Kinski. Plot When a beautiful young woman, Sally (Francesca Annis), moves to London to pursue a modelling career, ...

'' (1965), ''

Island of Terror ''Island of Terror'' is a 1966 British horror film released by Planet Film Productions. The film was released in the United States by Universal Studios on a double bill with ''The Projected Man'' (1967). The idea for the film came when the prod ...

'' (1966), ''

Deadlier than the Male ''Deadlier Than the Male'' is a 1967 British adventure crime mystery film. It is one of the many take-offs of James Bond produced during the 1960s, but is based on an already established detective fiction hero, Bulldog Drummond. Richard Johnso ...

'' (1967) and ''

Night of the Big Heat ''Night of the Big Heat'' is a science fiction novel written in 1959 by John Lymington. It tells the story of an unnamed British island that is experiencing a bizarre and stifling heatwave. Plot summary The main characters are a former noveli ...

'' (1967). He also composed the music for the 1965 film ''

Dr. Who and the Daleks ''Dr. Who and the Daleks'' is a 1965 British science fiction film directed by Gordon Flemyng and written by Milton Subotsky, and the first of two films based on the British science-fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It stars Peter Cushi ...

'' (1965); some arrangements from that film have since been released on a CD called ''The Eccentric Dr. Who''. One of the highlights of Lockyer's career was arranging and conducting the

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...

album '' Holiday in Europe'' (1961), described as "one of the all-time Crosby classics" by the jazz critic

Will Friedwald Will Friedwald (born September 16, 1961) is an American author and music critic. He has written for newspapers that include the ''Wall Street Journal'', ''New York Times'', ''Village Voice'', ''Newsday'', ''New York Observer'', and ''New York Su ...

in his

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desce ...

to the CD ''Bing Crosby: Legends of the 20th Century'', which includes seven tracks from the album. Lockyer conducted frequently throughout the 1960s. Among the many orchestras he led were those for: the BBC Radio Home Service's radio musical version of

Jerome K. Jerome Jerome Klapka Jerome (2 May 1859 – 14 June 1927) was an English writer and humourist, best known for the comic travelogue ''Three Men in a Boat'' (1889). Other works include the essay collections '' Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow'' (1886) an ...

's ''

Three Men in a Boat ''Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog)'',The Penguin edition punctuates the title differently: ''Three Men in a Boat: To Say Nothing of the Dog!'' published in 1889, is a humorous account by English writer Jerome K. Jerome of a tw ...

'' (1962). He was conductor of the BBC Revue Orchestra and subsequently the principal conductor of the new

BBC Radio Orchestra The BBC Radio Orchestra was a broadcasting orchestra based in London, maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation from 1964 until 1991. The BBC Radio Orchestra was formed in 1964 as a large, flexible studio orchestra on the Nelson Riddle/H ...

and the

BBC Big Band The BBC Big Band, originally known as the BBC Radio Big Band is a British big band, previously run under the auspices of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The band broadcasts exclusively on BBC Radio, particularly on BBC Radio 2's long- ...

when both ensembles were formed in 1967. Lockyer was the musical director for the 1972

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

staged at the

Usher Hall The Usher Hall is a concert hall in Edinburgh, Scotland. It has hosted concerts and events since its construction in 1914 and can hold approximately 2,200 people in its recently restored auditorium, which is well loved by performers due to its ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

. Unusually however, as noted in

John Kennedy O'Connor John Kennedy O'Connor (born 1964) is a television and radio broadcaster, author and entertainment commentator. He was born in North London, but is a naturalized citizen of the United States. He has written, reported and broadcast for numerous m ...

's ''The Eurovision Song Contest - The Official History'', he did not conduct the home entry for the UK (it was conducted by David Mackay instead).O'Connor, John Kennedy. The Eurovision Song Contest - The Official History. Carlton Books, UK, 2007. Lockyer had taken part in the first UK selection process to find Britain's debut

Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

entry in 1957. He performed an orchestral version of the song "

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 ...

", which won the contest. However,

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 ...

went on to perform the song at the final in Frankfurt with musical direction by Eric Robinson. Shortly before his death in 1976, he conducted The Million Airs Orchestra in 26

Glenn Miller Alton Glen Miller (March 1, 1904 – December 15, 1944) was an American big band founder, owner, conductor, composer, arranger, trombone player and recording artist before and during World War II, when he was an officer in the United States Arm ...

tribute concerts.

Selected filmography

* '' Strictly Confidential'' (1959) * '' Operation Cupid'' (1960) * ''

'' (shot in 1965, released in 1969) * ''

'' (1965) * ''

Ten Little Indians "Ten Little Indians" is a traditional American children's counting out rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 12976. The term "Indians" in this sense refers to Indigenous North American peoples. In 1868, songwriter Septimus Winner adapt ...

'' (1965) * ''

'' (1966) * ''

Secrets of a Windmill Girl ''Secrets of a Windmill Girl'' is a 1966 British exploitation film directed by Arnold L. Miller. It recounts the road to ruin of a young woman (Pauline Collins) who becomes involved with the striptease scene after becoming a dancer at the Windmill ...

'' (1966) * ''

'' (1967) * ''

The Long Day's Dying ''The Long Day's Dying'' is a 1968 British Techniscope war film directed by Peter Collinson, based on the 1962 novel of the same name by Alan White and starring David Hemmings. It was listed to compete at the 1968 Cannes Film Festival, but the ...

'' (1968) * ''

Eve Eve (; ; ar, حَوَّاء, Ḥawwāʾ; el, Εὕα, Heúa; la, Eva, Heva; Syriac: romanized: ) is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the ...

'' (1968)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lockyer, Malcolm 1923 births 1976 deaths Eurovision Song Contest conductors British film score composers British male film score composers British television composers British music arrangers 20th-century conductors (music) 20th-century British composers 20th-century British male musicians