Martin Slavin (19 February 1922 – 25 May 1988) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

and music director.

Biography

Slavin was born in

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 ...

. He served in the

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

as a Band Sergeant, and after demobilization formed his own seven piece band, working with musicians such as

Eddie Calvert Albert Edward "Eddie" Calvert (15 March 1922 – 7 August 1978) was an English trumpeter, who enjoyed his greatest success in the 1950s. Between 1953 and 1958, Calvert achieved seven instrumental hits on the UK Singles Chart, including two ch ...

and Kenny Baker. In 1958, he had a UK #18 in Record Mirror's Top 20, as Martinas & His Music, with the song "Cha Cha Momma Brown", a take on the old party favourite "Knees Up Mother Brown". In the 1960s, Slavin composed the musical ''Nancy Wake'' and was a prolific session musician and music arranger and composer for television and cinema. He scored such diverse films as ''

Information Received ''Information Received'' is a 1961 British crime film directed by Robert Lynn and starring Sabine Sesselmann, William Sylvester and Hermione Baddeley. In the film, a police detective goes undercover to infiltrate a safe-breaking outfit. Cast ...

'' (1961), ''

Pit of Darkness ''Pit of Darkness'' is a 1961 British thriller film, directed by Lance Comfort and starring William Franklyn and Moira Redmond. The film is an amnesia thriller dealing with a man's attempts to piece together a sequence of strange events in which ...

'' (1961), ''

Danger by My Side ''Danger by My Side'' is a 1963 British crime thriller directed by Charles Saunders and starring Anthony Oliver. Plot Lynne Marsden sees her undercover detective brother killed by a speeding car. She goes in search of the murderers, which lead ...

'' (1962), ''

Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace ''Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace'' (German: ''Sherlock Holmes und das Halsband des Todes'') is a 1962 mystery film directed by Terence Fisher. It is a West German-French-Italian international co-production. The film starred Christopher ...

'' (1962),''

'', ''

The Cool Mikado ''The Cool Mikado'' is a British musical film released in 1963, directed by Michael Winner (who makes a short appearance as an airline passenger à la Hitchcock near the start of the film), and produced by Harold Baim, with music arranged by Mart ...

'' (1963), ''

The Wild Affair ''The Wild Affair'' is a 1965 British comedy film written and directed by John Krish and starring Nancy Kwan, Terry-Thomas, Jimmy Logan, Gladys Morgan, and Betty Marsden. It was adapted from the 1961 novel ''The Last Hours of Sandra Lee'' by Wil ...

'' (1965), ''

The Boy Cried Murder ''The Boy Cried Murder'' is a 1966 British thriller film directed by George P. Breakston and starring Fraser MacIntosh, Veronica Hurst, and Phil Brown. The film is based on the novelette of the same name by Cornell Woolrich. The movie is a remak ...

'' (1966) and the X-rated animated film ''

Once Upon a Girl ''Once Upon a Girl'' is a 1976 American live-action/adult animated fantasy comedy pornographic film written, produced, and directed by Don Jurwich. It was animated by a group of animators who had worked for Walt Disney Productions and Hanna-Barbera ...

'' (1976). In 1961 he worked with

Helen Shapiro Helen Kate Shapiro (born 28 September 1946) is a British pop and jazz singer and actress. While still a teenager in the early 1960s, she was one of Britain's most successful female singers. With a voice described by AllMusic as possessing "th ...

on "You Don't Know" for Columbia records. One of his music pieces, "Space Adventure" was used in the "

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

" serial, "

The Tenth Planet ''The Tenth Planet'' is the partly missing second serial of the fourth season in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 8 to 29 October 1966. It was William Hartnell ...

" as the

Cybermen The Cybermen are a fictional race of cyborgs principally portrayed in the British science fiction television programme '' Doctor Who''. The Cybermen are a species of space-faring cyborgs who often forcefully and painfully convert human beings ...

's theme. It was later used in "

The Moonbase ''The Moonbase'' is the half-missing sixth serial of the fourth season in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 11 February to 4 March 1967. In this serial, the Secon ...

", "

The Tomb of the Cybermen ''The Tomb of the Cybermen'' is the first serial of the fifth season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was originally broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 2 to 23 September 1967. In the serial, the ...

" and "

The Web of Fear ''The Web of Fear'' is the Doctor Who missing episodes, partly missing fifth serial of the Doctor Who (season 5), fifth season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from 3 Fe ...

". Slavin emigrated to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and then

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

, continuing to work on film productions such as the adult cartoon ''

'' (1976). He became a musical director on a

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as "s ...

before returning to London in the 1980s. He was killed in a road accident in May 1988.

References

* Who's Who of British Jazz by John Chilton.

External links

* 1922 births 1988 deaths Musicians from London British jazz musicians 20th-century classical musicians 20th-century English composers British Army soldiers {{UK-jazz-musician-stub