Sydney John Lipton (14 December 1905 – 19 July 1995) was a British dance band leader, popular from the 1930s to the 1960s when he led "one of the most polished of the British Dance Bands".
Life and career
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 learned the violin as a child before joining cinema orchestras providing the accompaniment to silent movies. When living in
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 ...
in the early 1920s he began playing in the band led by Murray Hedges, before joining the Billy Cotton Band in 1925 and making his first recordings. He also recorded with
Ambrose
Ambrose of Milan ( la, Aurelius Ambrosius; ), venerated as Saint Ambrose, ; lmo, Sant Ambroeus . was a theologian and statesman who served as Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397. He expressed himself prominently as a public figure, fiercely promo ...
's orchestra in the mid-1920s. He left Cotton to form his own dance band in 1931, and the following year became the resident bandleader at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London.
His band started recording in 1932, first for
Zonophone
Zonophone (early on also rendered as Zon-O-Phone) was a record label founded in 1899 in Camden, New Jersey, by Frank Seaman. The Zonophone name was not that of the company but was applied to records and machines sold by Seaman's Universal Talki ...
and then
Decca Decca may refer to:
Music
* Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label
* Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group
* Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label
* Decca Studios, a recording facility in We ...
, and made regular appearances on BBC radio after 1933. The recordings with his band were made from 1932 through 1941, and the band's radio broadcasts were made at Grosvenor House where the band was in residence. Among his musicians were instrumentalists
Ted Heath
Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 191617 July 2005), often known as Ted Heath, was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 to 1975. Heath a ...
,
George Evans George Evans may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* George "Honey Boy" Evans (1870–1915), American songwriter and entertainer
* George Evans (bandleader) (1915–1993), English jazz bandleader, arranger and tenor saxophonist
* George Evans (si ...
,
Billy Munn
William Munn (12 May 1911 – 2 May 2000) was a British jazz pianist and arranger.
Early life and education
Munn was born on 12 May 1911 in Glasgow, Scotland. He studied at the Athenaeum School of Music, then moved to London and joined the band ...
, Harry Hayes, Bill McGuffie, Freddy Gardner, and Max Goldberg. His daughter
Celia Lipton
Celia Lipton Farris, DStJ (25 December 1923 – 11 March 2011) was a British actress, singer and philanthropist. The band's first hit song was "I’ll See You In My Dreams". Later successful tunes included "Just Dance And Leave The Music To Me" and "Sweet Harmony".
During World War II, Lipton was a member of the
Royal Artillery
The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...
and the Royal Signals. After serving in the forces, he returned to the Grosvenor House Hotel, and continued to lead the orchestra there until 1967. He later formed his own entertainment agency, and served as musical director for various venues and cruise ships.
He died, aged 89, in
Palm Beach, Florida
Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida. Located on a barrier island in east-central Palm Beach County, the town is separated from several nearby cities including West Palm Beach and Lake Worth Beach by the Intracoas ...
, where he had retired to be near his daughter Celia. Sydney Lipton ''FindaGrave.com''. Retrieved 25 July 2015