Stanley Black OBE (14 June 1913 – 27 November 2002) was an English bandleader, composer, conductor, arranger and pianist. He wrote and arranged many film scores, recording prolifically for the

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 W ...

label (including their subsidiaries ''London'' and ''Phase 4''). Beginning with jazz collaborations with American musicians such as

Coleman Hawkins Coleman Randolph Hawkins (November 21, 1904 – May 19, 1969), nicknamed "Hawk" and sometimes "Bean", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.Yanow, Scot"Coleman Hawkins: Artist Biography" AllMusic. Retrieved December 27, 2013. One of the first p ...

and

Benny Carter Bennett Lester Carter (August 8, 1907 – July 12, 2003) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader. With Johnny Hodges, he was a pioneer on the alto saxophone. From the beginning of his career ...

during the 1930s, he moved into arranging and recording in the Latin American music style and also won awards for his classical conducting.

Life and career

Black was born as Solomon Schwartz on 14 June 1913 in

Whitechapel Whitechapel is a district in East London and the future administrative centre of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is a part of the East End of London, east of Charing Cross. Part of the historic county of Middlesex, the area formed ...

, England. His parents were Polish and Romanian Jews. He began piano lessons at the age of seven and trained in piano and composition under Rae Robertson at the Matthay School of Music. He was aged only 12 when his first classical composition was broadcast on BBC Radio. His first professional job was for a C.B. Cochran 1930 theatrical revue followed by winning a ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

'' competition for his arrangement of a jazz chorus the next year. In the early 1930s, he was employed in dance bands and had worked with Howard Jacobs,

Joe Orlando Joseph Orlando (April 4, 1927 – December 23, 1998) was an Italian American illustrator, writer, editor and cartoonist during a lengthy career spanning six decades. He was the associate publisher of '' Mad'' and the vice president of DC Comics, ...

Lew Stone Louis Stone known professionally as Lew Stone (28 June 1898 – 13 February 1969) was a British bandleader and arranger of the British dance band era, and was well known in Britain during the 1930s. He was known as a skillful, innovative a ...

Maurice Winnick Maurice Winnick (28 March 1902 – 26 May 1962) was an English musician and dance band leader of the British dance band era. Born in Manchester, Winnick studied violin at the Manchester College of Music, where he proved to be a "child prodigy". ...

and Teddy Joyce by the time he joined

Harry Roy Harry Roy (12 January 1900 – 1 February 1971) was a British dance band leader and clarinet player from the 1920s to the 1960s. He performed several songs with suggestive lyrics, including " My Girl's Pussy" (1931), and " She Had to Go and Lose ...

in 1936. He had also broadcast and recorded with several American musicians, including jazz saxophonists

and

during their stays in England during this decade. Hawkins had first heard Black on late night radio shows with Lew Stone's band. When the two eventually met in London, the reviewer Edgar Jackson suggested they record together, and the two men collaborated on a duet version of " Honeysuckle Rose". During

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 ...

, Black joined 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 became involved in managing the entertainment of servicemen based at

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...

. In 1944 he was appointed conductor of the

BBC Dance Orchestra 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 ...

, and remained in the job for almost nine years, broadcasting as many as six nights a week. Black's radio work kept him in contact with a large listening audience, through his incidental music for shows such as ''

Much Binding in the Marsh ''Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh'' was a comedy show broadcast from 1944 to 1950 and 1951 to 1954 by BBC radio and in 1950–51 by Radio Luxembourg. It was written by and starred Richard Murdoch and Kenneth Horne as officers in a fictional RAF stati ...

'' and the first two series of ''

The Goon Show ''The Goon Show'' is a British radio comedy programme, originally produced and broadcast by the BBC Home Service from 1951 to 1960, with occasional repeats on the BBC Light Programme. The first series, broadcast from 28 May to 20 September 19 ...

''. He also conducted the

for the popular comedy show ''Ray's a Laugh'', starring Ted Ray. He later presented his own programmes on radio and television, including ''Black Magic'' and ''The Marvellous World of Stanley Black''. In the early 1950s, he regularly topped the ''

'' lists of the most-heard musicians on radio. He was chosen to be included on Decca's first release of

long-playing records The LP (from "long playing" or "long play") is an analog sound storage medium, a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specification; and ...

in the UK in June 1950. This enabled him to continue his conducting, arranging and performing career and resulted many albums. He was particularly popular in United States, as evidenced by his inclusion in the '' Billboard'' best-sellers lists. During 1968–69, he was principal conductor of the BBC Northern Ireland Orchestra. Becoming involved with the film industry, he composed and arranged music for about 200 films. He was appointed music director at

Elstree Studios Elstree Studios is a generic term which can refer to several current and demolished British film studios and television studios based in or around the town of Borehamwood and village of Elstree in Hertfordshire, England. Production studios ha ...

in 1958. He was also principal conductor of the studio orchestra of Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC) and their musical director composer from 1958 to 1963. During his life, he conducted many of Britain's major orchestras, and until the 1990s he was still directing regular broadcast sessions at the BBC studios, despite the onset of deafness in later life.

Honours

Black received numerous awards, including the OBE. He was made a life fellow of the International Institute of Arts and Letters, and life president of the Celebrities Guild of Great Britain. In 2003, Decca released a two-CD set, ''A Tribute to Stanley Black'' (473 940-2), including recordings from 1951 to 1979.

Personal life

Black was married to dance band singer Edna Kaye. The couple wed in 1947; they had a son and daughter. Black died in London, aged 89, on 27 November 2002.

Works

Black is remembered for writing numerous scores for radio, television and cinema, including the theme-tune for ''

''. Other films he composed scores for include ''

Laughter in Paradise ''Laughter in Paradise'' is a 1951 British comedy film, starring Alastair Sim, Fay Compton, George Cole, and Guy Middleton. The film was remade as ''Some Will, Some Won't'' (1970). Plot In his will, notorious practical joker Henry Russell leave ...

'' (1951), '' The Naked Truth'' (1957), ''

Blood of the Vampire ''Blood of the Vampire'' is a 1958 British colour horror film directed by Henry Cass and starring Donald Wolfit, Barbara Shelley, and Vincent Ball. The film was produced by Robert S. Baker and Monty Berman for Tempean Films, from a screenpl ...

'' (1958), ''

Too Many Crooks ''Too Many Crooks'' is a 1959 British comedy film directed by Mario Zampi. The plot concerns a bunch of inept crooks who kidnap the wife of a shady businessman, only for him to decide he doesn’t want her back. It stars George Cole, Sidney Ja ...

'' (1958), '' The Long and the Short and the Tall'' (1961), ''

West 11 ''West 11'' is a 1963 British crime film directed by Michael Winner and starring Alfred Lynch, Kathleen Breck, Eric Portman, Diana Dors, and Kathleen Harrison. It is based on ''The Furnished Room'' (1961), Laura Del-Rivo's debut novel, which ...

'' (1963), '' The System'' (1964), '' Crossplot'' (1969), and the

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...

musicals '' The Young Ones'' (1961) and his orchestral backing for Richard's follow up, '' Summer Holiday'' (1962), which won him an

Ivor Novello Award The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and composing. They have been presented annually in London by the Ivors Academy (formerly the BASCA) since 1956, and over 1,000 statuettes have been a ...

. His work also became familiar to millions of cinema audiences as a consequence of his theme tune and music library for

Pathé Pathé or Pathé Frères (, styled as PATHÉ!) is the name of various French people, French businesses that were founded and originally run by the Pathé Brothers of France starting in 1896. In the early 1900s, Pathé became the world's largest ...

News, written in 1960.Spencsr Leig
Obituary: Stanley Black
''The Independent'', 2 December 2002 He also recorded many classical works, including collections of

Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...

and

George Gershwin George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned popular, jazz and classical genres. Among his best-known works are the orchestral compositions ' ...

. In 1965 he won a Gramophone Award for his version of

Rimsky-Korsakov Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov . At the time, his name was spelled Николай Андреевичъ Римскій-Корсаковъ. la, Nicolaus Andreae filius Rimskij-Korsakov. The composer romanized his name as ''Nicolas Rimsk ...

's Capriccio Espagnol. In addition, he arranged and conducted many commercially successful albums on LP and later CD like ''Tropical Moonlight'', ''Cuban Moonlight'', ''Black Magic'', and series of ''Film Spectacular'' and ''Broadway Spectacular'' for

Selected discography

* ''The Cash Box Instrumental Hits'',

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 ...

LL158 * ''Plays for Latin Lovers'', London LL248 * ''Jerome Kern's Symphonic Suite'', London LL579 * ''Berlin Suite'', London LL811 * ''Some Enchanted Evening'', London LL1098 * ''Dancing in the Dark'', London LL1099 * ''Carnival in the Sun'', London LL1100 (1955) * ''Festival in Costa Rica'', London LL1101 * ''Music for Romance'', London LL1149 (1955) * ''Cuban Moonlight'', London LL1166 (1956) * ''Music of Richard Rodgers'', London LL1209 * ''Plays for Latin Lovers'', London LL1248 * ''The Night Was Made for Love'', London LL1307 * ''Summer Evening Serenade'', London LL1332 * ''The Music of Lecuona'', London LL1438 (1958) * ''Music of Cole Porter'', London LL1565 * ''Red Velvet'', London LL1592 (1956) * ''Tropical Moonlight'', London LL1615 (1957) * ''

Moonlight Cocktail "Moonlight Cocktail" is a 1941 big band song recorded by Glenn Miller during World War II. The music was composed by Luckey Roberts with lyrics by Kim Gannon. Background The song was originally recorded by Glenn Miller and his Orchestra on Dece ...

'', London LL1709 (Dec 1957) * ''Place Pigalle'', London LL1742 (1957) * ''Sophisticate in Cuba'', London LL 1781 (1958) * ''The All Time Top Tangos'', London PS 176 (1959) * ''More Top Tangos'',

SKL 4812 * ''Gershwin Goes Latin'', London PS 206 (1960) * ''Ravel - Bolero'', London

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 * ...

SPC 21003 * ''Rhapsody in Blue'', London Phase 4 21009 * ''Spectacular Dances for Orchestra'', London Phase 4 SP 21020 * ''Overture!'', London Phase 4 21028 * ''Great Rhapsodies'', London Phase 4 21030 * ''Exotic Percussion'', London Phase 4 SP 44004 (1962) * ''Spain'', London Phase 4 SP 44016 (1963) * ''Film Spectacular'', London Phase 4 SP 44025 * ''Film Spectacular Vol.2'', London Phase 4 SP 44031 * ''Music of a People'', London Phase 4 SP 44060 * ''Broadway Spectacular'', London Phase 4 SP 44071 * ''Russia'', London Phase 4 SP 44075 * ''Film Spectacular Vol.3'', London Phase 4 SP 44078 * ''Broadway Blockbusters'', London Phase 4 44088 * ''Dimensions in Sound'', London Phase 4 SP 44105 (1968) * ''Fiddler on the Roof'', London Phase 4 44121 * ''Film Spectacular Vol. 4'', London Phase 4 44173 * ''Rhapsody in Blue'', London Phase 4 21009 * ''Digital Spectacular!'', London LDP 30001 * ''Film Spectacular Vol. 5'', London Phase 4 SP 44225 * ''South of the Border'', London: Richmond B 20003 * ''Melodies of Love'', London: Richmond B20004 * ''Music of Jerome Kern and Irving Berlin'', London: Richmond B20011 * ''Accent on Romance'', London: Richmond B 20024

Selected filmography

* ''

Dual Alibi ''Dual Alibi'' is a 1947 British drama film directed by Alfred Travers and starring Herbert Lom, Phyllis Dixey and Terence De Marney. It is a film noir.Spicer p.442 It was made by British National Films at Elstree Studios. Synopsis A top Frenc ...

'' (1947) * ''

It Always Rains on Sunday ''It Always Rains on Sunday'' is a 1947 British film adaptation of Arthur La Bern's novel by the same name, directed by Robert Hamer. The film has been compared with the poetic realism movement in the French cinema of a few years earlier by the ...

'' (1948) * '' The Fatal Night'' (1948) * ''

'' (1951) * ''

Escape by Night (1953 film) ''Escape by Night'' is a 1953 British crime film directed and written by John Gilling. Plot Tom Buchan (Colleano) is an alcoholic journalist whose once memorable work has been destroyed by his constant drunken antics that have cost him his fu ...

'' * '' The Naked Truth'' (1957) * ''

'' (1958) * ''

The Trollenberg Terror ''The Trollenberg Terror'' (released in the U.S. as ''The Crawling Eye'') is a 1958 British science fiction drama film, produced by Robert S. Baker and Monty Berman and directed by Quentin Lawrence. The film stars Forrest Tucker, Laurence Payn ...

'' (1958) * ''

Further Up the Creek ''Further Up the Creek'' is a 1958 British comedy film written and directed by Val Guest and starring David Tomlinson, Frankie Howerd, Shirley Eaton, Thora Hird, Desmond Llewelyn and Lionel Jeffries. It served as a follow up to '' Up the Creek'' ...

'' (1958) * ''

Make Mine a Million ''Make Mine a Million'' is a 1959 British comedy film directed by Lance Comfort, starring Arthur Askey, Sid James, and Bernard Cribbins. The film parodies the stuffiness of the 1950s BBC and the effect of television advertising in the era. It wa ...

'' (1959) * ''

Jack the Ripper Jack the Ripper was an unidentified serial killer active in and around the impoverished Whitechapel district of London, England, in the autumn of 1888. In both criminal case files and the contemporaneous journalistic accounts, the killer wa ...

'' (1959) * '' The Battle of the Sexes'' (1959) * '' Hand in Hand'' (1960) * ''

The Flesh and the Fiends ''The Flesh and the Fiends'' (US title ''Mania'') is a 1960 British horror film directed by John Gilling. It stars Peter Cushing as 19th-century medical doctor Robert Knox, who purchases human corpses for research from a murderous pair named Bu ...

'' (1960) * ''

Hell Is a City ''Hell Is a City'' is a 1960 British crime thriller film based on the 1954 novel of the same title by Maurice Procter. Written and directed by Val Guest, it was made by British studio Hammer Film Productions and filmed in Manchester. It was ...

'' (1960) * ''

Sands of the Desert ''Sands of the Desert'' is a 1960 British adventure comedy film directed by John Paddy Carstairs and starring Charlie Drake in his first lead role in a feature film, Peter Arne, Sarah Branch and Raymond Huntley. Premise Charlie Sands, a Briti ...

'' (1960) * ''

The Siege of Sidney Street ''The Siege of Sidney Street'' is a 1960 British historical drama film co-directed by Robert S. Baker and Monty Berman. It stars Donald Sinden, Nicole Berger and Kieron Moore. The film dramatises the 1909 Tottenham Outrage - a bungled wag ...

'' (1960) * ''

The Full Treatment ''The Full Treatment'' (also known as ''The Treatment'' and ''Stop Me Before I Kill!'') is a 1960 black-and-white, British thriller film directed by Val Guest and starring Claude Dauphin, Diane Cilento and Ronald Lewis. It was based on the 195 ...

'' (1960) * '' The Long and the Short and the Tall'' (1961) * ''

House of Mystery ''The House of Mystery'' is the name of several horror, fantasy, and mystery Comics anthologies published by DC Comics. It had a companion series, ''The House of Secrets''. It is also the name of the titular setting of the series. First serie ...

'' (1961) * ''

Double Bunk ''Double Bunk'' is a British black-and-white comedy film set on a houseboat. It was released in 1961, and stars Ian Carmichael and Sid James. The musical score was composed by Stanley Black, and the title song, sung by Sid James and Liz Frase ...

'' (1961) * ''

The Day the Earth Caught Fire ''The Day the Earth Caught Fire'' is a British science fiction disaster film starring Edward Judd, Leo McKern and Janet Munro. It was directed by Val Guest and released in 1961, and is one of the classic apocalyptic films of its era. The film o ...

'' (1961) * ''

The Pot Carriers ''The Pot Carriers'' is a 1962 British comedy-drama film directed by Peter Graham Scott and produced by Gordon Scott for ABPC. It stars Ronald Fraser, Paul Massie, Carole Lesley and Dennis Price. The film is largely set in Wandsworth pris ...

'' (1962) * ''

Maniac Maniac (from Greek μανιακός, ''maniakos'') is a pejorative for an individual who experiences the mood known as mania. In common usage, it is also an insult for someone involved in reckless behavior. Maniac may also refer to: Film * ' ...

'' (1963) * ''

80,000 Suspects ''80,000 Suspects'' is a 1963 British drama film directed by Val Guest and starring Claire Bloom, Richard Johnson, Yolande Donlan, and Cyril Cusack. It concerns an outbreak of smallpox in Bath, England. Plot Commencing on New Year's Eve in the ...

'' (1963) * ''

'' (1963) * '' The System'' (1964) * ''

Rattle of a Simple Man ''Rattle of a Simple Man'' is a 1964 British comedy-drama film directed by Muriel Box and starring Diane Cilento, Harry H. Corbett and Michael Medwin, based on the 1963 play by Charles Dyer. The screenplay is about a naive man who becomes i ...

'' (1964) * '' City Under the Sea'' (1965) * '' Crossplot'' (1969) * '' Valentino'' (1977)

References

* David Ades' biography at the

Robert Farnon Robert Joseph Farnon CM (24 July 191723 April 2005) was a Canadian-born composer, conductor, musical arranger and trumpet player. As well as being a composer of original works (often in the light music genre), he was commissioned by film and ...

Society

External links

*
Detailed biography at the Robert Farnon Society
* *http://www.spaceagepop.com/black.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:Black, Stanley 1913 births 2002 deaths People from Whitechapel Decca Records artists London Records artists English conductors (music) British male conductors (music) English Jews Jewish English musicians Jewish jazz musicians Jewish classical pianists Easy listening musicians English jazz musicians English film score composers English male film score composers English music arrangers English people of Romanian-Jewish descent English people of Polish-Jewish descent Light music composers Ivor Novello Award winners Officers of the Order of the British Empire Royal Air Force personnel of World War II 20th-century British conductors (music) British male jazz musicians 20th-century British male musicians