Horace Cyril Stapleton (31 December 1914 – 25 February 1974) was an English

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

ist and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

bandleader A bandleader is the leader of a music group such as a dance band, rock or pop band or jazz quartet. The term is most commonly used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhyth ...

Biography

Horace Cyril Stapleton was born in Mapperley,

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

, England, He began playing violin at the age of seven, and played on local

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at the age of 12. He performed on the

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

often in his

teenage Adolescence () is a transitional stage of human physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated with ...

years at their Birmingham studios, and played in

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orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

s accompanying

silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...

s. Cyril Stapletonat

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Stapleton attended

Trinity College of Music Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance is a music, dance, and musical theatre conservatoire based in South East London. It was formed in 2005 as a merger of two older institutions – Trinity College of Music and Laban Dance Centre. Trini ...

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, and played in a dance band there led by Henry Hall. This ensemble also played on the BBC and made several recordings for EMI. After losing his position in the band, he went back to Nottingham and formed his own. In the 1930s, Stapleton toured

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

with the Jack Payne Orchestra. Later in the decade, Stapleton and his band relocated to

; they won their own spot performing on the BBC in 1939.

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

interrupted Stapleton's musical career, as he joined the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

late in 1939. While enlisted, he played in the RAF Symphony Orchestra. Following the war, Stapleton played with the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

, the National Symphony Orchestra of London, and the

Philharmonia Orchestra The Philharmonia Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It was founded in 1945 by Walter Legge, a classical music record producer for EMI Classics, EMI. Among the conductors who worked with the orchestra in its early years were Rich ...

. In 1947, he recreated his band, and quickly won back slots on the BBC; among the

singers Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

he accompanied were

Dick James Dick James (born Reginald Leon Isaac Vapnick; 12 December 1920 – 1 February 1986) was a British music publisher and singer. He and Brian Epstein established The Beatles' publishing company, Northern Songs. Later, with his son Stephen, James ...

and

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...

. As leader of the BBC Show Band, Stapleton became a fixture on the English musical scene, broadcast across the nation throughout the mid-1950s. Players in the ensemble who went on to gain a profile in their own right included

Bert Weedon Herbert Maurice William Weedon, OBE (10 May 1920 – 20 April 2012) was an English guitarist whose style of playing was popular and influential during the 1950s and 1960s. He was the first British guitarist to have a hit record in the ...

, Bill McGuffie, Tommy Whittle, and

Matt Monro Matt Monro (born Terence Edward Parsons; 1 December 1930 – 7 February 1985) was an English singer. Known as "The Man with the Golden Voice", he performed internationally during his 30-year career and sold a reported 23 million records. AllMus ...

. In 1957, the BBC disbanded the Show Band, and Stapleton immediately reassembled his own group The Cyril Stapleton Orchestra. He even managed two

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hits in the United States with the

instrumental An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...

"The Italian Theme" (#25, 1956) and " The Children's Marching Song (Nick Nack Paddy Whack)" (#13, 1959).

Joel Whitburn Joel Carver Whitburn (November 29, 1939 – June 14, 2022) was an American author and music historian, responsible for setting up the Record Research, Inc. series of books on record chart placings. Early life Joel Carver Whitburn was born in W ...

, ''The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits''. 7th edn, 2000 The latter record sold one million copies. Stapleton continued to tour and record into the 1970s; in 1965 he also became head of A&R for

Pye Records PYE or Pye Records is an independent British record label. It was first established in 1955 and played a major role in shaping rock 'n' roll and pop music history. The Pye name was dropped in 1980 due to trademark issues, after which it produced ...

. Stapleton died in 1974, at the age of 59.

Selected discography

*"Elephant Tango" (1955) – UK Number 19 *"Blue Star (The Medic Theme)" * (1955) – UK Number 2 – global million seller. *"The Italian Theme" (1956) – UK Number 18 *" The Happy Whistler" † (1956) – UK Number 22 *"Strings on Parade" (1954) – (Decca LF 1184) *"Forgotten Dreams" (1957) – UK Number 27 *"Come'n Get It" (1958) – (Decca LK 4286) *"Song of the Golden West" (1958) – (London LL 1723 *"All Time Big Band Hits" (1959?) – (Richmond Stereo, a product of London Records) *Cyril Stapleton Orchestra featuring Julie Dawn †Cyril Stapleton Orchestra featuring Desmond Lane, penny whistle

References

External links

* Biography at Allmusic.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Stapleton, Cyril 1914 births 1974 deaths English jazz bandleaders English violinists English male violinists Freemasons of the United Grand Lodge of England People from Mapperley Royal Air Force personnel of World War II 20th-century British violinists 20th-century English musicians 20th-century English male musicians English male jazz musicians BBC Big Band members Royal Air Force airmen Military personnel from Nottingham