Emile
Ford (born Emile Sweetman, 16 October 1937, Castries, Saint Lucia, West Indies
is a musician and singer, who was popular in the United Kingdom in the late
1950s and early 1960s.
He
was educated at the Paddington Technical College in London. It was during this
time that Ford taught himself to play a number of musical instruments. These
included the guitar, piano, violin, bass guitar and drums. His innate interest
in music was fostered by his mother and perhaps derived in part in his
synesthesia: he perceived sound as colours and patterns.
He
had invented a novel sound system that he claimed gave his music a consistently
high quality despite the fact that he wasn't really a singer. Emile would
insist on using his own equipment for performances rather than that usually
offered by the theatres in which he played. Despite the fact that Emile claims
that his success was largely because of his sound equipment, there is no doubt
that he is also an extremely skilled and versatile musician.
Ford
first entered show business at the age of twenty, and made his first public
appearance at The Buttery, Kensington. This was immediately followed by
appearances at (on a rota basis) The Breadbasket, Fitzroy Square; The Roebuck,
corner of Tottenham Court Road and Warren Street tube station; The Macabre,
Soho; and Chiquita’s, near Regent Street (then the Show Business Agents coffee
bar). Ford's first appearance with a backing group was at the Athenaeum
Ballroom in Muswell Hill.
After
winning the Soho Fair talent contest in July 1959 sponsored by the Pye record
company, Emile and his group were given a chance to record. His group, the
Checkmates, consisted of his two step-brothers George and Dave, Ken Street,
Pete Carter, Les Hart, Alan Hawkshaw, and John Cuffley. They made a version of
'What Do You Want To Make Those Eyes At Me For' which was originally destined
to be a 'B' side. Fortunately, Pye were shrewd enough to issue this as the 'A'
side and the disc took Emile all the way to a UK #1 at the end of 1959 and
stayed there for six weeks. The track remains as having the longest question
ever asked by a chart topping disc in the UK. Ford was also the first black
British artist to sell one million copies of a 7" single.
His
TV appearances in 1958 included outings on The Music Shop, the Pearl Carr &
Teddy Johnson Show, Oh, Boy!, and Six-Five Special. In 1959 the band appeared
on the TV programme Sunday Serenade, which ran for six weeks. (Photo of Emile with Pete Best and Paul McCartney)
In
January 1960, Ford signed a two year employment management contract with Leslie
Grade. Emile managed to squeeze a few more hits from his patented sound system
before having to return to engineering. He married his first wife in Blackpool
in 1965, although she divorced him three years later.
He
faded from the scene somewhat during the latter part of the sixties because he
made his home in Scandinavia. However he continued marketing his sound system
in the UK and used it in the production of other artists with which he became
involved. He made several albums throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Most of his
albums included new versions of "What Do You Want to Make Those Eyes at Me
For?".
In
the early 60's and in the decades since, has worked exclusively behind the
scenes, undertaking stage work from time to time as well as selling his own
unique sound equipment (EF Quantum Sound) whenever the opportunity arises.
When
last heard of, he was living in California after residing in Scandinavia for
several years. (Info mainly edited from wikipedia & 45-rpm.org)
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