Harry Leader (January 28, 1906, London, United Kingdom -
January 20, 1987, United Kingdom) was a saxophone player and bandleader from
the United Kingdom.
Harry Leader was born in the East End of London on 28th
January 1906. He was the son of a Russian trumpeter in the Tsar's Army who
became a Professor of Music at St Petersburg Conservatoire. Anglicising the
family name, Harry's father set up a grocery store after arrival in this
country around the turn of the 20th century. Harry learned to play the violin
from his father and, when not assisting in the family business, could be found
playing for silent movies.
With the coming of jazz, Harry taught himself to play the
saxophone at the age of 14. He later acquired valuable experience playing in
clubs in the West End of London, as well as touring. In 1928 he was invited to
join Sid Phillips' Melodians, and even took over the direction of the band
during a tour of Italy when Sid Phillips had to return to London. No doubt this
inspired him to form his own band, which he soon did. Initially it was
essentially a combination for recording purposes and Harry made over 12,000
titles m (often under pseudonyms) for Decca's Panachord label as well as
Broadcast, Eclipse, HMV and various EMI labels. His biggest hit (recorded on
Eclipse 729) was 'Little Man You've Had a Busy Day', which sold 375,000 copies.
Indeed, so keen was Harry for this record to be a success he even stood in the
streets of London selling it himself!
In the early thirties, Harry Leader played for Teddy Brown
as well as for a character known as 'Jack de Yanke' at the Café de Paris. He
made his first broadcast with his own band in 1934, commencing a broadcasting
career spanning nearly 50 years, during which time his 'line-up' included such
famous names as Norrie Paramor, Billy Amstell, Billy Bell, Freddie Gardner,
George Chisholm, Nat Temple, Tommy McQuater, Steve Race, Phil Green, Kenny
Baker, Johnny Gray, Bert Weedon, Ray Davies and Stanley Black.
Harry Leader's first residency was at the Hammersmith Palais
from around 1939 to 1942, after which he moved to the Astoria, playing opposite
Jack White until 1955. There followed seasons at Butlin's Holiday Camps until a
residency was available at the Regent Ballroom in Brighton, where he stayed
until well into the sixties.
Harry's original signature tune was 'Memories of
You', but this was later changed to 'Music Maestro Please'. During his
extensive broadcasting career, Harry contributed to many series that featured
dance bands, as well as having his own 'Harry Leader Show' on television in
1947.
Harry Leader was particularly associated with 'Music While
You Work', in which he appeared 215 times. His first appearance was on the 10th
August 1941 and his last on 13th June 1966. Apart, that is, from an appearance
in the revival series.
Harry was also a gifted composer who, with his wife Rona,
produced over 350 songs under various aliases, his best-known composition
probably being 'Dragonfly'. Other compositions include 'Just Fancy That',
'Washington Square' and 'Dance, Dance, Dance'.
Oner of Harry's claims to fame was the discovery of two
leading popular singers, Clinton Ford and Matt Monro. Readers may well remember
the occasion of a 'This is Your Life' television show featuring Matt Monro, in
which Harry made a guest appearance.
By the early seventies, Harry's broadcasts were becoming
infrequent and he moved down to Brighton where he continued to do gigs and to
teach the flute, trumpet, saxophone and clarinet (the instrument with which he
is most associated).
In 1972 Harry made an LP for strict-tempo dancing. At this
time he called the band 'Harry Leader’s Nu-Set' In 1983 he concluded his
broadcasting career with a superb programme in the revived series of 'Music
While You Work'.. He rallied his musicians, saying: "Come on lads, let's
enjoy ourselves, just like we used to in the old days". Well, Harry
certainly did! He was dancing on the rostrum in one piece and the overall
broadcast had a sparkle which put some of the other bands to shame. Sadly, it
was to be his last broadcast and he died on 20th January 1987. (Info edited from a bio on last.fm)
1 comment:
Here’s a selection of Harry Leader’s recordings with variety of vocalists I managed to glean from the Net.(no time to research and name the singers I’m afraid!) So for “Harry Leader – A Little Smile” go here:
http://www.mediafire.com/file/e4lxah894adwxbe/Harry_Leader_-_Smile.rar
01 harry-leader-and-his-band-does-she-love-me.mp3 (4.0MB)
02 harry-leader-and-his-band-how-did-he-look.mp3 (4.2MB)
03 harry-leader-and-his-band-my-sweetie-went-away.mp3 (3.9MB)
04 harry-leader-and-his-band-swingy-little-thingy.mp3 (4.1MB)
05 harry-leader-and-his-band-thanks-mr-roosevelt.mp3 (3.2MB)
06 harry-leader-and-his-band-the-cossack-patrol.mp3 (4.5MB)
07 harry-leader-and-his-orchestra-jog-along.mp3 (3.8MB)
08 harry-leader-a-thick-thick-fog-in-london.mp3 (3.9MB)
09 harry-leader-his-band-a-little-smile.mp3 (3.7MB)
10 harry-leader-his-band-goodnight-wherever-you-are.mp3 (4.6MB)
11 harry-leader-his-band-is-it-true-what-they-say-about-dixie.mp3 (4.2MB)
12 harry-leader-his-band-let-s-sing-a-song.mp3 (3.9MB)
13 harry-leader-his-band-sergeant-sally-is-coming-home-on-leave.mp3 (3.6MB)
14 harry-leader-his-band-there-s-nothing-like-music.mp3 (4.3MB)
15 harry-leader-his-band-we-don-t-know-where-we-re-going-until-we-re-there.mp3 (3.9MB)
16 harry-leader-his-band-you-re-my-little-pin-up-girl.mp3 (3.7MB)
17 harry-leader-his-orchestra-boston-bounce.mp3 (4.2MB)
18 harry-leader-his-orchestra-cumana.mp3 (4.5MB)
19 harry-leader-his-orchestra-southpaw-special.mp3 (3.7MB)
20 harry-leader-little-man-you-ve-had-a-busy-day.mp3 (3.5MB)
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