Lou Preager born 12 Januaary1906

Louis Preager (12 January 1906 – 14 November 1978), known as Lou Preager, was an English pianist, dance band leader, disc jockey and businessman. He was active from the 1930s to the 1950s; with his band he made many recordings. They also appeared on radio and television. 

Louis Jacob Preager was born in Poplar, London, and came from a Jewish background. He was the son of Louis Preager, a tailor, and his wife Rebecca (née Cohen De Murcia). While at school, the younger Louis he played the piano in dance bands, and from age 19 he was a full-time musician. He played in fashionable London clubs and restaurants; in 1931 he joined "Eugene Pini and his Tango Orchestra" at the Monseigneur, and later joined the Billy Reid Accordion Band. In 1933, Preager led an 11-piece band, playing at Ciro's and later at Romano's in the Strand. His first recordings were released in 1935. 

Preager joined the Intelligence Corps in 1941. His right arm was seriously injured in a motor accident, and he received hospital treatment for eight months. He was invalided out of the army in 1942, and he formed a 14-piece orchestra to play at the Hammersmith Palais in London; it was the resident band there for 18 years. It made frequent radio broadcasts, including, from 1942, 96 editions of Music While You Work. The band later appeared on television. A number of vocalists sang with the band, including Paul Rich, Edna Kaye, Rita Williams and Elisabeth Welch. 

                                     

Preager's radio broadcasts, Write a Tune for £1000, a songwriting contest broadcast in 1945, 1947 and 1950, were very popular, and produced the hit song "Cruising Down the River". During the 1950s, Preager presented Housewives' Choice on the BBC Light Programme and, at the time was a well-known disc jockey. Lou Preager and his Orchestra were featured frequently on televisIon, with 'Palais Party' on ITV in 1955 and later with the very successful 'Find a Singer', for which Lou wrote the script, shared the presentation and was involved with the production, as well as conducting the band! 

In 1959, he decided that it was time for a change and his orchestra moved to the Lyceum in The Strand. He was regularly featured on television's 'Come Dancing' in the days when this programme came simultaneously from two ballrooms, each in the region of the competing teams. In later years Lou appeared as an adjudicator. 

During his career he made recordings for Regal Zonophone Records and the Columbia Graphophone Company. He won three Carl Alan Awards for the best Palais Band. Over the years, many of Britain’s up-and-coming musicians, such as Don Lusher and Johnny Gray, played with his bands, and his numerous vocalists included Paul Rich, Edna Kaye, Rita Williams, Steve Martin, Elisabeth Welch, Paula Green, Anne Lenner, Judy Shirley, Eileen Orchard, Ken Barry, Helen Clare and many more. 

Preager was also a shrewd businessman, with interests in book publishing, television, records and film production, and entertainment agencies. In 1958, Preager married Rose Sharp in Marylebone, where the couple lived. In 1962 ill health caused Lou Preager to retire. Internal operations in 1955, 1961 and 1962 affected him for the rest of his life. During his career he had won several trophies, including, on three occasions, the Carl Allan Award for the best palais band. Lou left London and went to live in Slough, where he bought the local Carlton Ballroom. After a heart attack in 1967, however, he sold the ballroom, settling down to a quiet life playing golf, billiards and snooker. 

He died on 14 November 1978 in Mallorca, aged 72. 

(Edited from Wikipedia, Masters Of Melody & AllMusic)