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Mike Smith (British Record Producer)
Michael Robert Smith (30 April 1935 – 3 December 2011) was a British record producer and A&R manager. He was known for producing numerous hit records during the 1960s for artists including the Tremeloes, Billy Fury and Georgie Fame. He also notably turned down the chance to sign the Beatles for Decca Records in 1961. Early life Mike Smith was born in Barking in 1935 and was educated at Barking Abbey Grammar School. At school, despite having little interest in music, he learnt to play the trombone, after being encouraged by his father who was a brass-band enthusiast. At the age of 16, he worked as a clerk with the British Electricity Authority, before joining the Royal Air Force as a ground electrician. Smith also joined the station band as a trombonist but said that he was "so bad they threw me out". After completing his national service, Smith worked various jobs, including being a costing clerk and moving oil drums around Barking Wharf, before seeing an advertisement in ...
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Barking, London
Barking is a riverside town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. It is east of Charing Cross. The total population of Barking was 59,068 at the 2011 census.If defined as the Abbey, Eastbury, Gascoigne, Longbridge, and Thames Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, electoral wards of Barking & Dagenham Council In addition to an extensive and fairly low-density residential area, the town centre forms a large retail and commercial district, currently a focus for regeneration. The former industrial lands to the south are being redeveloped as Barking Riverside. Historically, Barking was an ancient parish that straddled the River Roding in the Becontree Hundred and Historic Counties of England, historic county of Essex. It underwent a shift from fishing and farming to market gardening and industrial development on the River Thames. Barking railway station opened in 1854 and has been served by the London Underground since 1908. As p ...
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Drum (container)
A drum (also called a barrel) is a cylindrical shipping container used for shipping bulk cargo. Drums can be made of steel, dense paperboard (commonly called a fiber drum), or plastic, and are generally used for the transportation and storage of liquids and powders. Drums are often stackable, and have dimensions designed for efficient warehouse and logistics use. This type of packaging is frequently certified for transporting dangerous goods. Proper shipment requires the drum to comply with all applicable regulations. Steel drums Steel drums are ubiquitous industrial shipping containers. They are manufactured from sheets of cold rolled steel formed into a tube and welded along the side seam. Stainless steel, nickel, and special alloys are occasionally used. The bottom head is permanently attached by the manufacturer. Two primary options are available for the top head: * Open head drum, removable head drum: Top head is attached after filling with a closing ring and bolted lo ...
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Dick Rowe
Richard Paul Brutton Rowe (9 June 1921 – 6 June 1986) was a British music executive and record producer. He was head of A&R (Singles) at Decca Records from the 1950s to the 1970s, and produced many top-selling records during that period. Known as, "the man with the golden ear," Rowe discovered and signed The Rolling Stones, Van Morrison, Tom Jones, Cat Stevens, The Moody Blues, Procol Harum, The Animals and Engelbert Humperdinck amongst others. Known as being artist friendly and a true music lover he always wanted the best for talent sometimes putting him at odds with upper management. He is historically presented in popular music history as the man who did not sign The Beatles. In Brian Epstein's 1964 autobiography, Rowe is quoted as having rejected them with the words: "Guitar groups are on their way out, Mr. Epstein", although he denied ever having said this. He later signed the Rolling Stones after their audition, thanks to an introduction and encouragement from Georg ...
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Eric Rogers (composer)
Eric Rogers (born Eric Gaukroger; 25 September 1921 – 8 April 1981) was an English-born composer, conductor and arranger, best known for composing the scores for twenty-two '' Carry On'' films. Early life Rogers moved with his parents from Halifax, England, to Morriston, Wales, when he was three. Rogers was interested in music from an early age, and during his attendance at church as a child, he was taught to play the church organ. His musical apprenticeship was generally untutored and he found himself playing the piano during World War II for free beer. Career After World War II, he set up his own orchestra, playing in the Orchid Room at the London Trocadero. He orchestrated the original stage production of ''Oliver!'', first performed at the New Theatre, West End, London, on 30 June 1960. As his reputation grew, he was offered many conducting jobs for films. Most notably, he composed the music for 22 '' Carry On'' films. He also conducted the music for the first Jam ...
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Bridie Gallagher
Bridget "Bridie" Gallagher (7 September 1924 – 9 January 2012) was an Irish singer, affectionately known as "The Girl from Donegal". She has been described as "Ireland's first international pop star". Gallagher shot to fame in 1956 with her recording of "A Mother's Love's A Blessing" and achieved international acclaim with her legendary rendition of "The Boys From County Armagh". During her career, which spanned over six decades, she appeared in many leading venues across the globe. She also made songs such as " The Homes of Donegal" famous. Career Gallagher started her singing in the Creeslough Hall with a local Ceili Band started by Bill Gallagher. The Creeslough Hall was owned by Jim Mc Caffrey and Bridie would make many more visits to the Creeslough Hall in her home town throughout her long and successful career. Bridie's talent was soon spotted in the 1950s by Billy Livingstone (no relation to her husband) who was a talent scout for Decca Records, and she went to Belfast, ...
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Winifred Atwell
Una Winifred Atwell (27 February or 27 April 1910 or 1914There is some uncertainty over her date and year of birth. Many sources suggest 27 February 1914, but there is a strong suggestion that her birthday was 27 April. Most sources give her year of birth as 1914, but her gravestone states that she died at the age of 73, suggesting that she was born in 1910. – 28 February 1983) was a pianist and composer born in the colony of Trinidad who migrated to Britain and who enjoyed great popularity in Britain and Australia from the 1950s with a series of boogie-woogie and ragtime hits, selling over 20 million records."Atwell, Winifred", in David Dabydeen, John Gilmore, Cecily Jones (eds), ''The Oxford Companion to Black British History'', Oxford University Press, 2007, p. 33. She was the first black artist to have a number-one hit in the UK Singles Chart and had the first piano instrumental to reach number one in the UK Singles Chart, with “ Let's Have Another Party” in 1954, and ...
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Vera Lynn
Dame Vera Margaret Lynn (; 20 March 1917 – 18 June 2020) was an English singer and entertainer whose musical recordings and performances were very popular during World War II. She is Honorific nicknames in popular music, honorifically known as the "Forces sweetheart, Forces' Sweetheart", having given outdoor concerts for the troops in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt, British Raj, India, and British rule in Burma, Burma during the war as part of the Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA). The songs most associated with her include "We'll Meet Again", "(There'll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover", "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" and "There'll Always Be an England". She remained popular after the war, appearing on radio and television in the United Kingdom and the United States and recording such hits as "Auf Wiederseh'n, Sweetheart" and her UK number-one single "My Son, My Son". Her last single, "I Love This Land", was released to mark the end of the Fal ...
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Edmundo Ros
Edmundo Ros OBE, FRAM (7 December 1910 – 21 October 2011), born Edmund William Ross, was a Trinidadian-Venezuelan musician, vocalist, arranger and bandleader who made his career in Britain. He directed a highly popular Latin American orchestra, had an extensive recording career and owned one of London's leading nightclubs. Early life Edmund William Ross was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad. His mother, Luisa Urquart, was a Venezuelan teacher, thought to be descended from indigenous Caribs, and his father, William Hope-Ross, was a mulatto of Scottish descent. He was the eldest of four children, having two sisters, Ruby and Eleanor, followed by a half-brother, Hugo. His parents separated after Hugo was born, and after various false steps Edmund was enrolled in a military academy. There he became interested in music and learned to play the euphonium and percussion. When his mother became involved with a man he loathed and had a son by him, the 17-year-old left for Caracas, Ven ...
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Mantovani
Annunzio Paolo Mantovani (; 15 November 1905 – 30 March 1980) was an Italian British conductor, composer and light orchestra-styled entertainer with a cascading strings musical signature. The book '' British Hit Singles & Albums'' stated that he was "Britain's most successful album act before the Beatles ... the first act to sell over one million stereo albums and avesix albums simultaneously in the US Top 30 in 1959". Biography Mantovani was born in Venice, Italy, into a musical family. His father, Benedetto Paolo "Bismarck" Mantovani, was a violinist and served as the concertmaster of La Scala opera house's orchestra in Milan, under the baton of Arturo Toscanini. The family moved to England in 1912, where young Annunzio studied at Trinity College of Music in London. After graduation, he formed his own orchestra, which played in and around Birmingham. He married Winifred Moss (1909-1977) in 1934, having two children: Kenneth (born 12 July 1935) and Paula Iren ...
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Milan
Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nearly 1.4 million, while its Metropolitan City of Milan, metropolitan city has 3.2 million residents. Within Europe, Milan is the fourth-most-populous List of urban areas in the European Union, urban area of the EU with 6.17 million inhabitants. According to national sources, the population within the wider Milan metropolitan area (also known as Greater Milan) is estimated between 7.5 million and 8.2 million, making it by far the List of metropolitan areas of Italy, largest metropolitan area in Italy and List of metropolitan areas in Europe, one of the largest in the EU.* * * * Milan is the economic capital of Italy, one of the economic capitals of Europe and a global centre for business, fashion and finance. Milan is reco ...
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Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, fourth-most populous city in the European Union and the List of cities proper by population density, 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2022. Since the 17th century, Paris has been one of the world's major centres of finance, diplomacy, commerce, culture, Fashion capital, fashion, and gastronomy. Because of its leading role in the French art, arts and Science and technology in France, sciences and its early adoption of extensive street lighting, Paris became known as the City of Light in the 19th century. The City of Paris is the centre of the Île-de-France region, or Paris Region, with an official estimated population of 12,271,794 inhabitants in January 2023, or ...
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Vienna
Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. Its larger metropolitan area has a population of nearly 2.9 million, representing nearly one-third of the country's population. Vienna is the Culture of Austria, cultural, Economy of Austria, economic, and Politics of Austria, political center of the country, the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, fifth-largest city by population in the European Union, and the most-populous of the List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. The city lies on the eastern edge of the Vienna Woods (''Wienerwald''), the northeasternmost foothills of the Alps, that separate Vienna from the more western parts of Austria, at the transition to the Pannonian Basin. It sits on the Danube, and is ...
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