Colin William Towns (born 13 May 1948) is an English

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

and keyboardist. He was noted for playing in bands formed by ex-

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock, although their musical style has varied throughout their career. Originally for ...

singer

Ian Gillan Ian Gillan (born 19 August 1945) is an English singer who is best known as the lead singer and lyricist for the rock band Deep Purple. He is known for his powerful and wide-ranging singing voice. Initially influenced by Elvis Presley, Gillan ...

, and later worked extensively in composing

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

s for

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

and

commercials A television advertisement (also called a commercial, spot, break, advert, or ad) is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization. It conveys a message promoting, and aiming to market, a product, service or idea. ...

. Learning piano as a child, by the age of 13 he was earning money playing at weddings and birthdays in his neighbourhood of the East End of London. He went on to play in numerous dance bands, jazz ensembles and also became a

session musician A session musician (also known as studio musician or backing musician) is a musician hired to perform in a recording session or a live performance. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a reco ...

. His main musical passion is jazz and he has made several well-received albums together with his

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and ...

, the Mask Orchestra. He has also founded an independent record label, Provocateur.

Career

In 1976 he was recruited as keyboardist to replace

Mickey Lee Soule Mickey Lee Soule (June 6, 1946) is an American musician. He was the keyboard player for New York hard rock band Elf and a founding member of Rainbow. Soule had a band in the mid-1960s until he was drafted into the army. After his honorable dis ...

in the

Ian Gillan Band The Ian Gillan Band were an English Progressive rock, progressive Jazz fusion, jazz-rock band formed by singer Ian Gillan of Deep Purple in 1975. Their sound is a departure from the Heavy metal music, heavy metal of Deep Purple by featuring a ...

. Over the time he developed an increasing interest in composing, and Gillan credits the Towns-penned 'Fighting Man' as pointing the direction in which Gillan should go. Gillan dissolved the band, with its jazz-rock leanings, and retained only Towns, putting together the rockier Gillan. Encouraged by Gillan, Towns co-wrote many of the songs for the new band. Whilst with the band he used his free time to seek opportunities to compose music beyond the heavy metal direction of Gillan. His 1980 solo album remains unreleased, although one track was reworked for the 'For Gillan Fans Only' LP, and ''Making Faces'' was released in 1982. He composed the soundtrack for the 1977

Mia Farrow Maria de Lourdes Villiers "Mia" Farrow ( ; born February 9, 1945) is an American actress. She first gained notice for her role as Allison MacKenzie in the television soap opera ''Peyton Place (TV series), Peyton Place'' and gained further recogn ...

-starring film '' Full Circle'', which received reviews praising the music. With bassist John McCoy, Towns guested on Samson's 1979 album 'Survivors'. In 1982, Towns played with the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

rock band

Barón Rojo Barón Rojo () is a Spanish heavy metal band from Madrid that achieved international success in the 1980s. The band is led by siblings Carlos and Armando de Castro, previously from the band Coz, and is considered one of the most important repre ...

, when they recorded ''Volumen Brutal''. In 1982, Ian Gillan dissolved the band, and Towns decided to pursue soundtrack composing full-time. In that year he won the commission to write the score for the film '' Slayground''. From then on he was in constant demand, particularly in British television, where his body of work is extensive, and includes ''

Chiller A chiller is a machine that removes heat from a liquid coolant via a vapor-compression refrigeration, vapor-compression, adsorption refrigeration, or absorption refrigerator, absorption refrigeration cycles. This liquid can then be circulated th ...

'', '' An Unsuitable Job for a Woman'', ''

The Buccaneers ''The Buccaneers'' is the last novel written by Edith Wharton. The story is set in the 1870s, around the time Wharton was a young girl. It was unfinished work, unfinished at the time of her death in 1937 and published in that form in 1938. Whar ...

'', ''

The Crow Road ''The Crow Road'' is a novel by the Scottish writer Iain Banks, published in 1992. Plot introduction The novel describes Prentice McHoan's preoccupation with death, sex, his relationship with his father, unrequited love, sibling rivalry, a mi ...

'', ''

Dalziel and Pascoe Detective Superintendent Andrew "Andy" Dalziel and Detective Sergeant, later Detective Inspector, Peter Pascoe are two fictional Yorkshire detectives featuring in a series of novels by Reginald Hill. Characterisation and style Dalziel is d ...

'', '' Ghostboat'', '' Rockface'', ''Into the Blue'', '' The Blackheath Poisonings'', ''

Bodyguards A bodyguard (or close protection officer/operative) is a type of security guard, government law enforcement officer, or servicemember who protects an important person or group of people, such as high-ranking public officials, wealthy business ...

'', '' Cadfael'', '' Clarissa'', ''

Capital City A capital city, or just capital, is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state (polity), state, province, department (administrative division), department, or other administrative division, subnational division, usually as its ...

'', '' Noah's Ark'', '' Pie in the Sky'', '' The Beggar Bride'', ''

Our Friends in the North ''Our Friends in the North'' is a British television drama Serial (radio and television), serial produced by the BBC. It was originally broadcast in nine episodes on BBC2 in early 1996. Written by Peter Flannery, it tells the story of four frie ...

'', '' Between the Lines'', '' Mobile'', '' Cold Blood'', '' Anglo-Saxon Attitudes'', ''

Doc Martin ''Doc Martin'' is a British medical comedy-drama television series starring Martin Clunes as Doctor Martin Ellingham. It was created by Dominic Minghella developing the character of Dr Martin Bamford from the Nigel Cole comedy film '' Saving ...

'', '' Half Broken Things'', ''

Foyle's War ''Foyle's War'' is a British detective drama television series set during and shortly after the Second World War, created by '' Midsomer Murders'' screenwriter and author Anthony Horowitz and commissioned by ITV after the long-running series ...

'', ''

Ivanhoe ''Ivanhoe: A Romance'' ( ) by Walter Scott is a historical novel published in three volumes, in December 1819, as one of the Waverley novels. It marked a shift away from Scott's prior practice of setting stories in Scotland and in the more ...

'', ''

Hot Money In economics, hot money is the flow of funds (or capital) from one country to another in order to earn a short-term profit on interest rate differences and/or anticipated exchange rate shifts. These speculative capital flows are called "hot money" ...

'', ''

Deceit Deception is the act of convincing of one or many recipients of untrue information. The person creating the deception knows it to be false while the receiver of the information does not. It is often done for personal gain or advantage. Deceit ...

'' and ''Imogen's Face''. In 1993, he composed the music for the idents and bumpers of the TSI's masked troubadour. He also composed the music for the popular children's animation series '' Angelina Ballerina'' as well as several other animation series and films for children including '' The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends'', ''The Story Store'', '' Truckers'', ''

The Wind in the Willows ''The Wind in the Willows'' is a children's novel by the British novelist Kenneth Grahame, first published in 1908. It details the story of Mole, Ratty, and Badger as they try to help Mr. Toad, after he becomes obsessed with motorcars and get ...

'', ''The Willows in Winter'' ''The Tale of Jack Frost'', ''Oi! Get Off our Train'', '' Toot and Puddle'', ''

Fungus the Bogeyman ''Fungus the Bogeyman'' is a 1977 children's picture book by British artist Raymond Briggs. It follows one day in the life of the title character, a working class Bogeyman with the mundane job of scaring human beings. The character and all relate ...

'', '' The Sandman'' and ''

Faeries A fairy (also called fay, fae, fae folk, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, generally described as anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic, found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Cel ...

''. His other film credits include '' Rawhead Rex'' (1986), ''

Bellman and True ''Bellman and True'' is a 1987 film based on the novel of the same name by Desmond Lowden. The film was written and directed by Richard Loncraine. It stars Bernard Hill, Derek Newark and Richard Hope. The title comes from an old Cumberland s ...

'' (1987), '' Vampire's Kiss'' (1988, starring

Nicolas Cage Nicolas Kim Coppola (born January 7, 1964), known professionally as Nicolas Cage, is an American actor and film producer. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Nicolas Cage, various accolades, including an Academy A ...

), '' Getting It Right'' (1989), '' The Wolves of Willoughby Chase'' (1989), '' Hands of a Murderer'' (1990, starring

Edward Woodward Edward Albert Arthur Woodward (1 June 1930 – 16 November 2009) was an English actor and singer. He began his career on stage, appearing in productions in both the West End of London and on Broadway in New York City. He came to wider att ...

), ''

The Puppet Masters ''The Puppet Masters'' is a 1951 science fiction novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein, in which American secret agents battle parasitic invaders from outer space. It was originally serialized in ''Galaxy Science Fiction'' (September, Oct ...

'' (1994, featuring

Donald Sutherland Donald McNichol Sutherland (17 July 1935 – 20 June 2024) was a Canadian actor. With a career spanning six decades, he received List of awards and nominations received by Donald Sutherland, numerous accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award ...

), ''

Captives ''Captives'' is a 1994 British romantic crime drama film directed by Angela Pope and written by the Dublin screenwriter Frank Deasy. It stars Julia Ormond, Tim Roth and Keith Allen. The picture was selected as the opening film in the Venetian ...

'' (1994, featuring

Tim Roth Timothy Simon Roth (; born 14 May 1961) is an English actor. He was among a group of prominent British actors known as the " Brit Pack". After garnering attention in television productions '' Made in Britain'' (1982) and '' Meantime'' (1983), ...

), '' Space Truckers'' (1996, featuring

Dennis Hopper Dennis Lee Hopper (May 17, 1936 – May 29, 2010) was an American actor, filmmaker, photographer and visual artist. He was considered one of the key figures of New Hollywood. He earned prizes from the Cannes Film Festival and Venice Internatio ...

), ''

Guest House Paradiso ''Guest House Paradiso'' is a 1999 British slapstick black comedy film written by and starring comic duo Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson, who also directed in his feature directorial debut. The film is a spin-off of their BBC comedy television s ...

'' (1999), '' Essex Boys'' (2000), '' Man Dancin''' (2003), '' Crimson Rivers II: Angels of the Apocalypse'' (2004), and '' Red Mercury'' (2005). Several times he has worked for the German director

Claudia Garde Claudia Garde is a German film director and screenwriter. She has worked for the German TV-series '' Stubbe – Von Fall zu Fall'', '' Doktor Martin'', ''Flemming'' or the series ''Tatort''. Early life and education Claudia Garde was born in ...

for the TV-series

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. His work for television is extensive and includes the score for the highly successful UK series Doc Martin, starring Martin Clunes as the grumpy doctor of the fictional Cornish town Port Wen. Towns' principal musical passion is

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 ...

and has released several albums with the

he founded, the Mask Orchestra. A long-term collaboration with the Italian-born jazz singer Maria Pia De Vito began in 1996. In 2010 Towns formed Blue Touch Paper with German and UK musicians. Alongside Towns were Mark Lockheart (Polar Bear, Loose Tubes), Chris Montague (Troyka, Kit Downes), Benny Greb (Stoppok, Ron Spielman), Stephan Maass (Randy Brecker, Kruder & Dorfmeister), and Edward Maclean (Peter Fox, Nils Wülker). Blue Touch Paper released their debut album 'Stand Well Back' in May 2011. Their second album 'Drawing Breath' was released in October 2013.

References

External links

Colin Town's official website

Colin Towns
at Provocateur Records
Behind the Mask
Unofficial Colin Towns Website * *
Colin Towns
at

Discogs Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...

Blue Touch Paper
{{DEFAULTSORT:Towns, Colin 1948 births Living people English keyboardists English film score composers English male film score composers People from West Ham English television composers English male composers Musicians from the London Borough of Newham Gillan (band) members Ian Gillan Band members ACT Music artists Virgin Records artists