Dave Lee (born David Cyril Aarons, 12 August 1926) is an English jazz pianist, and a former orchestra leader, music arranger, songwriter and film composer. In a varied musical career, he wrote the hit song " Goodness Gracious Me", was the resident musician on ''

That Was the Week That Was ''That Was the Week That Was'', informally ''TWTWTW'' or ''TW3'', is a satirical television comedy programme that aired on BBC Television in 1962 and 1963. It was devised, produced, and directed by Ned Sherrin and Jack (aka John) Duncan, and pre ...

'', wrote the score for the movie ''

The Masque of the Red Death "The Masque of the Red Death" (originally published as "The Mask of the Red Death: A Fantasy") is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1842. The story follows Prince Prospero's attempts to avoid a dangerous plagu ...

'' (1964), had a hit jazz album in the US, and was a resident fixture in early episodes of '' The Avengers''. Later in life he was instrumental in founding

102.2 Jazz FM 102.2 Jazz FM (also known as London Jazz Radio and JFM) was a local jazz and soul music station for London run by GMG Radio. The station was based in and broadcast from Castlereagh Street in London. The station experimented with its core playli ...

Career

Pianist, orchestra leader, arranger, songwriter and film composer, David Lee was born in

Newington, London Newington is a district of South London, just south of the River Thames, and part of the London Borough of Southwark. It was an ancient parish and the site of the early administration of the county of Surrey. It was the location of the County o ...

on 12 August 1926 (not 1929 or 1930 as some references give). His father Joseph was a professional photographer, and during the war was transferred to the North East to work on camouflaging military equipment. The family relocated to

Whitley Bay Whitley Bay is a seaside town in the North Tyneside borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It formerly governed as part of Northumberland and has been part of Tyne and Wear since 1974. It is part of the wider Tyneside built-up area, being around eas ...

, and it was here that Dave started to perform in local groups. His big break came in 1942 when he won the ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

'' poll for best new jazz pianist. Moving to South Africa in 1947 he worked as resident musician for night clubs in Port Elizabeth and Johannesburg, then studied at the Johannesburg Conservatory of Music gaining a Mus.Bac. In 1954, Lee invited

Johnny Dankworth Johnny is an English language personal name. It is usually an affectionate diminutive of the masculine given name John, but from the 16th century it has sometimes been a given name in its own right for males and, less commonly, females. Varia ...

to perform in South Africa, and it was Dankworth who persuaded him to return to England as pianist/arranger for the Johnny Dankworth band. From 1955 to 1959, Lee played on all of the recordings made by the Johnny Dankworth Orchestra. Lee also performed with Terry and McGhee, the Buddy Tate Quartet and

Jack Parnell John Russell Parnell (6 August 1923 – 8 August 2010) was an English musician and musical director. Biography Parnell was born into a theatrical family in London, England. His uncle was the theatrical impresario Val Parnell. During hi ...

. He also arranged for many big show business names, including

Norman Wisdom Sir Norman Joseph Wisdom, (4 February 1915 – 4 October 2010) was an English actor, comedian, musician and singer best known for a series of comedy films produced between 1953 and 1966 featuring a hapless onscreen character often called Norman ...

Benny Hill Alfred Hawthorne "Benny" Hill (21 January 1924 – 20 April 1992) was an English comedian, actor, singer and writer. He is remembered for his television programme ''The Benny Hill Show'', an amalgam of slapstick, burlesque and double ente ...

, Cleo Laine and

Judy Garland Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. While critically acclaimed for many different roles throughout her career, she is widely known for playing the part of Dorothy Gale in ''The ...

. From 1959 he led the Dave Lee Trio who recorded several successful albums, including ''A Big New Band from Britain'', which was in The Cashbox Top Ten for six weeks. The Dave Lee Trio also produced music for the 1960s TV series '' The Avengers'', for which

John Dankworth Sir John Phillip William Dankworth, CBE (20 September 1927 – 6 February 2010), also known as Johnny Dankworth, was an English jazz composer, saxophonist, clarinettist and writer of film scores. With his wife, jazz singer Dame Cleo Laine, h ...

had written the original theme music. The Trio feature particularly in the 1962 episodes "The Removal Men" (a significant chunk of the show is devoted to a complete jazz tune performed by the Dave Lee Trio) and "The Decapod". The Dave Lee Trio also appeared in several episodes of Series 2 backing one of the lead characters, Venus Smith, who sang in a nightclub. Venus was usually unaware of what

John Steed Major The Hon. John Wickham Gascoyne Beresford Steed usually known as John Steed, is a fictional character and the central protagonist on the 1960s British spy series ''The Avengers'' and its 1970s sequel '' The New Avengers'', played by Patric ...

was actually involved in, and was phased out in favour of

Cathy Gale Dr. Catherine "Cathy" Gale is a fictional character played by Honor Blackman, on the 1960s British series '' The Avengers''. She was the first regular female partner of John Steed, following the departure of Steed's original male co-star, Dr Davi ...

. Lee's composing career began in the 1950s writing jingles for television advertisements, some 700 in all, after which he teamed up with lyricist

Herbert Kretzmer Herbert Kretzmer (5 October 192514 October 2020) was a South African-born English journalist and lyricist. He was best known as the lyricist for the English-language musical adaptation of ''Les Misérables'' and for his long-time collaboration ...

. Their hit songs included "Bangers and Mash" (1961, sung by

Peter Sellers Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show'', featured on a number of hit comic songs ...

), " Goodness Gracious Me" (1960, for Sellers and

Sophia Loren Sofia Costanza Brigida Villani Scicolone (; born 20 September 1934), known professionally as Sophia Loren ( , ), is an Italian actress. She was named by the American Film Institute as one of the greatest female stars of Classical Hollywood ci ...

) and " Kinky Boots" (1990, for

Honor Blackman Honor Blackman (22 August 1925 – 5 April 2020) was an English actress, known for the roles of Cathy Gale in ''The Avengers''Aaker, Everett (2006). ''Encyclopedia of Early Television Crime Fighters''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 58. (1962� ...

and

Patrick Macnee Daniel Patrick Macnee (6 February 1922 – 25 June 2015) was a British film and television actor. After serving in the Royal Navy during World War II, he began his acting career in Canada. Despite having some small film roles, Macnee spent much ...

whom Lee had worked with in '' The Avengers''). They also wrote the West End stage musical ''Our Man Crichton'' in 1964. Lee worked on BBC satirical shows such as ''

'' (1962), where he backed

Millicent Martin Millicent Mary Lillian Martin (born 8 June 1934) is an English actress, singer, and comedian. She was the lone female singer of topical songs on the weekly BBC Television satire show ''That Was the Week That Was'' known as TW3 (1962–1963), a ...

singing different lyrics to the theme tune each week. He was also leader of the resident musicians known as Dave Lee & The Boys on the BBC radio comedy series ''

I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again ''I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again'' (often abbreviated as ''ISIRTA'') was a BBC radio comedy programme that originated from the 1964 Cambridge University Footlights revue, '' Cambridge Circus''. This is a scripted sketch show. It had a devoted y ...

'' (1964–73). A running gag on the show was to imply that the band were a lot older than their name implied: "and the music was played by Dave Lee & The Boys". He won an award for his composition for TW3 about the assassination of President Kennedy to add to his

Ivor Novello Ivor Novello (born David Ivor Davies; 15 January 1893 – 6 March 1951) was a Welsh actor, dramatist, singer and composer who became one of the most popular British entertainers of the first half of the 20th century. He was born into a musical ...

and BBC Jazz Musician of the Year awards. Lee also wrote the theme tune to the 1963 TV series ''Take Four'', a programme made by

Associated-Rediffusion Associated-Rediffusion, later Rediffusion London, was the British ITV franchise holder for London and parts of the surrounding counties, on weekdays between 22 September 1955 and 29 July 1968. It was the first ITA franchisee to go on air, ...

, and incidental music for the TV series ''

Adam Adamant Lives! ''Adam Adamant Lives!'' is a British adventure television series that ran from 1966 to 1967 on BBC 1, starring Gerald Harper in the title role. The series was created and produced by several alumni from ''Doctor Who''. Proposing that an adven ...

'' in 1966. His film music career began in 1960 with low-budget features, but gradually he progressed to fine orchestral scores for feature films such as ''

'' (1964) for

Roger Corman Roger William Corman (born April 5, 1926) is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has been called "The Pope of Pop Cinema" and is known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film. Many of Corman's films are based on works t ...

. He also scored the movies ''

The Kitchen The Kitchen is a non-profit, multi-disciplinary avant-garde performance and experimental art institution located at 512 West 19th Street, between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It was foun ...

'' (1961), ''

Hair of the Dog "Hair of the dog", short for "hair of the dog that bit you", is a colloquial expression in the English language predominantly used to refer to alcohol that is consumed with the aim of lessening the effects of a hangover. Many other languages ha ...

'' (1962) and ''

The Very Edge ''The Very Edge'' is a 1963 British drama film directed by Cyril Frankel and starring Anne Heywood, Richard Todd, Jack Hedley, Jeremy Brett and Maurice Denham. The screenplay concerns a young woman who is assaulted and stalked by a maniac. Plot ...

'' (1963). In 1983, Lee was elected BBC Jazz Society Musician of the Year, and in 1990 was one of the founders of jazz-only radio station

. Still active in his 90s, his novel ''Nothing Rhymes with Silver'' about a fictional jazz pianist was published in 2007.

Discography

Albums

*1957: ''Piano Moods'' – Dave Lee Trio & Lennie Felix Trio (Nixa Jazz Today Series 10" LP – Nixa NLP 1027) – (available to download from major music sites) *1960: ''A Big New Band from Britain'' – Dave Lee Orchestra (Top Rank RM336) *1961: ''Go Latin with Lee'' – Dave Lee with Geoff Love & His Orchestra (Top Rank International 35–112) *1965: ''Jazz improvisations of our man Crichton'' – Dave Lee & His Orchestra (Colpix PXL 550)

EPs

*''Pieces of Eight: Piano Moods'' – Dave Lee Trio & Dennis Wilson Trio (Pye EP, PEP 603)

Singles

*1963: "Take Four" – Dave Lee (Decca 45-F 11600)

References

External links

David Lee
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Dave 1926 births Living people English jazz pianists People from Newington, London English film score composers English male film score composers English television composers