Malcolm Neville Lockyer (5 October 1923 – 28 June 1976) was a British film composer and conductor.

Biography

Lockyer was born in

Greenwich Greenwich ( , , ) is an List of areas of London, area in south-east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London, east-south-east of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime hi ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England. In his early years he developed an interest in dance and from here gathered an interest in music. At the age of nineteen he became a musician in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

and in 1944 joined the

Buddy Featherstonhaugh Rupert Edward Lee "Buddy" Featherstonhaugh ( ; 4 October 1909 – 12 July 1976) was an English jazz saxophonist and clarinetist. Musical career Born in Paris in 1909, the son of an English marine architect and his Scottish wife. His grandfath ...

Sextet. His biggest successes in composition were for the BBC series' ''Friends and Neighbours'' (1954) and ''The Pursuers'' (1961) for which he wrote the themes. He scored several films for

Harry Alan Towers Harry Alan Towers (19 October 1920 – 31 July 2009) was a British radio and independent film producer and screenwriter. He wrote numerous screenplays for the films he produced, often under the pseudonym Peter Welbeck. He produced over 80 f ...

, such as '' Sandy the Seal'' (1965), ''

Our Man in Marrakesh ''Our Man in Marrakesh'' (also known as ''Intriga Brutal''; U.S. title: ''Bang! Bang! You're Dead!'') is a 1966 British comedy spy film directed by Don Sharp and starring Tony Randall, Herbert Lom and Senta Berger. It was written by Peter Yeldha ...

'' (1966), ''

Five Golden Dragons ''Five Golden Dragons'' is a 1967 international co-production action comedy film set in Hong Kong and photographed in Techniscope on location in September 1966 at the Tiger Balm Pagoda and Shaw Brothers studios. It was directed by Jeremy Summer ...

'' (1967) and ''

The Vengeance of Fu Manchu ''The Vengeance of Fu Manchu'' (also known as ''Sax Rohmer's the Vengeance of Fu Manchu'' and ''Die Rache Des Dr. Fu Man Chu'') is a 1967 British crime thriller adventure film directed by Jeremy Summers and starring Christopher Lee, Horst Fran ...

'' (1967). His other film scores include ''

The Pleasure Girls ''The Pleasure Girls'' is a 1965 British drama film directed and written by Gerry O'Hara and starring Francesca Annis, Ian McShane and Klaus Kinski. Plot When Sally moves to London to pursue a modelling career, she moves in with Angela and De ...

'' (1965), '' Island of Terror'' (1966), ''

Deadlier than the Male ''Deadlier Than the Male'' is a 1967 British crime and mystery film directed by Ralph Thomas and starring Richard Johnson and Elke Sommer. It is one of the many take-offs of James Bond produced during the 1960s, but is based on an already est ...

'' (1967) and '' Night of the Big Heat'' (1967). He also composed the music for the 1965 film ''

Dr. Who and the Daleks ''Dr. Who and the Daleks'' is a 1965 British science fiction film directed by Gordon Flemyng and written by Milton Subotsky, and the first of two films based on the British science-fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It stars Peter Cushin ...

'' (1965); some arrangements from that film have since been released on a CD called ''The Eccentric Dr. Who''. One of the highlights of Lockyer's career was arranging and conducting the

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, comedian, entertainer and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwi ...

album '' Holiday in Europe'' (1961), described as "one of the all-time Crosby classics" by the jazz critic

Will Friedwald Will Friedwald (born September 16, 1961) is an American author and music critic. He has written for newspapers that include the ''Wall Street Journal'', ''New York Times'', '' Village Voice'', ''Newsday'', ''New York Observer'', and ''New York ...

in his

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or cassette j-cards. Origin Liner notes are descended from the prog ...

to the CD ''Bing Crosby: Legends of the 20th Century'', which includes seven tracks from the album. Lockyer conducted frequently throughout the 1960s. Among the many orchestras he led were those for: the BBC Radio Home Service's radio musical version of Jerome K. Jerome's ''

Three Men in a Boat ''Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog)'',The Penguin edition punctuates the title differently: ''Three Men in a Boat: To Say Nothing of the Dog!'' published in 1889, is a humorous novel by English writer Jerome K. Jerome describing ...

'' (1962). He was conductor of the BBC Revue Orchestra and subsequently the principal conductor of the new

BBC Radio Orchestra The BBC Radio Orchestra was a broadcasting orchestra based in London, maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation from 1964 until 1991. The BBC Radio Orchestra was formed in 1964 as a large, flexible studio orchestra on the Nelson Riddle ...

and the BBC Big Band when both ensembles were formed in 1967. Lockyer was the musical director for the 1972

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

staged at the

Usher Hall The Usher Hall (Scottish Gaelic: ''Talla Usher'') is a concert hall in the West End of Edinburgh, Scotland. The hall is owned and managed by the City of Edinburgh Council, and has hosted concerts and events since its construction in 1914. Th ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

. Unusually however, as noted in

John Kennedy O'Connor John Kennedy O'Connor (born in 1964) is a television and radio broadcaster, author, and entertainment commentator. He was born in North London, England, but is a naturalized citizen of the United States. He has written, reported and broadcast f ...

's ''The Eurovision Song Contest - The Official History'', he did not conduct the home entry for the UK (it was conducted by David Mackay instead).O'Connor, John Kennedy. The Eurovision Song Contest - The Official History. Carlton Books, UK, 2007. Lockyer had taken part in the first UK selection process to find Britain's debut

Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster submits an origina ...

entry in 1957. He performed an orchestral version of the song "

All All or ALL may refer to: عرص Biology and medicine * Acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a cancer * Anterolateral ligament, a ligament in the knee * ''All.'', taxonomic author abbreviation for Carlo Allioni (1728–1804), Italian physician and pro ...

", which won the contest. However,

Patricia Bredin Patricia Bredin (14 February 1935 – 13 August 2023) was an English actress and one-time singer. She is best known as the first representative of the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1957. Career In 1957 Bredin took the part ...

went on to perform the song at the final in Frankfurt with musical direction by Eric Robinson. Shortly before his death in 1976, he conducted The Million Airs Orchestra in 26

Glenn Miller Alton Glen "Glenn" Miller (March 1, 1904 – December 15, 1944) was an American big band conductor, arranger, composer, trombonist, and recording artist before and during World War II, when he was an officer in the United States Army Air Forces ...

tribute concerts.

Selected filmography

* '' Strictly Confidential'' (1959) * '' Operation Cupid'' (1960) * '' Sandy the Seal'' (shot in 1965, released in 1969) * ''

'' (1965) * ''

Ten Little Indians "Ten Little Indians" is an American children's Counting-out game, counting out rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 12976. In 1868, songwriter Septimus Winner adapted it as a song, then calledTen Little Injuns, for a minstrel show. Lyr ...

'' (1965) * ''

'' (1966) * '' Secrets of a Windmill Girl'' (1966) * '' Island of Terror'' (1966) * ''

'' (1967) * ''

'' (1967) *'' Night of the Big Heat'' (1967) * ''

The Long Day's Dying ''The Long Day's Dying'' is a 1968 British Techniscope war film directed by Peter Collinson, and starring David Hemmings, Tony Beckley and Tom Bell. It is based on the 1962 novel of the same name by Alan White. Plot Three British paratroope ...

'' (1968) * ''

Eve Eve is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the universe and its inhabitants came to be. Creation myths develop through oral traditions and there ...

'' (1968)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lockyer, Malcolm 1923 births 1976 deaths 20th-century British composers 20th-century British male musicians 20th-century British conductors (music) BBC Big Band members British conductors (music) British film score composers British male film score composers British music arrangers British television composers Composers from London People from Greenwich