Maurice Winnick (28 March 1902 – 26 May 1962) was an English musician and dance band leader of the
British dance band era.
Born in
Manchester, Winnick studied violin at the
Manchester College of Music, where he proved to be a "child prodigy". He took a job in a cinema orchestra, playing the accompaniment for silent films, and while still in his teens he became leader of a dance band on a transatlantic liner. Winnick formed his own small band in 1928, before moving to
Nottingham to take over the city's Palais band from Jan Ralfini. He based his style of music on that of fellow band leader
Guy Lombardo, and by the 1930s Winnick was performing regularly in several prestigious London venues including the
Hammersmith Palais de Danse
The Hammersmith Palais de Danse, in its last years simply named Hammersmith Palais, was a dance hall and entertainment venue in Hammersmith, London, England that operated from 1919 until 2007. It was the first ''palais de danse'' to b ...
, the
Carlton Hotel, and the San Marco Restaurant, with singer
Sam Costa.
Winnick and Costa had a popular recording success with "A Little Bit Independent", and the band produced several recordings of dance band music with labels such as
Regal,
Panachord, and Edison Bell Winner. They also appeared in films of the 1930s, including ''
Gay Love
''Gay Love'' is a 1934 British musical comedy film directed by Leslie S. Hiscott and starring Florence Desmond, Sophie Tucker and Sydney Fairbrother. It is about two sisters.
The film was made at Beaconsfield Studios.Wood p.82 The film's sets we ...
'' in 1934; their theme tune during this period was "The Sweetest Music This Side Of Heaven".
In 1939 Winnick took over from
Harry Roy at London's
Dorchester Hotel
The Dorchester is a five-star luxury hotel on Park Lane and Deanery Street in London, to the east of Hyde Park. It is one of the world's most prestigious and expensive hotels. The Dorchester opened on 18 April 1931, and it still retains its ...
, but he was obliged to reduce his band to only 11 members. Nevertheless, he employed some of the best musicians of the period, including trombone player and future bandleader
Ted Heath, trumpeter Bill Shakespeare and saxophonist Don Barrigo. He also hired top-class singers for his radio broadcasts, such as
Al Bowlly and Dorothy Carless.
Winnick toured Europe and the Middle East with
ENSA during the Second World War,
[ but by the 1950s he realised that the popularity of big bands was in decline and turned his attention to promoting radio and television game shows for the rest of his life.][
In 1954, Winnick was part of the Kemsley-Winnick consortium, which won the initial ITV weekend contracts for the Midlands and the North of England. However, shortly after the award of the contracts, the consortium lost its primary financial backer, Lord Kemsley, resulting in its collapse.
]
References
Citations
Bibliography
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External links
Multimedia content in the public domainBritish Pathé
{{DEFAULTSORT:Winnick, Maurice
English violinists
English bandleaders
Dance band bandleaders
1902 births
1962 deaths
20th-century English musicians