Henry Bidgood (28 August 1898 – 15 November 1957), was an English composer, dance band

leader Leadership, is defined as the ability of an individual, group, or organization to "", influence, or guide other individuals, teams, or organizations. "Leadership" is a contested term. Specialist literature debates various viewpoints on the co ...

and

musical director A music director, musical director or director of music is a person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert ...

for films. Born in

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,1911 Census

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, England in 1898,. his father was music teacher and composer Thomas Bidgood. The family moved to

Harringay Harringay (pronounced ) is a district of north London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is centred on the section of Green Lanes running between the New River, where it crosses Green Lanes by Finsbury Park, and Duckett's ...

in North London when Thomas was about 10 years old. He studied at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music (RCM) is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including pe ...

. In the 1920s Bidgood was the assistant organist at the Electric Coliseum in Harringay. Bidgood released dance band music under various names, mostly notably Primo Scala and his Accordion Band, who issued over 200 sides on 78rpm. Over the course of 20 years, he would frequently broadcast on the BBC. In 1930, he and his band covered "Amy, Wonderful Amy", a song about

Amy Johnson Amy Johnson (born 1 July 1903 – disappeared 5 January 1941) was a pioneering English pilot who was the first woman to fly solo from London to Australia. Flying solo or with her husband, Jim Mollison, she set many long-distance records dur ...

. Bidgood was also the musical director for numerous films, including several starring

George Formby George Formby, (born George Hoy Booth; 26 May 1904 – 6 March 1961), was an English actor, singer-songwriter and comedian who became known to a worldwide audience through his films of the 1930s and 1940s. On stage, screen and record he ...

. Apart from the many recordings made under his own name, he also led accordion bands under the names Rossini and Don Porto. As Primo Scala, he broadcast regularly on ''

Music While You Work ''Music While You Work'' was a daytime radio programme of continuous live popular music broadcast in the United Kingdom twice daily on workdays from 23 June 1940 until 29 September 1967 by the BBC. Initially, the morning edition was generally ...

'', until just before his death. Many of these sessions were directed by deputies, such as Ernest Penfold, owing to Bidgood being in and out of hospital. He died in November 1957, at the age of 59, having been diagnosed with inoperable stomach cancer.

References

External links

*
Primo Scala
at

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Harry Bidgood
at Archive.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Bidgood, Harry 1898 births 1957 deaths British bandleaders Music directors 20th-century British conductors (music) People from Harringay Deaths from stomach cancer in England