Walter John Ridley (28 February 1913 – 23 January 2007) was a British record producer and songwriter. Primarily associated with traditional pop music especially in the 1950s, he produced hit records by

Alma Cogan Alma Angela Cohen Cogan (19 May 1932 – 26 October 1966) was an English singer of traditional pop in the 1950s and early 1960s. Dubbed the "Girl with the Giggle in Her Voice", she was the highest paid British female entertainer of her era. Ch ...

Max Bygraves Walter William "Max" Bygraves (16 October 1922 – 31 August 2012) was an English comedian, singer, actor and variety performer. He appeared on his own television shows, sometimes performing comedy sketches between songs. He made twenty ''Roya ...

Ronnie Hilton Ronnie Hilton (born Adrian Hill; 26 January 1926 – 21 February 2001) was an English singer. According to his obituary in ''The Guardian'' newspaper, "For a time Hilton was a star – strictly for home consumption – with nine Top 20 hits be ...

and many others, and later provided UK number one hits for

Benny Hill Alfred Hawthorne "Benny" Hill (21 January 1924 – 18 April 1992) was an English comedian, actor and scriptwriter. He is best remembered for his television programme, ''The Benny Hill Show'', a comedy-variety show whose amalgam of slapstick, bu ...

and the pairing of

Windsor Davies Windsor Davies (28 August 1930 – 17 January 2019) was a British actor. He is best remembered for playing Battery Sergeant Major Williams in the sitcom '' It Ain't Half Hot Mum'' (1974–1981) over its entire run. The show's popularity resulted ...

and Don Estelle.

Biography

Early life

Ridley was born in

St Pancras, London St Pancras () is a district in North London. It was originally a medieval Civil parish#Ancient parishes, ancient parish and subsequently became a metropolitan borough. The metropolitan borough then merged with neighbouring boroughs and the are ...

. He started learning piano as a child, and helped in his father's general store by demonstrating pianos for sale. By the age of nine, he performed at local functions, and at 13 won a scholarship to the Northern Polytechnic Institute to learn about piano making. Patrick Newley, "Obituaries: Wally Ridley", ''The Stage'', 26 March 2007
Retrieved 29 April 2019

Early career

He joined the Feldman

music publishing A music publisher is a type of publisher that specializes in distributing music. Music publishers originally published sheet music. When copyright became legally protected, music publishers began to play a role in the management of the intellectua ...

company in 1928, and demonstrated songs in the company's catalogue to musicians and performers. He met

Ted Shapiro Ted Shapiro (October 31, 1899 – May 26, 1980) was a United States popular music composer, pianist, and sheet music publisher. Early life Shapiro was born on October 31, 1899, in New York City. He became a Tin Pan Alley songwriter and accomp ...

who encouraged him to write songs, and his first published song, "The One Little Hair on His Head", written with veteran songwriter

Harry Castling Henry Castling (19 April 1865 – 26 December 1933) was an English lyricist of music hall songs. Biography Castling was born in Newington, London, the son of a street musician. He began writing songs in the 1890s, often collaborating on both ...

, was recorded by

Gracie Fields Dame Gracie Fields (born Grace Stansfield; 9 January 189827 September 1979) was a British actress, singer and comedian. A star of cinema and music hall, she was one of the top ten film stars in Britain during the 1930s and was considered the h ...

. In 1935, Ridley started work as manager at Peter Maurice Music, where he promoted songwriters such as

Jimmy Kennedy James Kennedy (20 July 1902 – 6 April 1984) was a British songwriter. He was predominantly a lyricist, putting words to existing music such as "Teddy Bears' Picnic" and "My Prayer" or co-writing with composers like Michael Carr (composer), ...

and Michael Carr. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he coached singer

Vera Lynn Dame Vera Margaret Lynn (; 20 March 1917 – 18 June 2020) was an English singer and entertainer whose musical recordings and performances were very popular during World War II. She is Honorific nicknames in popular music, honorifically known ...

, accompanying her on broadcasts and at auditions, including her successful one with

Joe Loss Joshua Alexander "Joe" Loss (22 June 1909 – 6 June 1990) was a British dance band leader and musician who founded his own eponymous orchestra. Life Loss was born in Spitalfields, London, the youngest of four children. His parents, Israel an ...

, and introducing her to her biggest hit song, "

We'll Meet Again "We'll Meet Again" is a 1939 song by English singer Vera Lynn with music and lyrics composed and written by English songwriters Ross Parker and Hughie Charles. The song is one of the most famous of the Second World War era, resonating with ...

". He also saw potential in

ventriloquist Ventriloquism or ventriloquy is an act of stagecraft in which a person (a ventriloquist) speaks in such a way that it seems like their voice is coming from a different location, usually through a puppet known as a "dummy". The act of ventrilo ...

Peter Brough, persuading him to change his dummy to

Archie Andrews Archibald "Archie" Andrews, created in 1941 by publisher John L. Goldwater and artist Bob Montana in collaboration with writer Vic Bloom,

, and winning him a regular show on BBC radio, '' Educating Archie''. The programme, written by

Eric Sykes Eric Sykes (4 May 1923 – 4 July 2012) was an English radio, stage, television and film writer, comedian, actor and director whose performing career spanned more than 50 years. He frequently wrote for and performed with many other leading com ...

and Sid Colin, made household names of

Beryl Reid Beryl Elizabeth Reid (17 June 1919 – 13 October 1996) was a British actress. She won the 1967 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for '' The Killing of Sister George'', the 1980 Olivier Award for Best Comedy Performance for '' Born in th ...

and

Tony Hancock Anthony John Hancock (12 May 1924 – 25 June 1968) was an English comedian and actor. High-profile during the 1950s and early 1960s, he had a major success with his BBC series '' Hancock's Half Hour'', first broadcast on radio from 1954, ...

, and reached over 15 million listeners. The theme tune, "Powder Your Face With Sunshine", was sung by

Donald Peers Donald Rhys Hubert Peers (10 July 1908 – 9 August 1973) was a Welsh people, Welsh singer of traditional pop. His best remembered rendition and signature song was "In a Shady Nook by a Babbling Brook". Biography Early life Donald Peers was b ...

, another Ridley discovery.

Gramophone Company (EMI) / His Master's Voice

Ridley joined the

Gramophone Company The Gramophone Company Limited was a British phonograph manufacturer and record label, founded in April 1898 by Emil Berliner. It was one of the earliest record labels. The company purchased the His Master's Voice painting and trademark righ ...

in 1948, when its parent company

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

wanted to develop Gramophone's

His Master's Voice His Master's Voice is an entertainment trademark featuring a dog named Nipper, curiously peering into the horn of a wind-up gramophone. Painted by Francis Barraud in 1898, the image has since become a global symbol used across consumer elect ...

sub-label beyond its existing

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

range. As A&R manager and producer, he signed existing stars including Joe Loss, Donald Peers and Max Bygraves to the label, and encouraged new talent, including

– promoted by Ridley as "the girl with the giggle", and the most successful British female singer of the 1950s – as well as Rosemary Squires,

, the Mike Sammes Singers, and

Malcolm Vaughan Malcolm Vaughan (22 March 1929 – 9 February 2010) was a Welsh traditional pop singer and actor. Known for his distinctive tenor voice, he had a number of record chart, chart hit record, hits in the United Kingdom during the 1950s. Biography B ...

. As well as becoming a successful record producer, Ridley also continued to write songs, including "I'm in Love for the Very First Time", written with Paddy Roberts for Jeannie Carson in the film '' An Alligator Named Daisy''. Ridley was also responsible for deciding which American records should be released on

label in the UK. Though it was not to his personal taste, or that of his superiors in EMI, he insisted on the company releasing

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

's "

Heartbreak Hotel "Heartbreak Hotel" is a song recorded by American singer Elvis Presley. It was released as a single on January 27, 1956, Presley's first on his new record label RCA Victor. It was written by Mae Boren Axton and Tommy Durden, with credit being g ...

" in 1956; it rose to number two on the UK Singles Chart. He also signed

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

band

Johnny Kidd and the Pirates Johnny Kidd & the Pirates (known simply as The Pirates after their reunion) were an English rock band led by singer/songwriter Johnny Kidd. Their musical journey spanned the late 1950s to the mid-1960s, during which they achieved considerabl ...

, and later the Liverpool

beat group Beat music, British beat, or Merseybeat is a British popular music Music genre, genre that developed around Liverpool in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The genre melded influences from British rock and roll, British and Music of the United St ...

The Swinging Blue Jeans, to the label, but delegated production of their sessions to his assistant, Peter Sullivan. Gordon Thompson, ''Please Please Me: Sixties British Pop, Inside Out'', Oxford University Press, 2008, p.54
/ref> In the 1960s, Ridley increasingly worked mainly with variety acts and comedians. He was the producer of the '' Black and White Minstrel Show'' albums by the George Mitchell Minstrels, as well as records by Andy Stewart and the Deep River Boys. He produced

Bernard Bresslaw Bernard Bresslaw (25 February 193411 June 1993) was an English actor and comedian. He was best known as a member of the '' Carry On'' film franchise. Bresslaw also worked on television and stage, performed recordings and wrote a series of poetr ...

's hit " Mad Passionate Love"; found the song " Bring Me Sunshine" for

Morecambe and Wise Eric Morecambe (John Eric Bartholomew; 14 May 1926 – 28 May 1984) and Ernie Wise (Ernest Wiseman; 27 November 1925 – 21 March 1999), known as Morecambe and Wise (and sometimes as Eric and Ernie), were an English comic double act, working ...

; and produced

's 1971 UK number one hit, "

Ernie (The Fastest Milkman in the West) "Ernie (The Fastest Milkman in the West)" is an innuendo-laden comedy or novelty song, written and performed by the English comedian Benny Hill. The song was first performed on television in 1970, and released as a successful recording, toppi ...

", and the equally successful 1975 remake of " Whispering Grass" by comic actors

and Don Estelle.

Later life

He retired from EMI in 1977, but later worked occasionally on projects, including the production of

José Carreras Josep Maria Carreras Coll (; born 5 December 1946), better known as José Carreras (, ), is a Catalan operatic tenor from Spain who is particularly known for his performances in the operas of Donizetti, Verdi and Puccini. Born in Barcelona, ...

' 1984 album ''Love Is...''.

Death

Ridley died in

Datchet Datchet is a village and civil parish in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England, on the north bank of the River Thames. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Buckinghamshire, and the Stoke Hundred, the vi ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

in 2007, aged 93. His wife Libusé pre-deceased him; they had two daughters and a son.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ridley, Wally 1913 births 2007 deaths A&R people English record producers