Early life and career

Born in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, where he survived the Blitz

The Blitz

The Blitz was the sustained strategic bombing of Britain by Nazi Germany between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941, during the Second World War. The city of London was bombed by the Luftwaffe for 76 consecutive nights and many towns and cities across the country followed...

, Alan Blaikley was educated at University College School

University College School

University College School, generally known as UCS, is an Independent school charity situated in Hampstead, north west London, England. The school was founded in 1830 by University College London and inherited many of that institution's progressive and secular views...

 (UCS), Hampstead

Hampstead

Hampstead is an area of London, England, north-west of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Camden in Inner London, it is known for its intellectual, liberal, artistic, musical and literary associations and for Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland...

, and Wadham College, Oxford

Wadham College, Oxford

Wadham College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, located at the southern end of Parks Road in central Oxford. It was founded by Nicholas and Dorothy Wadham, wealthy Somerset landowners, during the reign of King James I...

, where he read Classical Moderations (Latin and Greek) and English, and was Reviews Editor of the university newspaper Cherwell

Cherwell (newspaper)

Cherwell is an independent newspaper, largely published for students of Oxford University. First published in 1920, it has had an online edition since 1996. Named after the local river, Cherwell is published by OSPL , who also publish the sister publication ISIS along with the Etcetera Supplement...

.

After coming down from university, he joined forces with two old UCS friends Ken Howard

Ken Howard (composer)

Ken Howard is an English songwriter, lyricist, author and television director.-International hits in the 1960s and 1970s:...

 and Paul Overy with whom, between 1962 and 1963, he ran and edited four issues of a ‘little’ magazine, AXLE Quarterly, publishing early work by Melvyn Bragg

Melvyn Bragg

Melvyn Bragg, Baron Bragg FRSL FRTS FBA, FRS FRSA is an English broadcaster and author best known for his work with the BBC and for presenting the The South Bank Show...

, Ray Gosling

Ray Gosling

Ray Gosling is an English journalist, author, broadcaster and gay rights activist. In February 2010, he claimed during a local BBC television programme to have killed a lover, in an act of euthanasia. He was arrested and released on police bail...

, Alexis Lykiard, Gillian Freeman

Gillian Freeman

Gillian Freeman is a British writer.Born in London, daughter of Dr. Jack Freeman and his wife, she graduated in English Language and Literature from the University of Reading in 1951. She married Edward Thorpe, novelist and ballet critic of the Evening Standard, in 1955. They have two daughters...

 and Simon Raven

Simon Raven

Simon Arthur Noël Raven was an English novelist, essayist, dramatist and raconteur who, in a writing career of forty years, caused controversy, amusement and offence...

 among others. A spin-off from this was a series of five – for the time – provocative booklets, AXLE Spokes: "The Abortive Renaissance" (a critical examination of New Wave British cinema

British New Wave

The British New Wave is the name given to a trend in filmmaking among directors in Britain in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The label is a translation of Nouvelle Vague, the French term first applied to the films of François Truffaut, and Jean-Luc Godard among others.There is considerable overlap...

)/Peter Graham; "Sex - Is It Easy?"/John Gale; "Pop!"/Gavin Millar; "Hooked" (an enquiry into the extent and nature of drug addiction, a taboo subject just surfacing in 1963); and "Another Kind of Loving" (about homosexuality

Homosexuality

Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...

, still an imprisonable offence in the UK)/Anthony Rowley.

At the same time, as a freelance, Alan Blaikley wrote and narrated several BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 radio programmes including Writing for Children in which he interviewed C. S. Lewis

C. S. Lewis

Clive Staples Lewis , commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis and known to his friends and family as "Jack", was a novelist, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian and Christian apologist from Belfast, Ireland...

, J. R. R. Tolkien

J. R. R. Tolkien

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...

 and Enid Blyton

Enid Blyton

Enid Blyton was an English children's writer also known as Mary Pollock.Noted for numerous series of books based on recurring characters and designed for different age groups,her books have enjoyed huge success in many parts of the world, and have sold over 600 million copies.One of Blyton's most...

. From 1963 to 1964 he was a trainee producer with BBC TV

BBC Television

BBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The corporation, which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927, has produced television programmes from its own studios since 1932, although the start of its regular service of television...

 Talks Department and worked on the daily current affairs programme Tonight

Tonight (1957 TV series)

Tonight was a BBC television current affairs programme presented by Cliff Michelmore and broadcast in Britain live on weekday evenings from February 1957 to 1965. The producers were the future Controller of BBC1 Donald Baverstock and the future Director-General of the BBC Alasdair Milne...

.

It had been earlier, during his years as a choir-boy

Choirboy

A choirboy is a boy member of a choir, also known as a treble.As a derisive slang term, it refers to a do-gooder or someone who is morally upright, in the same sense that "Boy Scout" refers to someone who is considered honorable or conscientious.- History :The use of choirboys in Christian...

 at St-Mary-at-Finchley, that he began to realise that, while his voice was less than brilliant, he did possess a gift for inventing ear-catching melodies. This period as a chorister he regards as his essential musical education.

International hits in the 1960s and 1970s

In the 1960s and 1970s, in collaboration with Ken Howard

Ken Howard (composer)

Ken Howard is an English songwriter, lyricist, author and television director.-International hits in the 1960s and 1970s:...

, Alan Blaikley composed the music and words for many international top 10 hits, including two UK number ones, "Have I the Right?

Have I the Right?

Have I The Right? was The Honeycombs' debut single and biggest hit. It was composed by Ken Howard and Alan Blaikley, who had made contact with the Honeycombs, a London-based group, then playing under the name of The Sheratons, in the Mildmay Tavern in the Balls Pond Road in Islington, where they...

" (The Honeycombs

The Honeycombs

The Honeycombs were an English beat/pop group, founded in 1963 in North London. The group had one chart-topping hit, the million selling "Have I the Right?", in 1964. After that song the interest in the group ebbed away, and they split up in late 1966...

) and "The Legend of Xanadu

The Legend of Xanadu

"The Legend of Xanadu" is a single by Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich that reached number one in the UK Singles Chart in 1968, and was the group's biggest hit...

" (Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich

Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich

Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich , were a British pop/rock group of the 1960s. Two of their single releases sold in excess of one million copies each, and they reached Number One in the UK with the second of them, "The Legend of Xanadu".-Biography:Five friends from Wiltshire, David John Harman,...

).

Among other performers for whom they have written are Petula Clark

Petula Clark

Petula Clark, CBE is an English singer, actress, and composer whose career has spanned seven decades.Clark's professional career began as an entertainer on BBC Radio during World War II...

, Phil Collins

Phil Collins

Philip David Charles "Phil" Collins, LVO is an English singer-songwriter, drummer, pianist and actor best known as a drummer and vocalist for British progressive rock group Genesis and as a solo artist....

, Sacha Distel

Sacha Distel

Sacha Distel was a French singer and guitarist who had hits with a cover version of the Academy Award-winning "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head" , "Scoubidou", and "The Good Life". He was born in Paris.-Career:Sacha Distel, born Alexandre Distel, was a son of Russian White émigré Leonid Distel...

, Rolf Harris

Rolf Harris

Rolf Harris, CBE, AM is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter, composer, painter and television personality.Born in Perth, Western Australia, Harris was a champion swimmer before studying art. He moved to England in 1952, where he started to appear on television programmes on which he drew the...

, The Herd

The Herd (UK band)

The Herd were an English psychedelic rock group, founded in 1965, that came to prominence in the late 1960s. They launched the career of Peter Frampton and scored three UK top twenty hits.-Biography:...

, Frankie Howerd

Frankie Howerd

Francis Alick "Frankie" Howerd OBE was an English comedian and comic actor whose career, described by fellow comedian Barry Cryer as "a series of comebacks", spanned six decades.-Early career:...

 (the theme song for his film Up Pompeii

Up Pompeii (film)

Up Pompeii is a 1971 British comedy film directed by Bob Kellett and starring Frankie Howerd and Michael Hordern. The film was shot at Elstree Film Studios, Borehamwood, England...

), Engelbert Humperdinck

Engelbert Humperdinck (singer)

Engelbert Humperdinck is a British pop singer, best known for his hits including "Release Me " and "After the Lovin'" as well as "The Last Waltz" .-Early life:...

, Horst Jankowski

Horst Jankowski

Horst Jankowski was a classically trained German pianist, most famous for his internationally successful easy listening music.-Biography:...

, Eartha Kitt

Eartha Kitt

Eartha Mae Kitt was an American singer, actress, and cabaret star. She was perhaps best known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 hit recordings of "C'est Si Bon" and the enduring Christmas novelty smash "Santa Baby." Orson Welles once called her the "most exciting woman in the...

, Little Eva

Little Eva

Eva Narcissus Boyd , known by the stage name of Little Eva , was an American pop singer.-Biography:...

, Lulu

Lulu (singer)

Lulu Kennedy-Cairns, OBE , best known by her stage name Lulu, is a Scottish singer, actress, and television personality who has been successful in the entertainment business from the 1960s through to the present day...

 and Matthews Southern Comfort.

Alan Blaikley and Ken Howard were the first British composers to write for Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley

Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....

, including the hit "I’ve Lost You" (1970) which he later performed in the film That’s The Way It Is

Elvis: That's the Way it Is

Elvis: That's the Way It Is is a documentary movie directed by Denis Sanders about Elvis Presley that was released on November 11, 1970. The film documents Elvis' Summer Festival in Las Vegas during August 1970...

.

Ark 2

Blaikley and Howard’s ‘space cantata’, Ark 2

Ark 2

Ark 2 is a 1969 concept album released by obscure British rock group Flaming Youth. Released in October, the album featured the theme of an evacution from a dying Earth. The main single from the album was "From Now On". The album and its space theme were influenced by the media's attention to...

(1969), performed by Flaming Youth

Flaming Youth (band)

Flaming Youth was an obscure British rock group, who recorded an album in 1968 before breaking up. Today, the band is more known as the original group of singer Phil Collins, then 18 years of age, who was the group's drummer....

, drew the comment that Blaikley and Howard "have a wit, gaiety, dignity and melodic flair reminiscent of Leonard Bernstein...which suggest that pop is becoming the serious music – in the proper sense – of the age". The BBC producers at that time did not know what to make of an extended rock work, so it received scant airplay. It remains a rare but sought after album, especially in its original ‘stained glass’ gatefold sleeve.

Musicals

Blaikley and Howard have written two West End musicals, Mardi Gras (Prince of Wales Theatre

Prince of Wales Theatre

The Prince of Wales Theatre is a West End theatre on Coventry Street, near Leicester Square in the City of Westminster. It was established in 1884 and rebuilt in 1937, and extensively refurbished in 2004 by Sir Cameron Mackintosh, its current owner...

, 1976) and The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole

The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾

For the TV-series, see The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ is the first book in the Adrian Mole series of comedic fiction, written by Sue Townsend. The book is written in a diary style, and focuses on the worries and regrets of a teenager who believes himself...

(Wyndham's Theatre

Wyndham's Theatre

Wyndham's Theatre is a West End theatre, one of two opened by the actor/manager Charles Wyndham . Located on Charing Cross Road, in the City of Westminster, it was designed by W.G.R. Sprague about 1898, the architect of six other London theatres between then and 1916...

, 1984 – 1986), and two BBC TV musicals Orion (1977) and Ain’t Many Angels (1978).

TV themes

Blaikley and Howard have also been responsible for theme and incidental music for several television drama series including The Flame Trees of Thika (1981) and By the Sword Divided

By the Sword Divided

By the Sword Divided is a British television series produced by the BBC between 1983 and 1985.The series was a historical drama set during the mid 17th century, dealing with the impact of the English Civil War on the fictional Lacey family, made up of both Royalist and Parliamentarian supporters.It...

(1983 - 1985), both subsequently aired in the US on Alistair Cooke

Alistair Cooke

Alfred Alistair Cooke KBE was a British/American journalist, television personality and broadcaster. Outside his journalistic output, which included Letter from America and Alistair Cooke's America, he was well known in the United States as the host of PBS Masterpiece Theater from 1971 to 1992...

’s Masterpiece Theatre, and the BBC's long-running series of Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie

Dame Agatha Christie DBE was a British crime writer of novels, short stories, and plays. She also wrote romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but she is best remembered for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections , and her successful West End plays.According to...

’s Miss Marple

Miss Marple (TV series)

Miss Marple is a British television series based on the Miss Marple murder mystery novels by Agatha Christie. It starred Joan Hickson in the title role, and aired from 1984 to 1992. All twelve original Miss Marple Christie novels have been dramatised. The screenplays were written by T. R...

(1984 - 1992), said to have been the Queen’s favourite TV programme.

Interest in psychotherapy

Alan Blaikley had long been interested in analytical psychology

Analytical psychology

Analytical psychology is the school of psychology originating from the ideas of Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung. His theoretical orientation has been advanced by his students and other thinkers who followed in his tradition. Though they share similarities, analytical psychology is distinct from...

 and, at the instigation of his analyst, mentor and friend, Dr William Kraemer, he trained as a psychotherapist at the Westminster Pastoral Foundation (The Foundation for Psychotherapy and Counselling).

On graduating he ran a private practice from his home between 1981 and 2003. This led to a collaboration between Blaikley and Howard and the maverick psychiatrist R. D. Laing on the cult album Life before Death.

Memoirs

At present Alan Blaikley is working on a memoir Have I the Right? – Memories, Reflections, Notes as well as maintaining his musical partnership with Ken Howard.

External links

• Website about Ken Howard and Alan Blaikley, including a biography and audio and video of some of their hits
• Life before Death - 1978 album of sonnets and other poems performed by R. D. Laing to an original musical score composed by Alan Blaikley and Ken Howard
• Ark 2 - the ‘space cantata’ composed by Alan Blaikley and Ken Howard and performed by Flaming Youth