Harry Robertson (composer)
Encyclopedia
Harry Robinson was a musician
, bandleader
, music director
and composer
. Born Henry Macleod Robertson, he was the son of Henry Robertson of Elgin
, Morayshire, Scotland
. He married Ziki Arbuthnot
who inherited the Wharton Barony
in 1990. They had four children, the eldest of whom Myles is now the 12th Baron.
and television
productions, some which are listed below.
He was responsible for writing and producing the pop
song "Hoots mon
" (not so much a song, more an instrumental
take on "A Hundred Pipers
" with spoken interjections in a mock-jock accent
by Lord Rockingham's XI
, which stayed at Number 1 on the UK Singles Chart
for three weeks in 1958.
Robinson produced and composed the music of Hawk the Slayer
(1980), Prisoners of the Lost Universe
(1982) and Jane and the Lost City
(1988), co-writing the script of the first two. He wrote a number of film script
s, television series and books, including The Electric Eskimo, The Boy Who Never Was, Sammy's Super T-Shirt
and was a regular composer for Hammer Film Productions
. He was also the musical director of the British
television pop music
programmes
, Six-Five Special
(1957 BBC
) and Oh Boy! (1959 ITV
).
He arranged and conducted the stage shows
, Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be
(1960) and Maggie May
(1964) and also co-wrote the West End
hit musical
Elvis
. Robinson was the conductor for the United Kingdom entry in the 1961 Eurovision Song Contest.
He also wrote highly acclaimed string arrangements for English folk singers, such as Nick Drake
(notably, "River Man
", from Drake's debut album, Five Leaves Left
) and Sandy Denny
. He created and wrote the music of Virtual Murder
.
Robinson was the composer, arranger or screenwriter of these films and others:
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
, bandleader
Bandleader
A bandleader is the leader of a band of musicians. The term is most commonly, though not exclusively, used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or rock and roll music....
, music director
Music director
A music director may be the director of an orchestra, the director of music for a film, the director of music at a radio station, the head of the music department in a school, the co-ordinator of the musical ensembles in a university or college , the head bandmaster of a military band, the head...
and composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
. Born Henry Macleod Robertson, he was the son of Henry Robertson of Elgin
Elgin, Moray
Elgin is a former cathedral city and Royal Burgh in Moray, Scotland. It is the administrative and commercial centre for Moray. The town originated to the south of the River Lossie on the higher ground above the flood plain. Elgin is first documented in the Cartulary of Moray in 1190...
, Morayshire, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. He married Ziki Arbuthnot
Myrtle Robertson, 11th Baroness Wharton
Myrtle Olive Felix Robertson, 11th Baroness Wharton was born the Honourable Myrtle Arbuthnot, known as Ziki. Daughter of David George Arbuthnot and Elisabeth, née Kemeys-Tynte, 10th Baroness Wharton, she was brought up in South Africa but moved to England in her teens...
who inherited the Wharton Barony
Baron Wharton
Baron Wharton is a title in the Peerage of England, originally granted by letters patent to the heirs male of the 1st Baron, which was forfeited in 1729 when the last male-line heir was declared an outlaw. The Barony was erroneously revived in 1916 by writ of summons, thanks to an 1844 decision in...
in 1990. They had four children, the eldest of whom Myles is now the 12th Baron.
Biography
Robinson wrote the music for a number of filmFilm
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
productions, some which are listed below.
He was responsible for writing and producing the pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
song "Hoots mon
Hoots mon
"Hoots Mon" is a song written by Harry Robinson and performed by Lord Rockingham's XI. It was a number-one hit single for three weeks in 1958 on the UK Singles Chart...
" (not so much a song, more an instrumental
Instrumental
An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....
take on "A Hundred Pipers
A Hundred Pipers
- Lyrics :These lyrics are in Scots.- Lyrics :These lyrics are in Scots.- Lyrics :These lyrics are in Scots.:Wi' a hundred pipers, an' a', an' a',:Wi' a hundred pipers, an' a', an' a',:We'll up an' gie them a blaw, a blaw...
" with spoken interjections in a mock-jock accent
Accent (linguistics)
In linguistics, an accent is a manner of pronunciation peculiar to a particular individual, location, or nation.An accent may identify the locality in which its speakers reside , the socio-economic status of its speakers, their ethnicity, their caste or social class, their first language In...
by Lord Rockingham's XI
Lord Rockingham's XI
Lord Rockingham's XI was a group of British session musicians, led by Harry Robinson , who had a #1 hit on the UK Singles Chart in 1958 with "Hoots Mon"....
, which stayed at Number 1 on the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
for three weeks in 1958.
Robinson produced and composed the music of Hawk the Slayer
Hawk the Slayer
Hawk the Slayer is a sword and sorcery movie directed by Terry Marcel and starring John Terry and Jack Palance. The protagonist is Hawk, a hero in the Dark Age, where the Evil ruled the world.-Plot summary :...
(1980), Prisoners of the Lost Universe
Prisoners of the Lost Universe
Prisoners of the Lost Universe is a low budget 1983 film set in a parallel universe.Three people are transported to another world when an earthquake occurs just as the scientist is experimenting with his "matter" transmitter...
(1982) and Jane and the Lost City
Jane and the Lost City
Jane and the Lost City was a 1987 film, based on the British newspaper strip Jane by Norman Pett. An adventure comedy set during World War II, the film was directed by Terry Marcel, and stars Kirsten Hughes in the title role, Sam Jones, Maud Adams, Jasper Carrott and Robin Bailey.- Synopsis...
(1988), co-writing the script of the first two. He wrote a number of film script
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
s, television series and books, including The Electric Eskimo, The Boy Who Never Was, Sammy's Super T-Shirt
Sammy's Super T-Shirt
Sammy's Super T-Shirt is a British film made by the Children's Film Foundation in 1978.-Synopsis:Pint-size Sammy Smith's greatest ambition is to become a sporting superstar. With the aid of his West Indian friend Marvin and the famous Professor Hercules' body-building course, Sammy is training...
and was a regular composer for Hammer Film Productions
Hammer Film Productions
Hammer Film Productions is a film production company based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic "Hammer Horror" films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Hammer also produced science fiction, thrillers, film noir and comedies and in later...
. He was also the musical director of the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
television pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
programmes
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
, Six-Five Special
Six-Five Special
The Six-Five Special is a British television programme launched in February 1957 when both television and rock and roll were in their infancy in Britain.-Description:...
(1957 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...
) and Oh Boy! (1959 ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
).
He arranged and conducted the stage shows
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
, Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be
Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be
Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'be is a play with music, rather than a musical. The play, by Frank Norman, himself a Cockney, has music and lyrics by Lionel Bart, who also grew up in London's East End.-Production background:...
(1960) and Maggie May
Maggie May (musical)
Maggie May is a musical with a book by Alun Owen and music and lyrics by Lionel Bart.Based on "Maggie May", a traditional ballad about a Liverpool prostitute, it deals with trade union ethics and disputes and the life of streetwalker Margaret Mary Duffy after her sweetheart dies.The show includes...
(1964) and also co-wrote the West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
hit musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
Elvis
Elvis (musical)
Elvis is a jukebox musical based upon the life of Elvis Presley, conceived and directed by Jack Good and Ray Cooney. The original cast included Shakin' Stevens, who later became one of the top selling UK singles artist of the 1980s.-Production history:...
. Robinson was the conductor for the United Kingdom entry in the 1961 Eurovision Song Contest.
He also wrote highly acclaimed string arrangements for English folk singers, such as Nick Drake
Nick Drake
Nicholas Rodney "Nick" Drake was an English singer-songwriter and musician. Though he is best known for his sombre guitar based songs, Drake was also proficient at piano, clarinet and saxophone...
(notably, "River Man
River Man
"River Man" is the second listed song from Nick Drake's 1969 album Five Leaves Left, remastered and released as a single in 2004. According to Drake's manager, Joe Boyd, Drake thought of the song as the centre piece of the album....
", from Drake's debut album, Five Leaves Left
Five Leaves Left
Five Leaves Left, recorded in 1969, was the first of three albums by British folk musician Nick Drake. Like Bryter Layter but unlike Pink Moon, this album contains no completely solo songs...
) and Sandy Denny
Sandy Denny
Sandy Denny , born Alexandra Elene Maclean Denny, was an English singer and songwriter, perhaps best known as the lead singer for the folk rock band Fairport Convention...
. He created and wrote the music of Virtual Murder
Virtual Murder
Virtual Murder was an unusual investigative drama series shown on BBC television in 1992. It starred Nicholas Clay as Dr John Cornelius, a psychology lecturer at a provincial university, and Kim Thomson as his vivacious, red-headed partner, Samantha Valentine.- Subject matter and cast :Virtual...
.
Robinson was the composer, arranger or screenwriter of these films and others:
- The House in Nightmare ParkThe House in Nightmare Park-Plot:Struggling actor Foster Twelvetrees is invited to a large country home by Stewart Hendison to perform a dramatic reading for his family. Outwardly, ... is complimentary and enthusiastic, but his more sinister intentions were made clear when earlier he secretly sliced a poster of Twelvetrees...
(1973) - Countess DraculaCountess DraculaCountess Dracula is a 1971 Hammer horror film based on the legends surrounding the "Blood Countess" Elizabeth Báthory. It is in many ways atypical of Hammer's canon, attempting to broaden Hammer's output from Dracula and Frankenstein sequels....
(1971) - There Goes the Bride (1980)
- Demons of the MindDemons of the MindDemons of the Mind is a British period horror film, produced by the Hammer studio. It was directed by Peter Sykes and its cinematographer was Arthur Grant. The cast includes Gillian Hills , Robert Hardy, Patrick Magee, Michael Hordern, and Shane Briant...
(1972) - Twins of EvilTwins of EvilTwins of Evil is a 1971 horror film by Hammer Film Productions starring Peter Cushing, with Damien Thomas and the real-life twins and former Playboy Playmates Mary and Madeleine Collinson....
(1972) - The Sky Bike
- FrightFright (film)Fright is a 1971 British thriller film starring Susan George, Ian Bannen and Honor Blackman.-Plot:Young babysitter Amanda arrives at the Lloyd residence to spend the evening looking after their young son. Soon after the Lloyds leave, a series of frightening occurrences in the gloomy old house have...
(1971) - The GhoulThe Ghoul (1975 film)The Ghoul is a 1975 British horror film starring Peter Cushing, Veronica Carlson and John Hurt.-Plot:The Ghoul tells the story of a group of upper class people in 1920s England who take part in an automobile race to Land's End, but due to accidents along the way, all end up on a rural estate owned...
(1975) - The Battle of Billy's Pond
- The Vampire LoversThe Vampire LoversThe Vampire Lovers is a 1970 British Hammer Horror film directed by Roy Ward Baker and starring Peter Cushing, Ingrid Pitt, Madeline Smith, Kate O'Mara, and Jon Finch. It is based on the J. Sheridan Le Fanu novella Carmilla and is part of the so-called Karnstein Trilogy of films. The other films in...
(1970) - File of the Golden Goose
- Terry on the FenceTerry on the FenceTerry on the Fence is a 1985 British drama film directed by Frank Godwin and starring Jack McNicholl, Neville Watson, Tracey Ann-Morris and Susan Jameson. A young tearaway becomes involved with a gang of criminals.-Cast:* Jack McNicholl ... Terry...
- Operation Third Form
- Why Not Stay for Breakfast?
- The Oblong Box
- Lust for a VampireLust for a VampireLust For a Vampire is a 1971 British Hammer Horror film directed by Jimmy Sangster, starring Yutte Stensgaard, Michael Johnston and Barbara Jefford. It is the second film in the so-called Karnstein Trilogy loosely based on the J. Sheridan Le Fanu novella Carmilla...
- Enid Blyton's The Sea of Adventure