Robert Sharples
Robert Sharples (2 July 1913 – 8 September 1987), known as Bob Sharples, was a British musical conductor, composer and bandleader, whose work encompassed films and well-known British television programmes in the 1960s and 1970s, most notably Opportunity Knocks (1964-1978).[1]
Early life and pre-war big bands
Sharples was born in
Decca
After the war and into the 1950s and 1960s Sharples became established as an independent arranger, conductor and musical director. Bob Sharples and His Music recorded many LPs for Decca Records, backing such artists as Jimmy Young, Lorrae Desmond, Tonia Bern, Kenneth McKellar and Sandie Shaw. Recordings for Decca under his own name included a series of themed arrangements, such as Dancing Round the World (1958),[4] Waltz Magic (1958),[5] America on the March (1964),[6] and Battle Stereo (1964).[7] He also worked with Lionel Bart, providing the orchestrations for the 1962 musical Blitz!.[8] In 1963 he conducted the London Festival Orchestra (Decca's 'house orchestra') in a Phase 4 LP of music by Tchaikovsky, including the 1812 Overture and the Nutcracker suite.[9]
Television variety and film
In the early 1960s Sharples became Musical Director for
His best-known compositions are in the field of TV theme music and film music. Under the pseudonym Robert Earley (a musical joke, as he often arrived late for sessions)[2] he wrote the themes for ABC's Public Eye and the later series of Special Branch, and under the pseudonym E. Ward composed the theme music for the 1969 ATV television series Fraud Squad. Sharples' other TV credits include themes for Thames Television, including Man At The Top (1970-72), The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes (1971), Harriet's Back in Town (1972), and Napoleon and Love (1974). He wrote music for the BBC documentary series The Explorers (1973-75), as well as incidental music to the Yorkshire Television children's series Follyfoot (1972-3) and Minder (1979) for Euston Films.[1]
Other television variety show work with live music provided by Sharples included
His films include eight directed by Vernon Sewell between 1955 and 1963. One of his last film scores was composed for Futtocks End (1970), a comedy directed by Bob Kellett and written by Ronnie Barker. Almost entirely without dialogue, the film relies heavily on its musical score, sound effects and incoherent mutterings.[14]
Personal life
Sharples married his wife Christina (1933-2013) in 1977, although they had been together as a couple for the previous 12 years, and died in 1987 in St John's Wood, London, where he lived (once he moved South) very close to Lord's Cricket Ground.[15] His widow became the partner of Hughie Green for the last five years of his life,[16] though she continued to live in the St John's Wood flat until her own death in 2013.[17]
Selected filmography
- Where There's a Will (1955)
- Johnny, You're Wanted (1956)
- Soho Incident (in the US Spin a Dark Web) (1956)
- Home and Away (1956)
- Rogue's Yarn (1957)
- The Strange World of Planet X (1958)
- Battle of the V-1 (1958)
- A Prize of Arms (1962)
- A Matter of Choice (1963)
- Futtocks End (1970)
- Find the Lady (1976)
References
- ^ a b Obituary, The Guardian, 9 September 1987 p. 34
- ^ a b Biography, Robert Farnon Society
- ^ This England's Book of British Dance Bands (2001), p. 138
- ^ Decca LK 4268
- ^ Decca SKL 4024
- ^ Decca (Phase 4) PFS 4042
- ^ Decca (Phase 4) PFS 4034
- ^ Blitz!,Original London Production (1962), credits at Ovrtur
- ^ London Records (Phase 4) SPC 21001
- ^ Crescendo, August 1962, p.33
- ^ Big Night Out, IMDb entry
- ^ Hancock's Half Hour, British Film Institute
- ^ 'The Bruce Forsythe Show, Library of Congress
- ^ James, Clive (1981) The Crystal Bucket, Pan Macmillan, p.233
- ^ 'Music Calls', in The Liverpool Echo, 18 October, 1975, p.2
- ^ 'Hughie Green, TV legend, dies at 77', The Independent, 3 May 1977
- ^ 'Property from the estate of the late Christina Sharples', Lots 397-400, 8 June 2013, Auction.net