Cyril Stapleton was a famous band leader who from about 1957 to 1965 lived at Flat 157 Cholmley Gardens in West Hampstead.
Here he is with his wife Sheila and their three young children in Cholmley Gardens in 1957.
Later he moved to 6 Meadowbank, Primrose Hill where he died aged 59 on 19 June 1974, leaving £31,741.
Horace Cyril Stapleton was born in December 1914 in Mapperley, Nottingham. A talented boy, he began learning the violin from the age of seven, and when only 12 years old he made his first broadcast from the local Nottingham radio station. To improve his technique, Cyril went to Czechoslovakia to study under Sevcik, the famous teacher of the violin.
Cyril’s early professional career found him playing in the pit orchestra of a cinema to accompany silent films. At 17 he won a scholarship to Trinity College of Music in London, and while there saw a newspaper report that Henry Hall was forming a dance band at the BBC. He passed the audition and started playing with the band, appearing in its first ever broadcast. He also appeared on some of Hall’s early 78s for Columbia, recorded in 1932.
However, Hall eventually decided that Stapleton was too young, so he returned to Nottingham, where he formed his own band, playing at various local cinemas. Later he joined the Jack Payne Orchestra and toured in South Africa. He also appeared on some of Payne’s records for the Rex label in 1936.
Back in London, Stapleton’s band was engaged at Fischer’s Restaurant, New Bond Street, and at The Casino in Compton Street. His first broadcast with his own band took place in March 1939, and for a short while he played with the Jack Hylton Orchestra.
When WWII broke out, he enlisted in the RAF where he served for five years, initially as an air gunner. At the various places where he was stationed, he organised music for concerts and shows, and Cyril managed to catch the Glenn Miller Army Air Force Band when he visited the USA.
During his last year in the RAF Cyril was stationed in Uxbridge where he became a member of the RAF Symphony Orchestra. This rekindled an earlier interest, and back in civilian life he decided to concentrate on symphonic music. At one time he was a member of three orchestras: the London Symphony, the National Symphony and the Philharmonic Orchestra.
But having to keep playing the same classical repertoire started to pall, and in 1947 Cyril was back in Fischer’s Restaurant with his own dance band. He also started late night broadcasting, and one of his singers was Dick James, who later achieved fame and fortune as the music publisher for The Beatles.
His big break came in 1952 when the BBC Dance Orchestra became the BBC Show Band, and Cyril was appointed as the conductor. This was the BBC’s prestige band for playing popular music, employing the finest musicians and arrangers, and the first programme went out on the Light Programme on 2 October 1952.
Several band members such as singer Matt Monro and guitarist Bert Weedon, later had successful solo careers. Top British singers and major American entertainers such as Frank Sinatra and Nat ‘King’ Cole appeared as guests with the band.
The Show Band Show was also seen in BBC Television broadcasts, making Stapleton even more of a household name. Its importance to the music industry is demonstrated by the fact that at least one London publisher offered Stapleton the exclusive pick of all new songs before they were released to other performers.
Cyril and the band appeared in the 1955 film ‘Just for You’ as well as having chart hits in 1956 and 1957 with the ‘Italian Theme’ and the ‘Children’s Marching Song (Knick Knack Paddy Whack)’.
The Show Band was broadcasting three times a week, but all this came to an end on 28 June 1957. Despite much criticism, the BBC refused to reverse its decision to shut it down.
Cyril kept busy touring with his own orchestra, making records and broadcasting, and appeared around the country in theatres and dance halls.
He made some records with Decca, and then in 1965 he was appointed an Artists and Repertoire Manager at Pye Records. In later years, while still an executive with the same company, he was persuaded to return to making his own LPs. Towards the end of his life he started to tour again, with a large band, trying to re-create his success with the BBC Show Band.
In 1939 he married Marguerite Josephine Ingram, better known by her stage name, Beryl Orde, a music hall impressionist. They divorced in 1950 and Cyril married Sheila Shardlow, a former teacher and model, the following year in Paddington.
There are lots of Cyril Stapleton’s band records on You Tube, including this LP;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyGh0siPr5U
Cyril also appears briefly with other pop stars on a 1963 Pathe News.
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