ФРАНК ПУРСЕЛЬ

With the violin his chosen instrument, Pourcel found playing in downtime jazz combos a liberating change from his studies at the Paris Conservatoire. He became an admirer of Stйphane Grappelli whose mainstream style he emulated before assuming leadership of the French Fiddlers in the late '40s. Signed to Pathe-Marconi, the orchestra adjusted to the popular forum and was rewarded with encouraging sales for 1952's "Blue Tango." Seven years later, a novel instrumental version of the Platters' "Only You"— attributed to Franck Pourcel And His Rockin' Strings—represented the commercial peak of Pourcel's career as it scaled the US Top 10. It also anticipated the early '60s "Stringbeat" that proved beneficial to John Barry and Adam Faith. Collectively, the Fiddlers—under whatever name they called themselves—had sold 15 million records by the early '70s with comparatively few chart placings. In Britain, for example, only THIS IS POURCEL registered in the album list. Nevertheless, its perpetrator continued to cut a suave, dapper figure at international award ceremonies when nominated for this lush film score or that easy-listening arrangement.

АДАМ ФЕЙТ

b. Terence Nelhams, 23 June 1940, Acton, London, England. During the British ‘coffee bar’ pop music phenomenon of the late '50s two artists reigned supreme; Cliff Richard and Adam Faith. While the former has shown astonishing staying power the young Faith had a remarkable run of hit records during the comparatively short time before he retired from singing. In seven years he made the UK chart 24 times, opening his career with two chart toppers. Both, "What Do You Want" and "Poor Me" lasted only two minutes; both featured the infectious pizzicato strings of John Barry's orchestra, both were written by Les Vandyke (alias Johnny Worth) and both featured the hiccuping delivery with the word, ‘baby’ pronounced ‘bybeee’. This became Adam's early ‘gimmick’. Faith's continued success rivalled that of Cliff's, when in a short period of time he appeared in three films BEAT GIRL, NEVER LET GO and WHAT A WHOPPER, and made a surprisingly confident appearance, being interviewed by John Freeman in a serious BBC television programme, FACE TO FACE . Adults were shocked to find that during this conversation, this lucid teenager admitted to pre-marital sex and owned up to listening to Sibelius. The following year, still enjoying chart hits, he appeared in the film MIX ME A PERSON. His career continued until the dawn of the Beatles, then Faith was assigned the Roulettes (featuring a young Russ Ballard). Songwriter Chris Andrews proceeded to feed Adam with a brief second wave of infectious beat-group hits most notably "The First Time." In the mid-'60s he gave up singing and went into repertory theatre and in 1971 became an acting star in the UK television series BUDGIE. Additionally Faith has produced records for Roger Daltrey and Lonnie Donegan and managed Leo Sayer. His two supporting actor roles in STARDUST and MCVICAR bought him critical success in addition to appearing in YESTERDAY'S HERO. For a number of years he has been a wealthy financial consultant, although in the '90s he returned to the stage with BUDGIEAND ALFIE,and to television, as lead actor in LOVE HURTS. Faith still works on the perimeter of the musical world, and released an album in 1993. While he will readily admit that his vocal range was limited, his contribution to popular music was significant insofar that he was the first British teenager to confront a hostile world of respectable parents and adults and demonstrate that pop singers were not all mindless layabouts and boneheads. Further reading: POOR ME, Adam Faith.

ДЖОН БАРРИ

b. Jonathan Barry Prendergast, 3 November 1933, York, Yorkshire, England. Renowned as one of the leading composers of film soundtrack music, Barry began his career leading the John Barry Seven. This rousing instrumental unit scored several notable UK hits between 1960-62, the best-known of which were "Hit And Miss" and a version of the Ventures’ "Walk Don't Run" (both 1960). The former, which reached number 11 in the UK charts, was the theme to Juke Box Jury, BBC television's long-running record release show. Barry made regular appearances on several early pop programmes, including Oh Boy and Drumbeat and also enjoyed concurrent fame as a writer and arranger, scoring the distinctive pizzicato strings on numerous Adam Faith hits, including the number 1 "What Do You Want" (1959). He also composed the soundtrack to Beat Girl, the singer's film debut, and later took up a senior A&R post with the independent Ember label. In 1962 Barry had a UK Top 20 hit with the "James Bond Theme," which was part of Monty Norman's score for the film Dr. No, the first in a highly successful series. He produced music for several subsequent Bond films, including From Russia With Love, Goldfinger and You Only Live Twice, the title songs from which provided hit singles for Matt Monro (1963), Shirley Bassey (1964) and Nancy Sinatra (1967). Such success led to a series of stylish soundtracks which encompassed contrasting moods and music, including THE IPCRESS FILE, THE KNACK (both 1965); BORN FREE (which won an Oscar in 1966); MIDNIGHT COWBOY (1969) and MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS (1971). Although his theme songs have enjoyed a high commercial profile, it is Barry's imaginative incidental music which has assured his peerless reputation. By contrast he pursued another lucrative direction composing television commercials for disparate household items. His consistency remained intact throughout the '70s and '80s, although several attendant films, including King Kong (1976) and Howard The Duck (1986), were highly criticized. "Down Deep Inside," the theme from The Deep (1977), was a UK Top 5 hit for Donna Summer and this disco-influenced composition emphasized the writer's versatility. OUT OF AFRICA (1985), THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS and HEARTS OF FIRE (both 1987) demonstrated his accustomed flair, while his music to Dances With Wolves (1990) earned him an Oscar. In the early '90s, his scores included Ruby Cairo, Indecent Proposal, Richard Attenborough's Chaplin (Oscar nomination), My Life (1993), and The Specialist (1994). His orchestrations combine elements of classical, jazz and popular themes and command the respect of enthusiastic aficionados.

ДИСКОГРАФИЯ

ПУРСЕЛЬ

IN A NOSTALGIC MOOD
Primary Artist

ФЕЙТ

ALL THE BEST (1993) by Leo Sayer
Producer

БАРРИ

THE EMI YEARS, VOLUME 1 1957-1960 (1996)
Primary Artist
Performer

CRY, THE BELOVED COUNTRY (1995)
Conductor
Performer
Producer

MY LIFE (1993)
Conductor
Performer
Producer

MOVIOLA (1992)
Producer
Liner Notes Author

CHAPLIN (1992)
Conductor
Performer
Producer

DANCES WITH WOLVES (1990)
Conductor
Producer

DANCES WITH WOLVES (GOLD DISC) (1990)
Producer

DECADE (1989) by Duran Duran
Conductor

THE COTTON CLUB (1985)
Producer

MOONRAKER (1979)
Conductor

DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER (1972)
Conductor

YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE (1967)
Conductor
Producer

THUNDERBALL (1965)
Conductor

THE CHASE
Conductor

JAMES BOND - 13 ORIGINAL THEMES
Conductor

OUT OF AFRICA
Producer

OUT OF AFRICA (GOLD DISC)
Producer

GREATEST HITS by Fat Larry's Band
Performer