With the London Symphony Orchestra. Arrangements by Michael Alexander, David Cullen and Derek Wadsworth. Conducted by Carl Davis. Produced by Norman Newell.
 

		Entered: Oct 20 1984 Highest: Albums: #25  Run: 15 weeks Re-Entries: 2

Mike, throughout his 30 years experience in the music business, has covered many facets of this entertainment sector, from 3 piece jazz combos, to Symphony orchestras. He has worked in almost every country in the World for some of the business’s top stars, culminating in the role of Musical Director for Shirley Bassey from 1980 to 1995.

As musical arranger, Conductor and Director for Shirley, he has performed in some of the World’s most prestigious concert halls such as: The London Palladium, The Royal Albert Hall, Carnegie Hall, The Sydney Opera House, etc, alongside international artists including: Liza Minnelli, Ray Charles, George Shearing and many others.

In 1982 Mike arranged a number of titles for Shirley’s album ‘I Am What I Am’ and conducted the LSO for the title track and in 1991 he produced, Arranged and Conducted, Shirley’s hit album ‘Keep The Music Playing’.

During his career he has acted as M.D. for other celebrities on TV, Radio and live performances. Among the artists who have benefited from his experience are: Mel Torme, Randy Crawford, Peters and Lee (MD for 4 years), Freddie Starr (MD 4 minutes!), Cannon & Ball (MD for various shows, including a 3 month season at the London Palladium), Brian Conley (M.D. Birmingham Hippodrome Panto), Danny La Rue, Marti Webb etc. In addition, he has had extensive TV coverage and has worked for practically every major TV company in the U.K.

Mike also runs his own Music Company called Output Music. Amongst his TV credits are: Family Fortunes (Central), Beadles Box of Tricks (London Weekend), Gas Street (Central), What’s Your Story (BBC), World Boxing Theme (London Weekend) and Steal (Central).

Mike was Musical Director for Pebble Mill and as such, he was required to write and arrange music and provide backing for many of today's Pop Stars as well as up and coming new talent. He has also been featured in his own right as a performer many times on the Pebble Mill Show.

Mike’s ‘skill sets’ encompass a great deal of ‘man-management’ in that he is renowned for achieving excellent results, from what may start as a ‘less than satisfactory’ orchestra. He has always prided himself on getting the best from people who are working for him. This is made easier by the fact that his talent and his working methods are held in high regard by the musicians he is managing.

As can be seen from the above overview, his musical experience and skills cover a very broad spectrum from arranging for and conducting Symphony Orchestras, thro’ light entertainment, jazz, theatre, radio and live television.

He is regarded by his peers and the celebrities he has worked with over the years, as one of the most accomplished, versatile and experienced musical directors in the international music related business.

Other work includes a national tour of The Goodbye Girl, with Gary Wilmot and Marty Webb, Musical Director for the launch of the new Peugeot 206 Spectacular, a further tour with Gary Wilmot in ‘Music To Watch Girls By’ with the Mike Alexander Quartet. A national tour with Jane McDonald and Adam Watkiss. Mike has also directed, produced and arranged an album, The Last Serenade – A Tribute to Mario Lanza.
 

Carl Davis has made significant contributions to film and TV music, in the roles of composer, arranger and conductor. As an American living in Britain (and married to the actress Jean Boht) he has found himself film and TV work on both sides of the Atlantic. For TV he has done a number of historical dramas and big productions such as the "Hollywood" documentary series. For film his score for "The French Lieutenant's Woman" is highly regarded.

In addition to scores for contemporary films, he has also found a little niche composing or reworking scores for silent movies. He did a little of this for the "Hollywood" series, and also scored "Phantom of the Opera" for the Channel 4 Television series of silent classics, for which James Bernard recreated his uniquely dark Dracula sound for the silent "Nosferatu". Neither of these reworkings of silent movies were on the scale of Davis' mammoth reworking of Swiss-born classical composer Arthur Honegger's score for the epic five and a half hour film "Napoleon". I've only heard a small extract from this score and this sounded something like Beethoven, which is perhaps appropriate given that Beethoven originally wanted to dedicate his 3rd Symphony to Napoleon. Davis' music for "Napoleon" was well received in France, where Davis was presented with an award for the score.

Carl Davis also enjoys another career as a conductor. For a number of years he conducted the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra during their summer season. He then went on to work with Paul McCartney on his "Liverpool Oratorio" for the same orchestra. Davis frequently features as a guest conductor for other orchestras, and has for example conducted the Royal Scottish National Orchestra on more than one occasion. His most recent concert with the RSNO in 2003 was entitled "20 Oscar winners" and included a selection of Oscar-winning film music and songs.

Carl Davis is also the composer of the Shirley Bassey song Sometimes.
 

The London Symphony Orchestra is the oldest of London's full-sized orchestras. The ensemble's direct antecedent was the Queen's Hall Orchestra, formed in 1895 for conductor Henry Wood's series of Promenade Concerts. This summer series was so successful that in the same year, a series of weekly Sunday afternoon concerts was established. The orchestra however, had never become a permanent group; its members therefore, could and often did send other musicians to substitute for them at concerts. In 1904 Wood attempted to end this practice, so irritating the musicians that fifty of them refused to play for him any longer, and formed their own orchestra.
From these dissident roots, The London Symphony Orchestra was organized as a self-governing corporation administered by a board selected by the players. The orchestra engaged the great conductor Hans Richter to conduct the inaugural concert, and continued to engage a variety of conductors, practically introducing the concept of the guest conductor to the London musical scene. Soon however, the title and post of Principal Conductor was established for Richter.

For the first forty years of its existence, the orchestra survived primarily by hiring itself out to conductors who wanted to make a London appearance. In addition, the LSO accompanied choral music societies that wished to sing with an orchestra, served as an opera and festival orchestra (it was the orchestra of the Glyndebourne Opera Festival through 1939), and made recordings beginning in 1920.

The end of World War II saw the orchestra, which had experienced repeated disruptions over the past several years, in very shaky condition. In the 1950s the organization undertook a structural reorganization of its roster of players, resulting in a sudden and marked increase in professional standards by the end of the decade. The orchestra made its second tour of the United States in 1963 (the first had been in 1912), and in 1964 embarked on its first world tour. In the mid-1960s the City of London broke ground for the Barbican Arts Centre, intended as the LSO's permanent home. The building proved an architectural and acoustic success, and today provides the orchestra the solid base it lacked during the first seventy years of its existence.

The London Symphony Orchestra remains one of the most famous and familiar of the world's great orchestras through its exceptionally busy schedule of concerts and recordings. The ensemble has gained a particular cachet for playing on motion picture soundtracks, most notably for the Star Wars saga.

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