Love, Geoff (4th September 1917-8th July 1991)

He was a composer, conductor, arranger, orchestrator, singer and musician born Geoffrey Love in Todmorden, Yorkshire, England to a musical family where his mother was the actress and singer Frances Maycock and his father was the American dancer Thomas “Kidd” Love. The family travelled round as entertainers but after his father died, when he was 6 years old, the family returned to Todmorden to his grandmother’s house.

While he was still at school he and his sister were members of the amateur local symphony orchestra. He started out by playing the violin but moved to the trombone, where the orchestra bought him a trombone and his mother paid them back through weekly payments of a shilling.

When he left school he worked as a trombonist with local dance bands but also held a day job as a car mechanic. When he was 17 he met the dance band leader Freddie Platt at the garage and after joining his band he became a professional musician. He remained with that band, also still working as a mechanic, until a touring band offered him full-time a place as a singer, tap dancer and musician in 1936.

The outbreak of WWII aw him being called up and he served in the King’s Royal Rifle Corps. During that time he was learned how to write for instruments and orchestration. In 1942 he married Cicely Joyce Peters “Joy” who worked with him as an organiser of his accounts and recording sessions. Their sons were Nigel and Adrian, who was well known as a radio presenter.

After returning to civilian life he worked as a freelance arranger and trombonist and was a musician with a BBC Orchestra. He then became a member of the jazz band Pieces of Eight whose members included the pianist Norrie Paramor and the saxophonist Harry Gold. His work as a trombonist saw him in the recording studio with various bandleaders and many of the arrangements he has written were performed by radio and TV orchestras, dance bands and ensembles.

Recording labels used his arrangements and during the 1950s he formed Geoff Love and His Orchestra and a few years later also performed with his orchestra as Manuel and the Music of the Mountains, which played a Latin American sound. Soon it was finding success and released tracks such as “Rodrigo’s Guitar Concerto De Aranjuez (Theme from 2nd Movement)” which went to No. 3 on the UK singles chart. Part of the song “Tico’s Tune” was used as the theme tune for the Gay Byrne Show on RTE Radio 1.. Also in the 1950s he worked and recorded with Shirley Bassey on her The Fabulous Shirley Bassey.

When the 1960s came around he was seeing more success and he arranged and conducted several hit singles for the singing duo Peter and Gordon. These included the No. 1 “A World Without Love” and the No. 2 “True Love Ways”. Also during the ’60s and running into the 1970s he and his orchestra released numerous Music for Please (MFP) albums of movie and television themes, Christmas carols and songs and easy listening. He worked with many artists during that period that include the pianist Russ Conway, on a sing-along album with Mrs. Mills and often on television with Max Bygraves as well as composing the theme for the TV comedy series Bless This House. In 1975 he was a featured guest on an episode of This Is Your Life.

During the course of his busy career he was the recipient of 13 silver, 15 gold and 1 platinum records and some of the artists that used his talents as a conductor and/or composer for recordings included Petula Clark, Alma Cogan, Bing Crosby, Dion, Connie Francis, Judy Garland, the Isley Brothers, Etta James, Loretta Lynn, Johnny Mathis, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Tommy Steele, Mel Torme and Frankie Vaughan among many others.

During the 1980s he continued to periodically return to his home town and work as a conductor with the Todmorden Brass Band. An episode of the TV series The Brass Beat featured his work with them. He became a co-founder of the charity Young Person’s Concert Foundation and travelled to venues to promote music.

He died in London at University College Hospital in 1991 when he was 73 years old.

Connie Francis recordings
Adeste Fidelis (Frederick Oakeley/John Frances Wade)
Polygram HMCD 3001 (CD: Christmas In My Heart)
Vocals – Connie Francis
Conductor – Geoff Love

Sources:

Love, Geoff (4th September 1917-8th July 1991)

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