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| Simon May | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1944 (age 64–65) Devizes, Wiltshire, England |
| Occupation | Composer |
| Nationality | British |
| Writing period | 1975–present |
| Genres | Film, television |
| Notable work(s) | EastEnders |
| Official website | |
Simon May is a British musician and composer, best known for composing some of British television's best known theme tunes, including EastEnders and Howards' Way, and for composing the music for the 1988 film The Dawning.
Contents |
Biography
Born in the mighty Devizes, Wiltshire and a pupil of Dauntsey's School, May won a choral scholarship to Cambridge University, where he acquired a degree in modern languages. While teaching languages and music at Kingston Grammar School, he co-wrote a musical named Smike with a colleague (Roger Holman).[1] Following the publicity Smike attracted, May was contacted by the BBC, who televised the play in 1973.[2] The show has subsequently been staged many times by youth drama groups.
While working at ATV, he was asked to compose some music for Crossroads. Stephanie de Sykes got to number 2 in the UK Singles Chart in 1974 with the subsequent "Born with a Smile on my Face", which was used within a storyline on the show.[1] Almost a year later, her second single, "We'll Find Our Day" (from Smike) got to #17. Kate Robbins performed another of May's songs for Crossroads: "More than in Love," which was co-written by Barry Leng and got to number 2 in 1981.[1]
May himself performed "Summer of my Life", which charting at #7 in October 1976. The song originally appeared in Crossroads, in a scene between Meg and Hugh. It was one of the best selling singles of the year, and was one of few songs to spend three weeks in a row at Number Seven in the UK singles chart.[1] His follow-up single, "We'll Gather Lilacs", flopped, reaching number 49 in May 1977.[2] In 1986 he released an album called Simon's Way, which included his themes to EastEnders and Howards' Way.
He worked on his first feature film in 1988 - The Dawning. Music from the film, together with various other TV themes (including The Olympic Track and People like you) was released in 1989 on the Simon May Orchestra album Themes.
He co-produced Amii Stewart's "Knock on Wood", which reached number one in the USA.
EastEnders
Tony Holland and Julia Smith commissioned May to write the theme to EastEnders and being impressed by his work on spy-thriller Cold Warrior.[3] Don Black put lyrics to the popular theme, and Anita Dobson (who portrayed Angie Watts in the show) reached No. 4 in August 1986 with "Anyone Can Fall in Love".[2] With Barry Rose, the theme was adapted into a hymn, "Glory be", which was performed on Songs of Praise and released on single.
Another soap storyline gave May a hit in 1986. Nick Berry ("Wicksy") topped the charts with "Every Loser Wins" after shamelessly plugging it in EastEnders (a storyline which Holland openly hated).[2] It won the Ivor Novello Award for best selling single of 1986.
In 1993 the theme itself was given an unpopular 'jazzy' update, and an updated version of the original was introduced in 1994. With Johnny Griggs, he wrote another set of lyrics for the EastEnders theme. "I'll Always Believe in You" featured lead vocals by Sharon Benson.[4] which was based around the extended version of the 1993 theme. In 2009 he was asked to revamp the EastEnders theme again, to update the one running from 1994, making it lighter in tone and bringing back elements of the original theme missing in the previous version.
Post-EastEnders
Lyrics were also added to May's theme to Howards' Way; Marti Webb reached number 13 with "Always There" in 1986. The theme was only used over the credits on some episodes of the show. The orchestral version (performed by the Simon May Orchestra) was used over the opening titles of the first season, with the energetic orchestral "Barracuda" over the closing credits.
He wrote lyrics for the final episode of Eldorado. Performed by Johnny Griggs, "When You Go Away" encapsulated how many felt about the axing of the show:
- "It was over before it had begun
- And often love can go that way"
Mike Read wrote lyrics to May's Trainer theme. "More to Life" was performed by Cliff Richard. The theme won May his third TRIC award for Best TV Theme, after previous success with EastEnders and Howards' Way.
In 1994, New Vintage: The Best of Simon May, a compilation of some of May's work was released to coincide with his "A Night Away From The TV" UK tour. Unfortunately the tour wasn't a commercial success and some dates had to be cancelled.[2] A Pebble Mill special documentary was produced by the BBC around this time discussing his career and the tour.
He has reached number one in Belgium with "Fragile Not Broken", sung by Natalia.
He is currently a part of "Music on Screen", along with Simon Lockyer and John Brant, and also works part time as tutor at a special needs school in Surrey.
Simon May's work includes
Television
- Adventures of Enid Blyton
- Animal SOS
- Body Spies
- Castaway 2000 / Castaway 2007
- City Hospital
- Dealing with Dickinson
- Don't Try This At Home
- EastEnders
- Eldorado
- Evacuation
- Food & Drink
- Great Estates
- Hampton Court
- Health Farm
- Holiday '86"
- Howards' Way
- Jobs For The Boys
- Jobs For The Girls
- Lakesiders
- Lion Country (end theme of 'Animal Park')
- 1988 Olympics (ITV)
- Paramedics
- People
- Pet Rescue
- The Really Useful Show
- Russ Abbott Show
- Seaworld
- Secrets of Enid Blyton
- Smike [also a stage musical]
- Swiss Family Robinson
- Testing Testing
- Trainer
- The Tribe
- The Trial of James Earl Ray
- Turnstile
- TV Weekly
- The Vet
- William Shatner's A Twist In The Tale
- The Legend of William Tell
- You know what you ate last summer
Films
- Caught in the Act
- The Dawning
- House Husbands (2009)
Stage musicals
- Rip van Winkle
- Smike [also dramatised for BBC television]
References
- ^ a b c d Hayes, John. "John's Journey Back in Time". BBC Essex. Archived from the original on 2006-02-15. http://web.archive.org/web/20060215081300/http://www.bbc.co.uk/england/essex/johns_journey_archive/johns_journey_24_10_76.shtml. Retrieved 2009-04-26.
- ^ a b c d e PEBBLE MILL SPECIAL, SIMON MAY, BBC1, 20 December 1994
- ^ Smith, Julia; Holland, Tony (1987). EastEnders - The Inside Story. Book Club Associates. p. 97–8. ISBN 0-563-20601-2.
- ^ (1993) Album notes for "I'll Always Believe in You". Polydor (POL940).
External links
- Music On Screen Official website, with many music clips
- City Speakers International
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