HARRY ROBINSON

Born: November 19th, 1932, Elgin, Scotland (United Kingdom)

Died: January 17th, 1996, Wandsworth, London, England (United Kingdom)

Nationality: British

In due course, the short impression below will be replaced with a more extensive career overview

BIOGRAPHY

Harry Robinson (pseudonym of Henry MacLeod Robertson) entered the music business in the late 1950s, when, under the aegis of producer Jack Good, he became musical director of teenage music programmes, firstly Six-Five Special (from 1957 onwards, on BBC), and, two years later, Oh Boy! (on ITV). In these shows, rock ‘n’ roll music was showcased for the first time on British television. Robinson’s 13-man-band became known as the Lord Rockingham’s XI; it included, among others, saxophonists Benny Green and Red Price. The band had a surprise number-one record in 1958 with a Robinson composition, the novelty instrumental ‘Hoots Mon’.

In the early 1960s, Harry Robinson worked as an arranger and conductor on stage shows (including Fings Ain’t Wot They Used t’Be and Maggie May) as well as in the recording business for labels EMI and Decca, teaming up with artists such as Nick Drake, Sandy Denny, and Craig Douglas. He also did TV specials with the likes of Judy Garland, Liza Minnelli and The Beatles.

From 1966 onwards, Robinson's main occupation was as a film composer for Hammer Film Productions. He specialised in the horror genre, penning the scores for movie pictures such as Twins Of Evil (1972) and There Goes The Bride (1980). He also co-wrote some movie scripts, including Hawk The Slayer (1980) and Prisoners Of The Lost Universe (1982). Moreover, he co-composed the music to a musical comedy on the life of Elvis Presley which premiered on London's West End in 1977, while also creating advertisement jingles.

EUROVISION SONG CONTEST

Harry Robinson was the arranger and conductor of the UK entry to the 1961 Eurovision Song Contest in Cannes, ‘Are You Sure?’, which was performed by The Allisons and finished as runner-up behind Luxembourg’s Jean-Claude Pascal. Robinson never returned to the international contest, but conducted two more songs in the UK pre-selection: ‘The Girl Next Door’ for Craig Douglas (1961) and ‘My Kingdom For A Girl’ for Doug Sheldon (1962). The latter song was co-composed by Robinson himself.

EUROVISION INVOLVEMENT YEAR BY YEAR

1961 Cannes

Country – United Kingdom

Song title – "Are You Sure?"

Rendition – The Allisons (Colin Day / John Alford)

Lyrics – The Allisons

Composition – The Allisons

Studio arrangement – Harry Robinson

Live orchestration – Harry Robinson

Conductor – Harry Robinson

Score – 2nd place (24 votes)