- Jack Payne
Jack Payne (
August 22 ,1899 –December 4 ,1969 ) was a British dance music bandleader.John Wesley Vivian Payne was born in
Leamington Spa ,Warwickshire - the only son of a music warehouse manager. While serving in the Royal Flying Corps he played the piano in amateur dance-bands.Payne served in the
Royal Air Force duringWorld War I , and led dance bands for the troops. In the 1920s he played in a six-piece band which became the house band at theLondon Hotel Cecil in 1925. This ensemble regularly performed on theBBC in the latter half of the decade. In 1928, Payne became the BBC Director of Dance Music, a post he held until leaving in 1932 to return to playing hotel venues.His signature tune was
Irving Berlin 's 'Say it With Music', a song which he often sang to. After leaving the BBC in 1932, Payne took his band on nationwide tours and made a film "Say it with Music ", followed three years later by another movie "Sunshine Ahead ". In the 1930s he spent a little less time touring, so he could concentrate his efforts on running a theatrical agency.Payne had three successful waltzes - "
Blue Pacific Moonlight ", "Underneath the Spanish Stars " and "Pagan Serenade ", which he composed. These were later published in the 1930s.Payne did some
jazz recording, including working withGarland Wilson . He touredSouth Africa andFrance in the 1930s. In 1941 he returned to the post of Director of Dance Music at the BBC, remaining there until 1946; following this he became adisc jockey . He followed this change of career by returning to the dance-music scene to present his own television show, 'Words and Music', which ran for three series. He also made the occasional television appearance as a panellist in "Juke Box Jury ", as well as other popular music programmes of the decade.During his final years, Payne ran a hotel in
Tonbridge ,Kent which was not a successful financial venture for him. He was married twice - his first wife having died after 16 years of marriage. He had an adopted daughter with his second wife - Peggy. He wrote two autobiographies, 'This is Jack Payne' in 1932 and 'Signature Tune' 15 years later. He died in 1969.References
* [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:hbfqxq8gldfe~T1 Jack Payne] at
Allmusic
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