Harry Robertson (musician)
| Harry Robertson | |
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Harry Robertson c.1959
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Henry Macleod Robertson |
| Also known as | Lord Rockingham, Harry Robinson |
| Born |
19 November 1932 Elgin, Moray, Scotland |
| Died | 17 January 1996 (aged 63) London, England |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, bandleader, music director, composer |
| Years active | 1950s – 1990s |
| Associated acts | Lord Rockingham's XI |
Harry Robertson (19 November 1932 – 17 January 1996) was a musician, bandleader, music director and composer. Born Henry Macleod Robertson, he was often credited under the name Harry Robinson. He worked as a musical director on British television shows in the 1950s and 1960s, and also arranged for theatre shows and films, notably those of the Hammer production company.
He was the son of Henry Robertson of Elgin, Morayshire, Scotland. He learned piano, but then determined to become an archaeologist, studying the subject at university before giving up his academic studies because of his poor health, and becoming a music teacher in London.
He started working occasionally as an arranger for Decca Records, before becoming the musical director for Tommy Steele. He explained that in the late 1950s he began using the name Robinson, as well as Robertson, in his professional activities:
" It was whilst working at Decca that I had to change my name. This was because the cheque that they paid me with was made out to HARRY ROBINSON and not Robertson. It would have been a nightmare to try and change it and the bank would have been difficult, so out of laziness I suppose I opened an account in the name of Robinson. And that’s how Harry Robinson came about..."
Robertson was the musical director of the British television pop music programmes, Six-Five Special (1957 BBC) and Oh Boy! (1959 ITV). He was responsible for writing and producing the pop song "Hoots Mon" (not so much a song, more an instrumental take on "A Hundred Pipers" with spoken interjections in a mock Scottish accent) by Lord Rockingham's XI, which stayed at Number 1 on the UK Singles Chart for three weeks in 1958.
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