Simon May
| Simon May | |
|---|---|
| Born |
15 August 1944 (age 72) Devizes, Wiltshire, England |
| Occupation | Musician/Composer |
| Nationality | British |
| Education | Dauntsey's School |
| Alma mater | Cambridge University |
| Period | 1975–present |
| Genre | Film, television |
| Notable works | EastEnders |
| Website | |
| www |
|
Simon May (born 15 August 1944) 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.
Born in Devizes and a pupil of Dauntsey's School, May won a choral scholarship to Cambridge University, graduating with a degree in modern languages. While teaching languages and music at Kingston Grammar School, he co-wrote a musical named Smike with a colleague, history teacher Clive Barnett and songwriting partner, Roger Holman. Following the publicity Smike attracted, May was contacted by the BBC, who televised the play in 1973, starring Beryl Reid and Andrew Keir. It also featured DJ Neil Fox, a pupil at Kingston Grammar, as one of the schoolboys. 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.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.
May himself performed "The Summer of My Life", which reached number seven in the UK chart 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. His follow-up single, "We'll Gather Lilacs - All My Loving (Medley)", flopped, reaching number 49 in May 1977. In 1986 he released an album called Simon's Way, which included his themes to EastEnders and Howards' Way, which peaked at #59 in the UK Albums Chart. In the same year his 'Holiday Suite' theme was used for the BBC Programme 'Holiday', and was released as a single. The theme has also been used by Video 125 for three of its railway drivers-eye-view productions.
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