Malcolm Neville Lockyer, (b: 5 October 1923, London d. 28 June 1976). Trained as an architect, his interest in dance music dated from the age of 12, and he played semi-professionally until called up for war service as a musician in the Royal Air Force at the age of 19.

He played with Sid Phillips and his Quintet, and in 1944 he joined the Buddy Featherstonhaugh Sextet and recorded with them for Radion and HMV Records. After leaving the RAF, he worked as pianist with Ambrose, Cyril Stapleton and Robert Farnon.

He started with BBC radio in 1945, and during his career he worked on almost 6, 000 broadcasts and formed his own orchestra in 1951. A prolific composer (often under the pseudonym Howard Shaw), his biggest successes were ‘Friends and Neighbours’ (for the 1954 BBC television series), ‘Fiddler’s Boogie’ and ‘The Big Guitar’ (for the BBC television series Stranger Than Fiction - 1955).

He scored over 30 feature films and the television series The Pursuers and The Pathfinders. Together with Reg Owen he made a collection of albums for Top Rank with the Knightsbridge Strings and the Cambridge Strings. He succeeded Harry Rabinowitz as conductor of the BBC Revue Orchestra in 1960, and was associated with many radio shows, among them Mid-day Music Hall, Take It from Here and Beyond Our Ken. When the Revue and Variety orchestras were amalgamated in 1966 to form the new Radio Orchestra, he became associate conductor.

His connection with Glenn Miller began in 1944, when he was stationed in Bedford at the same time as the famous American band leader. He was able to study at first-hand how that unmistakeable sound was achieved. Shortly before his death in 1976 he conducted the Million Airs Orchestra in 26 highly-successful Glenn Miller Tribute Concerts.

On this week’s show is his march The Pathfinders played by the Wingates Temperance Band MD: John Harrison in 1975..