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| - Henry Bidgood (1898 – 1957), known as "Harry", was an English composer, dance band leader and musical director for for numerous films, including several starring George Formby. Born in London, he was taught the piano at an early age by his father who was a composer. As soon as he left school he went on to the Variety stage as a solo pianist, and also played at cinemas in the 'silent' days. He was an Army drummer during World War One, after which he was pianist at the Old Vic, until he formed the dance-band combination with which he spent three-and-a-half years at the Piccadilly Hotel. During the mid to late 1920s Harry Bidgood led the in-house studio band for Vocalion Records in England (its former parent, the American Vocalion label, was acquired by Brunswick in 1925). In 1927 Vocalion de
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| abstract
| - Henry Bidgood (1898 – 1957), known as "Harry", was an English composer, dance band leader and musical director for for numerous films, including several starring George Formby. Born in London, he was taught the piano at an early age by his father who was a composer. As soon as he left school he went on to the Variety stage as a solo pianist, and also played at cinemas in the 'silent' days. He was an Army drummer during World War One, after which he was pianist at the Old Vic, until he formed the dance-band combination with which he spent three-and-a-half years at the Piccadilly Hotel. During the mid to late 1920s Harry Bidgood led the in-house studio band for Vocalion Records in England (its former parent, the American Vocalion label, was acquired by Brunswick in 1925). In 1927 Vocalion decided to discontinue its namesake label, replacing it with the new Broadcast label. Broadcast records were eight inch (later on, nine inch) records which, through the use of slightly narrower grooves, offered the same playing time as standard sized 10 inch records. Because of the label name, Bidgood called his band Harry Bidgood's Broadcasters. He also recorded under a number of pseudonyms including The New York Nightbirds, Ciro’s Club Band, The Manhattan Melody Makers, Al Benny’s Broadway Boys, Nat Lewis and his Dance Band and Primo Scala and his Accordion Band. Beginning in the 1930s, he also broadcast frequently on BBC radio, and in 1933 led a quartet in a series of pioneering BBC television transmissions "By The Baird Process", according to BBC Genome's Radio Times listings. As director of Primo Scala's Accordion Band he broadcast regularly on the BBC's 'Music While You Work', from 1941 until just before his death in November 1957.
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