Emile Ford
Michael Emile Telford Miller (16 October 1937 – 11 April 2016), known profe… Read Full Bio ↴Michael Emile Telford Miller (16 October 1937 – 11 April 2016), known professionally as Emile Ford, was a musician and singer born in Saint Lucia. He was popular in the United Kingdom in the late 1950s and early 1960s as the leader of Emile Ford & the Checkmates, who had a number one hit in late 1959 with "What Do You Want to Make Those Eyes at Me For?". He was also a pioneering sound engineer.
Emile Ford was born in Castries, Saint Lucia, in the West Indies. He was the son of Barbadian politician, Frederick Edward Miller, and Madge Murray, a singer and musical theatre director whose father had founded and conducted the St. Lucia Philharmonic Band. His mother married again, taking the name of Sweetnam; some sources erroneously give Emile Ford's birth name as Sweetnam or Sweetman.
He was educated at St Mary’s College, Castries. He moved to London with his mother and family in the mid-1950s, partly motivated by his desire to explore improved sound reproduction technology, and studied at the Paddington Technical College in London. It was during this time that he taught himself to play a number of musical instruments, including guitar, piano, violin, bass guitar and drums. Using an abbreviated form of his name, as Emile Ford, he first entered show business at the age of 20, and made his first public performance at the Buttery, Kensington. His first appearance with a backing group was at the Athenaeum Ballroom in Muswell Hill. His TV appearances in 1958 included outings on The Music Shop, the Pearl Carr & Teddy Johnson Show, Oh, Boy!, and Six-Five Special.
He teamed up in January 1959 with his half-brother, bassist George Sweetnam-Ford (born 1 January 1941), electric guitarist Ken Street (born 1943) and drummer John Cuffley to form Emile Ford & the Checkmates. The band appeared on the TV programme Sunday Serenade, which ran for six weeks. They won the Soho Fair talent contest in July 1959, but turned down a recording contract with EMI because the company would not allow Ford to produce their records, and instead agreed to a deal with Pye Records. Their first self-produced recording, "What Do You Want to Make Those Eyes at Me For?", a song originally recorded by Ada Jones and Billy Murray in 1917, went to number one in the UK Singles Chart at the end of 1959 and stayed there for six weeks. Ford was the first black British artist to sell one million copies of a single.
In January 1960, Ford signed a two-year employment management contract with Leslie Grade. He had several more hits in the UK, and also scored a number one EP in 1960. The readers of the British music magazine New Musical Express voted Emile Ford and the Checkmates as the "Best New Act" in 1960. Ford's debut album was made up of covers. He made several albums, but his last studio recordings were in 1963. His half-brothers George and Dave Sweetnam-Ford were later members of the Ferris Wheel.
As a sound engineer, Ford was responsible for creating a backing track system for stage shows, first used in 1960, which provided a basis for what became known as karaoke. In 1969, he set up a recording studio in Barbados with the help of his father, before moving to Sweden. While there, he further developed a new open-air playback system for stage shows, patented as the Liveoteque Sound Frequency Feedback Injection System.
Counting Teardrops, an anthology including all of Ford's recordings with Pye Records, was released in 2001.
Emile Ford died in London on 11 April 2016.
Emile Ford was born in Castries, Saint Lucia, in the West Indies. He was the son of Barbadian politician, Frederick Edward Miller, and Madge Murray, a singer and musical theatre director whose father had founded and conducted the St. Lucia Philharmonic Band. His mother married again, taking the name of Sweetnam; some sources erroneously give Emile Ford's birth name as Sweetnam or Sweetman.
He was educated at St Mary’s College, Castries. He moved to London with his mother and family in the mid-1950s, partly motivated by his desire to explore improved sound reproduction technology, and studied at the Paddington Technical College in London. It was during this time that he taught himself to play a number of musical instruments, including guitar, piano, violin, bass guitar and drums. Using an abbreviated form of his name, as Emile Ford, he first entered show business at the age of 20, and made his first public performance at the Buttery, Kensington. His first appearance with a backing group was at the Athenaeum Ballroom in Muswell Hill. His TV appearances in 1958 included outings on The Music Shop, the Pearl Carr & Teddy Johnson Show, Oh, Boy!, and Six-Five Special.
He teamed up in January 1959 with his half-brother, bassist George Sweetnam-Ford (born 1 January 1941), electric guitarist Ken Street (born 1943) and drummer John Cuffley to form Emile Ford & the Checkmates. The band appeared on the TV programme Sunday Serenade, which ran for six weeks. They won the Soho Fair talent contest in July 1959, but turned down a recording contract with EMI because the company would not allow Ford to produce their records, and instead agreed to a deal with Pye Records. Their first self-produced recording, "What Do You Want to Make Those Eyes at Me For?", a song originally recorded by Ada Jones and Billy Murray in 1917, went to number one in the UK Singles Chart at the end of 1959 and stayed there for six weeks. Ford was the first black British artist to sell one million copies of a single.
In January 1960, Ford signed a two-year employment management contract with Leslie Grade. He had several more hits in the UK, and also scored a number one EP in 1960. The readers of the British music magazine New Musical Express voted Emile Ford and the Checkmates as the "Best New Act" in 1960. Ford's debut album was made up of covers. He made several albums, but his last studio recordings were in 1963. His half-brothers George and Dave Sweetnam-Ford were later members of the Ferris Wheel.
As a sound engineer, Ford was responsible for creating a backing track system for stage shows, first used in 1960, which provided a basis for what became known as karaoke. In 1969, he set up a recording studio in Barbados with the help of his father, before moving to Sweden. While there, he further developed a new open-air playback system for stage shows, patented as the Liveoteque Sound Frequency Feedback Injection System.
Counting Teardrops, an anthology including all of Ford's recordings with Pye Records, was released in 2001.
Emile Ford died in London on 11 April 2016.
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Emile Ford Lyrics
A Kiss To Build A Dream On Give me a kiss to build on and my imagination…
After You've Gone After you've gone and left me crying After you've gone there…
Be My Guest Come on baby and be my guest Come join the party…
Counting Teardrops Ev'ryday I sit here a-bawlin' Just like a little kid You tol…
Danny Boy Oh Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling From glen…
Endlessly Higher than the highest mountain And deeper than the deepes…
Half of My Heart Granada, I'm falling under your spell And if you could spea…
Home Sorry, sorry Oh, so sorry Uh-oh I ran all the home Just to…
I Ran All The Way Home Sorry, sorry Oh, so sorry Uh-oh I ran all the home Ju…
I'll Be Satisfied Just a kiss Just a smile Hold my hand baby Once in a…
Mona Lisa Mona lisa, mona lisa, men have named you Youre so like…
My Wish Came True My wish came true When I met you I've searched…
My Wsh Came True My wish came true When I met you I've searched…
Red Sails in the Sunset {Red sails in the sunset, way out on the sea} Oh,…
Scarlet ribbons You know I peeked in to say goodnight, When I heard…
Send For Me What do you wanna make those eyes at me for…
Sorry Sorry, sorry Oh, so sorry Uh-oh I ran all the home Just to…
That Lucky Old Sun Up in the mornin' out on the job, work like…
Them There Eyes I was just minding my business Life was a beautiful song Did…
What Do You Wanna Make Those Eyes at Me For What do you wanna make those eyes at me for…
What Do You Wanna Make Those Eyes at Me For? What do ya wanna make those eyes at me for…
What Do You Want To Make Those What do you wanna make those eyes at me for…
What Do You Want to Make Those Eyes at Me For? What do ya wanna make those eyes at me for…
What Do You Want To Make Those Eyes For What do you wanna make those eyes at me for…
When The Swallows Come Back To Capistrano When the swallows come back to Capistrano That's the day you…
White Christmas I'm dreaming of a white Christmas Just like the ones…
Why Do You Want To Make Those Eyes At Me For What do you wanna make those eyes at me for…