Black was born as Solomon Schwartz on 14 June 1913 in Whitechapel, England. His parents were Polish and Romanian Jews. He began piano lessons at the age of seven. He was aged only 12 when his first composition was broadcast on BBC Radio and continued his early success by winning a Melody Maker arranging competition aged 15.
In the early 1930s he was employed as a jazz player and composer and had worked with Howard Jacobs, Joe Orlando, Lew Stone, Maurice Winnick and Teddy Joyce by the time he joined Harry Roy in 1936. He had also broadcast and recorded with several American musicians, including jazz saxophonist Coleman Hawkins, who had first heard Black on late night radio shows with Lew Stone's band. When the two eventually met in London, the reviewer Edgar Jackson suggested they record together, and a notable collaboration is a duet version of Honeysuckle Rose.
During World War II, Black joined the Royal Air Force, and became involved in managing the entertainment of servicemen based at Wolverhampton. In 1944 he was appointed conductor of the BBC Dance Orchestra, and remained in the job for almost nine years, broadcasting as many as six nights a week.
By this time he had also begun recording under his own name for Decca. Now well involved with the film industry, he went on to compose, arrange and direct music for about 200 more films, notably after being appointed music director at Elstree Studios in 1958. He was also principal conductor of the Associated British Picture Corporation Orchestra and musical director composer of that organisation from 1958-1963.
Stanley Black's radio work kept him in contact with a large listening audience through his incidental music for shows such as Much Binding in the Marsh and the first two series of The Goon Show. He later presented his own programmes on radio and television, including Black Magic and The Marvellous World of Stanley Black.
In the early 1950s he regularly topped the Melody Maker lists of the most-heard musicians on radio. He was chosen to be included on Decca's first release of long-playing records in the UK in June 1950. This enabled him to continue his conducting, arranging and performing and resulted in a large number of albums. He was particularly popular in United States, as evidenced by his inclusion in the Billboard best-sellers lists.
During his life, he conducted many of Britain's major orchestras, and until the 1990s he was still directing regular broadcast sessions at the BBC studios, despite the onset of deafness in later life.
Stanley Black is remembered for writing numerous scores for radio, television and cinema, including the theme-tune for The Goon Show.
Other films he composed scores for include Laughter in Paradise (1951), The Naked Truth (1957), Blood of the Vampire (1958), Too Many Crooks (1958), The Long and the Short and the Tall (1961), West 11 (1963), The System (1964), Crossplot (1969), and the Cliff Richard musicals The Young Ones (1961) and his orchestral backing for Richard's follow up, Summer Holiday (1962), which won him an Ivor Novello Award. His work also became familiar to millions of cinema audiences as a consequence of his theme tune and music library for Pathé News, written in 1960.
He also recorded many classical works, including collections of Tchaikovsky and George Gershwin. In 1965 he won a Gramophone Award for his version of Rimsky-Korsakov's Capriccio Espagnol. In addition, he arranged and conducted many commercially successful albums on LP and later CD like Tropical Moonlight, Cuban Moonlight, Black Magic, and series of Film Spectacular and Broadway Spectacular for Decca Records.
Love Is Here to Stay
Stanley Black Lyrics
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Not for a year but ever and a day
The radio and the telephone and the movies that we know
May just be passing fancies and in time may go
But oh, my dear, our love is here to stay
Together we're going a long, long way
In time the Rockies may crumble, Gibraltar may tumble
But our love is here to stay
In time the Rockies may crumble, Gibraltar may tumble
They're only made of clay
But our love is here to stay
The lyrics to this song speak of the durability and permanence of true love. The line "our love is here to stay" refers to the fact that despite the passing of time and changing trends in popular culture, their love will continue to endure. The comparison of their love to the possible fleeting nature of things like the radio, telephone, and movies indicates that although these things may come and go, love endures.
The following lines, "In time the Rockies may crumble, Gibraltar may tumble, They're only made of clay" further emphasize this point, suggesting that even the most seemingly unshakeable and solid structures can, and eventually will, crumble and fall away. But, their love will remain, even if all else fades.
The lyrics of this song were written by Ira Gershwin, with music by his brother, George Gershwin. It was written for the 1938 movie "The Goldwyn Follies," but was ultimately not used in the final cut. However, it was later featured in the 1951 film "An American in Paris."
Line by Line Meaning
It's very clear, our love is here to stay
It is undeniable that our love is permanent and enduring
Not for a year but ever and a day
Our love is not temporary, but forever
The radio and the telephone and the movies that we know
Things that seem indispensable to us, such as technology and media, may fade away with time
May just be passing fancies and in time may go
Such things are fleeting, and can disappear over time
But oh, my dear, our love is here to stay
Despite the impermanence of external things, our love is enduring and unchanging
Together we're going a long, long way
Our love has a long journey ahead, and we will journey through it together
In time the Rockies may crumble, Gibraltar may tumble
Even the most unshakeable things, such as mountains and strongholds, can eventually succumb to time
They're only made of clay
These supposedly unmoveable things are still part of the impermanent world
But our love is here to stay
Despite the impermanent nature of the world around us, our love will always endure
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., Peermusic Publishing, RALEIGH MUSIC PUBLISHING
Written by: George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind