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.
RoseMarie
Stanley Black Lyrics
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Oh Rose, my Rose Marie
Oh Rose Marie, I love you
I'm always dreaming of you
No matter what I do, I can't forget you
Sometimes I wish that I never met you
And yet, if I should lose you
Of all the queens that ever lived, I choose you
To rule me, my Rose Marie
Of all the queens that ever lived, I choose you
To rule me, my Rose Marie
La da da-da da da, da da da da da da
Oh Rose, my Rose Marie
The lyrics of Stanley Black's song RoseMarie are a classic love song which express an unyielding devotion to the singer's love interest. The singer, who refers to his love as RoseMarie, admits that he cannot stop thinking about her and that he loves her more than anything else. However, he also acknowledges that sometimes he wishes that he had never met her- perhaps an indication of the challenges that come with such intense emotion.
Despite this, the singer declares that he would be nothing without RoseMarie and that he chooses her above all other queens to rule over him. The use of the term "queens" is interesting as it suggests a sense of idolization and reverence towards the object of his affection. Overall, the lyrics of RoseMarie are a testament to the power of love and the depth of feeling it can evoke in people.
Line by Line Meaning
Oh Rose Marie, I love you
The singer is expressing his love for Rose Marie.
I'm always dreaming of you
The singer thinks about Rose Marie constantly, even in his dreams.
No matter what I do, I can't forget you
The singer has tried to forget about Rose Marie, but he is unable to do so.
Sometimes I wish that I never met you
The artist has mixed emotions about meeting Rose Marie, as he is now unable to forget her and move on.
And yet, if I should lose you
The artist realizes that losing Rose Marie would be devastating to him.
Would mean my very life to me
The singer's love for Rose Marie is so intense that losing her would be equivalent to losing his own life.
Of all the queens that ever lived, I choose you
The singer thinks so highly of Rose Marie that he considers her to be the best among all queens in history.
To rule me, my Rose Marie
The artist is willing to be led and governed by Rose Marie because of his deep love for her.
La da da-da da da, da da da da da da
This line is a repeated refrain that serves to emphasize the artist's love for Rose Marie.
Oh Rose, my Rose Marie
This line serves as a repeated address to Rose Marie, emphasizing the artist's love and devotion to her.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., Universal Music Publishing Group, CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
Written by: HERBERT STOTHART, OSCAR HAMMERSTEIN II, OTTO A. HARBACH, RUDOLF FRIML
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind