Editing Simon May (section)

==Biography==
Born in Devizes and a pupil of [[Dauntsey's School]], May was a choral scholar at [[Corpus Christi College, Cambridge]], where he graduated with a degree in modern languages in 1965.<ref>'Cambridge University Tripos: Law, Modern and Medieval Languages', ''Times'', 25 June 1965, p. 18.</ref> While teaching languages and music at [[Kingston Grammar School]], he co-wrote a musical named ''[[Smike]]'' with a colleague, history teacher Clive Barnett, and songwriting partner [[Roger Holman]].<ref name="essex"/> Following the publicity ''Smike'' attracted, May was contacted by the [[BBC]], who televised the play in 1973, starring [[Beryl Reid]] and [[Andrew Keir]]. It also featured DJ [[Neil Fox (broadcaster)|Neil Fox]], a pupil at Kingston Grammar, as one of the schoolboys.<ref name="pebble">''PEBBLE MILL SPECIAL, SIMON MAY'', BBC1, 20 December 1994</ref> The show has subsequently been staged many times by youth drama groups.

While working at [[Associated Television|ATV]], he was asked to compose some music for ''[[Crossroads (soap opera)|Crossroads]]''. [[Stephanie de Sykes]] reached number 2 in the [[UK singles chart]] in 1974 with the subsequent "Born With a Smile on My Face",<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums 3">{{cite book
| first= David
| last= Roberts
| year= 2006
| title= British Hit Singles & Albums
| edition= 19th
| publisher= Guinness World Records Limited 
| location= London
| isbn= 1-904994-10-5
| page= 145}}</ref> which was used within a storyline on the show.<ref name="essex"/> [[Kate Robbins]] performed another of May's songs for ''Crossroads'': "More Than in Love," which was co-written by Barry Leng and reached number 2 in the UK in 1981.<ref name="essex"/><ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums 2">{{cite book
| first= David
| last= Roberts
| year= 2006
| title= British Hit Singles & Albums
| edition= 19th
| publisher= Guinness World Records Limited 
| location= London
| isbn= 1-904994-10-5
| page= 465}}</ref>

He was one of the members of the vocal harmony group Rain, with de Sykes, Alex Keenan and Chas Mill. The group recorded the theme song "Golden Day", penned by [[Lynsey de Paul]] and [[Barry Blue]], for the TV programme "[[The Golden Shot]]"  to co-incide with the return of [[Bob Monkhouse]] as its host. They also released an album produced by Len Beadle, with the title "Rain Featuring Stephanie De-Sykes" in 1974.{{cn|date=January 2025}}

May himself performed "The Summer of My Life", which reached number seven in the [[UK singles chart]] in October 1976.<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums">{{cite book
| first= David
| last= Roberts
| year= 2006
| title= British Hit Singles & Albums
| edition= 19th
| publisher= Guinness World Records Limited 
| location= London
| isbn= 1-904994-10-5
| page= 356}}</ref> The song originally appeared in ''Crossroads'', in a scene between Meg and Hugh. It was one of the best selling singles of the year, and was one of few songs to spend three weeks in a row at number seven in the UK Singles Chart.<ref name="essex">{{cite web |first=John |last=Hayes |title=John's Journey Back in Time |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060215081300/http://www.bbc.co.uk/england/essex/johns_journey_archive/johns_journey_24_10_76.shtml |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/england/essex/johns_journey_archive/johns_journey_24_10_76.shtml |work=BBC Essex |archivedate=2006-02-15 |accessdate=2009-04-26}}</ref> His follow-up single, "[[We'll Gather Lilacs]] - All My Loving (Medley)", flopped, reaching number 49 in May 1977.<ref name="pebble"/><ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums"/> In 1986, he released an album called ''[[Simon's Way]]'', which included his themes to ''EastEnders'' and ''Howards' Way'', which peaked at number 59 in the [[UK Albums Chart]].<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums"/> In the same year, his 'Holiday Suite' theme was used for the BBC Programme ''Holiday'', and was released as a single.{{cn|date=January 2025}}

He worked on his first feature film in 1988, ''[[The Dawning]]''. Music from the film, with various other TV themes (including ''The Olympic Track'' and ''People like You''), was released in 1989 on the Simon May Orchestra album ''Themes''.

He co-produced [[Amii Stewart]]'s "[[Knock on Wood (Eddie Floyd song)#Amii Stewart version|Knock on Wood]]", which reached number-one on the US [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] chart in April 1979.

===''EastEnders''===
{{main|EastEnders theme tune}}
[[Tony Holland]] and [[Julia Smith (producer)|Julia Smith]] commissioned May to write the theme to ''[[EastEnders]]'' after being impressed by his work on spy-thriller ''[[Cold Warrior (TV series)|Cold Warrior]]''.<ref name="Insidestory">{{cite book|last=Smith|first=Julia|author-link=Julia Smith (producer)|author2=Holland, Tony|authorlink2=Tony Holland|title=[[EastEnders spin-offs#Non-fiction books|EastEnders - The Inside Story]]|year=1987|publisher=Book Club Associates|isbn=0-563-20601-2|pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780563206019/page/97 97–8]}}</ref> [[Don Black (musician)|Don Black]] put lyrics to the popular theme, and [[Anita Dobson]] (who portrayed [[Angie Watts]] in the show) reached number 4 in the UK in August 1986 with "[[Anyone Can Fall in Love]]".<ref name="pebble"/> With Barry Rose, the theme was adapted into a [[hymn]], "Glory Be", which was performed on ''[[Songs of Praise]]'' and released as a single.

Another soap storyline gave May a hit in 1986. [[Nick Berry]] ([[Simon Wicks|"Wicksy"]]) topped the charts with "[[Every Loser Wins]]", which he co-wrote after plugging it in ''EastEnders'' (a storyline which Holland openly hated).<ref name="pebble"/>

In 1993 the theme itself was given an unpopular 'jazzy' update, and an updated version of the original was introduced in 1994. With Johnny Griggs, he wrote another set of lyrics for the ''EastEnders'' theme. "I'll Always Believe in You" featured lead vocals by [[Sharon Benson]].<ref>{{cite AV media notes |title="I'll Always Believe in You" |publisher   = Polydor | id = POL940 |year= 1993 }}</ref> which was based around the extended version of the 1993 theme. In 2009 he was asked to revamp the EastEnders theme again, to update the one running from 1994, making it lighter in tone and bringing back elements of the original theme missing in the previous version.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/eastenders/a175099/eastenders-revamps-title-sequence/|work=[[Digital Spy]] |date=1 September 2009|accessdate=26 February 2025| first=Kris |last=Green| title='EastEnders' revamps title sequence}}</ref>

May wrote "Peggy's Theme" for [[Barbara Windsor]]'s exit episode from ''EastEnders'' screened on 10 September 2010.<ref>{{cite magazine| url=https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/soaps/eastenders/eastenders-dot-branning-theme-music-newsupdate/|magazine=[[Radio Times]]|accessdate=26 February 2025|first=Knight|last=Lewis|title=EastEnders to air special theme music for Dot Branning's funeral|date=8 December 2022}}</ref>

===Post-''EastEnders''===
Lyrics were also added to May's theme to ''Howards' Way''; [[Marti Webb]] reached number 13 with "Always There" in 1986, a year after the orchestral version of the theme (credited to May and Leslie Osborne) had reached number 21 in the same UK Singles Chart.<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums"/> This was the version played over the opening credits of all six series, and the second half of the closing credits of series 1. The first part of the theme was a faster, upbeat rendition (later extended and slightly updated for the season 3 credits) which merged into the more familiar version used in the opening credits. The Marti Webb version of the theme was only played over the closing credits of series 2, with an updated extended version of the first half of the original series 1 orchestral version, playing over new style credits from series 3 onwards.

[[Mike Read]] wrote lyrics to May's ''[[Trainer (TV series)|Trainer]]'' theme. "[[More to Life]]" was performed by [[Cliff Richard]]. The theme won May his third [[Television and Radio Industries Club|TRIC]] award for Best TV Theme, after previous success with ''EastEnders'' and ''Howards' Way''.

Following their collaboration on ''EastEnders'', Julia Smith and Tony Holland commissioned May to write the theme tune for the new Eurosoap ''[[Eldorado (TV series)|Eldorado]]''.  May reworked a song called "When You Go Away" which he had written for his ill-fated musical ''Mefisto'', based on [[Goethe's Faust|Goethe's ''Faust'']], adding Spanish guitars to make it more relevant to the ''Eldorado'' project. An instrumental version of the theme was used for the opening and closing credits. However, the vocal version of the song was recorded by Johnny Griggs, and was used over the closing credits of the final episode.<ref>{{cite book |first=Simon |last=May |title=Doof Doof: My Life in Music |year=2015 |publisher=Austin Macauley Publishers |isbn=978-1785546372 |pages=81–85}}</ref>

In 1994, ''[[New Vintage: The Best of Simon May]]'', a compilation of some of May's work was released to coincide with his "A Night Away From The TV" UK tour. The tour was not a commercial success and some dates had to be cancelled.<ref name="pebble"/> A ''[[Pebble Mill]]'' special documentary was produced by the BBC around this time discussing his career and the tour.

May recorded his album ''[[The Simon May Collection]]'' with his two co-writers/co-producers Simon Lockyer and John Brant. The album was released on 13 September 2010. "Peggy's Theme" was the lead track on the album.

In August 2015, May released his autobiography ''Doof Doof: My Life in Music'' through Austin Macauley Publishers.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Austin Macauley Publishers {{!}} Book, eBooks & audiobooks|url = http://www.austinmacauley.com/|website=Austinmacauley.com|accessdate = 2015-12-15}}</ref> Two versions were released; one, a book-only version<ref>{{cite book |first=Simon |last=May |title=Doof Doof: My Life in Music |year=2015 |publisher=Austin Macauley Publishers |isbn=978-1785546372}}</ref> and also a CD-set, with a shorter printed autobiography.

May is visiting professor at the Faculty of Media, Arts and Society, [[Southampton Solent University]] who in 2015 conferred on him the degree of Honorary Doctor of Music. He is also Patron of the Devizes Junior Eisteddfod, Vice President of the British Federation of Festivals and Patron of the [[Swindon 105.5]] Community Radio Station.{{cn|date=February 2025}}