Editing Russ Conway

{{Short description|English pianist (1925–2000)}}
{{About|the pianist}}
{{EngvarB|date=October 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox musical artist <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Musicians -->
| name              = Russ Conway
| image             = Russ Conway.jpg
| caption           = Russ Conway in 1962
| image_size        = 
| birth_name        = Trevor Herbert Stanford
| alias             = 
| birth_date        = {{birth date|1925|09|2|df=y}}
| birth_place       = [[Bristol]], England
| death_date        = {{death date and age|2000|11|16|1925|09|02|df=y}}
| death_place       = [[Eastbourne]], [[Sussex]], England
| origin            = 
| instrument        = Piano
| genre             = 
| occupation        = Musician
| years_active      = 1955–2000
| label             = [[Columbia Graphophone Company|Columbia (EMI)]], Chapter One, [[Pye Records|Pye]], MusicMedia, Churchill
}}

'''Russ Conway''', [[Distinguished Service Medal (United Kingdom)|DSM]] (born '''Trevor Herbert Stanford'''; 2 September 1925 – 16 November 2000) was an English [[popular music]] pianist and composer.<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
| pages= 118–19}}</ref> Conway had 20 piano [[instrumental]]s in the [[UK Singles Chart]] between 1957 and 1963, including two [[Chart-topper|number one]] [[hit record|hits]].<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums"/>

==Early life==
Trevor Herbert Stanford was born on 2 September 1925 in [[Bristol]], England.<ref name="Larkin">Larkin C (1997) ''Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music'', Muze UK Ltd, {{ISBN|0-7535-0149-X}} p. 125</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Barker |first=Dennis |date=17 November 2000 |title=Russ Conway |url= https://www.theguardian.com/news/2000/nov/17/guardianobituaries |access-date=13 January 2025 |work=The Guardian |location= London}}</ref> His mother, Patara Mallia (née Green) was an amateur pianist and contralto, and his father, Herbert Stanford, a clerical worker.<ref name="Telegraph">{{cite news |date=17 November 2000 |title=Russ Conway obituary |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1374480/Russ-Conway.html |access-date=24 August 2019 |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London}}</ref> Stanford won a scholarship to [[Bristol Cathedral Choir School]].<ref name="Larkin" />

After leaving school, aged 14, he attended secretarial college before working as a solicitor's clerk.<ref name=":0" /> The employment ended when, on his fifteen birthday, Stanford was sent to a [[borstal|Borstal detention centre]] for a three-year term after stealing some money he found in a packet.<ref name="BBC">{{cite news |date=17 November 2000 |title=Pianist with the golden smile |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/1009840.stm |access-date=27 August 2019 |work=BBC News}}</ref> It was in borstal that he taught himself the piano.<ref name="Telegraph" /> A few months later, in January 1941, his mother died.<ref name=":0" />

Following his release from borstal, his father sent him to a Merchant Navy Training School.<ref name="BBC" /> During the [[Second World War]], in 1942, he was conscripted into the [[Royal Navy]]<ref name="Telegraph" /> and was awarded the [[Distinguished Service Medal (United Kingdom)|Distinguished Service Medal]] as signalman in a minesweeping flotilla "for distinguished service, efficiency and zeal" in clearance of mines in the [[Aegean Sea|Aegean]] and operations during the relief of Greece 1944–45. During his Navy service, he lost the tip of the ring finger of his right hand while using a bread slicer.<ref name="Larkin" /> At the end of the war, he chose to remain in the Navy, but was discharged in 1948 because of a stomach ulcer. He joined the [[Merchant Navy (United Kingdom)|Merchant Navy]] as a baggage steward with [[P&O (company)|P&O]], but left after a recurrence of the complaint.<ref name="Telegraph" />

== Career ==
In 1955, Stanford was talent-spotted while playing in a London [[nightclub|club]], and was signed to [[EMI]]'s [[Columbia Graphophone Company|Columbia]] label. At Columbia, he worked with [[Norman Newell]], who suggested he adopt the stage name of Russ Conway ('Conway' from Newell's early recording association with the singer [[Steve Conway (singer)|Steve Conway]], and 'Russ' from the [[Russ Henderson]] Steel Band).<ref name="Telegraph" /> Conway spent the mid-1950s providing backing for artists on their roster, including [[Gracie Fields]] and [[Joan Regan]].<ref name="Larkin" /> He recorded his first solo single, "Roll The Carpet Up" (B-side "The Westminster Waltz") in 1957, and later that year had his first hit with "Party Pops", a piano medley of well known songs.<ref name="Telegraph" /><ref>{{Citation |title=Russ Conway - Roll The Carpet Up / The Westminster Waltz |url=https://www.discogs.com/release/10963010-Russ-Conway-Roll-The-Carpet-Up-The-Westminster-Waltz |language=en |access-date=21 January 2023}}</ref>

In 1956, Conway (credited as 'Terry Stanford') composed the music for a [[BBC Television]] production of ''[[Beauty and the Beast]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=BBC Programme Index |url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/0164e529f8904a1d957936327b499278 |access-date=17 September 2022 |website=genome.ch.bbc.co.uk|date=26 December 1956 }}</ref>

Between 1957 and 1963, Conway had 20 UK chart hits, and in 1959 alone he achieved a cumulative total of 83 weeks on the [[UK Singles Chart]].<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums"/> This included two self-penned number one [[instrumental]]s, "[[Side Saddle]]" and "[[Roulette (instrumental)|Roulette]]", the latter deposing [[Elvis Presley]]'s "[[A Fool Such As I]]". He appeared frequently on light entertainment [[Television|TV]] shows and radio for many years afterwards, performing at the [[London Palladium]] on a number of occasions<ref name="Larkin" /> and becoming a regular on the [[Billy Cotton Band Show]] for several seasons. He also made recordings as a vocalist. Many of his hits feature accompaniment directed by [[Geoff Love]].

In 1958 Conway (as "Trevor H. Stanford") composed, with [[Norman Newell]], the music for the flop musical ''Mister Venus'', which starred [[Frankie Howerd]] and [[Anton Diffring]], The show, with book by [[Ray Galton]] and [[Johnny Speight]], opened at the [[Prince of Wales Theatre]] on 23 October 1958 but closed after just sixteen performances.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Gänzl, Kurt, 1946–|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/59021270|title=The British musical theatre|date=1986|publisher=Macmillan|isbn=0-333-39839-4|location=Basingstoke|oclc=59021270}}</ref>

He was the subject of ''[[This Is Your Life (British TV series)|This Is Your Life]]'' in 1959, when he was surprised by [[Eamonn Andrews]] during a recording session at the BBC's Studio 1 at 201 Piccadilly, London.<ref>{{cite web|title=This is your life|url=http://www.russconway.co.uk/this%20is%20your%20life.html|publisher=Russ Conway|access-date=3 September 2017}}</ref>

Conway appeared as himself in [[French and Saunders]]' 1994 Christmas special, playing "Side Saddle"—or, in an alternative edit, the [[Gerry and the Pacemakers]] hit [[I Like It (Gerry & the Pacemakers song)|"I Like It"]]—in their spoof of ''[[The Piano]]''.<ref>{{cite episode |title= 1994 Christmas Special|series= [[French and Saunders]]|network= [[Gold (UK TV channel)|Gold]]|airdate= 24 April 2009}}</ref>

== Personal life and death ==
Conway's career was blighted by ill health, including a nervous breakdown and subsequently a stroke, which prevented him from performing between 1968 and 1971.<ref name="Larkin" /> He also at times drank heavily and smoked up to 80 cigarettes a day. He was prescribed anti-depressants and had periods of severe self-doubt, but he kept up playing. Having been diagnosed with [[stomach cancer]] in the late 1980s, in 1990 he founded the Russ Conway Cancer Fund with his friend, writer and broadcaster Richard Hope-Hawkins, and they staged charity gala shows in major theatres that raised thousands of pounds for cancer charities.<ref name="BBC" />

In the documentary ''Frankie Howerd: The Lost Tapes'', [[Barry Cryer]], commenting on Howerd not coming out as gay, also said that Russ Conway did not, as in 'those days' it would have been career suicide.<ref>{{cite web |title=Frankie Howerd: The Lost Tapes (2013) |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2605810/ |access-date=3 September 2017 |publisher=IMDB}}</ref> Conway said in 1995 that he was unsure about his sexuality: "I haven't the faintest idea what it is....I was certainly no angel in my younger days and I have tried everything there is to try."<ref name="Telegraph" />

Conway, who never married, died on 16 November 2000, just two weeks after his last public performance.<ref>{{cite book |title=[[British Hit Singles]] |date=2001 |publisher=Guinness World Records |isbn=978-0-85112-156-7 |editor-last=Roberts |editor-first=David |edition=14th |location=London |page=22}}</ref>

Richard Hope-Hawkins delivered the main eulogy at the funeral held at the historic [[St Mary Redcliffe|St Mary's Church]], [[Redcliffe, Bristol|Redcliffe]], [[Bristol]]. [[Elton John]] sent a wreath. In 2001 Hope-Hawkins devised, staged and directed a tribute to Conway at the [[Colston Hall]], Bristol, with an all-star cast. The £11,000 raised by the event was donated to St Peter's Hospice, Bristol.{{cn|date=May 2022}}

Conway could not read music, so the published sheet music of his work is inaccurate and simplified. Pianist Mike Thomson (1946–2018) produced some faithful transcriptions, but they were not able to be fully published due to copyright issues.<ref>Thomson, Mike. [http://www.russconway.co.uk/how%20to%20play%20the%20piano%20in%20russ%20conway's%20honky-tonk%20style.html How to play the piano in Russ Conway's honky-tonk style], Russconway.co.uk</ref>

==Discography==
===LPs===
* ''Piano Requests'' (1958)	
* ''Pack Up Your Troubles'' (1958) – [[UK Albums Chart]] No. 9
* ''Songs To Sing in Your Bath'' (1959) – UK No. 8
* ''Family Favourites'' (1959) – UK No. 3
* ''Time To Celebrate'' (1959) – UK No. 3		
* ''My Concerto For You'' (1960) – UK No. 5 	
* ''Party Time'' (1960) – UK No. 7
* ''At the Theatre'' (1961)
* ''At the Cinema'' (1961)
* ''Happy Days'' (1961)
* ''Concerto For Dreamers'' (1962)
* ''Russ Conway's Trad Party'' (1962)
* ''Something For Mum'' (1963)
* ''Enjoy Yourself'' (1964)
* ''Concerto for Lovers'' (1964)
* ''Roll Up The Carpet'' (1964)*
* ''Russ Conway Favourites'' (1965)*
* ''Once More it's Party Time'' (1965)
* ''Russ Hour'' (1966) 
* ''Time to Play'' (1966)
* ''Pop-a-Conway'' (1966)
* ''Concerto for Memories'' (1966)
* ''Russ Conway Plays'' (1968)*
* ''Russ Conway plays Jolson Hits'' (1969)*
* ''The New Side of Russ Conway'' (1971)		
* ''Russ Conway playing the Great Piano Hits'' (1973)		
* ''Russ Conway with Songs from Stage & Screen'' (1974)		
* ''The Very Best of Russ Conway'' (1976)*		
* ''Russ Conway Presents 24 Piano Greats'' (1977)* – UK No. 25<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums" />
* ''Russ Conway - The One and Only'' (1979)*
* ''Always You and Me'' (1981)* - double LP comprising ''My Concerto for You'' and ''Concerto for Memories''
* ''Russ Conway and his Happy Piano'' (1985)
* ''The Two Sides of Russ Conway'' (1986)*
* ''A Long Time Ago'' (1986)
* ''Russ Conway: The Best of the EMI Years'' (1989)*
* ''Russ Conway: The EP Collection'' (1991)*
* ''Russ Conway At Home'' (1994) 
* ''Old and New'' (1999) 
* ''Nobody Wants To Be Forgotten'' (2000) — reissue of ''Old and New''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Album Covers |url=https://www.russconway.co.uk/album%20covers.html |access-date=21 January 2023 |website=www.russconway.co.uk}}</ref> 
<nowiki>*</nowiki> denotes compilation albums.

===Singles===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! rowspan="2" |Year
! rowspan="2" |Single
! colspan="3" |Peak chart positions
|-
!<small>[[UK Singles Chart|UK]]</small><br/><ref>{{Cite web|title=RUSS CONWAY {{!}} full Official Chart History {{!}} Official Charts Company|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/5495/russ-conway/|access-date=22 April 2021|website=Officialcharts.com}}</ref>
!<small>[[UK Singles Chart|AUS]]</small>
!<small>[[Billboard Hot 100|US]]</small><br/><ref>{{Cite book|last=Whitburn|first=Joel|title=Joel Whitburn's Bubbling Under the Hot 100 1959–1981|publisher=Record Research|year=1982|isbn=9780898200478|pages=39}}</ref>
|-
| rowspan="7" |1957
| align="left" |"Roll the Carpet Up" / "The Westminster Waltz"
|—
|—
|—
|-
| align="left" |"Soho Fair" / "The Spotlight Waltz"
|—
|—
|—
|-
| align="left" |"The Red Cat (Le Chat Rouge)" / "Late Extra"
|—
|—
|—
|-
| align="left" |"Piano Pops No. 1"
|—
|—
|—
|-
| align="left" |"Party Pops"
|24
|—
|—
|-
| align="left" |"Scot Pops"
|—
|—
|—
|-
| align="left" |"The Harry Lime Theme" / "The Lantern Slide"
|—
|—
|—
|-
| rowspan="11" |1958
| align="left" |"Party Pops (No. 2)"
|—
|—
|—
|-
| align="left" |"[[Pal Joey (musical)|Pal Joey]] Pops"
|—
|—
|—
|-
| align="left" |"Piano Pops (No. 3)"
|—
|—
|—
|-
| align="left" |"[[South Pacific (musical)|South Pacific]] Pops"
|—
|—
|—
|-
| align="left" |"Piano Pops (No. 4)"
|—
|—
|—
|-
| align="left" |"Piano Pops (No. 5)"
|—
|—
|—
|-
| align="left" |"Got a Match" / "Toby's Walk"
|30
|—
|—
|-
| align="left" |"Piano Pops (No. 6)"
|—
|—
|—
|-
| align="left" |"[[My Fair Lady]] Pops"
|—
|—
|—
|-
| align="left" |"More Party Pops"
|10
|—
|—
|-
| align="left" |"The World Outside (Theme from the [[Warsaw Concerto]])" / "Love Like Ours"
|24
|—
|—
|-
| rowspan="9" |1959
| align="left" |"Piano Pops No. 7"
|—
|—
|—
|-
| align="left" |"[[Side Saddle]]" / "Pixilated Penguin"
|1
|78
|—
|-
| align="left" |"Piano Pops No. 8"
|—
|—
|—
|-
| align="left" |"[[Roulette (instrumental)|Roulette]]" / "Trampolina"
|1
|71
|106
|-
| align="left" |"Piano Pops No. 9"
|—
|—
|—
|-
| align="left" |"[[China Tea (instrumental)|China Tea]]" / "The Wee Boy of Brussels"
|5
|—
|—
|-
| align="left" |"Song from North By Northwest" / "Theme from The Scapegoat"
|—
|—
|—
|-
| align="left" |"Snow Coach" / "Time to Celebrate"
|7
|—
|—
|-
| align="left" |"More and More Party Pops"
|5
|—
|—
|-
| rowspan="6" |1960
| align="left" |"Royal Event" / "Rule, Britannia!"
|15
|—
|—
|-
| align="left" |"Medley of Tunes from [[Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be|Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'be]]"
|47
|—
|—
|-
| align="left" |"Lucky Five" / "The Birthday Cakewalk"
|14
|—
|—
|-
| align="left" |"Piano Pops No. 10"
|—
|—
|—
|-
| align="left" |"Passing Breeze" / "The Key To Love"
|16
|91 (B-side)
|—
|-
| align="left" |"Even More Party Pops"
|27
|—
|—
|-
| rowspan="5" |1961
| align="left" |"[[Pepe (song)|Pepe]]" / "Matador from Trinidad"
|19
|—
|—
|-
| align="left" |"Parade of the Poppets" / "[[A Weekend with Lulu|Lulu]]"
|—
|—
|—
|-
| align="left" |"Pablo" / "The Singing Bells"
|45
|—
|—
|-
| align="left" |"Say It with Flowers" / "Roses of Picardy" <small>(with [[Dorothy Squires]])</small>
|23
|—
|—
|-
| align="left" |"Toy Balloons" / "Forgotten Dreams"
|7
|—
|—
|-
| rowspan="5" |1962
| align="left" |"Lesson One" / "Angelo"
|21
|—
|—
|-
| align="left" |"Concerto for Dreamers" / "Primera"
|—
|—
|—
|-
| align="left" |"Blitz Medley" / "Oliver! Medley"
|—
|—
|—
|-
| align="left" |"Always You and Me" / "Alone Again"
|33
|—
|—
|-
| align="left" |"Russ Conway's Sing Song Medley"
|—
|—
|—
|-
| rowspan="5" |1963
| align="left" |"Gigolo" / "Terry's Toon"
|—
|—
|—
|-
| align="left" |"Flamenco" / "Tell Me In September (Dimelo en Septiembre)"
|—
|—
|—
|-
| align="left" |"Liverpool Pops"
|—
|—
|—
|-
| align="left" |"Gold Rush" / "Halloween (Europa Melody)
|—
|—
|—
|-
| align="left" |"Conway Capers No. 1"
|—
|—
|—
|-
| rowspan="3" |1964
| align="left" |"[[Mack the Knife]]" / "A Bedouin in Baghdad"
|—
|—
|—
|-
| align="left" |"Conway Capers No. 2"
|—
|—
|—
|-
| align="left" |"Concerto for Lovers" / "Love is the Sweetest Thing"
|—
|—
|—
|-
| rowspan="3" |1965
| align="left" |"Little Leprechaun" / "Falling Tears"
|—
|—
|—
|-
| align="left" |"The Beggars of Rome" / "The Urchins of Paris"
|—
|—
|—
|-
| align="left" |"I'm Shy, Mary Ellen I'm Shy" / "[[I See the Moon]]"
|—
|—
|—
|-
| rowspan="3" |1966
| align="left" |"The Crunch" / "The Patient Heart"
|—
|—
|—
|-
| align="left" |"Celebration Day" / "Girl In My Soup"
|—
|—
|—
|-
| align="left" |"Swinging Pops"
|—
|—
|—
|-
|1968
| align="left" |"Pink Piano" / "Il Buffu (The Clown)" <small>(as The Russ Conway Sound)</small>
|—
|—
|—
|-
| rowspan="2" |1970
| align="left" |"[[Polonaises Op. 40 (Chopin)|Polonaise]]" / "Villa D'Amour"
|—
|—
|—
|-
| align="left" |"Love Is All" / "Lara's Theme from '[[Doctor Zhivago (film)|Doctor Zhivago]]'"
|—
|—
|—
|-
| rowspan="2" |1971
| align="left" |"How Small We Are, How Little We Know" / "When I Grow Too Old to Dream"
|—
|—
|—
|-
| align="left" |"[[Concierto de Aranjuez|Aranjuez, Mon Amour]]" / "[[Up, Up and Away (song)|Up, Up and Away]]"
|—
|—
|—
|-
|1972
| align="left" |"The Boy Friend"
|—
|—
|—
|-
|1973
| align="left" |"Life Is Good" / "Long Nosed Nellie"
|—
|—
|—
|-
| rowspan="2" |1974
| align="left" |"Bordello" / "A Place Like This"
|—
|—
|—
|-
| align="left" |"[[She (Charles Aznavour song)|She]]" / "[[Eye Level]]"
|—
|—
|—
|-
|1976
| align="left" |"[[Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (song)|Love Is a Many Splendored Thing]]" / "Life is Good"
|—
|—
|—
|-
|1977
| align="left" |"A Welsh Melody" / "[[Don't Cry for Me Argentina]]" <small>(with [[Mike Sammes|The Mike Sammes Singers]])</small>
|—
|—
|—
|-
|1984
| align="left" |"Theme from [[The Terry Fox Story]]" / "Floriana"
|—
|—
|—
|-
|1989
| align="left" |"Bareback" / "Side Saddle MkII"
|—
|—
|—
|-
| colspan="5" style="font-size:8pt" |"—" denotes releases that did not chart.
|}

==See also==
* [[List of best-selling music artists]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.russconway.co.uk/ Russ Conway]
*[http://www.onlineweb.com/theones/conway/russ_conway.htm Russ Conway – British Pianist]
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p009y79r Appearance on Desert Island Discs]
*[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1374480/Russ-Conway.html Daily Telegraph obituary]
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Conway, Russ}}
[[Category:1925 births]]
[[Category:2000 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century English composers]]
[[Category:20th-century English pianists]]
[[Category:Billy Cotton Band Show]]
[[Category:Columbia Graphophone Company artists]]
[[Category:Cub Records artists]]
[[Category:English male songwriters]]
[[Category:English male composers]]
[[Category:Musicians from Bristol]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (United Kingdom)]]
[[Category:People educated at Bristol Cathedral Choir School]]
[[Category:Royal Navy personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Royal Navy sailors]]
[[Category:20th-century English male musicians]]