Geoff Love (4th September to 8th July 1991)

Geoff was born here in 1917. He was a composer who wrote film scores and the theme for the television comedy series Bless This House among others.

He was the son of an African America and English wife. His mother was quite a well-known singer and the family travelled around the country as entertainers. When his dad died the family returned to this house. Geoff learnt the trombone and left school at 15 to work as a car mechanic. In the evenings he played in various dancehalls and, at 17, was good enough to make a living from it. He joined Freddie Platt's band.

Aged 19 he moved south to London and joined Jan Ralfini’s band which played jazz mostly. However he had to put his trombone down when the Second World War beckoned. He was called up. Whilst in the armed forces he taught himself orchestration by questioning musicians how best to write for their individual instruments.

After the war he became a freelance trombonist and arranger and started working with the BBC. By the mid-1950s he was working for Philips, Polydor, Polygram and EMI. He arranged Laurie London's gospel song He's Got the Whole World in His Hands. It was his film and television albums which made him famous: Big Western Movie Themes (1969), Big War Movie Themes (1971), Big Suspense Movie Themes (1972), Big Bond Movie Themes (1975.)

He died at age 73 at University College Hospital, Camden, London in 1991. He went along away from this little terraced house.

I’ve got his James Bond Themes and Big War Movie Themes albums and can’t bring myself to chuck them (haven’t got a record player these days.)