chunk_id
stringlengths 5
8
| chunk
stringlengths 1
1k
|
|---|---|
1673_4 | Due to his official duties, Ludwik often represented the magistrate during important ceremonies. Hence on November 29, 1927, he took part with the Bydgoszcz delegation, including Witold Bełza the director of the City Library, to the funerals of Stanisław Przybyszewski.
On September 17, 1928, he participated to an unveiling ceremony of a monument to the Russian soldiers who died during World War I, at the war cemetery in Szubińska street in Bydgoszcz, today the municipal cemetery in Kcyńska street.
On December 21, 1929, Ludwik Regamey, together with a group including General Wiktor Thommée, received Jędrzej Moraczewski, then minister of public works and representatives from the Ministry of Industry and Trade, from the Poznań Voivodeship, diplomats and scholars for a visit of the Jachcice power plant, followed by a banquet at the Pod Orłem hotel. In parallel, Ludwik gave several lectures on city investments. |
1673_5 | In the spring of 1923, Maria Strowska came to Bydgoszcz to organize French courses, as part of an official program carried out by the French government in Pomerania and Greater Poland. Maria's father was Fortunat Strowski, a French academic with Polish origins, a literary historian, essayist and critic lecturer at the Faculté des lettres de Paris. Elegant and energetic, she quickly charmed the inhabitants of Bydgoszcz. |
1673_6 | In the mid-1920s, Regamey separated from Kazimiera who then lived with their daughter in a flat at Jana Zamoyskiego Street. On October 9, 1924, together with his new wife Maria, he moved to the apartment 6 at 3 Cieszkowskiego Street.
Maria Janina, Maria's daughter from her previous marriage, who lived in Switzerland for the first seven years of her life, was later officially adopted by Ludwik.
A month later (November 1924), Maria launched at their home a private preparatory school, the Seine French courses-Institut D’etudes Francaises, which, thanks to his father, presented diplomas signed by professors from Paris University. The success was so unexpected that the house at 3 Cieszkowskiego was not large enough to hold end-of-school celebrations. To mitigate this, she cooperated with the State Industrial School () and used the institution's auditorium, with the help of Franciszek Siemiradzki, the headmaster and also a close friend of Ludwik. |
1673_7 | In May 1933, an article in the weekly Prawda w Oczy stated that the city suffered great financial losses due to the delay of officials in delivering the Jachcice power plant: as a consequence, an investigation began. It quickly turned out that the newspaper completely missed the point; however, the affair cast a shroud of suspicion on Ludwik's position. As a consequence, he resigned on March 31, 1934.
Associative activities
As soon as Ludwik arrived in Bydgoszcz, he championed the creation of an organization representing interests of the displaced citizens from the Kresy: the Union of Poles from the Eastern Borderlands. In August 1921, he became a member of the Polish Intelligentsia Organization, at the cultural committee. In April 1922, he was a member of the Polish Club. |
1673_8 | Ludwik was very impressed with Maria's knowledge and competence. At the time, it was even noticed by Henri Buzenac, the chancellor of the French consulate in Poznań.
However, the break up of Ludwik first marriage was soon blamed upon Maria, who quickly lost the trust of many co-workers and friends, especially those coming from the eastern borderlands. For that reason, she had to resign at the end of 1924, from the direction of the French governmental course program and was replaced by Jadwiga Kalm-Podowska, the wife of Tytus Podoski, counselor of the Bydgoszcz magistrate and Ludwik's friend from his time in Kyiv.
Eventually, Maria Regamey's achievements were recognized by the French government, which awarded her in May 1927, with the Ordre des Palmes académiques. |
1673_9 | In February 1924, the Alliance Francaise society was established in Bydgoszcz, and Ludwik became its first president.
In addition to her private school, Maria additionally set up the Society of Friends of France in Bydgoszcz () in which she was vice-president. |
1673_10 | The Regamey couple worked closely with Les Amis de la Pologne, a French-based association, editing a monthly magazine. Les Amis de ma Pologne chief editor was Rosa Bailly born in Saint-Florent-sur-Cher, a scholar from Paris École normale supérieure. Mrs. Rosa, a great Polish lover, visited several times the Regameys in Bydgoszcz: the first occurrence happened in September 1926. For this occasion, a reception was held at the Pod Orłem hotel, followed by a musical performance with the singer Aurelia Klein-Mierzyńska accompanied by Ludwik Regamey on the piano. The visit included many places of Bydgoszcz, including the French soldiers grave corners from the 1870 German-French war in the Starofarny Cemetery. In March 1929, after another visit to Bydgoszcz the year prior, Les Amis de la Pologne described the newly built power plant, quoting Regamey's engagement to the project. |
1673_11 | Music
Ldudwik Regamey had a solid musical education, since his chilhood. In Bydgoszcz, he generally played the piano, but he also performed on the violin, guitar and cello. His favorite composers were Frédéric Chopin, Bach, Brahms, Mozart.
His artistic debut took place for a specific purpose: he appeared at a banquet of the Borderland Internat at 80 Senatorska street (currently 32 Chodkiewicza street), together with the dentist Idzi Świtała, in February 1921. |
1673_12 | He then began to work earnestly for the creation of the Bydgoszcz Music Society, which happened on May 30, 1922: he chaired the chamber music section.
The association celebrated Karol Szymanowski during a special ceremony on August 12, 1922; Ludwik knew his mother and relatives -living in Bydgoszcz- from his life in Kyiv. His nephew Constantin (the future famous composer) took part in the performance.
The first official concert inaugurating the artistic society took place on December 5, 1922, at the Civil Casino on Gdańska Street.
The association welcomed many musical celebrities, like the violinist Wacław Kochański. |
1673_13 | Besides, Ludwik made individual representations, often following lectures from Witold Bełza, then director of the Municipal Library, related to French music and culture. He performed in different premises of Bydgoszcz (School of Art Industry, Copernicanum, Gymnasium of Humanities), but also
in nearby Toruń where he played with a larger orchestra in the Municipal Theatre.
In November 1927, he organized a concert to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the death of Edvard Grieg. Similarly, he worked out a performance on May 12, 1928, on the occasion of the 40th artistic anniversary of Polish composer Stanisław Niewiadomski.
France
After his resignation as city building counselor, Ludwik moved with his family to Paris in July 1934, at 16, rue Clapeyron in the 8th arrondissement. According to the agreement he had made with Bydgoszcz magistrate before departure, he regularly wrote back articles, describing his active life in Paris. |
1673_14 | In France, he quickly joined the social life of Polish organizations. Henceforth he became in January 1936, the president of the Committee of Polish Societies in Paris, position which added to his other functions:
vice-chairman of the Main Board of the Union of Poles in France;
chairman of the Paris District of the Union of Poles;
chairman of the Polish House in Paris;
permanent delegate of Les Amis de la Pologne Society;
chairman of the Honorary Court of the Society of former Military and Reservists of Paris and Argenteuil. |
1673_15 | As a sign of his growing role in the Polish community, he welcomed in Paris in August 1936, general Edward Rydz-Śmigły then Commander-in-chief of Polish armed forces. He also worked closely with Polish ambassadors in the French capital, Alfred Chłapowski and Juliusz Łukasiewicz. In June 1937, he became the sponsor of the banner of the Polish Combatants association in Troyes, and in December 1938, he sponsored the banner of the Józef Piłsudski-Cultural and Educational Society in Aubervilliers.
In addition to this frantic social activity and his periodic articles for Bydgoszcz, Ludwik tried to provide as many materials as possible documenting his work in France. Furthermore, Maria and himself were translating Polish articles for French magazines such as L'Illustration, Benjamin, Benjamine or Les Amis de la Pologne. |
1673_16 | On her side, Maria translated Polish works and studies into French, among others:
Joseph Pilsudski en Sibérie by Mieczysław Lepecki;
Mineurs de Pologne: des étoiles dans le puits and Six jours by Gustaw Morcinek.
They came back to visit Bydgoszcz several times before the outbreak of WWII. Ludwik's last article relating his French activities was sent out in June 1939.
The Regameys bought two houses in France, in Locmiquel-en-Baden, Brittany and in the Pyrenees mountains. They left Paris in June 1940, when German troops arrived and divided their time between Locmiquel and Toulouse. Their friend Rosa Bailly also stayed in this city during WWII, from where she steered Les Amis de la Pologne activity. Rosa organized as well a great aid campaign in Toulouse for Poles who had fled their occupied country. |
1673_17 | After the war, Maria and Ludwik did not come back to Paris, mainly due to their dire financial situation. While Maria earned money from music lessons, their position gradually improved after the intervention of Regina, Ludwik's first daughter. As a matter of fact, Regina interceded at the beginning of the 1950s upon Polish authorities to have his pensions paid anew. The couple had still visits from their friends, among whom was Count Roman Wodzicki, the Polish consul in Toulouse. |
1673_18 | During the first years of Polish People's Republic, nobody from the Regamey family came from Bydgoszcz. It's only in 1957, after the death of her mother Kazimierza, that Regina visited her father. Two years later, while visiting post-war Poland after WWII break, Rosa Bailly met Regina.
In 1960, Tomasz, Regina's son, had the opportunity to meet his grandfather in Toulouse.
After the death of his second wife Maria, Ludwik moved to a care home. He died on February 8, 1967, in Toulouse's Hopital de Purpan. He was buried in a Toulouse cemetery.
In June 2016, Tomasz Falkowski, Regamey's grandson, handed over to the Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz, recordings of his grandfather's works, including a brilliant performance of Constantin Regamey, Ludwik's nephew.
Family
Ludwik's siblings comprised two brothers -Leon and Konstanty- and one sister, Helena. They all received a thorough musical education. |
1673_19 | Regina, Ludwik's first daughter, passed brilliantly her secondary school at the Municipal Girls' Gymnasium in Bydgoszcz, at the age of sixteen. In September 1933, Regina married Jerzy Morzycki in the Church of St. Michał in Warsaw. Regina was then a student at the university and Dr. Jerzy Morzycki was a Polish bacteriologist-epidemiologist at the National institute for hygiene. Jerzy Morzycki was the brother of Irena Iłłakowicz. Regina had a daughter with him, Ewa (born 1934), before their divorce. From her second marriage with Edward Falkowski, she had a son Tomasz. Regina Regamey died in 2010.
Leon, Ludwik's first brother, moved to Tarnopol, where he taught mathematics and physics at the 3rd Male Gymnasium. Occasionally he contacted his family scattered around Poland. He died in 1944. |
1673_20 | Helena Regamey (1883-1958) married Aleksander Dobrowolski h. Nałęcz (1881-1941). They had two children, Jan and Wanda. They moved to Switzerland after WWII, closing the family journey that her great grandfather started when he left the country in the end of the 19th century. |
1673_21 | Ludwik's younger brother, Konstanty, was born on June 23, 1879. He graduated from the Saint Petersburg Conservatory, where he received lessons from Reinhold Glière, who also taught to young Sergei Prokofiev. He met his future wife Lidia Sławicz at the conservatoire: she was a liberal arts student. Together, they founded the first music school in Kyiv. Konstantin soon became a composer à la mode in the Ukrainian city. The turmoils brought in 1917, by the Russian Revolution and the subsequent Ukrainian War of Independence decided him to leave to Taganrog on the coast of the Sea of Azov. Between 1919 and 1922, Konstanty worked there as a music teacher in the provincial conservatory. At the same time (1917), his wife Lydia fled Kyiv to Warsaw with their son Constantin, establishing permanently their rupture. |
1673_22 | Once back to Kyiv in 1922, Konstanty set up alone another -state approved- music school. In the end, the school merged with the renowned Lysenko music school, where he was a piano teacher. He married his second wife Natalia Alexandrovna, from Zhmerynka, who was one of his student, 22 years younger than him. They had a daughter Svietlana Konstantinovna Regamey, who moved in 1943 to Moscow.
In 1928, the Communist Party of Ukraine exposed the entire personnel of the institution as progressist: although many of his colleagues were fired and jailed, Konstanty was not attacked. The institute was closed by political decree in 1934, creating in its stead two distinct schools, a Theatre Institute and a Conservatoire, where Konstanty kept his piano teaching position. |
1673_23 | He used to accompany some famous singers from his time, such as Mikhail Bocharov, Mykoła Nikołajevitch Filimonow or Dmitri Rewucki. From 1927 to 1932, he took part to concerts directed by Levko Revutsky and broadcast by Kiev national radio channel. |
1673_24 | In July 1936, Konstanty is ordered by the authorities to set up a Polish Folk group. However, the NKVD started simultaneously to arrest members of this ensemble, ending with Konstanty on July 1, 1937. He was sentenced to death by Moscow on January 12, 1938, and executed 8 days later in a Kyiv prison. Eventually his daughter Svietlana asked for and obtained her father's rehabilitation.
Konstanty's son from his first marriage, Constantin (1907-1982) -Ludwik's nephew- became a famous philologist, orientalist, pianist, composer and critic. He worked in the artistic circles in Warsaw in the 1930s, fought with the Polish underground resistance under the pseudonym Czesław Drogowski and left Warsaw during the uprising in October 1944, to Lausanne, Switzerland, where he taught at the university. |
1673_25 | Kazimierza's (Ludwik's first wife) aunt, Kazimiera Spława-Neyman, née Lutosławski, had moved from the Eastern borderlands on the 1920s to Bydgoszcz, with her children, Ludwik's cousins, by an evacuation train. Among them, Jerzy (1894-1981) found a job at the Institutes of Agriculture of Bydgoszcz before resuming his studies at the University of Warsaw in 1924. He eventually became an internationally distinguished Polish mathematician and statistician.
Works
As an engineer
Ludwik Regamey initiated and managed the construction of the power plant in Jachcice in the late 1920s. The district of Jachcice was at the time a rural area in the north-west part of the city, additionally located near the main train station, ideal for the erection of such a facility.
The plant has been supplying the municipal district heating network with hot water for more than 90 years.
As a musician
Ludwik Regamey's musical plays included performances and accompaniments. |
1673_26 | He accompanied among others:
Julia Gorzechowska's recital in 1923 and 1927;
Wacław Kochański's violin performance in 1923;
a concert devoted to French music in 1924;
Witold Bełza's lectures about Frédéric Chopin and French culture and music from 1922. |
1673_27 | He performed (as soloist or as member of an orchestra), in particular:
during a special ceremony to Karol Szymanowski on August 12, 1922;
at the inauguration of Bydgoszcz Music Society on December 5, 1922. The program comprised the Piano Quartet in D minor, Op. 8 by Zygmunt Noskowski;
as head of the chamber section of the Bydgoszcz Music Society;
the Piano Quartets by Beethoven and the Piano Quintet by Brahms on February 21, 1926;
a Piano trio by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart on March 14, 1926;
a Sonata for violin and piano by Beethoven and a Piano trio by Felix Mendelssohn on April 11, 1926;
the Piano Concerto by Grieg on November 30, 1927;
during the concert on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of Stanisław Niewiadomski's career on May 12, 1928.
Gallery
See also
Bydgoszcz
Rosa Bailly
Fortunat Strowski
Constantin Regamey
Jerzy Neyman
List of Polish people
References
External links
90 lat Elektrociepłowni w Bydgoszczy
Alliance Française Bydgoszcz |
1673_28 | Bibliography
1877 births
1967 deaths
Polish activists
People from Bydgoszcz
Polish expatriates in France
20th-century male artists |
1674_0 | Salomon Mikhailovich Flohr (November 21, 1908 – July 18, 1983) was a Czechoslovak and Soviet chess player and writer. He was among the first recipients of the title International Grandmaster from FIDE in 1950. Flohr dominated many tournaments of the pre-World War II years, and by the late 1930s was considered a contender for the World Championship. However, his patient, positional style was overtaken by the sharper, more tactical methods of the younger Soviet echelon after World War II.
Early life
Flohr had a troubled childhood beset by personal crises. He was born in a Jewish family in Horodenka in what was then Galicia, Austria-Hungary (now in Ukraine). He and his brother were orphaned during World War I after their parents were killed in a massacre, and they fled to the newly formed nation of Czechoslovakia. |
1674_1 | Flohr settled in Prague, gradually acquiring a reputation as a skilled chess player by playing for stakes in the city's many cafés. During 1924, he participated in simultaneous exhibitions by Richard Réti and Rudolf Spielmann, and he was still giving displays well into his seventies.
Early successes
Flohr won the Kautsky Memorial tournaments of 1928 and 1929 which were held in Prague, and made his international debut at the Rohitsch-Sauerbrunn (Rogaška Slatina) tournament in Slovenia, where he finished second to Akiba Rubinstein in the latter's final success. Flohr had also taken a job as a chess journalist; one of his first assignments was to cover the 1928 Berlin tournament, during which he continued to win money on the side by playing chess.
World title contender |
1674_2 | Flohr's playing ability peaked in the mid-1930s, when he became one of the world's strongest players and a leading contender for the World Championship. He became champion of Czechoslovakia in 1933 and 1936 and played in many tournaments throughout Europe, generally finishing amongst the top three. Notable victories were at Bad Sliač in 1932, where he shared first place with Milan Vidmar; Scheveningen in 1933; Bad Liebenwerda in 1934 with 9½/11; Barcelona in 1935 where he tied for first with George Koltanowski; Moscow 1935 where he tied for first place with future World Champion Mikhail Botvinnik; Poděbrady in 1936 with the score of +10 −1 =6; and Kemeri in 1937 where he shared the top spot with Vladimir Petrov and Samuel Reshevsky. During this period, he had several other notable high finishes, such as Bern 1932 (tied for second with 11½/15, after World Champion Alexander Alekhine); Zürich 1934 (tied for second with 12/15, again trailing Alekhine); and Pärnu 1937 (second behind Paul |
1674_3 | Felix Schmidt). |
1674_4 | Flohr also frequently visited England, regularly playing in the Hastings tournaments of the 1930s. He finished first in 1931/32, 1932/33 and 1933/34, he finished in a tie for first place with Max Euwe and Sir George Thomas in 1934/35, and he was second behind only Reuben Fine in 1935/36. He also won the Margate tournament of 1936 ahead of former World Champion José Raúl Capablanca.
Flohr became a national hero in Czechoslovakia during the 1930s. His name was used to sell many of the luxury products of the time, including Salo Flohr cigarettes, slippers and eau-de-cologne. |
1674_5 | Excels in Chess Olympiads
His form for his adopted country in the Chess Olympiads was equally impressive, according to the comprehensive Olympiad site olimpbase.org. He made his debut at Hamburg 1930 on board one, scoring 14½/17 for the silver medal. On home soil at Prague 1931, again on board one, he scored 11/18, and led Czechoslovakia to a team bronze medal. At Folkestone 1933, he again played board one, scored 9/14, helped Czechoslovakia win the team silver medal, and earned a bronze medal for himself. At Warsaw 1935, on board one he scored an undefeated 13/17 for another individual gold medal, and Czechoslovakia finished fifth. Then at Stockholm 1937, once again on board one, he scored 12½/16 for a third individual gold medal. In five Olympiads, he won two individual gold medals, a silver and a bronze. His aggregate was 60/82, for a 73% score against the top players in the world. |
1674_6 | Match results
Flohr enjoyed a fair amount of success in match play. He played matches with two of his main rivals for the right to challenge reigning champion Alexander Alekhine. He tied a 16-game match against Euwe in 1932 (+3 −3 =10), and he tied a match against Botvinnik in 1933 (+2 −2 =8). Flohr beat Gösta Stoltz by 5½–2½ in 1931, and a year later he beat Mir Sultan Khan, the 1932 and 1933 British Champion, by 3½–2½. Flohr also defeated Johannes van den Bosch at The Hague in 1932 by 6–2. In 1933, he won two matches in Switzerland, first over Oskar Naegeli by 4–2 at Bern, and then by 4½–1½ over Henri Grob at Arosa.
Official challenger, war years |
1674_7 | Flohr had married in 1935. By 1937, FIDE had nominated him as the official candidate to play Alekhine for the World Championship. However, with World War II looming, it proved impossible for Flohr to raise the stake money in Czechoslovakia, so the plans were dropped. The next year, Flohr was one of the eight elite players invited to the great AVRO tournament of November 1938. He finished last, and this put an end to his chances of a World Championship match with Alekhine. AVRO may have been the only time in chess history when the top eight players in the world contested an important tournament. |
1674_8 | While AVRO was a strong tournament and Flohr's last-placed finish was no disgrace, his result may also be explained by his difficult personal circumstances at the time. The German invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1938 had left Flohr, as a Polish-Ukrainian Jew, in grave personal danger. Flohr remained in the Netherlands in early 1939, playing in several small events. He tied for first place in Amsterdam KNSB with Max Euwe and László Szabó at 3½/5. He tied third/fourth place in Amsterdam VARA with 3/5, as Euwe and Salo Landau won. He won Baarn I with 2½/3. Then, he and his family fled, first to Sweden, and then to Moscow with the help of his friend Botvinnik. While in Sweden, he tied for first place at Gothenburg with Rudolf Spielmann with 10 points out of 11.
Soviet citizen, recovers form |
1674_9 | Flohr was able to recover his form after reaching safety in Moscow. He won Kemeri 1939 with a score of 12/15. He also captured the strong 1939 Leningrad/Moscow tournament with 12/17. He tied for second place at Margate 1939 with 6½/9 behind only Paul Keres. He then tied for second at Bournemouth 1939 with 8½/11, behind only former World Champion Euwe. |
1674_10 | Flohr did not play in any official strong Soviet events from 1940–42. He did lose a 1942 match to Vladimir Makogonov in Baku by 2–0. He became a naturalized Soviet citizen in 1942, and developed his writing career in his new country, contributing articles to a number of Soviet newspapers and magazines, including Ogonek. As the Soviet Union first stopped then reversed the Axis invasion, some chess activity started up again, and in 1943 Flohr won a small but strong tournament in Baku. In 1944 he was again victorious in a Bolshevik Society tournament at Kiev, tied with Alexei Sokolsky. He withdrew from the 1945 USSR Championship after only three games. |
1674_11 | After the War, he was still a contender for a possible World Championship match, and finished 6th at the 1948 Interzonal in Saltsjöbaden, thereby qualifying to play in the 1950 Candidates Tournament in Budapest. However, he finished joint last with 7 out of 18, and never entered the World Championship cycle again, preferring to concentrate on journalism. He also developed a role as a chess organiser. He did play periodically at high levels, both within the Soviet Union and abroad, with some success, until the late 1960s. He was awarded the title of International Arbiter in 1963.
Salo Flohr died in Moscow on July 18, 1983.
Achievements and legacy |
1674_12 | Flohr was one of Czechoslovakia's greatest chess players ever and proved virtually invincible at the Olympiads of the 1930s. His tournament record was impressive, with his tactical skill and excellent endgame technique securing him many famous victories. FIDE awarded him the International Grandmaster title on its inaugural list in 1950. He made a number of important contributions to opening theory: a 'Flohr variation' can be found in no fewer than six major openings, including the Caro–Kann Defence, the Ruy Lopez, the English Opening, and the Grünfeld Defence. The Flohr–Zaitsev Variation of the Closed Ruy Lopez (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.h3 Bb7 10.d4 Re8) was taken up in the 1980s with success by World Champion Anatoly Karpov. |
1674_13 | Flohr was primarily a strategist who excelled in the endgame. He favoured the closed game with White, and during the prime of his career, he was especially deadly with the Queen's Gambit, as the game selection shows. Flohr almost never opened with 1.e4. He was one of the main developers of the Caro–Kann, which was an obscure and poorly regarded line as late as the 1920s when Flohr took it up. |
1674_14 | The Second World War killed off any chance he had of winning the world title, and the stress of becoming a refugee for the second time in his life affected his style of play. He became a much more cautious player in his post-war games and earned a drawish reputation, with many short draws which were hardly contested. Players such as Vasily Smyslov, David Bronstein, Isaac Boleslavsky, Paul Keres, Alexander Kotov, Tigran Petrosian, Efim Geller, Mark Taimanov, Yuri Averbakh, Boris Spassky, Mikhail Tal, Viktor Korchnoi, and Leonid Stein dominated the landscape with their sharper styles and innovative openings.
Flohr was never able to defeat Alekhine head-to-head, losing five games and drawing seven in their 12 encounters. Alekhine had a sharp, tactical style, and he could also play outstanding positional chess. |
1674_15 | According to the site Chessmetrics.com, which compares historical ratings, Flohr was among the world's top 20 players from 1930 to 1951, except for the war years 1942–44 when he was largely inactive; and his ranking peaked at No. 2 in the world in 1935. |
1674_16 | Notable games
Salo Flohr vs Max Euwe, Amsterdam / Karlsbad match 1932, Queen's Gambit, Exchange Variation (D36), 1–0 Virtually perfect game by White showing optimal strategy in this variation.
Mikhail Botvinnik vs Salo Flohr, Leningrad / Moscow match 1933, Caro–Kann Defence, Panov–Botvinnik Attack (B13), 0–1 Botvinnik adopts his favourite line, but has to concede defeat.
Salo Flohr vs Isaac Kashdan, Folkestone Olympiad 1933, English Opening, Flohr–Mikenas Attack (A18), 1–0 Flohr adopts one of the lines which will eventually bear his name, with good success here.
Salo Flohr vs Paul Keres, Warsaw Olympiad 1935, Queen's Gambit Declined, Exchange Variation (D37), 1–0 Keres was the 19-year-old new star making his international debut, but he is out of his league here. |
1674_17 | Salo Flohr vs J.R. Capablanca, Nottingham 1936, Queen's Gambit Declined, Tartakower Variation (D59), 1–0 Even the phenomenal Capablanca, former World Champion and joint winner of Nottingham, can't defend against Flohr's Queen's Gambit.
Salo Flohr vs Emanuel Lasker, Moscow 1936, Reti Opening (A06), 1–0 Solid positional performance in one of the fashionable hypermodern variations.
David Bronstein vs Salo Flohr, USSR Championship, Moscow 1944, Ruy Lopez, Open Variation (C82), 0–1 The 20-year-old Bronstein was making his debut at the top Soviet level, but learns a lesson here.
Salo Flohr vs Tigran Petrosian, USSR Championship, Moscow 1949, Old Indian Defence (A54), 1–0 The 20-year-old Petrosian was making his debut at the top Soviet level, and learns a positional lesson.
Salo Flohr vs Efim Geller, USSR Championship, Moscow 1950, Reti Opening (A05), 1–0 Another young Master learns that the veteran Flohr still packs a punch. |
1674_18 | Leonid Stein vs Salo Flohr, Ukrainian Championship, Kiev 1957, Caro–Kann Defence, Flohr–Smyslov Modern Variation (B17), 0–1 Another smooth positional massage from the Master of the 'Roach'.
Salo Flohr vs Bent Larsen, Noordwijk 1965, Sicilian Defence, Accelerated Dragon Variation (B39), 1–0 Flohr takes off one of the Candidates of that time in his last great victory. |
1674_19 | Writings and further reading
12th Chess Tournament of Nations [Moscow 1956 Olympiad], by Salomon Flohr, Moscow, Fiskultura i Sport, 1957 (Russian).
Salo Flohr's Best Games of Chess, by Salomon Flohr (translated from the Russian by Gregory S. Donges), Davenport, Iowa, Thinker's Press, 1985, .
Grandmaster Flohr, by Viktor D. Baturinsky (Hg), Moscow, Fiskultura i Sport, 1985 (Russian).
Salo Flohr und das Schachleben in der Tschechoslawakei, by Helmut Wieteck, Hamburg, Neu-Jung Verlag, 2005, (German).
See also
List of Jewish chess players
References
External links
Film newsreel about a simultaneous display of Salo Flohr and Mikhail Botvinnik, Hilversum (NL), 1 January 1964 |
1674_20 | 1908 births
1983 deaths
People from Horodenka
Ukrainian Jews
Austro-Hungarian Jews
Chess grandmasters
Chess Olympiad competitors
Czech chess players
Chess arbiters
Czechoslovak emigrants to the Soviet Union
Czech Jews
Czechoslovak refugees
Chess theoreticians
Chess writers
Jews from Galicia (Eastern Europe)
Jewish chess players
Jews who emigrated to escape Nazism
Soviet chess players
Soviet Jews
Soviet people of Czech descent
20th-century chess players |
1675_0 | Lynsey de Paul (born Lyndsey Monckton Rubin; 11 June 1948 – 1 October 2014) was a pioneering English singer-songwriter and producer. After initially writing hits for others, she had her own chart hits in the UK and Europe in the 1970s, starting with UK top 10 single "Sugar Me", and became the first British female artist to achieve a number one with a self-written song (in 1972 in Belgium, Spain and The Netherlands). She represented the UK in the 1977 Eurovision Song Contest, scoring another chart-topping hit in Switzerland and had a successful career as a two-time Ivor Novello Award-winning composer, record producer, actress and television celebrity. |
1675_1 | Early life
Lyndsey Monckton Rubin was born to Meta (née de Groot) and Herbert Rubin, a property developer. They were a Jewish family with a Dutch, Austrian and German background, and had one other child, John (b.1944). She studied classical music with a tutor from the Royal Academy of Music. De Paul later claimed that she and her brother suffered physical abuse at the hands of their father. She attended South Hampstead High School followed by Hornsey College of Art, now part of Middlesex University. In one incident as a student aged 19, de Paul was concussed for two days following a fight with her violent father, prompting her to leave her comfortable family home for a two roomed flat above an Indian restaurant near her College.
Career |
1675_2 | Early song writing
Three of de Paul's earliest songs were co-written with Don Gould (formerly a member of The Applejacks (British band)) and recorded by Oliver! performer Jack Wild: "Takin' It Easy" and "Bring Yourself Back To Me" from the album Everything's Coming Up Roses, which was released in 1971. "Bring Yourself Back To Me" was also the B-side to Wild's 1971 US single "(Holy Moses!) Everything's Coming Up Roses". Another song co-penned by her, this time with Edward Adamberry, called "E.O.I.O.", was recorded by Wild as a track on his 1972 album A Beautiful World, and also released as a single by The Beads as well as an album track "Io...Aio (EEO-EIO)" by the Italian group Domodossola (band) on their album "D... Come Domodossola". |
1675_3 | After these initial successes, she was contracted to ATV-Kirshner music publishing (now Sony Music Publishing) by Eddie Levy when she was 18 years old. ATV Music was located above the Peter Robinson's store on Oxford Street, where she joined a group of professional songwriters that included Barry Blue (at that time known as Barry Green) and Ron Roker (later to become Barry's brother-in-law), resulting in revenues from songs recorded by other artists. One of their earliest songs (and the only song where all three collaborated) was "Sugarloaf Hill", recorded by the reggae artist, Del Davis and finally released on the CD "Trojan Carnival Box Set" in 2003 under the Trojan Box set series Trojan Box Set series |
1675_4 | Her first major breakthrough came early in 1972 as the co-writer (with Ron Roker) of the Fortunes' Top 10 UK hit "Storm in a Teacup". De Paul performed the song the same year on the BBC's The Two Ronnies. Canadian singer Ginette Reno recorded a French language version of the song ("Dans la vie, tout s'arrange") which reached No. 2 on the French-Canadian Top 10. Around this time, she also had chart success in Malaysia and the Netherlands as the writer of "On the Ride (You Do It Once, You Do It Twice)", a Top 30 hit by the Continental Uptight Band, and also "When You've Gotta Go", an Australian chart hit recorded and released by Solomon King. All three songs credited her as 'L. Rubin'. Other notable songs from this period included "Papa Do", which was released by Barry Green as a single, and made the lower reaches of the French singles chart, as well as "Crossword Puzzle", also co-penned with Barry Green and which led to an appearance on Top of the Pops and "Saturday Variety" for the |
1675_5 | Irish singer Dana. "Crossword Puzzle" peaked at no. 2 on the Bangkok singles chart. De Paul's own versions of both of these two songs would later be found as tracks on her debut album, Surprise. "Boomerang", the B-side to "Papa Do" and another de Paul/Blue collaboration was released as a single in the UK by "The Young Generation", a group of dancers and singers recruited by Dougie Squires and they performed it on their BBC prime time TV show while a French version was also released by "Jane and Julie". In an interview with Cashbox (magazine), in early 1972, Don Kirshner said "We are looking for another Carole King. We think we found her in Lynsey Rubin." |
1675_6 | Early 1970s
Although she had recorded demo versions of her songs. De Paul was initially a reluctant performer. She wrote the song "Sugar Me" for Peter Noone, but her boyfriend at the time, Dudley Moore, suggested that she take a demo version to Gordon Mills, who urged her to record it herself and release it on his MAM record label. Explaining her change of name from Rubin, she said: "There had just been the massacre of Jewish athletes at the Munich Olympics and I was told that it would be better not to have an obviously Jewish name. For my stage name I took De from my mother’s maiden name, De Groot, and my father’s middle name was Paul”. Released as a single on the MAM Records label, "Sugar Me" rapidly reached the Top 10 of the UK Singles Chart, as well as the top of the singles charts in the Netherlands, Spain and Belgium. The arrangement featured a distinctive piano counter-melody motif as well as Hammond organ backing, a violin solo a and a distinctive whip-crack. |
1675_7 | This was the start of de Paul's becoming a regular British chart and TV fixture over the next five years. Her follow-up single to "Sugar Me" was "Getting a Drag", which reached the UK top 20, as well as being a hit in the official German singles chart. She appeared on the first episode of the German music show Musikladen on 13 December 1972, where she performed her two German hit singles "Sugar Me" and "Getting a Drag", as well as a few weeks later performing "Doctor, Doctor", which would appear on her debut album a few months later. She was listed as the best female artist of 1972 by Record Mirror, female performer of the year by Radio Luxembourg as well as the third best female singer in the 1973 New Musical Express (NME) music poll. |
1675_8 | In March 1973, her first album, Surprise, was released on the MAM label. As well as writing or co-writing all of the songs on Surprise, de Paul was also the producer for all of the tracks. In his 2015 autobiography, label mate Tom Jones wrote: "We had Lynsey de Paul, a big star, though she fell out with Gordon (Mills) for wanting to produce her own records". Later that year, after "All Night", her third single, co-written with Ron Roker and released on the MAM label, failed to chart in the UK, de Paul returned to the UK Top 20 with "Won't Somebody Dance With Me", which was also a hit in Ireland and the Netherlands and covered in the USA. According to an interview with Michael Robson, featured in the liner notes to "Sugar and Beyond", de Paul had to fight hard to get this single released - indeed she would have preferred it in place of "All Night" and also to keep the long closing instrumental part of the song. She was vindicated since it was a chart hit and she was presented with an |
1675_9 | Ivor Novello Award for the song, the first woman to do so. The BBC Radio 1 disc jockey Ed Stewart spoke the words "May I Have The Pleasure of This Dance" near the end of the record (he often played the record on his Junior Choice programme on Saturday mornings) although Tony Blackburn and Dave Lee Travis spoke these words when she appeared on BBC Television's Top of the Pops. De Paul performed the song on the 500th edition special on 4 October 1973, which was the date of the release of the single. The flip side of "Won't Somebody Dance With Me" was "So Good To You", a song covered by Lenny Zakatek on the B-side of his single "I Gotcha Now". "I Gotcha Now" was also written by de Paul, originally for Slade. In Japan, "So Good To You" was released as the A-side with "Won't Somebody Dance With Me" being relegated to the B-side. Another song co-written by de Paul, "Today Gluggo, Tomorrow The World", was the B-side of "Don't You Let It Bring You Down" by the Spencer Davis Group, as well as |
1675_10 | an album track on their 1973 Gluggo. |
1675_11 | De Paul recorded the female lyric to Mott the Hoople's album track version of "Roll Away the Stone", but the female trio Thunderthighs appeared on the hit single version of the song. De Paul was also credited for backing vocals on a second track on the album The Hoople called "Alice". In 1973, when Mick Ralphs left Mott the Hoople, his replacement Luther Grosvenor was contractually obliged to change his name – de Paul suggested Ariel Bender. In February 1974, de Paul was voted top female singer in the UK music weekly Disc Readers Awards Poll, while David Bowie was voted top male singer and Slade the top group. After appointing Don Arden her new manager at the end of 1973, in part because her former manager Harold Davison fell ill earlier that year, de Paul released "Ooh I Do" in May 1974, which hit the charts in the UK, Belgium, Netherlands, Brazil and Japan. The song's co-writer, Barry Blue, also recorded a version of the song as an album track with different lyrics for the verses. |
1675_12 | De Paul also wrote her first TV theme tune ("Pilger theme") for Pilger where journalist, John Pilger, examined various political issues at the time (1974-1977) in a series of 25 minute documentaries. Another theme song, this time co-written with Barry Blue, was recorded and released as a single by the UK group, Rain, featuring Stephanie de Sykes as the vocalist. The song, "Golden Day", released as a single on 12 July 1974, was used as the theme for the TV game show The Golden Shot. |
1675_13 | A second Ivor Novello Award followed a year later for "No Honestly", which was also the theme tune to a hit ITV comedy No, Honestly, and provided her with another UK Top 10 hit. The B-side to this single was de Paul's version of "Central Park Arrest", the song she had written for Thunderthighs and which had provided them with a Top 30 UK hit single a few months earlier. The TV series No Honestly was followed by Yes Honestly, and although Georgie Fame wrote and performed the theme tune to the first series of Yes Honestly, an instrumental version of de Paul's "No Honestly" was chosen as the theme for the second series. "No Honestly" was the first release on the newly formed Jet Records, established by Don Arden. She also wrote the second single that was released on the label, a song called "My One and Only" by UK female singing trio Bones. Her second album, Taste Me... Don't Waste Me, was the first album release on Jet Records and was her favourite of all her albums. De Paul continued |
1675_14 | to release a number of singles through the mid-1970s, including the UK hit "My Man and Me", which she performed an acoustic version of on The Old Grey Whistle Test, along with "Rhythm and Blue Jean Baby", "Love Bomb" and "If I Don't Get You The Next One Will". |
1675_15 | De Paul also continued to write songs for a wide range of recording artists. In a five-year period (1972–77), she wrote a total of fourteen UK Singles Chart hits, most notably the Carl Allan award-winning song "Dancin' (on a Saturday Night)" which was a hit for co-writer Barry Blue, as well as Flash Cadillac and the Canadian group Bond. More hit singles co-written with Blue and performed by him followed, including "School Love", "Miss Hit and Run" and "Hot Shot" They finally released a duet at the end of 1975, the festive "Happy Christmas To You From Me", which was co-written by the duo. The song received favourable reviews and continues to receive plays over the years. Other notable songs co-written by de Paul and Blue include "Tip of My Tongue" which was a radio hit for the British group "Brotherly Love" as well as female vocal trio "Ellie" (aka The Hope Sisters who would later become Liquid Gold) and "House of Cards" recorded by a number of artists including John Christie, |
1675_16 | Australian artist, Rob Guest, and the D.J. Tony Blackburn. De Paul's songs have reached the charts in many territories, including the US, Japan, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Switzerland, Belgium, Austria, Sweden, Norway, Ireland, Israel, Canada and Australia. She also performed producing and arranging duties on many of these recordings. |
1675_17 | Her third album, Love Bomb, was released on Jet Records in 1975. Whereas the title track was released as a single in most territories, in the US and Japan the track "Sugar Shuffle" was released as a single. Later, in 1984, Japanese singer Asami Kobayashi released a cover version of "Sugar Shuffle" on her album Cryptograph. The cover for the Love Bomb album was photographed by Brian Aris but she was also photographed that year by Terry O'Neill. De Paul was voted best female singer in a poll by the readers of the weekly music newspaper Record Mirror & Disc for the third year in a row in February 1976. |
1675_18 | In April 1976, she appeared with Sacha Distel (who had, together with Petula Clark, recorded a version of "Taking It On", composed by de Paul and Ron Roker in 1973) and Marti Caine at the London Palladium. Later that year she was the recipient of the 'Woman of the Year Award For Music' from the Variety Club of Great Britain. Management problems with Don Arden, however, made this a difficult time for de Paul and her third album for Jet Records, Before You Go Tonight, was shelved as the two parted ways shortly after the release of "If I Don't Get You The Next One Will", her last single of the Jet Records label. Nevertheless, that year she recorded the only cover song of her recording career, the Lennon–McCartney song "Because" that appeared on the soundtrack to the movie All This and World War II. The song appeared on a double album released in 1976 to tie in with the film. The album charted in the US, the UK and the Netherlands, and was re-released as The Beatles and World War II on CD |
1675_19 | in July 2016. That same year she co-wrote the song "Don't You Remember When" for Dame Vera Lynn, after guesting on her show and being impressed by the length of time for which Lynn could hold a single note - the song features a long |
1675_20 | sustained note at the very end. "Don't You Remember When" was released as a single on the EMI label in February 1976 and de Paul was also the producer as well as sang backing vocals. Another notable guest was ex-Beatle Ringo Starr, who played the tambourine. De Paul also wrote and performed the theme song for "A Divorce", a series of three plays by Fanny Galleymore starring Julia Foster, Polly James and Michael Kitchen for the BBC that was also broadcast on German TV. De Paul also performed her song "Funny How Things Can Change" in one of the episodes. De Paul was one of the guests at the UK premiere of The Song Remains the Same by Led Zeppelin at Warner West End Cinema, London on 4 November 1976. On 22 December that year, de Paul attended a charity dinner hosted by Prince Charles, that was also attended by Elton John and Gary Glitter. De Paul and John played Christmas carols on the piano for the Prince. |
1675_21 | Eurovision and the late 1970s |
1675_22 | "Rock Bottom", which she wrote with Mike Moran originally for Blue Mink, was chosen as the UK entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1977 and released on Polydor. The duo also wrote and performed the B-side, the amusing "You Shouldn't Say That". De Paul made history by being the first female to perform her own composition at the Eurovision Song Contest. As she later explained, as well as being an honour, taking part in Eurovision was a way to circumvent the legal wrangles that were preventing her from signing to a new record label. Although it was the favourite to win, it came second in the Eurovision Song Contest and went on to become a Top 20 hit in many European countries including France, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, where it reached the top of their singles chart. It was the 15th best selling single of 1977 in Switzerland and the 32nd best selling single in Germany. The Eurovision experience resulted in a formal offer to stand as a liberal parliamentary candidate by chief |
1675_23 | party whip John Pardoe. "It started when I shot my mouth off over the strike of BBC cameramen that threatened to black out the song contest in England", she recalled. Pardoe, deputy leader of the Liberal Party (UK), invited her to tea at the House of Commons and suggested that she run for a seat in Parliament. That year she also joined the Council of the Songwriters Guild of Great Britain, the only woman on the council at that time. |
1675_24 | Together with Moran, de Paul subsequently wrote other songs, notably "Let Your Body Go Downtown" (1977) for the Martyn Ford Orchestra, a No. 38 UK chart hit that Ford and his Orchestra performed on Top of the Pops; and the follow-up non-album single "Going to a Disco", credited solely to Martyn Ford as well as the songs "Without You", and "Now and Then", which appeared on the albums Tigers and Fireflies and Just a Little Time, respectively. |
1675_25 | Beach Boys member Bruce Johnston released his version of "Won't Somebody Dance With Me" on his 1977 solo album Going Public, as did Lena Zavaroni on her 1977 album Presenting Lena Zavaroni. The song was also featured in the 1978 film The Big Sleep, a remake of the American classic featuring Robert Mitchum, Joan Collins, Edward Fox, John Mills and directed by Michael Winner. The character Mona Grant, played by Diana Quick, actually sings the song. "Won't Somebody Dance With Me" was also featured in The Muppet Show, sung by Gonzo (Season Two, Episode 41 with Julie Andrews) as well as in The New Mickey Mouse Club performed by Lisa Whelchel. |
1675_26 | De Paul released a further single "You Give Me Those Feelings" in August 1977. The song was also recorded by Grace Rivera as a track on her 1978 album Gracie Ann Rivera. In 1977, de Paul also wrote and performed the theme music for the revival by London Weekend Television of the sitcom, The Rag Trade (1977), with the song "The Rag Trade" performed by Joan Brown. That same year she composed "Hi Summer", the title of an ITV variety show, performed by Carl Wayne and released as a single. In addition to songs composed by her serving as the themes of nine prime-time UK television series, de Paul's songs have been featured in internationally released films such as The Big Sleep, The Long Good Friday, Anita and Me, Side by Side, Aces Go Places, American Swing, Northern Soul, Fraulein Phylllis and Cut Snake. |
1675_27 | Just over a year after the release of "You Give Me Those Feelings", de Paul released her next single "Hollywood Romance", probably inspired by her then recent move to California; the lyric is a playful homage to some of Hollywood's classic films. The single garnered radio play and was also covered by Lena Zavaroni on her TV show. It was a teaser and track on the 1979 album Tigers and Fireflies, which was produced by Rupert Holmes. Justin de Villeneuve was Lynsey's manager at the time and the album was recorded at Long View Farm. A second single, "Tigers and Fireflies", released in 1979 and lifted from the album, told of de Paul's experiences with various former managers. Holmes and de Paul co-wrote the song "Twas", which also appeared on Tigers and Fireflies. |
1675_28 | 1980s |
1675_29 | After a four-year period in California in the late 1970s and early 1980s with her partner at the time, actor James Coburn, whom she met at a party thrown by Joan Collins de Paul returned to England. Although she only released one self-composed solo single, "Strange Changes", in the 1980s, it made the UK disco chart, published in the music magazine Record Mirror, and resulted in prime time TV appearances in the UK and Germany. She co-wrote with Terry Britten "A Little TLC", which was covered by Sam Hui as "心思思" with Cantonese lyrics and it was awarded an RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs Award in Hong Kong in 1986. Other versions of this song were recorded by Latino boy band Menudo, with lead vocals by Ricky Martin as a track on their 1988 album Sons of Rock; as well as Japan based Filipina soul singer Marlene as a track on her album Looking for Love; and also featured in the US children's television programme, Kidd Video. De Paul later released her own version of the song on her website music |
1675_30 | store. Her song "Brandy", which had been the B-side of the single "Getting a Drag" was released by Japanese singer Miki Asakura on her 1981 album "Sexy Elegance" with new lyrics and the title "Friday Night". Whilst continuing to write songs for artists as diverse as Shirley Bassey ("There's No Place Like London"), funk/soul band Heatwave, Marti Webb (both recording the song "All I Am") and the Real Thing ("We Got Love"), de Paul also branched out into record production, acting in musicals and plays, interviewing and TV presentation and drawing cartoons. She also continued to compose TV themes, including for the BBC's 1981 comedy series The Olympian Way and in 1988 the long-running Esther Rantzen programme Hearts of Gold. |
1675_31 | De Paul was a celebrity participant in the TV show "Christmas Star Games", a Thames television production shown on ITV on 26 December 1980. In 1982, she hosted a Sunday morning radio show on Capital Radio (now Capital London) to promote new talent in the music business. The show included selected examples of the many demonstration tapes received by the station from London's vast popular music-making population over the years. Eduard Parma Jnr. a musician from the Czech Republic, was selected as the winner of a contest on de Paul's show with his own quirky song "King Kong in Hong Kong" and it was released as a single, which became a hit in his native country. It was widely played at London discos, in particular at the Empire, Leicester Square by DJ Roy Kelly. |
1675_32 | In 1982, De Paul made her acting debut onstage in Iain Blair’s thriller Shriek! at the Churchill Theatre, Bromley and, in the following year, on television in Granada's The Starlight Ballroom, when she played the lead female character, alongside Alvin Stardust. Her first panto appearance was as "Cinderella's Star Night" where de Paul played Cinderella and Joanna Lumley playing Prince Charming as part of an all-star cast to raise funds for The Bobath Centre held at the Prince Edward Theatre, London, on 31 January 1982. The script was written by a number of writers including Michael Frayn, Jack Rosenthal and John Cleese with the epilogue provided by Alan Ayckbourn and narrated by Ian McKellen and also featured Joanna Lumley, Nigel Havers and Helen Mirren. De Paul also appeared in Aladdin at the Shaftesbury Theatre in 1983 and Jack and the Beanstalk (Oxford Playhouse, 1989). She also appeared as the character Prudie in Pump Boys and Dinettes (Piccadilly Theatre, 1985). |
1675_33 | In 1983, de Paul orchestrated, played, and produced two classical records of compositions by Handel and Bach for Deutsche Grammophon and released "Air on a Heart String" backed with "Arrival of the Queen" with panflautist Horea Crishan. During this period, de Paul began composing and performing songs for children. This included work for the Channel Tunnel Group, which involved writing and producing an album of children's songs with an accompanying song colouring book for Eurotunnel's mascot, entitled Marcus The Mole, as well as film music for the children's film Gabrielle and the Doodleman, in which she had a starring role as an actress. That same year, she also appeared with Carl Davis in a specially commissioned film "What Price Music?" for the Performing Rights Society (PRS) explaining how the PRS looks after its 15,000 members as well as almost half a million affiliated members worldwide. |
1675_34 | De Paul also composed jingles for radio stations including Capital Radio. In 1983, she appeared at the Conservative Party conference with DJ Kenny Everett and film producer Michael Winner, where she sang a song she had composed especially for the occasion: "Vote Tory, Tory, Tory/For election glory". She was the subject of the first episode of a TV series about female singers called "Ladybirds", directed by Bryan Izzard. As well as being interviewed about her music and life, she played some of her most famous compositions, as well as a solo version of "Arrival of the Queen of Sheba" on a London roof top overlooking St Paul's Cathedral. Some years later, her version of this song would later become the theme song for a German TV programme. |
1675_35 | De Paul was the special guest of the day on "Good Morning Britain: with Nick Owen and Anne Diamond" on 17th February, 1984. On 19 November 1984, de Paul was honoured to be one of the performers at the Royal Variety Performance in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II as well as the Queen Mother and the Prince and Princess of Wales and Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones at the Victoria Palace Theatre. The complete show was aired on BBC One.
In 1985, she was a judge on the television talent show New Faces and also on "Sky Star Search" as well as a regular panellist on the television shows Call My Bluff, Punchlines and Blankety Blank. She hosted television shows such as Club Vegetarian, Shopper's Heaven, Eat Drink & Be Healthy, Women of Substance, The Vinyl Frontier and 15 episodes of Living Room Legends, which featured home videos. On 21 April 1989, she was a special guest and performed songs during RTÉ Television coverage of the first People in Need Trust Telethon. |
1675_36 | In 1986, she appeared on Spanish TV as a guest on the Àngel Casas Show singing two of her 1980s compositions "Suspicion" and "Words Don't Mean a Thing" as well as her Spanish number 1 hit single "Sugar Me". A year later, de Paul was back on UK television singing "Take Back Your Heartaches" (co-written by Gerard Kenny - his own version appeared on the 1995 album An Evening With Gerard Kenny Live) and "Words Don't Mean a Thing". That year, de Paul took part in two days of music and fun on July 5 and 6 at the Royal Academy of Music in aid of its international appeal |
1675_37 | 1990s |
1675_38 | In January 1991, de Paul (along with Midge Ure and Justin Hayward) was elected to BASCA's decision making council. De Paul was a member of the judging panel for the U.K. 1992 "Song For Europe" entry, the only woman on the 13 member panel. That year, de Paul returned to the public spotlight in a different role in 1992 when she released a self-defence video for women called Taking Control. As well as starring in the video, both as the presenter and demonstrator of self-defence techniques, she co-wrote and was the producer for the theme song and incidental music with Ian Lynn. Brian Mackenzie, Baron Mackenzie of Framwellgate, former president of the Police Association, endorsed it by saying: "It is a very positive contribution to crime prevention and the protection of women and I will be recommending it". She also presented a documentary about women's self-defence, called Eve Fights Back, which won a Royal Television Society award. A book based on the programme and video written by de |
1675_39 | Paul and Clare McCormick with the title Taking Control: Basic Mental & Physical Self Defence for Women, was published by Boxtree in 1993. In 2006, an updated DVD of her self-defence training programme, Taking Control: Simple Mental & Physical Self Defence for Women, was released and featured on television (The Wright Stuff) and in the media. The programme showed the importance of self-defence for women, and she approached schools and universities to include the DVD in the curriculum. It was also released in Germany, with the title Selbstverteidigung für Frauen: Das komplette Trainingsprogramm dubbed in German. |
1675_40 | That same year, music magazine "Rock Compact Disc Magazine" published by Northern & Shell PLC, listed the de Paul MAM 1970's compilation album Lynsey Sings aka The World of Lynsey de Paul (comprising tracks from the "Surprise" album plus various non-album singles and B-sides) as one of the top 50 glam rock era albums in their "Wham Bam, Thank You Glam: 50 Glam Era Highlights 1972-1974" listing, with a greatest hits album from co-writer and colleague Barry Blue that also included his four hit singles written with de Paul also featuring in the listing and cementing their glam credentials. |
1675_41 | In 1994, she released her first album in 15 years entitled Just a Little Time. It featured newly recorded and released songs, notably "Words Don't Mean a Thing" and "We Got Love", as well as reworked and updated versions of many of her classic hits, plus two club mixes of "Sugar Me" and "Getting a Drag". This was a CD-only release on the Music DeLuxe label that has since been re-issued on other labels such as ARC Records and Tring International. That year, she also released a new single "There's No Place Like London", her version of the song she had written for Shirley Bassey, featuring an all-star cast that included Frankie Vaughan, Patti Boulaye, Gareth Hunt, Kenny Lynch, Rula Lenska, Gwen Taylor, Lionel Blair, Lorraine Chase, Pam St. Clement, Harry Fowler, Polly James, Larry Adler, Rose Marie, Victor Spinetti, Gorden Kaye and the St Joan of Arc School Choir and credited to Lynsey & Friends. The song was the winning record for the LBC London Parade and it went on sale to raise money |
1675_42 | for the Variety Club. In an LBC radio programme, de Paul discussed how it came about and how it got its title. Lorraine Chase who sang on the track, also discussed her role. Elizabeth Cohen of Nonsuch High School and David Burditch of St Joan of Arc School in Rickmanshaw, described how their schools became involved in the recording. Lionel Blair urged everyone to join the parade to promote London and Ian Fenn provided a report from Stock Aitken Waterman's Hit Factory, where the record was produced. |
1675_43 | One year later, de Paul also co-wrote with Ian Lynn an album How Do You Do - I'm Marcus, for the opening of Eurotunnel, which was released on CD. It was a children's album that told the story of Marcus the Mole and various other characters, as featured in the book by Cheryl Wilson. De Paul also performed some of the tracks on the album credited as the character Michelle ("He Can't Dance") and also Moleye ("Old Mole and Grandma"). Other artists appearing on the album included Ron Moody (who sang "A Little Learning" as Prof. Maurice Molehead), Kate Robbins, Ian Lynn, Tony Jackson (bass player) and Jon Glover. |
1675_44 | De Paul also signed up with Leosong in 1995, along with Barry Mason, Lonnie Donegan and Debbie Wiseman. Gerard Kenny released his version of "Take Back Your Heartache", a song that he co-wrote with de Paul on his 1995 album, An Evening with..., as well as his Old Friends album and that de Paul performed as "Take Back Your Heartaches" on TV in the UK. In 1996, her song "Martian Man" was featured on a CD single "The Milkman" by the Julianne Regan fronted group Mice. Regan is a long-time fan of de Paul and sought her approval to record the song, albeit in a very different style to the original more ethereal version. The single made it to the lower reaches of the UK Singles Chart. It was also a track on the album New & Improved by Mice. In 1998, an album entitled Kucinta by the Indonesian singer Yana Julio, featured a cover version of the de Paul/Sheridan song "All I Am". |
1675_45 | De Paul conceived and presented "Women of Substance" in 1998. Guests include Judy Finnegan, Diana Moran, Claudia Winkleman and Heather Mills. In 1999, de Paul was featured on the cover of Saga Magazine, published by Saga plc and a lengthy interview also appeared in the magazine where she discussed her early years, how she became a successful songwriter and her later four-year relationship with James Coburn where she lived with him in Los Angeles. De Paul stated for the first time that during this period she was in talks with Dolly Parton's management, but that they mysteriously broke off. She also spoke at length about her belief in the need for self-defence for women, giving the background to how she conceived the "Eve Fights Back" (aka "Eve Strikes Back") TV documentary and the "Taking Control" video. That year she was also one of the judges for the Sony Radio Awards. |
1675_46 | 2000s
In 2000, de Paul was present for the launch of the charity "Support for Africa 2000", with the aim to help those suffering from the effects of HIV/AIDS or malaria at a reception at the Nigerian Embassy in London, hosted by HE Prince Bola Ajibola, the Nigerian High Commissioner to the UK. Among the guests were Princess Katarina of Yugoslavia; tenor Russell Watson, who sang a duet with the charity's president Patti Boulaye; and Errol Brown. De Paul was a long-term supporter of this charity and appeared at a number of their events and concerts. She was a guest at the Cosmopolitan (magazine) 30th anniversary event in 2002.
In 2002, the de Paul/Blue song "Dancin' (on a Saturday Night)" was featured in the film Anita and Me as well as on the soundtrack album and one year later it was also featured in the cult TV program Monkey Dust. |
1675_47 | Her longstanding contribution to the music industry was recognised in 2005 when de Paul received a Gold Badge Award from BASCA (now the Ivors Academy). This was followed by her becoming a director on the board of the Performing Rights Society (PRS) on 30 June 2006 where she proved to be a long serving and active member. The PRS was renamed PRS for Music and in 2009 de Paul was re-elected for a second three-year term. She was held in high regard by her peers at PRS, where she also served as Trustee of the Members Benevolent Fund. |
1675_48 | Since she had trained as an artist at the Hornsey College of Art and was a talented cartoonist (as evidenced from the gatefold album sleeve of her debut album, Surprise and other album sleeves she designed), she was employed as the resident cartoonist for OK! in its first year of weekly distribution in 2006, with her humorous pocket-cartoon series entitled "Light Entertainment". She also provided cartoons for the women's magazine Chic with another series of pocket-cartoons entitled "Woman to Woman".
A 2006 episode of the BBC Radio 2 series Sold on Song, included Gamble and Huff, who talked about how they wrote some of their classic songs. Some were performed with Sheila Ferguson singing, and the program featured de Paul as well as Kim Appleby, Guy Fletcher, Steve Levine and David Arnold. |
1675_49 | In 2007, de Paul briefly returned to acting and played the glamorous character 'Sheila Larsen' in the first episode of Kingdom, the Stephen Fry drama series. Peter Kingdom managed to clear up a feud between Sheila Larsen's two sons that starts after she dies suddenly and whose money apparently disappeared. She also appeared on the BBC program, Breakfast, on 4 October 2007 talking about the loss of her friend and colleague Ronnie Hazlehurst, specifically the TV themes he penned and his conducting of the orchestra with rolled up umbrella for de Paul and Moran at the 1977 Eurovision Song Contest, where he was dressed in a pin-striped suit and a bowler hat. On 10 April 2008, de Paul participated in a celebrity version of the Channel 4 show Come Dine with Me along with Tamara Beckwith, MC Harvey and Jonathan Ansell. De Paul, who was the only vegetarian among the group, came in last place. She was also featured on a celebrity version of Cash in the Attic in March 2009 where she became a |
1675_50 | temporary auctioneer. |
1675_51 | In 2008, a digital-only album of songs by members of the British Academy entitled Songs From The British Academy, Vol. 1 featured de Paul singing her song "Words Don't Mean a Thing", as well as other classic British artists such as Boy George, Peter Gabriel, KT Tunstall, Brian May, The Pretenders, Robin Gibb and Cliff Richard.
She wrote the foreword for the 2009 book Medium Rare about the spiritual medium Liam Scott who is one of the UK's leading stage psychics. She was one of the interviewees in an article "60 years old: happy birthday to the single" where celebrities and media personalities were asked to name a single that was important to them. De Paul chose "Love Came to Me" by Dion and the Belmonts (1962) and said "It was a really good pop record of its time. Certain songs have emotional associations in one's life. This was almost a coming of age." |
1675_52 | In 2011, de Paul had her own programme on Sky, entitled Lynsey's Love Songs. According to a news item on her website, she chose the songs she liked and researched the songwriters and people who made the records. De Paul also joined Vintage TV (TV channel) and in February 2012, the channel broadcast three episodes where de Paul interviewed the songwriters Gilbert O'Sullivan, Mike Batt and Howard Jones. Aled Jones interviewed de Paul on his Good Morning Sunday programme on BBC Radio 2 on 29 April 2012. He asked her about her life, career and religious beliefs as well as what inspired her. She attended the 2012 Ivor Novello Awards held at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London, on 17 May 2012. She was a member of the UK jury for the Eurovision Song Contest 2012. On 31 May that year, an interview with de Paul and her songs "Sugar Me" and "Getting a Drag" were featured in the BBC Radio 2 documentary, "The Radio Luxembourg Story", about former rival station Radio Luxembourg. |
1675_53 | On 15 September 2012, de Paul, together with Noddy Holder, co-hosted the Marc Bolan 35th anniversary concert, a special charity event for the PRS for Music Members Benevolent Fund held at the O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire featuring Marc Almond, Boy George, Tony Visconti, Steve Harley, Alvin Stardust, Linda Lewis, Sandie Shaw, Glen Matlock, Mike Lindup, Andy Ellison and the Marc Bolan tribute band, Danielz and T.Rextasy. De Paul and Holder received glowing reviews as did the performers. One week later, de Paul was on stage again, appearing in the play, Hollywood Love. She played the role of the American actress and gossip columnist Hedda Hopper, together with Jeff Stewart, who portrayed the actor Gareth Hughes, who was Hopper's friend. From 2013 until her death, de Paul was a regular guest newspaper reviewer for BBC Radio London 94.9 FM on the Simon Lederman Show, commenting on the day's news and current affairs. |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.