For the Australian-born disc jockey, see Alan Freeman.
Alan Albert Freeman, known professionally as Alan A. Freeman (27 September 1920 – 15 March 1985)[1] was an Englishrecord producer, remembered for being Petula Clark's producer from 1949 until 1963, when his role was taken over by Tony Hatch. Freeman founded the independent Polygon label and worked for its successor labels, Pye Nixa and Pye. He also produced number 1 hits by Lonnie Donegan.[2]
Freeman was born in St. John's Wood, north west London, in September 1920, to Aileen Freeman (née Marks) and her husband Leslie.[3][4][5][6] By his late teens, Alan was working as a clerk for a music publisher.[7] His ambition had always been to have a record label and make his own records with it. In 1949, he was working for the Ed Kassner music publishing company as a song plugger, when he inherited some money, and began to go ahead with his project. His friend, pianist Joe Henderson, knew the singer and actress Petula Clark, whose father Leslie was keen to launch her as a recording artist. Henderson introduced Alan to Leslie Clark, who invested some money of his own (or Petula's) in the new label.[8]
The label, Polygon Records, was a brave attempt by Freeman to gain a footing in the British record market, at a time when it was dominated by Decca and EMI (HMV, Columbia and Parlophone). The earliest recordings were actually made for the Australian market as Freeman had a contact there, and he wanted to test the water. By 1950, Polygon was active, and during its lifetime, over 180 78rpm records were made over five years, all of them produced by Freeman, including over 50 titles by Clark.[8]
By 1955, the label had been a small success, gathering a few chart hits (the biggest of which was "The Little Shoemaker" by Clark, reaching no. 7), but no runaway success. Freeman was approached by New Zealand businessman Hilton Nixon who had a similar dream to his own. Hilton wanted to establish Nixa Records but had run into problems with distribution. Thus Polygon was swallowed up by Nixa and became Pye Nixa Records.[9]
Freeman continued to produce records, but shared responsibilities with several others. He also produced "Gamblin' Man" / "Puttin' On the Style" and "My Old Man's A Dustman", which were number 1 hits recorded by the skiffle performer Lonnie Donegan.[2] By 1959, the company had dropped the 'Nixa' part and evolved into simply Pye Records. Clark was still recording for Pye, but with little success. Freeman found a song that was to relaunch her British career. The song was "Sailor", written by David West, a pseudonym for Norman Newell. It made number 1 in February 1961.[10]
Freeman also produced recordings of London performances by Marlene Dietrich, and records featuring British comedian Tony Hancock; the latter's re-enactments of "The Blood Donor" and "The Radio Ham" for an LP was a best seller in 1961. During the 1970s, Freeman was a frequent panellist on ATV's Saturday night talent programme, New Faces.[11]
Personal life and deathedit
Freeman married Shirley Bennett on 22 October 1968, and the couple had two children. They were divorced on 1 January 1985. Freeman died on 15 March 1985 in Carshalton, in Sutton, Greater London, aged 64.[1] He was survived by his sister Pat.[3]
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For the Australian born disc jockey see Alan Freeman This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Alan A Freeman news newspapers books scholar JSTOR August 2020 Learn how and when to remove this template message Alan Albert Freeman known professionally as Alan A Freeman 27 September 1920 15 March 1985 1 was an English record producer remembered for being Petula Clark s producer from 1949 until 1963 when his role was taken over by Tony Hatch Freeman founded the independent Polygon label and worked for its successor labels Pye Nixa and Pye He also produced number 1 hits by Lonnie Donegan 2 Contents 1 Career 2 Personal life and death 3 See also 4 References 5 External linksCareer editFreeman was born in St John s Wood north west London in September 1920 to Aileen Freeman nee Marks and her husband Leslie 3 4 5 6 By his late teens Alan was working as a clerk for a music publisher 7 His ambition had always been to have a record label and make his own records with it In 1949 he was working for the Ed Kassner music publishing company as a song plugger when he inherited some money and began to go ahead with his project His friend pianist Joe Henderson knew the singer and actress Petula Clark whose father Leslie was keen to launch her as a recording artist Henderson introduced Alan to Leslie Clark who invested some money of his own or Petula s in the new label 8 The label Polygon Records was a brave attempt by Freeman to gain a footing in the British record market at a time when it was dominated by Decca and EMI HMV Columbia and Parlophone The earliest recordings were actually made for the Australian market as Freeman had a contact there and he wanted to test the water By 1950 Polygon was active and during its lifetime over 180 78rpm records were made over five years all of them produced by Freeman including over 50 titles by Clark 8 By 1955 the label had been a small success gathering a few chart hits the biggest of which was The Little Shoemaker by Clark reaching no 7 but no runaway success Freeman was approached by New Zealand businessman Hilton Nixon who had a similar dream to his own Hilton wanted to establish Nixa Records but had run into problems with distribution Thus Polygon was swallowed up by Nixa and became Pye Nixa Records 9 Freeman continued to produce records but shared responsibilities with several others He also produced Gamblin Man Puttin On the Style and My Old Man s A Dustman which were number 1 hits recorded by the skiffle performer Lonnie Donegan 2 By 1959 the company had dropped the Nixa part and evolved into simply Pye Records Clark was still recording for Pye but with little success Freeman found a song that was to relaunch her British career The song was Sailor written by David West a pseudonym for Norman Newell It made number 1 in February 1961 10 Freeman also produced recordings of London performances by Marlene Dietrich and records featuring British comedian Tony Hancock the latter s re enactments of The Blood Donor and The Radio Ham for an LP was a best seller in 1961 During the 1970s Freeman was a frequent panellist on ATV s Saturday night talent programme New Faces 11 Personal life and death editFreeman married Shirley Bennett on 22 October 1968 and the couple had two children They were divorced on 1 January 1985 Freeman died on 15 March 1985 in Carshalton in Sutton Greater London aged 64 1 He was survived by his sister Pat 3 See also editIndependent record label Petula Clark Polygon RecordsReferences edit a b General Register Office United Kingdom Volume 15 Page 284 England amp Wales Civil Registration Death Index 1916 2007 database on line a b Producer Alan Freeman www chartwatch co uk Retrieved 28 March 2021 a b Alan A Freeman IMDb Retrieved 28 March 2021 General Register Office United Kingdom Reference Volume 1a Page 906 England amp Wales Civil Registration Birth Index 1916 2007 database on line Index entry FreeBMD ONS Retrieved 13 April 2022 Index entry FreeBMD ONS Retrieved 13 April 2022 The National Archives Kew London England 1939 Register Reference Rg 101 831b 1939 England and Wales Register database on line a b Thomas Michael Polygon Michael Thomas Website Retrieved 21 March 2019 Stanley Bob Sounds Of The 60s with Tony Blackburn Pye Records BBC Radio 2 Retrieved 21 March 2019 Petula Clark UK Top 10 hits www chartwatch co uk Retrieved 28 March 2021 Alan A Freeman You re A Star Superstar Retrieved 28 March 2021 External links editAlan A Freeman discography at Discogs Alan A Freeman at IMDb Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Alan A Freeman amp oldid 1186035083, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
