Alan Tew

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Alan Tew
Birth nameAlan Stanley Tew
Born(1930-07-07)7 July 1930
Leytonstone, London, England
OriginUnited Kingdom
Died10 January 1997(1997-01-10) (aged 66)
Winterton-on-Sea, Norfolk, England
GenresMusic
Occupation(s)Composer, arranger
InstrumentPiano
Labels Pye

Alan Stanley Tew was a British composer and arranger. [1]

Contents

Career

Tew got his start in the 1950s as the pianist and arranger for the Len Turner Band. [1]

Tew composed the song "Zoo Be Zoo Be Zoo" with Bill Shepherd, originally performed by Sophia Loren in 1960. The song enjoyed a resurgence of popularity in 2012 after appearing in the TV show Mad Men . [2]

Tew was known as a composer of library music, including the theme tunes for British television programmes Doctor in the House , called "Bond Street Parade", and ...And Mother Makes Three . He also composed all the music for the 1975 series The Hanged Man , [1] some of which was used as incidental music for The Two Ronnies , The Sweeney and SpongeBob SquarePants . One of the cuts composed for The Hanged Man, entitled "The Big One", would eventually become used as the theme and bumper music for the American television series The People's Court . "The Big One" would also be used in the "Gold Plated Delinquents" episode of the British detective show Van der Valk (1977), as well as the erotic films Barbara Broadcast (1977), The Satisfiers of Alpha Blue (1980), and Malibu High (1979).

During his career, Tew released a number of orchestral albums, including This Is My Scene (1967), recorded in Phase 4 Stereo, and The Magnificent Westerns (1969), on CBS Records. Tew also led his own orchestra, the Alan Tew Orchestra, in the 1970s. [1] He also collaborated with Cat Stevens.

Some of Tew's funk-influenced work was included in the score for the 2009 film Black Dynamite and was subsequently sampled by various hip-hop artists, including Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg and Ice Cube. [1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Nijjar, Aneet. "Alan Tew Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More". AllMusic . Retrieved 27 March 2025.
  2. ↑ Howe, Sean (25 March 2012). "The Musical History of Megan's French Mad Men Tune". Vulture . Retrieved 27 March 2025.


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