Tom
Alexander
Entertainer,
accordionist
Born: June 25, 1934;
Died: January 9, 2020.
Tom Alexander, who has
died aged 85, will forever be known as one half of The Alexander Brothers, the
musical double act formed with his brother Jack and which became a Scottish
institution. Drawing from traditional folk and country, the duo added a tartan
showbiz twist that tapped into a crowd-pleasing hybrid of music hall kitsch and
American country influences.
With Jack singing and
Tom on accordion, The Alexander Brothers signed to Pye Records, where they were
put into the musical care of song-writer and producer Tony Hatch, who would
later become known for songs such as Downtown, a hit for Petula Clark. Hatch’s
magic worked its charms on his new charges pretty quickly, with the Alexander
Brothers’ debut album, Highland Fling (1961), being the first of several
best-sellers. Their 1964 version of Nobody’s Child became a bona fide pop
hit and was reported to have sold more copies in Scotland that year than the
Beatles did.
The Alexander Brothers
went on to international success, playing Carnegie Hall in New York and Sydney
Opera House, as well as sharing a bill with Shirley Bassey at the London
Palladium and becoming stars of the small screen in their own series. This
was all a far cry from the siblings’ early life, when they played working men’s
clubs while holding down jobs as painters and decorators before turning fully
professional. It was a gamble that paid off, and even as musical fashions and
fads changed, they remained revered by many. While Tom Alexander continued his
musical partnership with his brother right up to their retirement in 2012
shortly before Jack’s passing, he had a fertile musical life in his own right
beyond, and was regarded as one of the finest box accordion players of his
kind.
Thomas Armit Alexander
was born in Cambusnethan, near Wishaw, the eldest son of Jimmy and Helen
Alexander. With both Tom and Jack encouraged by their musical mother, Tom
picked up the accordion at the age of nine, while Jack followed later on piano.
Tom’s formal music lessons saw him flourish to the extent that he was invited
to attend Bill Brown of the Brown School of Accordionists.
Dedication and
commitment saw Alexander entered for the 1952 National Accordion Organisation
Championships at the Christian Institute in Glasgow. At the time he was playing
an old Hohner model, but at Brown’s last-minute suggestion used his Fratelli
Crosio, which duly enabled him to win the championship, playing Pietro
Frosini’s Bats at Sunset and Eugene Ettore’s Spanish Holiday.
With their father wary
of his sons moving into showbusiness, he ensured they got a trade, and they
served their time as painter and decorators by day, playing church halls and
old people’s homes by night. Nevertheless, in 1958 the pair turned
professional, and secured a season at the Webster Theatre, Arbroath, as part of
a variety show called the Arbroath Follies. Their initial repertoire of light
classics, performed in suits, failed to endear them to audiences, and only when
their manager Ross Bowie urged them to ditch the serious stuff and hitch up
their kilts did they begin to make an impression.
Dates at the Glasgow
Metropole followed, and on the back of Highland Fling, Nobody’s Child, These
are My Mountains and numerous other songs they soon went global, tapping into a
nostalgic expat market in America and Canada. The Alexander Brothers were
famously parodied by Stanley Baxter, something which both brothers found
hilarious, while their tartan-shortbread image arguably influenced popular
culture several generations on.
Both brothers were
awarded MBEs for services to music in 2005. In 2012, however, and after more
than half a century, Jack’s increasing bad health saw the Alexander Brothers
hanging up their kilts for good, with Tom occasionally stepping out of
retirement for solo shows following Jack’s passing in November 2013, at the age
of 77.
Tom Alexander’s musical
heroes included familiar names such as Jimmy Shand, but he also held in esteem
the Norwegian accordion genius, Toralf Tollefsen. Tollefsen was renowned for
his world-class prowess on the five-button accordion, an instrument Alexander
regretted never using and thus expanding his range. This did not stop him
travelling the country’s circuit of accordion clubs, playing a mix of of light
classics and Irish tunes as well as the traditional Scots works that appeared
on his numerous solo albums.
As a composer too,
Alexander excelled with numerous self-penned works such as Isle of My Heart,
Bowie’s Boat, and Kenmore Gardens. Alexander was a jazz fan, and while he
never played in that genre, he gave a particular nod to the improvising
accordionist, Jack Emblow. Alexander was nevertheless keen to experiment, and,
inbetween painting pictures rather than walls, retained an interest in
accordion music until the end. Alexander’s passing may mark the end of an
era, but his musical legacy lives on.
Alexander is survived by
his wife, Betty.
The Herald, January 22nd.
ends
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