Colin Towns

Colin Towns
Birth name	Colin William Towns
Born	13 May 1948 (1948-05-13) (age 63)
Years active	1970s to present
Associated acts	Mask Orchestra Ian Gillan Band Gillan
Website	colintowns.com

Colin Towns is an English composer, born 13 May 1948 in London, specialising in soundtracks for film, television and commercials. Learning piano as a child, by the age of 13 he was earning money playing at weddings and birthdays in his neighbourhood of the East End of London. He went on to play in numerous dance bands, jazz ensembles and also became a session musician.

In 1976 he was recruited as keyboardist to replace Mickey Lee Soule in the Ian Gillan Band. Over time he developed an increasing interest in composing and Ian Gillan credits the Towns-penned 'Fighting Man' as pointing the direction in which Gillan should go. Gillan dissolved The Ian Gillan Band, with its jazz-rock leanings, and retained only Towns, putting together the rockier Gillan. Encouraged by Ian Gillan, Towns co-wrote many of the songs for the new band. Whilst with the band he used his free time to seek opportunities to compose music beyond the Heavy metal direction of Gillan, including releasing a solo album, Making Faces, in 1982. He submitted a demo soundtrack for the Mia Farrow film Full Circle which received reviews praising the music.

In 1983 Ian Gillan dissolved the band, and Towns decided to pursue soundtrack composing full-time. In that year he won the commission to write the score for the film Slayground. From then on he was in constant demand, particularly in British Television, where his body of work is prolific, and includes Dalziel and Pascoe, Cadfael, Capital City, Pie in the Sky, Between the Lines, Doc Martin, and Imogen's Face. His film credits include The Puppet Masters (featuring Donald Sutherland), Space Truckers (featuring Dennis Hopper) and Captives (featuring Tim Roth).

Towns' principal musical passion is jazz and has released several albums in this genre and founding the Mask Orchestra.

External links

• Official Site
• behind-the-mask.co.uk (unofficial website)
• Colin Towns at the Internet Movie Database
• discogs.com/artist
• Discography at Allmusic

Persondata
Name	Towns, Colin
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	13 May 1948
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death

This article about a British composer is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.v · Categories: 1948 births Living people English composers English film score composers English television composers People from London British composer stubs Wikimedia Foundation. 2010. Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую Helmut Krauss Baron Webb-Johnson Look at other dictionaries: Colin Towns — (* 1949 in London) ist ein englischer Komponist, Arrangeur, Bandleader, Jazzpianist und Musikproduzent. Leben und Wirken Nachdem er als Kind Klavier gelernt hatte, verdiente er sich bereits mit 13 Jahren Geld, indem er auf Hochzeiten und… …   Deutsch Wikipedia Colin Towns — est un compositeur britannique né à Londres en 1949 Sommaire 1 Biographie 2 Filmographie 3 Récompenses et nominations 3.1 Récompenses …   Wikipédia en Français Towns — may refer to the following:People*Robert Towns, founder of Townsville, Queensland *Ed Towns, American politician and a member of the U.S. House of Representatives *George W. Towns, United States lawyer and politician *Forrest Towns, American… …   Wikipedia Towns — ist der Familienname folgender Personen: Colin Towns (* 1949), englischer Rock Pianist und Produzent Ed Towns (* 1934), US amerikanischer Politiker Forrest Towns (1914–1991), US amerikanischer Leichtathlet George Towns (1801–1854), US… …   Deutsch Wikipedia Colin Campbell (geologist) — Colin Campbell Colin Campbell in Italy in 2006 Born 1931 (1931) Nationality British …   Wikipedia Colin R. J. Bonini — Colin Bonini Member of the Delaware Senate from the 16th district Incumbent Assumed office January 10, 1995 Personal details Born April 14, 1965 (1965 04 14) …   Wikipedia Colin Watson (writer) — Colin Watson (1920 1983) was a British writer of detective fiction and the creator of characters such as Inspector Purbright and Lucilla Teatime. He is most famous for the twelve Flaxborough novels, typified by their comic and dry wit and set in… …   Wikipedia Colin McKay Grierson — Born June 16, 1906 (1906 06 16) (age 105) Allegiance …   Wikipedia Colin Heneghan — is a leader of the American mute rights movement. Heneghan was born in Marcusville, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis, on March 23, 1932 to Patrick, a police chief, and his wife Jane. He was the second son born to the couple, but the first to live… …   Wikipedia Colin Buchanan (town planner) — Professor Sir Colin Buchanan (22 August 1907 – 6 December 2001) was a British town planner.[1] He became Britain s most famous planner following the publication of his report Traffic in Towns in 1963,[1] which presented a comprehensive view of… …   Wikipedia 18+ © Academic, 2000-2024 Contact us: Technical Support, Advertising Dictionaries export, created on PHP, Joomla, Drupal, WordPress, MODx. Mark and share Search through all dictionaries Translate… Search Internet Share the article and excerpts Direct link … Do a right-click on the link above and select “Copy Link”