Emile Ford
title: "Emile Ford" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1937-births", "2016-deaths", "male-pop-singers", "saint-lucian-male-singers", "saint-lucian-emigrants-to-the-united-kingdom", "20th-century-black-british-male-singers", "20th-century-british-male-singers", "british-rock-and-roll-musicians", "pye-records-artists", "saint-lucian-people-of-barbadian-descent", "people-from-castries"] topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emile_Ford" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::data[format=table title="Infobox musical artist "]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Emile Ford |
| image | File:EmileFordPublicity.png |
| image_size | |
| background | solo_singer |
| birth_name | Michael Emile Telford Miller |
| alias | Emile Sweetnam |
| birth_date | |
| birth_place | Castries, Saint Lucia, British Windward Islands |
| death_date | |
| death_place | London, England |
| instrument | |
| genre | |
| occupation | |
| years_active | 1957–late 1960s |
| label | Pye |
| website | |
| :: |
| name = Emile Ford | image = File:EmileFordPublicity.png | caption = | image_size = | background = solo_singer | birth_name = Michael Emile Telford Miller | alias = Emile Sweetnam | birth_date = | birth_place = Castries, Saint Lucia, British Windward Islands | death_date = | death_place = London, England | origin = | instrument = | genre = | occupation = | years_active = 1957–late 1960s | label = Pye | website =
Michael Emile Telford Miller (16 October 1937 – 11 April 2016), known professionally as Emile Ford, was a musician and singer born in Saint Lucia, British Windward Islands. He was popular in the United Kingdom in the late 1950s and early 1960s as the leader of Emile Ford & the Checkmates, who had a number one hit in late 1959 with "What Do You Want to Make Those Eyes at Me For?", which was the Christmas number one that year. He was also a pioneering sound engineer.
Life and career
Emile Ford was born in Castries, Saint Lucia, in the West Indies. He was the son of Barbadian politician, Frederick Edward Miller, and Madge Murray, a singer and musical theatre director whose father had founded and conducted the St. Lucia Philharmonic Band. some sources erroneously give Emile Ford's birth name as Sweetnam or Sweetman.
He was educated at St Mary’s College, Castries. He moved to London with his mother and family in the mid-1950s, partly motivated by his desire to explore improved sound reproduction technology, and studied at the Paddington Technical College in London.{{cite book | first= Joseph | last= Murrells | year= 1978 | title= The Book of Golden Discs | edition= 2nd | publisher= Barrie and Jenkins Ltd | location= London | page= 114 | isbn= 0-214-20512-6 | url-access= registration | url= https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr/page/114 It was during this time that he taught himself to play a number of musical instruments, including guitar, piano, violin, bass guitar and drums. Using an abbreviated form of his name, as Emile Ford, he first entered show business at the age of 20, and made his first public performance at The Buttery, Kensington. His first appearance with a backing group was at the Athenaeum Ballroom in Muswell Hill. His TV appearances in 1958 included outings on The Music Shop, the Pearl Carr & Teddy Johnson Show, Oh Boy! and Six-Five Special.
He teamed up in January 1959 with his half-brother, bassist George Sweetnam-Ford (born 1 January 1940, Castries, St. Lucia, British West Indies), electric lead guitarist Ken Street (27 June 1942 – 2 June 1990), sax player Dave Sweetnam-Ford (b. David Sweetnam-Ford, 1939, Castries, St. Lucia, British West Indies) and drummer John Cuffley (born 1939) to form Emile Ford & the Checkmates. The band appeared on the TV programme Sunday Serenade, which ran for six weeks. They won the Soho Fair talent contest in July 1959, but turned down a recording contract with EMI because the company would not allow Ford to produce their records, and instead agreed to a deal with Pye Records.{{cite book | first= John | last= Tobler | year= 1992 | title= NME Rock 'N' Roll Years | edition= 1st | publisher= Reed International Books Ltd | location= London | page= 75 | id= CN 5585}} Their first self-produced recording, "What Do You Want to Make Those Eyes at Me For?", a song originally recorded by Ada Jones and Billy Murray in 1917, went to number one in the UK Singles Chart at the end of 1959 and stayed there for six weeks.{{cite book | first= Jo | last= Rice | year= 1982 | title= The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits | edition= 1st | publisher= Guinness Superlatives Ltd | location= Enfield, Middlesex | page= 47 | isbn= 0-85112-250-7}} Ford was the first Black British artist to sell one million copies of a single.{{cite book | first= John | last= Tobler | year= 1992 | title= NME Rock 'N' Roll Years | edition= 1st | publisher= Reed International Books Ltd | location= London | page= 83 | id= CN 5585}}
In January 1960, Ford signed a two-year employment management contract with Leslie Grade. He had several more hits in the UK, and also scored a number one EP in 1960. The readers of the British music magazine New Musical Express voted Emile Ford & the Checkmates as the "Best New Act" in 1960.{{cite book | first= David | last= Roberts | year= 2001 | title= British Hit Singles | edition= 14th | publisher= Guinness World Records Limited | location= London | page= 211 | isbn= 0-85156-156-X}} Ford's debut album was made up of covers. He made several albums, but his last studio recordings were in 1963. His half-brothers George and Dave Sweetnam-Ford were later members of the Ferris Wheel.
Counting Teardrops, an anthology including all of Ford's recordings with Pye Records, was released in 2001.
Interpretation of sound
Ford, like Jimi Hendrix, had synaesthesia, a condition where the person who can associate certain colours, or even see certain colours in relation to the sound they are hearing. An article about Emile Ford appears in the November 2004 issue of the UK Synaesthesia Association Newsletter. He once said that he was gifted with the ability to see and hear sound differently from others and that gift allowed him to make first-class recordings.
Backing
The female singers that backed him were originally called The Fordettes. They consisted of Margot Quantrell, Eleanor Russell, Vicki Haseman and Betty Prescott. They spent a year on the road with Ford in 1960, playing one-nighters. Back in London they left Ford to sing backup for Joe Brown who Vicki Haseman was engaged to. They were then known as The Breakaways.
Audio engineering
As a sound engineer, Ford was responsible for creating a backing track system for stage shows, first used in 1960, which provided a basis for what became known as karaoke.
Death
Emile Ford died in London on 11 April 2016.
Discography
::data[format=table title="('''α''' – ''Credited to Emile Ford. All other recordings credit Emile Ford & the Checkmates'')"]
| Title | Release info | Year | UK | AU | NL | NO | "Don't Tell Me Your Troubles"/"What Do You Want to Make Those Eyes at Me For?" | "On a Slow Boat to China"/"That Lucky Old Sun" | "You'll Never Know What You're Missing ('Til You Try)"/"Still" | *"Them There Eyes"/"Question" | "Counting Teardrops"/"White Christmas" | "What Am I Gonna Do"/"A Kiss To Build A Dream On" | "Half Of My Heart"/"Gypsy Love" | "I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now"/"Doin'The Twist" |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pye 7N15225 | 1959 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | |||||||||
| Pye 7N15245 | 1960 | 3 | - | - | - | |||||||||
| Pye 7N15268 | 1960 | 12 | - | - | - | |||||||||
| Pye 7N15282 | 1960 | 18 | - | - | - | |||||||||
| Pye 7N15314 | 1960 | 4 | - | - | - | |||||||||
| Pye 7N15331 | 1961 | 33 | - | - | - | |||||||||
| Piccadilly 7N35003 | 1961 | 42 | - | - | - | |||||||||
| Piccadilly 7N35003 | 1962 | 43 {{cite book | first= David | last= Roberts | year= 2006 | title= British Hit Singles & Albums | edition= 19th | publisher= Guinness World Records Limited | location= London | isbn= 1-904994-10-5 | pages= 207/8}} | - | - | - |
| :: |
::data[format=table title="UK releases unless specified otherwise"]
| Title | Release info | Year | F | Notes | New Tracks With Emile | Emile | Meet Emile At Gröna Lund Again | The Very Best of Emile Ford & the Checkmates | Greatest Hits | *Counting Teardrops * | What Do You Want To Make Those Eyes At Me For? | The Very Best Of Emile Ford & The Checkmates |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pye Records NPL 18049 | 1960 | LP | ||||||||||
| Piccadilly NPL.38001 | 1961 | LP | ||||||||||
| Pye Golden Guinea Records GGL 9002 | 1970 | LP | Sweden release | |||||||||
| Reissue | ||||||||||||
| See For Miles Records Ltd. SEE 309 | 1991 | LP | Compilation | |||||||||
| Savanna SSLCD 201 | 1992 | CD | Compilation | |||||||||
| Sequel Records NEECD 347 | 2000 | 2 CD | Compilation | |||||||||
| Castle Pulse PLSCD 798 | 2006 | CD | Compilation | |||||||||
| One Day Music DAY2CD303 | 2016 | 2 CD | Europe release, compilation | |||||||||
| :: |
::data[format=table title="UK releases unless specified otherwise"] | Title | Release info | Year | F | Notes | Emile Under The Midnight Sun | Big Hits | *Emile Ford * | The Man Who's Got The Lot | What Do You Want To Make Those Eyes At Me For? | On a Slow Boat to China | My Kind Of Country Music | The Emile Ford Show Recorded Live In A Swedish Folkpark | The Midnight Hour | More Emile Ford | The Eyes Of Mr. "What Do You Want To Make Those Eyes At Me For?, The Man Who's Got The Lot | Emile Ford Sings 14 Songs In This Love Letter | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Pye Golden Guinea Records GGL 9001 | 1970 | LP | Sweden release Reissue | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Grand Prix GP-9973 Sonet GP-9973 | 1970 | LP | Sweden release | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Hallmark Records SHM764 | 1971 | LP | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Met-El-Ford Records METLPS1 | 1973 | LP | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Philips 6641 343 | 1975 | 2 LP | Sweden release | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Alpha Records ALPHA LPS 1 | 1976 | LP | Produced by Emile Ford and Valerie Stack | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Transdisc Records TRLPS 007 | 1976 | LP | Netherlands release | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Interdisc ILPS 117 | | LP | Sweden release Also on Swedisc SWELP 35 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Interdisc ILPS 157 | | LP | Sweden release Also on Swedisc SWLS 506 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Interdisc ILPS 158 | | LP | Scandinavia release | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Interclub Records Ltd ICLPS 001 | | 2LP | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Transdisc Records – TRLPS 002 Interclub Records Ltd – ICLPS 002 | | LP | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ::
References
References
- "Emile Ford : Life".
- [http://www.allmusic.com/artist/emile-ford-the-checkmates-mn0000180452 Biography by Bruce Eder at Allmusic.com]. Retrieved 30 January 2013
- "Grizz: Musicians With Synaesthesia".
- "Contact Us - UK Synaethesia Association".
- Web-Fi Sound - [http://www.web-fi.net/?page_id=596 UK ''Synaesthesia Association Newsletter'', Volume 1, Issue 2 – November 2004]
- Dave Laing. "Emile Ford obituary | Music". [[The Guardian]].
- Gordon Thompson. (10 September 2008). "Please Please Me: Sixties British Pop, Inside Out". [[Oxford University Press]].
- [https://lasentinel.net/emile-ford-legendary-st-lucian-artiste-dies-in-london.html "Emile Ford, legendary St Lucian artiste, dies in London"], ''[[Los Angeles Sentinel]]'', 21 April 2016
- Discogs - [https://www.discogs.com/artist/347098-Emile-Ford-The-Checkmates?filter_anv=0&subtype=Albums&type=Releases Emile Ford & The Checkmates Discography, Albums]
- Discogs - [https://www.discogs.com/artist/347098-Emile-Ford-The-Checkmates?filter_anv=0&subtype=Compilations&type=Releases Emile Ford & The Checkmates Discography, Compilations]
- Discogs - [https://www.discogs.com/artist/402157-Emile-Ford?filter_anv=0&subtype=Albums&type=Releases Emile Ford Discography, Albums]
- Discogs - [https://www.discogs.com/artist/402157-Emile-Ford?filter_anv=0&subtype=Compilations&type=Releases Emile Ford Discography, Compilations]
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::