Victor Silvester

"The basic essentials of true dance music are melody, simplicity, and consistent rhythm. Join these three entities together and you have music that is nice to dance to and pleasing to listen to," observed Victor Silvester -- he did precisely that and sold 75 million records over a recording career lasting 50 years. Today he is but a fading memory on a musical landscape that he scarcely would have recognized, but for 50 years, from the '30s through the early '80s, Victor Silvester was England's top dance-band leader -- and from the '30s through the '60s, that designation meant ...