Victor Silvester

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Lore & Background

Silvester was born the second son of a vicar in Wembley, Middlesex, England. He was educated at Ardingly College, St. John's School, Leatherhead and John Lyon School, Harrow, from all of which he absconded. He claimed he enlisted in the British Army on 4 September 1916, serving as a private in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, lying about his age as 20 when he was 16. He said he took part in the Battle of Arras in April/May 1917 and was a member of five execution squads. However, his service records released in 2000 showed he was discharged as underage on 12 September 1916 after just a week. He immediately joined the First Aid Services (Red Cross and St John Ambulance), serving in France from 1 October 1916 to June 1917, then transferred to the First British Ambulance Unit For Italy. On 4 September 1917 at Sella di Dol near San Gabriele, while acting as a stretcher bearer evacuating wounded Italian servicemen under heavy bombardment, he was injured in the leg by a shell burst but refused treatment until others were attended to. For this gallantry he was awarded the Italian Bronze Medal of Military Valour in a decree dated 30 November 1917. G. M. Trevelyan wrote to his parents on 20 September 1917: 'He is certainly one who will be deservedly loved wherever he goes in life, and he is besides made of sterling stuff.' After the war he studied at Worcester College, Oxford for a year, then briefly at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, before studying music at Trinity College, London. His dancing career took off when he featured the full natural turn in the slow waltz, helping him win the first World Ballroom Dancing Championship in 1922 with Phyllis Clarke. He married Dorothy Newton a few days later. He competed again in 1924, coming second to Maxwell Stewart and Barbara Miles. He was a founding member of the Ballroom Committee of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing, which codified the International Style, and published the first book embodying the new standards in 1927: Modern Ballroom Dancing, which became a best-seller and remained in print through many editions, the last issued in 2005. He opened a dancing academy in London, eventually developing into a chain of 23 dance studios. By the early 1930s he had taught celebrities including Merle Oberon. He had his own BBC television show through the 1950s called BBC Dancing Club, and was later President of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing. In 1935, dissatisfied with available dance records, he formed his own five-piece band, later named Victor Silvester and his Ballroom Orchestra. Their first record, 'You're Dancing on My Heart' (by Al Bryan and George M. Meyer), sold 17,000 copies and became his signature tune. He insisted recordings conform precisely to the beats per minute recommended by the ISTD—'strict tempo.' He became associated with the catch-phrase 'slow, slow, quick-quick-slow.' The band had a distinctive sound: alto saxophone, lead solo violin, two pianos (one playing 'lemonade'—a tinkling continuo), and a rhythm section. His first two pianists in 1935 were Gerry Moore (melody) and Felix King ('lemonade'). His drummer for over four decades was Ben Edwards. There were no vocals. Silvester usually did not play but conducted in white tie and tails. He continued making music for half a century, covering popular standards and show tunes, and later rock and roll, disco and pop under his son Victor Silvester Jr from 1971.

Reader's Guide

Victor Silvester's significance lies in his dual impact on ballroom dance and popular music. As a dancer and teacher, he helped standardize ballroom dance technique through the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing and his influential book Modern Ballroom Dancing, which remained in print through many editions, the last in 2005. His chain of 23 dance studios and BBC television show Dancing Club, which lasted 17 years, brought ballroom dancing to a wide audience. As a bandleader, his insistence on strict tempo recordings—matching beats per minute recommended by the ISTD—created a distinctive sound that dominated dance music for decades. His records sold 75 million copies from the 1930s through to the 1980s. His orchestra continued under his son's direction until the 1990s. Silvester was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1961. He died while on holiday in the south of France at age 78. He, his wife and son are memorialised at Golders Green Crematorium, London. The Victor Silvester Archive—including his OBE, First World War medals, original documents, Carl Alan Awards, BBC Radio Golden Microphone Award, platinum and silver discs, photographs, newspaper cuttings, programme sheets for BBC broadcasts, and the orchestra's entire archive of original hand-scored strict tempo sheet music—was sold at auction in London in March 2000 and has since been held by a private collector in the North-East of England.

Did You Know?

• Silvester's service records released in 2000 revealed he was discharged from the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders as underage after just a week, despite his claims of serving at the Battle of Arras.
• He was awarded the Italian Bronze Medal of Military Valour for gallantry as a stretcher bearer on 4 September 1917, after being injured by a shell burst but refusing treatment until other wounded were attended to.
• His first record 'You're Dancing on My Heart' sold 17,000 copies and became his signature tune.
• He was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1957, surprised by Eamonn Andrews at the BBC Television Theatre.
• The Victor Silvester Archive, including his OBE and First World War medals, was sold at auction in London in March 2000 and is held by a private collector in the North-East of England.