Geoff Love(1917-1991)

Born in Todmorden, Yorkshire, his father, Kid Love, a Black American dancer, came to Britain and married a Yorkshire girl. His grandmother was a pure Cherokee Indian. As a youngster, Geoff was taken round with his father and taught to juggle and ride trick cycles by other performers. He actually started his working life as a car mechanic in Todmorden, then joined a local orchestra playing the fiddle. One of the other orchestra members bought him a trombone but he couldn't afford lessons, so was taught by one of the other band members. He studied part-time at the Manchester College of Music. He eventually moved to the Rochdale Carlton Rooms, where Bob Sharples, who would later be on TV shows, was on the piano. While serving in the army, he discovered that he had a talent for arranging music. Come the 50's, he was arranging for top companies and playing the trombone as a session musician. He recorded a single, Honeymoon Song, and because it was so different to his usual music, his company put it out under a different name ('Manuel and the Music of the Mountains'). He has two sons, Adrian, a Capital Radio DJ ,and Nigel, who worked on computers.