Biography
William Henry Somers came into the world on April 11, 1890, in Dublin, Ireland, already destined to become a multi-instrumentalist and bandleader. His father held the post of band sergeant in the First Gloucestershire Regiment, prompting the young musician to receive his initial training at the Chelsea Military Academy before studying piano under Michele Esposito at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in 1904.
He relocated to London in 1910; the next year he joined the Royal Irish Rifles, Second Battalion, and concentrated on the oboe at the Royal Military School of Music.
After emerging from the Great War, Somers left military life, returned to London, and took the position of chief arranger and director of light music at the Aeolian/Vocalion company, where he first appeared on record leading the Vocalion Dance Orchestra and the Venetian Dance Orchestra.
In 1919 he chose to adopt the professional name “Debroy.” The precise motive remains uncertain; some suggest he wished to associate himself with a black jazz musician called “DeBroy,” while the surname, though rare, occurs in both India and Ireland, the latter sharing the same origin as Somers.
He next served as arranger and musical advisor to Bert Ralton & His New York Havana Band during its engagement at London’s Savoy Hotel. When Ralton returned to New York, Somers assumed complete direction of the group and, in 1923, assembled the larger Savoy Hotel Orpheans.
Featuring the Starita brothers, banjoist Pete Mandel, and violinist Jean Lensen, the Orpheans appeared at the London Hippodrome, broadcast on radio, and recorded for both the Columbia and HMV/Plum labels. At the peak of their popularity the musicians toured the country as Debroy Somers & His Orchestra and maintained regular engagements at the Alhambra and the London Coliseum.
Somers withdrew from the Orpheans in April 1926 to devote himself to arranging. By the start of 1927 he was directing his own dance band under his own name and had become a permanent Columbia recording artist.
His most successful releases for the label included a medley of themes from Sigmund Romberg’s The Desert Song, an adaptation of Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto, and collections of Christmas songs alongside popular American tunes.
During the 1930s Debroy Somers & His Orchestra broadcast on both Radio Luxembourg and its rival Radio Normandy, the latter sponsored by the Horlicks malted milk mix company.
The band appeared in several motion pictures, among them Picadilly (1929), Royal Cavalcade (1935), and Stars on Parade (1936). Somers also supplied original music for the 1936 film Rose of Tralee.
Although the Debroy Somers recording band disbanded in 1941, its leader remained active throughout the 1940s, conducting theater and dance ensembles. He presided over The Lisbon Story at the Hippodrome in 1943 and, in 1949, directed Latin Quarter, a revue staged at the London Casino that employed a pit orchestra, sixteen additional violinists, and three rhumba bands, one stationed in the lobby.
Somers continued as staff arranger and conductor for Columbia Records until his death at age 62 from a cerebral hemorrhage on May 16, 1952, at St. George’s Hospital in Knightsbridge, London.
He relocated to London in 1910; the next year he joined the Royal Irish Rifles, Second Battalion, and concentrated on the oboe at the Royal Military School of Music.
After emerging from the Great War, Somers left military life, returned to London, and took the position of chief arranger and director of light music at the Aeolian/Vocalion company, where he first appeared on record leading the Vocalion Dance Orchestra and the Venetian Dance Orchestra.
In 1919 he chose to adopt the professional name “Debroy.” The precise motive remains uncertain; some suggest he wished to associate himself with a black jazz musician called “DeBroy,” while the surname, though rare, occurs in both India and Ireland, the latter sharing the same origin as Somers.
He next served as arranger and musical advisor to Bert Ralton & His New York Havana Band during its engagement at London’s Savoy Hotel. When Ralton returned to New York, Somers assumed complete direction of the group and, in 1923, assembled the larger Savoy Hotel Orpheans.
Featuring the Starita brothers, banjoist Pete Mandel, and violinist Jean Lensen, the Orpheans appeared at the London Hippodrome, broadcast on radio, and recorded for both the Columbia and HMV/Plum labels. At the peak of their popularity the musicians toured the country as Debroy Somers & His Orchestra and maintained regular engagements at the Alhambra and the London Coliseum.
Somers withdrew from the Orpheans in April 1926 to devote himself to arranging. By the start of 1927 he was directing his own dance band under his own name and had become a permanent Columbia recording artist.
His most successful releases for the label included a medley of themes from Sigmund Romberg’s The Desert Song, an adaptation of Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto, and collections of Christmas songs alongside popular American tunes.
During the 1930s Debroy Somers & His Orchestra broadcast on both Radio Luxembourg and its rival Radio Normandy, the latter sponsored by the Horlicks malted milk mix company.
The band appeared in several motion pictures, among them Picadilly (1929), Royal Cavalcade (1935), and Stars on Parade (1936). Somers also supplied original music for the 1936 film Rose of Tralee.
Although the Debroy Somers recording band disbanded in 1941, its leader remained active throughout the 1940s, conducting theater and dance ensembles. He presided over The Lisbon Story at the Hippodrome in 1943 and, in 1949, directed Latin Quarter, a revue staged at the London Casino that employed a pit orchestra, sixteen additional violinists, and three rhumba bands, one stationed in the lobby.
Somers continued as staff arranger and conductor for Columbia Records until his death at age 62 from a cerebral hemorrhage on May 16, 1952, at St. George’s Hospital in Knightsbridge, London.
Albums
