This was a Thirties act which conjoined two popular comic singers Leslie Sarony and

This was a Thirties act which conjoined two popular comic singers, Leslie Sarony and Leslie Holmes, a teaming that foreshadowed the Sixties television partnership of the Two Ronnies (Barker and Corbett). This show travelled around the provincial music halls with huge success.In 1937 Richmond travelled to Holland to play the organ at the Palais de Danse, Scheveningen in support of the famous American black dance band led by Benny Carter. Returning home he made his first radio broadcast in the BBC's popular old time music-hall series Palace of Varieties (1938). This would seem somewhat out of place given Richmond's swinging style, but indicates the artist's overall abilities.The war began, and Richmond volunteered for the Navy. Rejected for reasons of health, he was appointed organist at the Paramount cinema in Tottenham Court Road. By night he accompanied the black singer Adelaide Hall at the Florida Nightclub, but like several similar West End venues, this was bombed.

He remained organist at the Paramount until March 1946, then crossed over to the Gaumont-British cinema circuit travelling around London and its outskirts playing musical interludes between the films.Richmond's main radio work began during the war, and in time he would clock up more broadcasts than any other organist, even, it is said, Sandy MacPherson. He appeared on the Sunday night spectacular Variety Bandbox, with his own swinging sextet on Music While You Work, and as a solo turn on Navy Mixture. Also he played on the Merchant Navy's equivalent show Shipmates Ashore, which was hostessed by Doris Hare, and filled in the gaps between film extracts on the weekly Picture Parade. He also started a series of his own devising, Organ Grinder's Swing.Richmond's film career was less spectacular.

He played the soundtrack to a documentary short called Animalantics (1940), supplying suitable tunes to fit the cameraman's pictures. These included "Run Rabbit Run" and "Felix Keeps On Walking". He did a little better four years later in Rainbow Round the Corner, a minor musical starring Billy "Uke" Scott, a second-class George Formby whose signature song was, hopefully not prophetically, "I'm Only Singing to One". Richmond played an exciting version of the Russian hit "Black Eyes". Five years later came his final film, the much better but still cut-price Murder at the Windmill (1949). This Val Guest mix-up of murder and melody (plus a revealing fan dance) showed Richmond accompanying the Windmill Girls as they sang about "Two Little Dogs".The Fifties brought better times.

Richmond supported Robert Moreton, known as "The Bumper Fun Book" comedian, in the radio series Bumblethorpe (1951), which was scripted by a newcomer to the profession, Spike Milligan. He followed with a starry variety tour with singer Benny Lee in a musical show nicely entitled Mr Words and Mr Music (1954), and several times his recordings for Polygon made the Hit Parade. These included "Ecstasy" (1952) and "The Creep" (1953), when he was up against such big bandsmen as Ken Macintosh, Jack Parnell, and the American Stan Kenton.The longest-lasting tribute to Robin Richmond is the radio series The Organist Entertains, which he created in the post-war Forties and which can still be heard on the air every week to this day.Denis GiffordRobin Richmond, organist: born London 21 April 1912; died 27 July 1998.. PAUL FLAMAND founded his publishing house, Les Editions du Seuil, in 1935, but it was after the Second World War that it achieved its celebrity as one of the most eminent and innovative of French imprints. He ran it with a combination of talents rare for an independent publisher: good taste, an adventurous disposition and unusual commercial flair. Among the authors he published were Roland Barthes, Simone Signoret and Jacques Lacan.