Biography
22 August, 1899, Leamington Spa, England, d. 4 December 1969, London, England. A leading band leader in the UK during the 20s and 30s, Payne learnt to play the piano as a child, then joined the Royal Flying Corps. in 1917 and qualified as a pilot. He formed a small band for the officers’ mess and decided on music as a career on demobilisation. After six years of insignificant dates in the Midlands he became leader of a band at London’s Hotel Cecil where he stayed for four years, broadcasting regularly from the hotel, recording for Regal and Zonophone before they amalgamated, and playing his first stage show at the Holborn Empire. In 1928 he took over the BBC Dance Orchestra and his daily broadcasts at 5.15 pm were so popular that when he left the BBC four years later he was a great success on stage, being a natural showman second only to the great Jack Hylton. Two films were built around the band, Say It With Music (1932) scored by Ray Noble, and...
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