Reginald Dixon

Reginald Herbert Dixon, MBE, ARCM (16 October 1904 – 9 May 1985) was an English theatre organist who was primarily known for his position as organist at the Tower Ballroom, Blackpool, a position he held from March 1930 until March 1970.

He made and sold more recordings than any other organist before him, or since.

Dixon was born in Ecclesall, Sheffield on 16 October 1904.

By the age of two, Dixon started to play the organ and piano.

Seeing the keen spirit and potential that he possessed for music made his father realise that his son was worthy of tuition.

In addition to Dixon's tuition he also practised two hours a day on piano.

By the age of twelve, he was already performing in concerts at local music festivals, and by the age of thirteen, he began taking lessons in organ at his local church.

At the age of thirteen, he had to give up his schooling in order to continue his music studies.

He was now practising at least 8 hours per day or more.

He also had applied for the post of organist at Birley Carr Methodist church and was chosen from several applicants, and was also assistant organist at Hillsborough Methodist church.

He enrolled at the University of Sheffield studying counterpoint and harmony, and was awarded Associate of the Royal College of Music (ARCM) when he was 17 years old.

Dixon auditioned at the Stocksbridge Palace, near Sheffield.

The piece he played was Debussy's "Arabesque" and he was employed as pianist and musical director, for the sum of £3 per week.

Dixon gained a lot of experience in this job, and greatly enlarged his repertoire and developed his technique further.

After eighteen months, Dixon accepted a job as pianist and deputy organist at Chesterfield Picture House, where his wage was £5 a week.

To supplement this wage, he was also giving lessons.

At Chesterfield he was called upon more and more often to play the organ, and when he was 21, he became a fully professional theatre organist.

A year later he became organist and pianist of the Heeley Palace in Sheffield, and was still teaching.

For practice he was also playing at the Regent Cinema on a 2/8 Wurlitzer, which he became fond of.

He was employed as orchestral organist at the West End cinema in Birmingham, from where he changed over to become organist at the Regent Cinema, in Dudley.

Here he played a 2/6 Wurlitzer, and it was while he was here that Dixon was giving lessons to Harry Farmer.

After a time, Dixon left for a job at the New Victoria Cinema in Church Street, Preston, where he played a 2/9 Wurlitzer.

He was in high demand throughout the 1930s, 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s.

During his fifty-year career he was one of the top-selling artists, his prolific output ranking alongside that of Victor Silvester and Bing Crosby.

In March 1930, Dixon was invited to audition for the position of organist at Blackpool's Tower Ballroom, which, at the time, contained a 2/10 Wurlitzer.

Previous to this audition, there had been two other organists, Max Bruce and James Hodgetts FRCO.

The Wurlitzer's job had been to provide music for dancing, however neither organist could tackle the difficult task of keeping a strict tempo.

After auditioning, Dixon was given a trial, with the ultimatum that, if he did not make a success of playing the Wurlitzer for dancing, both he and the Wurlitzer would go.

Once he had mastered playing in strict tempo, Dixon further developed his playing style, with a strong bass line, and both hands providing accompaniment and melody.

Dixon was mainly left-handed and he often played the accompaniment rhythm with his left hand as well as the melody using second touch.

This left his right hand free to supplement the music.

This became Dixon's trade mark instantly recognisable style.

Soon enough, Dixon had fully exploited the 2/10 Wurlitzer's capabilities.

Since this was holding him back, and the dancers, this made Dixon plan a larger, more suitable instrument.

Within weeks of his appointment at the Tower, the BBC were broadcasting Mr R. H Dixon from the Tower Ballroom, Blackpool.

One such broadcast was as follows:

This broadcast was different from any previous organ broadcast, and with Dixon's unique style, nothing like it had been heard before.

Dixon was also playing alongside bandleader Bertini in concerts, dance sessions, radio broadcasts and recordings.

By 1931, Dixon's broadcasts were becoming highly popular, and the time slot was expanded from 30 minutes, to 45 minutes, and were made as often as 5 times a week to the UK alone.

Regular broadcasts were also being made to the British Empire, and Dixon was often in the ballroom in the very early hours of the morning, broadcasting live to places such as Canada, India, Africa and Australia.