This Black History Month, Maths Lecturer John O’Neil explores the story of Emile Ford. 

Moving from Saint Lucia to London as a teenager in the Windrush generation of the 1950s, Emile enrolled in college to grow his knowledge of sound reproduction technologies. At college, he picked up how to play the guitar, piano, violin, bass guitar and drums, and later formed the band Emile Ford & the Checkmates with his half-brothers. 

The band attracted the attention of EMI Records, but Emile declined their record contract because he wanted to produce the sound himself. His self-belief paid off. The band’s doo-wop version of an old WW1 song What Do You Want to Make Those Eyes at Me For? shot to number one in the UK Singles Chart and stayed there for 6 weeks over Christmas 1959. Emile became the first Black British artist to sell one million copies. He was hugely successful, and in his heyday was even supported by the Beatles in Merseyside 1962. 

Emile was learning his craft and making history against a backdrop of serious racial tension in London. The year before Emile’s hit single, organised groups of white youths attacked West Indian residences in Notting Hill and sparked the ‘Notting Hill riots’ of 1958 which saw more than 140 people arrested over a two-week period.  

It seems that music, such as Emile’s, played some part in bringing people together. In fact, the first indoor Caribbean carnival of music and culture took place in 1959 in response to the riots, which would grow over the years to become the Notting Hill Carnival.  

Emile had a rare condition called synaesthesia, allowing him to see colours in relation to sounds, or ‘hear in colour’. It’s a gift attributed to great musicians including Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Wonder and Billie Eilish. 

And the college that equipped Emile with the skills and confidence to pursue a career in the music industry was Paddington Technical Institute, later renamed City of Westminster College. 

Listen to Emile Ford on Spotify.

Image courtesy of Popperfoto/Getty Images

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