Simon Fisher Turner
Encyclopedia
Simon Turner is an English musician, songwriter, composer, producer and actor.
After portraying Ned East in the 1971 BBC TV adaptation of Tom Brown's Schooldays and roles in films such as The Big Sleep
(1978), Dover
-born Simon Turner quickly rose to fame as a teen star in Britain thanks to his mentor Jonathan King
who released his first album in 1973 on UK Records
. He was a member of The Gadget and also joined The The
for a period of two years. He has used several names as a recording artist, including Simon Fisher Turner, The King of Luxembourg, Deux Filles and Simon Turner. Simon Turner continues to record albums for Mute Records
as Simon Fisher-Turner.
In the 1980s, he released several singles on él Records
as The King of Luxembourg, many of them having been given airplay by BBC Radio DJ John Peel
. In 1990 he released a solo album on Creation Records
.
Turner is also known for recording film soundtracks, most notably for Derek Jarman
's Caravaggio
(1986), The Last of England (1988) and The Garden (1990). He also composed the complete score for William Eggleston in the Real World
(2005) as well as for the David Lynch
produced film Nadja
. Many of his soundtracks are released on CD, mainly on Mute Records
whom he also made three solo albums for.
In 2002, Turner was a visiting professor at Braunschweig
School of Art in Germany. In 2009, he joined Tilda Swinton
on a new film essay shot in Berlin for The Invisible Frame (2009) directed by Cynthia Beatt. In the same year he produced Polly Scattergood
's self-titled debut album, Polly Scattergood
He also completed music for sculptor Alyson Shotz
at The Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas. He is currently composing the score for The Great White Silence
.
Simon Turner lives with his wife and two children in London
.
After portraying Ned East in the 1971 BBC TV adaptation of Tom Brown's Schooldays and roles in films such as The Big Sleep
The Big Sleep (1978 film)
The Big Sleep was the second film version of Raymond Chandler's 1939 novel of the same name. The film was directed by Michael Winner and stars Robert Mitchum in his second feature film portrayal of the detective Philip Marlowe. The cast includes Sarah Miles, Candy Clark, Joan Collins, and...
(1978), Dover
Dover
Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...
-born Simon Turner quickly rose to fame as a teen star in Britain thanks to his mentor Jonathan King
Jonathan King
Jonathan King is an English singer, songwriter, impresario and record producer. He is also the author of three novels, Bible Two and The Booker Prize Winner , and Beware the Monkey Man , and an autobiography, 65 My Life So Far .King first came to prominence as an...
who released his first album in 1973 on UK Records
UK Records
UK Records was launched in 1972 by Jonathan King to distribute his own releases and some other artists. The abbreviation UK stands for "United King". The label was distributed at first by Decca Records and, after 1976, by PolyGram...
. He was a member of The Gadget and also joined The The
The The
The The are an English musical and multimedia group that have been active in various forms since 1979, with singer/songwriter Matt Johnson being the only constant band member.-Early years :...
for a period of two years. He has used several names as a recording artist, including Simon Fisher Turner, The King of Luxembourg, Deux Filles and Simon Turner. Simon Turner continues to record albums for Mute Records
Mute Records
Mute is an independent record label based in the UK. It was founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller and featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Goldfrapp, Depeche Mode, Yazoo, Erasure and Fad Gadget.-Beginnings:...
as Simon Fisher-Turner.
In the 1980s, he released several singles on él Records
El records
él Records is an independent record label from the UK founded by Mike Alway. Alway, who cut his teeth in the late seventies working with The Soft Boys and promoting clubs and concerts in Richmond, south-west London, joined Cherry Red Records in 1980 to work alongside the company's founder, Iain...
as The King of Luxembourg, many of them having been given airplay by BBC Radio DJ John Peel
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...
. In 1990 he released a solo album on Creation Records
Creation Records
Creation Records was a British independent record label headed by Alan McGee. Along with Dick Green and Joe Foster, McGee founded Creation in 1983. The label lasted until its demise in 1999. The name came from the 1960s band The Creation , whom McGee greatly admired. McGee, Green and Foster were...
.
Turner is also known for recording film soundtracks, most notably for Derek Jarman
Derek Jarman
Michael Derek Elworthy Jarman was an English film director, stage designer, diarist, artist, gardener and author.-Life:...
's Caravaggio
Caravaggio (film)
Caravaggio is a British film directed by Derek Jarman. The film is a fictionalized re-telling of the life of Baroque painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio.-Plot:...
(1986), The Last of England (1988) and The Garden (1990). He also composed the complete score for William Eggleston in the Real World
William Eggleston in the Real World
William Eggleston In The Real World is a documentary film about the photographer William Eggleston, made by Michael Almereyda, released in 2005....
(2005) as well as for the David Lynch
David Lynch
David Keith Lynch is an American filmmaker, television director, visual artist, musician and occasional actor. Known for his surrealist films, he has developed his own unique cinematic style, which has been dubbed "Lynchian", and which is characterized by its dream imagery and meticulous sound...
produced film Nadja
Nadja (film)
Nadja is a 1994 film by Michael Almereyda starring Elina Löwensohn as the creature Nadja and Peter Fonda as Van Helsing. As the character's names suggest, Nadja is a vampire film, but treating elements of the genre in an understated arthouse style....
. Many of his soundtracks are released on CD, mainly on Mute Records
Mute Records
Mute is an independent record label based in the UK. It was founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller and featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Goldfrapp, Depeche Mode, Yazoo, Erasure and Fad Gadget.-Beginnings:...
whom he also made three solo albums for.
In 2002, Turner was a visiting professor at Braunschweig
Braunschweig
Braunschweig , is a city of 247,400 people, located in the federal-state of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located north of the Harz mountains at the farthest navigable point of the Oker river, which connects to the North Sea via the rivers Aller and Weser....
School of Art in Germany. In 2009, he joined Tilda Swinton
Tilda Swinton
Katherine Mathilda "Tilda" Swinton is a British actress known for both arthouse and mainstream films. She has appeared in a number of films including The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Burn After Reading, The Beach, We Need to Talk About Kevin and was nominated for a Golden Globe for her...
on a new film essay shot in Berlin for The Invisible Frame (2009) directed by Cynthia Beatt. In the same year he produced Polly Scattergood
Polly Scattergood
Polly Scattergood is a British singer-songwriter from Colchester, Essex, England, UK. She has been described as ethereal, dark, intense and quirky, while her musical style has been described as "early 21st century electro-dance-pop of London proper". Scattergood's debut album, self-titled, was...
's self-titled debut album, Polly Scattergood
Polly Scattergood (album)
Polly Scattergood is the self-titled debut album by English singer-songwriter Polly Scattergood, released in the United Kingdom on 9 March 2009 by Mute Records.-Track listing:All songs written by Polly Scattergood.#"I Hate the Way" – 7:07...
He also completed music for sculptor Alyson Shotz
Alyson Shotz
Alyson Shotz is an American artist based in Brooklyn, New York.She graduated with a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1987 and an MFA from the University of Washington in 1991....
at The Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas. He is currently composing the score for The Great White Silence
The Great White Silence
The Great White Silence is a 1924 English documentary that contains brief cinematograph sequences taken during the Terra Nova Expedition of 1910—1913...
.
Simon Turner lives with his wife and two children in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
Television
- Tom Brown's Schooldays (1971 TV serial)
- The Long Chase (13 episodes, 1972)
- The Intruder (1972) TV series
- The Adventures of Black BeautyThe Adventures of Black BeautyThe Adventures of Black Beauty is a British children's television drama series produced by London Weekend Television and shown by ITV in the United Kingdom between 1972 and 1974...
(1972) - Village Hall (1974) TV series
- Who Killed Lamb? (1974) (TV)
- Kim & Co. (1975) TV series
- Lillie (1978) TV serial
- Neptune's Children (1985) TV series
Films
- The Big SleepThe Big Sleep (1978 film)The Big Sleep was the second film version of Raymond Chandler's 1939 novel of the same name. The film was directed by Michael Winner and stars Robert Mitchum in his second feature film portrayal of the detective Philip Marlowe. The cast includes Sarah Miles, Candy Clark, Joan Collins, and...
(1978) - CaravaggioCaravaggio (film)Caravaggio is a British film directed by Derek Jarman. The film is a fictionalized re-telling of the life of Baroque painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio.-Plot:...
(1986) - The Party: Nature Morte (1991)
- The 90 Days (Japan) (1992)
- The CroupierCroupier (film)Croupier is a 1998 film starring Clive Owen as a croupier. Directed by Mike Hodges, the film was released by Image Entertainment on DVD in the USA, and Alliance Atlantis in Canada. Though intended as a feature film, it was shown on television in North America...
(1998) - The End of the AffairThe End of the Affair (1999 film)Michael Nyman would later use "Diary of Love" to open and close his solo album, The Piano Sings . As with many of Nyman's 1990s scores, he incorporates material from his String Quartet No.3, which was in turn based on a choral piece titled Out of the Ruins.-Track listing:#Diary of Hate 2:38#Henry...
(1999) - Hana wo tsumu shôjo to mushi wo korosu shôjo (2000)
As Simon Turner
- She Was Just A Young Girl (No Way) Single (UK RecordsUK RecordsUK Records was launched in 1972 by Jonathan King to distribute his own releases and some other artists. The abbreviation UK stands for "United King". The label was distributed at first by Decca Records and, after 1976, by PolyGram...
) (1973) - Simon Turner (UK RecordsUK RecordsUK Records was launched in 1972 by Jonathan King to distribute his own releases and some other artists. The abbreviation UK stands for "United King". The label was distributed at first by Decca Records and, after 1976, by PolyGram...
) (1973) - Simon Turner (Creation RecordsCreation RecordsCreation Records was a British independent record label headed by Alan McGee. Along with Dick Green and Joe Foster, McGee founded Creation in 1983. The label lasted until its demise in 1999. The name came from the 1960s band The Creation , whom McGee greatly admired. McGee, Green and Foster were...
) (1990) - Sex Appeal (1992)
- The Many Moods of Simon Turner (1993)
- Revox (1993)
As The King of Luxembourg
- Sir/Royal Bastard (1988)
- Sex Appeal (1992)
- Sweets of Japan (Felicite Records) (2003)
As Simon Fisher Turner
- The Bone of Desire (1985)
- Caravaggio Original Soundtrack (1986/1995)
- The Last of England Original Soundtrack (1987)
- Melancholia Soundtrack (1989)
- Edward II Original Soundtrack (1991)
- The Garden Original Soundtrack (1991)
- I've Heard the Ammonite Murmur (1992)
- BlueBlue (1993 film)Blue is the twelfth and final feature film by director Derek Jarman, released four months before his death from AIDS-related complications...
(1994) - Live Blue Roma (The Archaeology of Sound) (1995)
- NadjaNadja (film)Nadja is a 1994 film by Michael Almereyda starring Elina Löwensohn as the creature Nadja and Peter Fonda as Van Helsing. As the character's names suggest, Nadja is a vampire film, but treating elements of the genre in an understated arthouse style....
(1995) - Shwarma (1996)
- Loaded Original Soundtrack (1996)
- Still, Moving, Light (1999)
- Oh Venus (1999)
- Eyes Open(1999)
- Travelcard (2000)
- Riviera Faithful (2002)
- Swift (2002)
- Lana Lara Lata (2007)
- Music From Films You Should Have Seen (2009)
Film music not released on CD (selection)
- A Song of Love
- I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
- William Eggleston in the Real WorldWilliam Eggleston in the Real WorldWilliam Eggleston In The Real World is a documentary film about the photographer William Eggleston, made by Michael Almereyda, released in 2005....