Early life Ridley was born in
St Pancras, London. He started learning piano as a child, and helped in his father's general store by demonstrating pianos for sale. By the age of nine, he performed at local functions, and at 13 won a scholarship to the
Northern Polytechnic Institute to learn about piano making.
Early career He joined the
Feldman music publishing company in 1928, and demonstrated songs in the company's catalogue to musicians and performers. He met
Ted Shapiro who encouraged him to write songs, and his first published song, "The One Little Hair on His Head", written with veteran songwriter
Harry Castling, was recorded by
Gracie Fields. In the 1960s, Ridley increasingly worked mainly with
variety acts and comedians. He was the producer of the
Black and White Minstrel Show albums by the
George Mitchell Minstrels, as well as records by
Andy Stewart and the
Deep River Boys. He produced
Bernard Bresslaw's hit "
Mad Passionate Love"; found the song "
Bring Me Sunshine" for
Morecambe and Wise; and produced
Benny Hill's 1971 UK number one hit, "
Ernie (The Fastest Milkman in the West)", and the equally successful 1975 remake of "
Whispering Grass" by comic actors
Windsor Davies and
Don Estelle.
Later life He retired from EMI in 1977, but later worked occasionally on projects, including the production of
José Carreras' 1984 album
Love Is....
Death Ridley died in
Datchet,
Berkshire in 2007, aged 93. His wife Libusé pre-deceased him; they had two daughters and a son. ==References==