Martin Slavin

Martin Slavin
Born	(1922-02-19)February 19, 1922 London
Died	May 25, 1988(1988-05-25) (aged 66) Camden, London

Martin Slavin (19 February 1922 – 25 May 1988) was a British composer and music director.

Slavin was born in London. He served in the army as a Band Sergeant, and after demobilization formed his own seven piece band, working with musicians such as Eddie Calvert and Kenny Baker. In 1958, he had a UK #18 in Record Mirror's Top 20, as Martinas & His Music, with the song "Cha Cha Momma Brown", a take on the old party favourite "Knees Up Mother Brown".

In the 1960s, Slavin composed the musical Nancy Wake and was a prolific session musician and music arranger and composer for television and cinema. He scored such diverse films as Pit of Darkness, The Cool Mikado and The Wild Affair.

One of his music pieces, "Space Adventure" was used in the "Doctor Who" serial, "The Tenth Planet" as the Cybermen's theme. It was later used in "The Moonbase", "The Tomb of the Cybermen" and "The Web of Fear".

Slavin emigrated to Canada and then Hollywood, continuing to work on film productions such as the adult cartoon Once Upon a Girl (1976). He became a musical director on a cruise ship before returning to London in the 1980s.

He was killed in a road accident.

References

• Who's Who of British Jazz by John Chilton. ISBN 0-8264-7234-6