Ted Simons, Composer, Arranger, 84

 

Ted Simons, known as “Westport’s Music Man” for his musical contributions to the community as well a Broadway, television, film, and cabaret musical director, composer, and arranger, died Dec. 5. He was 84.

Ted Simons in an undated photo Contributed photo

He was a creative force in corporate America, creating shows and films for more than 100 companies, including Pepsi-Cola, IBM, GE, Ford, and Procter & Gamble.

His Broadway experience ranged from composing music for his first show “Potholes,” which was produced Off-Broadway, to “Bye Bye Birdie” and “Anything Goes” on Broadway. He also was musical director for “New Faces Of 1968.”

He also worked on the Mel Brooks film “The Producers,” some of the Miss America Pageants, and NBC’s “Hullaballoo,” as well as television specials with Barbra Streisand, Ethel Merman, and Paul Anka.

He was a conductor and arranger for performers such as Bob Hope, Roberta Peters, the Four Seasons, Shari Lewis, Leslie Uggams, Julius La Rosa, Don Cornell, and many others. He was also the orchestra leader at the famed Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City.

His one-man show, ‘‘Words About Music,’’ was an American popular-music historical perspective that covered 150 years. For the show, he spent three years researching American popular music of the past 150 years as well as its origins.

In 2009, the Westport Center for Senior Activities honored him with a lifetime achievement award for his contributions to the Westport community. These included being the musical director of the Y’s Men singing group the Hoot Owls, as well as the Mellow Dears and the Blue Notes.

Ted Simons plays for the Y’s Men’s the Hoot Owls in 2009. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) WestportNow.com photo

He was also musical director and conductor for many Westport school shows and the Greens Farms Academy. He was a member of the local Theatre Artists Workshop.

He was born in Everett, Massachusetts, and grew up in Chelsea, Massachusetts.

In a 1987 interview with The New York Times, he said he cut his musical teeth in saloons and jazz rooms from the time he was 14 years old.

‘‘My aunt used to hang out with gamblers in the clubs in Boston,’’ Simons recalled.

‘‘She introduced me to a new piano teacher who gave me the tools to make a living. I sat there for hours copying lead sheets by hand—melody line and chords. I have over 2,000 songs in my head. Then I’d have to practice them in all keys.’‘

Nicknamed ‘‘the Kid’’ because he was always the youngest band member wherever he played, Simons had to learn to play different styles of music, the newspaper said.

‘‘I played with a Latin band, jazz, hotel-style,’’ he said. ‘‘I accompanied singers, did show tunes, played with a Greek band and a polka band. Then I was on the road for a while with the big bands, Art Mooney, Tommy Dorsey, the Night Train Band. A lot of my heroes are gone.’’

Ted Simons at work in 2005. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo

After a stint in the service during the Korean conflict, he returned to New York and worked with Julius La Rosa in the late 1950s.

The Times said Simons attributed his comedic timing to playing for so many stand-up comedians. ‘‘I’ve conducted for Bob Hope, Henny Youngman and Allan Sherman,’’ he said.

Simons also recorded an album of children’s songs, which he wrote.

‘‘I’ve got the joy of music,’’ he said. ‘‘I’m starting my career over every day.’‘

Simons is survived by his wife, Jean, son Eric of New York City, daughter Jill of Fairfield, son-in law Anthony Salerno, grandson Justin and granddaughter Samantha Salerno, and his brother Harvey Simons of Dedham, Massachusetts.

He was as wildly passionate of ice cream sodas as he was about his music and playing the piano, said a family obituary.

There will be no funeral service, instead his family said he asked, “Please sing or play a chorus of George Gershwin’s ‘They Can’t Take That Away From Me’ in a slow tempo.” 

https://westportnow.com/index.php?/v3/obitjump/ted_simons_composer_arranger_84/

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