He was the first British songwriter to reach the top of the US music chart, with The Ink Spots' 1946 recording of "The Gypsy", and was known for his close association with the singer Dorothy Squires, for whom he wrote that and many other songs.
[1] He also started to have some success with his own songwriting, and his tune "Out of the Blue" became popular with RAF bands during the Second World War.
[4] His first big hit was "The Gypsy", first recorded by Squires in 1945,[1] though its greatest success came in the version by The Ink Spots which topped the US music chart – the first time this had been achieved by a British songwriter.
[3] His songs were also recorded by Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, Al Martino and Louis Armstrong, among others.
[1] His relationship with Dorothy Squires ended in 1951, after an altercation in the bar of a theatre in Llanelli that they jointly owned, and was followed by legal actions between the pair.