He founded the Fred Tomlinson Singers, who became well-known in the late 1960s for their association with the cult television series Monty Python's Flying Circus.
[1] His father, also Fred (died September 1995), had founded the Rossendale Male Voice Choir in 1924 and conducted it for over 50 years.
[4][5] After that he went to Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School before studying music, mathematics, statistics, and the Italian language at Leeds University.
He joined the George Mitchell Singers, who were at the centre of a long-running television variety show franchise from 1958, lasting over two decades.
[7] He composed original music under the name "Frederick Culpan" (his mother's maiden name) including The Chaucer Suite for chorus and orchestra.
[1] Tomlinson also provided choral music for The Ken Dodd Show, The Goodies, The Two Ronnies (he was the soloist in the St Botolph Country Dance Team's rendition of 'Bold Sir John') and Only Fools and Horses, and there were musical contributions to documentaries such as Himalaya with Michael Palin, Timeshift, and The Amazing Race Australia.