In the 1930s, Melachrino started working for bands led by Ambrose singing and playing saxophone with Carroll Gibbons at the Savoy Hotel London, and Bert Firman, and started playing on radio for the BBC.
[2] In 1935, he was living at Ascot Court, Grove End Road, in St John's Wood.
Melachrino also gained experience as a military musician at the Army Broadcasting Department, as Musical Director for the recording of entertainment for overseas forces, leading the British Band of the Allied Expeditionary Forces and the Orchestra Khaki.
[1] His album, Immortal Ladies, recorded in late 1954 had sold over one million copies by 1956, and he was presented with a gold disc by RCA Records chief, George Marek, so becoming the first British orchestra leader to receive such an award.
The "Starlight Roof Waltz", as performed by the George Melachrino Strings, was the signature tune of the radio programme Moeders wil is wet (1949–1974), the Dutch equivalent of Housewives' Choice.