Desmond Leslie

Desmond Arthur Peter Leslie (29 June 1921, County Monaghan, Ireland – 21 February 2001, Antibes, France) was a British pilot, film maker, writer, and musician, of English, Irish and Scottish descent. He was the younger son, and youngest child, of Shane Leslie, and his wife Marjorie (nee Ide) Leslie. His father was a first cousin of Sir Winston Churchill. During his lifetime he served as a Spitfire pilot in the RAF during World War II, became one of the first pioneers of electric music, and co-authored one of the first books on UFOs, Flying Saucers Have Landed (1953), with writer George Adamski. Desmond Leslie was briefly a screenwriter/director for film and television. During financial difficulties during the production of Stranger At My Door, Desmond opted to compose the music for the film himself. Some stated the music was the best part of the film. In the early 1950s Leslie designed the world's first effective multi-track sound mixing desk which he had built by Rupert Neve. It can still be seen in his family home Castle Leslie, Monaghan, where it has been an object of reverence for visitors such as Mick Jagger and Paul McCartney. During the late 1950s, he began nurturing his interest in contemporary music. In his small home studio, he experimented with the sounds of musique concrète. In January 1960, Leslie pressed a single acetate called Music of the Future. All Leslie recordings were later licensed to Joseph Weinburger, and Leslie's recordings were pressed onto a short series of 78rpm library discs, occasionally being put to use in science and mystery based programing, such as early Dr. Who episodes. He used a great number of tape sources to create his pieces; some sources he mentions in his liner notes are motor horns, humming tops and bells. In 2005, Jonny Trunk's British record label, Trunk Records, re-released Desmond's 1960 acetate, never before released commercially. The sounds on this release were mastered from the original acetate. The recordings are believed to have been made between 1955 and 1959, and included are Desmond's original sleevenotes, containing information pertaining to each selection. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.