Reg Lewis (Mastertouch)

Reg Lewis
Born: 1908 Sydney, Australia
Died: 16 November 1977, Sydney, Australia
Labels: Mastertouch

Reginald Rice Lewis was born in Sydney. He intended to make engineering his career, regarding music as a mere hobby.  He taught himself to play the piano, made his radio debut in 1932, and worked with small combinations until he was engaged to play at the Embassy cabaret in Melbourne.  Getting the hunch that there would soon be a big demand for the musical arranger,  he taught himself the art of orchestration, arranging, etc. He was engaged by Frank Coughlan to join his band for the Trocadero in Sydney as pianist and arranger.  

Mr. Lewis was music manager for the publishing house of D. Davis and pianist for band leaders Bob Lyon, Dick Freeman, and Abe Romain until 1941,  when he became musical director for a leading Sydney commercial station.  He formed the Modem Music Club - the first club of its kind in Australia - and organised a seventeen-piece band which gave public swing recitals.   
During the war years his band played twice weekly for dances arranged by the American Red Cross.  He subsequently took over the conductorship of the band at the Prince Edward Theatre and he and Charles Field were also favourites of the clientele of Princes' Restaurant, where they played duo-piano work on the two Steinway grands.

In 1936 he married Barbara James, (1908-2004), who was arguably Australia’s leading popular vocaliste for three decades. With Reg, she made several recordings, and from the late 1940s into the mid-1950s, the couple toured Britain, Europe and east Asia. They featured in a number of London variety shows and had regular guest spots on both BBC radio and television. Back home too, radio was a great medium for the couple, and they were frequent guests on both the ABC and 2GB. During the early 1960s, they even had their own weekly program on Sydney radio. ‘Between You and Us’, their piano and vocal show, ran for fifteen minutes. 

He joined Mastertouch in 1964 and recorded for them sporadically until 1973.