Editing Ronald Binge (section)

==Biography==
Binge was born in a working-class neighbourhood in [[Derby]], Derbyshire, in the [[Midlands (England)|English Midlands]].<ref name="Larkin50"/> In his childhood he was a chorister at [[St Andrew's Church, Derby|Saint Andrew's Church]] ([[Church of England]]), London Road, Derby – 'the railwaymen's church' (demolished 1970). Binge was educated at the [[Derby School of Music]], where he studied the organ.<ref name=tom/> Early in his career he was a cinema organist,<ref name=carey>{{cite web|last=Carey|first=Mike|title=Ronald Binge|url=http://www.rfsoc.org.uk/rbinge.shtml|publisher=Robert Farnon Society|access-date=4 March 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051226224814/http://www.rfsoc.org.uk/rbinge.shtml|archive-date=26 December 2005}}</ref> and later worked in summer orchestras in British seaside resorts (including [[Blackpool]] and [[Great Yarmouth]]), for which he learned to play the [[piano accordion]]. Binge's skill as a [[Theatre organ|cinema organist]] was put to good use, and he played the organ in [[Mantovani]]'s first band, the Tipica Orchestra.<ref name=grove/> During the [[World War II|Second World War]], he served in the [[Royal Air Force]], during which time he was much in demand organising in-camp entertainment.<ref name=biog>Carey, Mike. [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1335624.Sailing_by ''Sailing By, the Ronald Binge Story''], ''Goodreads.com'', (2000)</ref>

After the war, Mantovani offered Binge the job of arranging and composing for his new orchestra.<ref name="Larkin50"/> With Mantovani, Binge also orchestrated [[Noël Coward]]'s musicals ''[[Pacific 1860]]'' (1946) and ''[[Ace of Clubs (musical)|Ace of Clubs]]'' (1950).<ref name=grove/> In 1951, his arrangement of "[[Charmaine (song)|Charmaine]]" gave him and Mantovani worldwide success and recognition.<ref name=carey/> However, he tired of writing [[musical arrangement|arrangements]], and turned to composing original works and film scores.<ref name=grove/> Mantovani's orchestra began playing his light orchestral pieces for radio broadcast, and in 1952 Binge devised and conducted his own BBC radio programme called String Song, playing many of his own compositions. He regularly composed for production and library music publishers, and a number of his works were used for radio and television signature tunes.

Binge married Vera Simmons in 1945. During the 1950s they lived at 18, Smitham Bottom Lane in [[Purley, London|Purley]], Croydon.<ref>Norris, Gerald. ''A Musical Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland'' (1981), p. 96</ref> He died in [[Ringwood, Hampshire|Ringwood]], [[Hampshire]], of [[Hepatocellular carcinoma|liver cancer]] in 1979, aged 69, survived by his wife, son and daughter.<ref name=biog/>
<!---AND HAVE THEY?==Commemoration==
In early 2013, [[Derby City Council]] and Derby Civic Society announced they would put a [[blue plaque]] on one of his two early homes in Derby (83 Darby Street, [[Normanton, Derby|Normanton]], or 29 Wiltshire Road, [[Chaddesden]]).<ref>[https://www.derbycivicsociety.co.uk/viewnews.php?id=16 Derby Civic Society]</ref>--->