set up in competition to Silvester. There were other bands led by musicians who were capable of recording in strict time. The best for ballroom competitions was probably Joe Loss, who had an even longer musical career than Silvester. Other bands that catered to ballroom dancing were Oscar Rabin and Jack Harris, whose band played in clubs and restaurants through the 1930s, Phil Tate, and Jack Parnell. For the post-war period of Latin dances to (mostly) Cuban and Brazilian rhythms, Edmundo Ros was in a class of his own. Later life By 1958, when he published his autobiography, he was the most successful dance band leader in British musical history, and a major star on British radio and television. His BBC Television show Dancing Club lasted 17 years. He also presented a weekly request programme on the BBC Overseas Service (later World Service) which ran from 1948 to 1975. His obituary in The Times noted, "Turn on a radio in Famagusta, Cape Town or Peking and one would be likely to hear his music issuing from the speakers". He was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1957 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews at the BBC Television Theatre. The "red book" and the Eamonn Andrews script book he was presented with were restored by bookbinder Christopher Shaw, in an episode of The Repair Shop broadcast 5 January 2023. Victor Silvester was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1961. He died while on holiday in the south of France at the age of 78. The orchestra remained in existence under his son's direction until the 1990s. Victor, his wife and son are memorialised at Golders Green Crematorium, London. The Victor Silvester Archive - which includes his OBE and First World War medals and related original documents and correspondence, his many other accolades such as his four Carl Alan Awards for services to dancing and his BBC Radio Golden Microphone Award, the complete archive of programme sheets for his orchestra's BBC broadcasts, platinum and silver discs for his orchestra's record sales and the orchestra's entire archive of original hand-scored strict tempo sheet music - was sold at auction in London in March 2000, and is now held in a private collection in Northern England. Bibliography Victor Silvester, Modern Ballroom Dancing, London: Herbert Jenkins, 1927 - many editions (about 60 in his lifetime). First edition