Jack Strachey

Who was Jack Strachey?

Jack Strachey, was an English composer and songwriter

Born John Francis Strachey in London on 25 September 1894, he began writing songs in the 1920s for the theatre and the music hall, scoring his first success with songs he had written for Frith Shephard's long running musical revue Lady Luck which opened at The Carlton Theatre in April 1927 where it ran for 324 performances.

In the 1930s, he began to collaborate with Eric Maschwitz and in 1936 Strachey, Maschwitz, and Harry Link co-wrote "These Foolish Things", which was to provide a top ten hit for five separate artists in 1936. Benny Goodman was among the five artists to record the song in 1936, and it has been widely covered since - by Billie Holiday and Thelonious Monk among others. Under the title "Ces Petites Choses", it was also a hit in France for Dorothy Dickson. Strachey scored another success in 1940 with the song "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square".