Harry Bidgood

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}}

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = Harry Bidgood

| image =

| birth_name = Henry Bidgood

| alias = Primo Scala

| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1898|08|29}}

| birth_place = London, England

| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1957|11|15|1898|08|29}}

| death_place = London, England

| instrument = Accordion

| genre = Jazz, British dance band

| occupation = Bandleader

| years_active =

| label = Broadcast Records,

Rex, Imperial, Decca

| associated_acts = Bob and Alf Pearson, Vera Lynn, Sam Browne, Sam Costa, Donald Peers, Cavan O'Connor

}}

Henry Bidgood (29 August 1898 – 15 November 1957),{{cite web |last1=Brown |first1=Terry |title=Harry Bidgood – From Vocalion to Primo Scala – 78rpm Collectors' Community |url=https://www.78rpmcommunity.com/2018/11/08/harry-bidgood-from-vocalion-to-primo-scala/ |access-date=24 March 2021 |date=18 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200918202731/https://www.78rpmcommunity.com/2018/11/08/harry-bidgood-from-vocalion-to-primo-scala/ |archive-date=18 September 2020 }} was an English composer, dance band leader and musical director for films.{{cite book|last=Huntley|first=John|title=British Film Music. Volume 2 of Literature of cinema|year=1972|isbn=0-405-03897-6|pages=247}}

Born in West Ham,1911 Census London, England in 1898,{{cite book|title=The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music|editor=Colin Larkin|publisher=Guinness Publishing|date=1992|edition=First|isbn=0-85112-939-0|page=2200}}. his father was music teacher and composer Thomas Bidgood. The family moved to Harringay in North London when Thomas was about 10 years old. He studied at the Royal College of Music. In the 1920s Bidgood was the assistant organist at the Electric Coliseum in Harringay.{{cite book |last=Buck |first=Jeremy |author-link= |date=2010 |title=Cinemas of Haringey |url= |location=London |publisher=Hornsey Historical Society |page=31 |isbn=978-0-905794-41-9}}

Bidgood released dance band music under various names, mostly notably Primo Scala and his Accordion Band, who issued over 200 sides on 78rpm.{{cite web|title=Primo Scala and his Accordion Band|url=https://www.nme.com/nme-video/youtube/id/XexJLmUJgjM|website=Nme.com}} Over the course of 20 years, he would frequently broadcast on the BBC. In 1930, he and his band covered "Amy, Wonderful Amy", a song about Amy Johnson.{{Cite web|url=https://lyricsplayground.com/alpha/songs/a/amy.html|title=AMY - Lyrics - International Lyrics Playground|website=Lyricsplayground.com|access-date=9 October 2021}} Bidgood was also the musical director for numerous films, including several starring George Formby. Apart from the many recordings made under his own name, he also led accordion bands under the names Rossini and Don Porto. As Primo Scala, he broadcast regularly on Music While You Work, until just before his death. Many of these sessions were directed by deputies, such as Ernest Penfold, owing to Bidgood being in and out of hospital.

He died in November 1957, at the age of 59, having been diagnosed with inoperable stomach cancer.