Music was an integral part of the family. At the age of 5, Shane Ward had a regular singing slot with the family band; his signature tune was 'If I Were A Rich Man'. His father had played the accordion in public houses from age 14, so music and entertaining was clearly in the blood. His mother managed the band (Easy Rhythm) and went on to compere and sing throughout the many working mens and social clubs in East London.

At age 7, Shane joined the local church choir. Exceeding in musical ability he attended many Cathedrals including: Exeter, Canterbury and Westminster Abbey. His choral career reached ultimately an offer of a placement at the exclusive Temple Bar choir. Without funding for education, however, this placement - along with guaranteed links to the world of music - was lost

Shane's talents extended beyond singing. He took up the violin at age 9 and the piano at age 13, offically reaching grade VI in both before he was 16. His first composition at age 14 was a church anthem of the canticles 'Magnificat' and 'Nunc Dimitis', written long hand the old fashioned way on scored paper, and some 11 years before the idea of the home computer became a reality for the privileged few. Also at age 14 Shane joined a local rock band as a keyboard player, experiencing a different kind of music world that broadened his music world.The consequences of poverty and lack of opportunity to the poor took its natural course. Ambition and talent was destined to remain an avocation as Shane took work in an optical factory for two years immediately after leaving school. University was not a considered option; one left school and got a job. In 1978 Shane left home and started work in Granada Theatres, however, where music and entertainment should have been the outlet, the world of Bingo dominated his life until 1989

With music held almost always at arms length, there was little opportunity to compose and even less opportunity to go anywhere with it. The once voice of an angel was now the voice of an axle grinder. Whilst the music industry held its doors open for singer songwriters, just songwriters (outside of Los Angeles) were not entertained at all. Then all of a sudden there seemed to be a breakthrough. In collaboration with his brother Chris, Shane received an invite to Jet Star Records for a soca tune they had submitted. One of the directors seemed quite impressed and was happy to offer a contract if Shane was also prepared to perform it; once again the songwriter would also have to be the singer. Two weeks later the offer was withdrawn on the grounds of finance. Shane and Chris went on to work on many other songs but the music industry remained firmly closed.

The revolution of creating music through a computer changed the music world for millions. Where once music outside of the industry was either live or recorded on a cassette tape recorder, now it could be composed and recorded and kept on a Compact Disc or shared on the World Wide Web. Shane had long wished to have access to an orchestra to compose and play a symphony. In 1998 he had one and has gone on to write not only classical but contemporary music and also music for musicals and film.

The next revolution to benefit Shane's creativity was the introduction of digital book publishing. His first book 'The Philosophy Of The Tarot For The 21st Century' was first published by Zander eBooks. A few years later the company was sold to 'Synergebooks', where Shane published more books and is by no means finished. Part one of his autobiography is available, taking you from years 1960 to 2004. Shane is still living part two and that is likely to remain unpublished until at least 2025.

Shane lives in Norfolk, UK, is married with four children and nine grandchildren.

The ‘Tongue In Cheek’ logo was designed originally for carefully placed words on Tee-shirts. Unfortunately the on line clothing manufacturer was too expensive for the designs to succeed. Never the less, the logo survives as a film production logo for Shane’s Youtube movies. Also he promised to record the lives of his grandchildren up to the age of five - thus creating a monster. Then again the results are priceless beyond measure.

Recent additions to the grand children make it 9 in total

Last updated 3 Nov 2022