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Dance
Bands And Singers ~~~~~~~~~~~ A Snap-Shot View |
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Jack Hylton (1892-1965)
The name he acquired at birth - in Bolton, Lancashire, on July
2nd., 1892 - happened to be Jackson Greenhalgh Hylton. He came from a family of
mill-workers and, after leaving school, took up employment in the mill where
his father worked. But with a view of "rising above this station in life" he
drifted into the entertainment world - becoming "The Singing Mill Boy" at the
age of seventeen. He then obtained a job as the conductor of the orchestra
belonging to a touring pantomime. After this, he decided to settle down and
took a job as a pianist in the London "440 Club".
The start of the First
World War led him to join the"20th Hussars Regiment at the age of 22; and from
this - and because of his show-business experience - he became the director of
the Army Entertainment Division.
After the war and working as a pianist
with various orchestras, his real break into the dance-band business came when
records of the then famous American band-leader, Paul Whiteman, arrived in the
UK. Jack Hylton happened to be the only musician who could successfully
transcribe the new musical arrangements of jazzy dance music for other bands to
use. The expanding Record Company - HMV - wanted to capitalise on this
increasingly popular music; so, on the 28th of May of1921, Jack Hylton became
the head of a seven-piece band which recorded some of his jazz transcriptions
and the record label carried the title: "Jack Hylton's Jazz Band". The music
produced is - in my opinion - some of the best in early jazz music - and, when
I get round to it, I'll offer a sample of a mid 1920 version on this page (if I
can "tone down" the scratches of the particular records I have).
However,
after this recording success, Jack Hylton never "looked back" and his band -
rearranged and expanded from the original seven-piece to a fourteen-piece
orchestra - became one of the top British Bands in the 1930s, with every
performance introduced by his signature tune: "Oh Listen To The Band".
His
last major involvement in show-business concerned a production of "Camelot" at
London's Dury Lane Theatre, in 1964. However, he did not live to see the end of
its "run". He died in the London Clinic on the 29th January, 1965, in the midst
of the show's highly successful stagings. It seems his life was one long
"musical run" - and I give thanks he was able to be that way and record his
music; so that we can all: "Listen To The Band".
Popular vocalists singing with his band, from time to time, were: Denny Dennis; Primrose Orrick; Jack Plant; Sam Costa; Peggy Dell; Eve Becke and Jack Hylton's wife: Ennis Parkes - who formed her own band under the name "Mrs. Jack Hylton and Her Band" (No doubt the use of "Mrs" coupled with her husband's name - to give title to her band - would certainly not be "in tune" with our present time).
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Bert Ambrose (1897-1971)
It seems Bert Ambrose's life depicts a real "rags to riches"
story. Born in a situation of deep poverty in London's East End, the son of a
"rag-and-bone" merchant, he became a well-to-do "top of the pops" band-leader
of a twenty-piece orchestra in the 1930s - playing music at the "best" hotels.
However, and in the beginning, his father (mindful of their Jewish origin)
arranged for young Albert to learn the violin; so that his son would always
have a skill he could take with him and use anywhere in the world if
"hostilities against the Jews" arose in the place he happened to be - and his
son became "compelled" to "move on".
After acquiring this skill - and
whilst still in his teens - young Ambrose went to New York and got a job as
"sixth fiddle" at the Palais Royal on Broadway. Then, and less than six months
later, he got the job of conducting the band.
He returned to London in
1920, and his "elegant appearance" plus his musical experience allowed him to
opened at the Embassy Club in New Bond Street. He then transferred to the more
prestigious Mayfair Hotel, in 1927, where he introduced his signature tune
"When Day Is Done", sung by the band's vocalist, Sam Browne. His band acquired
the reputation of being able to create a "magical atmosphere" in every
dance-hall in which they played; this due to - it is claimed - Ambrose's
"immaculate musicianship and sense of rhythm"
During the 1939-45 war
air-raids on London, he stayed at his "base" - the Mayfair Hotel - from which
he made many recordings and radio broadcasts to "cheer up" the war-time
population
However, after the war, changing tastes and the rising expense
of maintaining large groups of highly skilled musicians necessary for such
bands made them no longer a viable media of entertainment. The "Groups" coming
upon the scene with the "lesser expense" of just guitars and drums had more
commercial attraction.
Although Ambrose had, right up to the 1950s, some
"successes" with the old style, it seems the "days were done" for the
dance-bands of the pre-war era.
Ambrose died in 1971, but his music still
goes on - as you've just heard.
Popular vocalists singing with his band, from time to time, were: Sam Browne; Elsie Carlisle; Jack Cooper; Evelyn Dall and Vera Lynn.
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Henry Hall
(1898-1989)
Henry Robert Hall came into the
world in the month of May, 1898, in the district of Peckham, London. Both his
parents were members of the Salvation Army and young Henry obtained his first
musical experiences by joining the "Sally Army Band" (as it was popularly
known) in which he learnt to play the concertina and the cornet. The founder of
the "Army" - William Booth - insisted, at the time of its formation, that any
tunes composed and played must be cheerful. Following this "guideline" young
Henry composed a tune called "The Sunshine March" which eventually formed the
basis for his signature tune "Here's To The Next Time" - which - if you ever
happen to hear - you'd soon detect its "marching beat".
The 1914-18 war
"demanded" he volunteered for the real(?) Army and, because of his musical
skills, he finished up in a Military Band, which gave him further experience in
"beat music". The end of the war saw him playing as a pianist to accompany
silent films shown in a cinema at Notting Hill Gate, London. However, greater
opportunities were to follow. He got a job as a "relief pianist" at
Manchester's Midland Hotel and - because of his debonair appearance and musical
virtuosity - he soon attracted the attention of the managing director for that
group of hotels. From this, he became the leader of the orchestra playing at
the newly constructed Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire.
Even greater things
were to follow when he persuaded the BBC to broadcast the opening night of the
hotel in the June of 1924, over the newly emerging media of the "wireless". He
maintained an ongoing connection with the BBC who eventually invited him to
take over the leadership of the BBC Dance Orchestra, in 1932 where he remained
in that role until 1937 - making his introductory words to each nightly
broadcast: "This is Henry Hall speaking; and tonight is my Guest Night"
famous.
He continued in the entertainment business throughout the 1939-45
war and retired in 1964. He died at Eastbourne, Sussex, in the October of 1989,
aged 91.
However, his music has never died and it still goes marching
on.
Popular vocalists singing with his band, from time to time, were: Val Rosing; Les Allan; Dan Donovan; Bob Mallin and - sometimes - Flanagan and Allan.
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