0:00:12 > 0:00:15Welcome to my old stomping ground.
0:00:15 > 0:00:18I lived in East London, about ten miles away.
0:00:18 > 0:00:22But when I was about eight or nine we moved here to Welling in Kent -
0:00:22 > 0:00:26and I just love this place. It holds so many memories.
0:00:26 > 0:00:29Because this is where I first fell in love with the music that
0:00:29 > 0:00:31was the soundtrack to my youth.
0:00:38 > 0:00:40- CHUCKLING:- Oh, yes.
0:00:42 > 0:00:48This takes me back. Syd Lawrence. Glenn Miller.
0:00:48 > 0:00:49Joe Loss.
0:00:49 > 0:00:52And, of course, the great Ted Heath.
0:00:52 > 0:00:57For me, these were the kings of the big band sound. Fabulous!
0:01:01 > 0:01:04It was hot, sexy, and so seductive.
0:01:04 > 0:01:08And this is the music that made we want to dance.
0:01:08 > 0:01:12The big bands had everything - great tunes and tonnes of attitude.
0:01:12 > 0:01:16They were even used as a weapon during the Second World War.
0:01:16 > 0:01:19After the fighting was over the big bands had another
0:01:19 > 0:01:22battle on their hands - how to compete with
0:01:22 > 0:01:24an explosion of other forms of music.
0:01:24 > 0:01:28Just how would they cope in a modern world of musical
0:01:28 > 0:01:30and social liberation?
0:01:30 > 0:01:33It was a battle for survival -
0:01:33 > 0:01:36with the record industry and the
0:01:36 > 0:01:41demands of the teenager pushing big bands towards extinction.
0:01:41 > 0:01:45It was crazy time, but those early days were great,
0:01:45 > 0:01:49when swing was king and top of the pile were the big bands.
0:02:15 > 0:02:18It's the Second World War and Churchill had quite
0:02:18 > 0:02:22a bit on his plate down here in the security of the Cabinet war rooms.
0:02:26 > 0:02:30When he did get a chance to relax, apparently old Winston liked
0:02:30 > 0:02:31a bit of Gilbert and Sullivan.
0:02:33 > 0:02:37Above ground it was a different story - and a different sound.
0:02:37 > 0:02:39And people just couldn't get enough of it.
0:02:42 > 0:02:46Many of the musicians from Britain's big bands answered
0:02:46 > 0:02:48the call of king and country.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51Some managed to join one of the military bands,
0:02:51 > 0:02:53like The Squadronaires.
0:02:58 > 0:03:01And the coolest sound they were playing was the sound of swing.
0:03:01 > 0:03:05Swing was a popular form of jazz - dance music
0:03:05 > 0:03:08played by the big bands or the dance orchestras.
0:03:10 > 0:03:14Swing was the hot new music from the States, made popular
0:03:14 > 0:03:17by the likes of Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Benny Goodman.
0:03:17 > 0:03:20Britain's bright young things were developing
0:03:20 > 0:03:22a taste for the transatlantic sound.
0:03:22 > 0:03:25Clearly, American fashions and American culture generally
0:03:25 > 0:03:29were very influential in Britain at that particular period.
0:03:29 > 0:03:32And the big bands and the swing bands, particularly,
0:03:32 > 0:03:34were seen as part of that.
0:03:34 > 0:03:37- All those in favour of swing say aye.- BAND: Aye!
0:03:37 > 0:03:38OK, let's swing!
0:03:40 > 0:03:44British bands had a more bouncy, sweet, song-based style -
0:03:44 > 0:03:47but during the war, the music of Black America changed
0:03:47 > 0:03:50everything, and with victory far from certain,
0:03:50 > 0:03:54people wanted cheerful music to help brighten the mood.
0:03:57 > 0:03:59The circumstances of the wartime had a lot to do with it.
0:03:59 > 0:04:00Aye!
0:04:00 > 0:04:03It was that big sound, that quite opulent sound,
0:04:03 > 0:04:06I suppose, that is what you need to kind of lift the spirits.
0:04:09 > 0:04:13Well, lots of British musicians loved it
0:04:13 > 0:04:18and accepted both the swing aspect of it and the innovations
0:04:18 > 0:04:20that the American musicians brought to the music.
0:04:29 > 0:04:33The public, in terms of its popularity, was a bit slower.
0:04:35 > 0:04:38I mean, the public generally preferred the more
0:04:38 > 0:04:42sort of straightforward European sounds of the dance
0:04:42 > 0:04:43bands of the '20s and '30s.
0:04:43 > 0:04:46But by the 1940s, the American influence was
0:04:46 > 0:04:48becoming greater and greater.
0:04:57 > 0:05:01During those desperate days of the Second World War, there was one
0:05:01 > 0:05:06man who perhaps did more than anyone else to make us snuggle up to swing.
0:05:06 > 0:05:10When Glenn Miller arrived in Blighty in 1944,
0:05:10 > 0:05:13his concerts were the hottest tickets in town.
0:05:14 > 0:05:16I don't know how many he was actually on,
0:05:16 > 0:05:20but he or one of his organisations...
0:05:20 > 0:05:25There was just under 1,200 performances.
0:05:25 > 0:05:27He was a busy man.
0:05:30 > 0:05:33He was not an out-and-out jazz band, you know,
0:05:33 > 0:05:35like the Benny Goodmans and the Arty Shaws.
0:05:35 > 0:05:37He was more commercial.
0:05:40 > 0:05:43They were always tunes that you could tap your foot, sing to.
0:05:43 > 0:05:46Everyone remembers all the Miller tunes - the big hits.
0:05:47 > 0:05:51There aren't many even pop artists that have as many tunes
0:05:51 > 0:05:53that can be remembered for so long.
0:05:55 > 0:05:57Glenn Miller - String of Pearls, Chattanooga Choo Choo,
0:05:57 > 0:06:00In The Mood, Kalamazoo.
0:06:00 > 0:06:02- Pennsylvania.- On and on and on.
0:06:02 > 0:06:10And one of the generals said, "Mr Miller, your music is...
0:06:10 > 0:06:12"the next best thing to a letter from home."
0:06:18 > 0:06:22The Glenn Miller sound caught on because it was so smooth and slick.
0:06:22 > 0:06:26But how, precisely, did he make his music swing like that?
0:06:26 > 0:06:28I asked my old mate Derek Scott to explain.
0:06:32 > 0:06:34Glenn Miller's music gives you an opportunity to
0:06:34 > 0:06:38discover what the fundamental elements of swing are.
0:06:38 > 0:06:43And you can hear this in one of his best known tunes.
0:06:43 > 0:06:46You begin a basic block of music.
0:06:48 > 0:06:49A chord.
0:06:49 > 0:06:51Now you break that up - not into a tune.
0:06:51 > 0:06:53HE PLAYS NOTES
0:06:53 > 0:06:55Do some repeating.
0:06:58 > 0:07:02Now that's a three beat rhythm. One, two, three, one, two, three.
0:07:02 > 0:07:06So, what about, to make it more interesting rhythmically,
0:07:06 > 0:07:08if we put a two beat rhythm against it?
0:07:08 > 0:07:11One, two, one, two.
0:07:11 > 0:07:14Now, we've got this.
0:07:14 > 0:07:16HE PLAYS In The Mood
0:07:16 > 0:07:19What about if we loosen it up, make it more flexible?
0:07:19 > 0:07:22HE HUMS ALONG
0:07:22 > 0:07:24Now we're getting somewhere.
0:07:24 > 0:07:28Maybe we can leave that as our tune but we need an accompaniment.
0:07:28 > 0:07:33What about using different devices? And one of the things
0:07:33 > 0:07:36Glenn Miller is fond of are stabs from his band.
0:07:36 > 0:07:38Bah! Bah!
0:07:38 > 0:07:42HE HUMS THE HOOK
0:07:43 > 0:07:45Not bad, we are almost there.
0:07:45 > 0:07:50If I now push these chords just before the beat, instead
0:07:50 > 0:07:55of this - one, two, three, four, one, two, three, four, one.
0:07:55 > 0:08:00We just go ahead of that four and ahead of the next one, we get this.
0:08:00 > 0:08:03One, two, three, four.
0:08:03 > 0:08:06See how it's just there?
0:08:06 > 0:08:09Put them together and we've got this.
0:08:09 > 0:08:11HE PLAYS In The Mood
0:08:15 > 0:08:16And so on.
0:08:16 > 0:08:20So, finally, we've got swing and we're In The Mood.
0:08:20 > 0:08:25MUSIC: In The Mood
0:08:29 > 0:08:32Some of Glenn Miller's arrangements may have been forged in the heat of
0:08:32 > 0:08:37the Second World War, but they're still setting toes tapping today.
0:08:48 > 0:08:52Glenn Miller's been an incredible influence on the big band scene,
0:08:52 > 0:08:54and really important.
0:08:54 > 0:08:57Most of the bands have traded on Glenn Miller,
0:08:57 > 0:09:01so Glenn Miller has kept a lot of musicians in work over 60 years.
0:09:11 > 0:09:16It's an incredible noise, really, when they all roar at you,
0:09:16 > 0:09:18and it's impossible not to enjoy it.
0:09:22 > 0:09:23Miller offered the perfect tonic,
0:09:23 > 0:09:27seducing the nation with that smooth sound.
0:09:27 > 0:09:30But behind the music was a hard-headed mission -
0:09:30 > 0:09:33Glenn Miller wasn't just here to entertain.
0:09:33 > 0:09:36Miller was working for the Allied cause -
0:09:36 > 0:09:39recording propaganda broadcasts in German
0:09:39 > 0:09:41that were aimed squarely at the enemy.
0:09:46 > 0:09:48Thank you, Ilse. You speak German very well.
0:10:07 > 0:10:08America means freedom
0:10:08 > 0:10:11and there's no expression of freedom quite so sincere as music.
0:10:17 > 0:10:20Before long, propaganda swing would turn the radio
0:10:20 > 0:10:23and music into weapons of war.
0:10:23 > 0:10:27While Churchill was in this very room plotting his next move,
0:10:27 > 0:10:30the Nazis were playing the same game.
0:10:30 > 0:10:33Oh, yes, they knew all about the power of jazz and swing.
0:10:41 > 0:10:44Reich's Propaganda Minister Goebbels had this bright idea
0:10:44 > 0:10:49that by getting American swing, jazz, and blues -
0:10:49 > 0:10:52and getting it recreated, putting Nazi lyrics -
0:10:52 > 0:10:56vicious, in many cases - lyrics over this music and then playing it back
0:10:56 > 0:11:00to the Allies over short wave radio, would actually undermine our morale.
0:11:00 > 0:11:02# I double dare you
0:11:02 > 0:11:04# To venture a raid
0:11:05 > 0:11:07# I double dare you
0:11:07 > 0:11:09# To try and invade... #
0:11:09 > 0:11:14Singer Karl Schwedler led the Nazis' very own swing band -
0:11:14 > 0:11:16dubbed Charlie And His Orchestra.
0:11:16 > 0:11:20Incredible, since the Nazis had already outlawed degenerate
0:11:20 > 0:11:21jazz and swing in Germany.
0:11:21 > 0:11:24# I double dare you! #
0:11:24 > 0:11:28Karl Schwedler was given permission to travel through occupied countries
0:11:28 > 0:11:32and neutral Sweden, collect all the latest American hits of the day,
0:11:32 > 0:11:36take them back to Berlin. And all these little writers and
0:11:36 > 0:11:41musicians in the Propaganda Ministry would actually rewrite the lyrics.
0:11:41 > 0:11:45I mean, in the early days - 1939, 1940 -
0:11:45 > 0:11:48they were actually quite humorous in their way
0:11:48 > 0:11:51but as the war turned they became absolutely vicious.
0:11:51 > 0:11:54# Let's go bombing
0:11:54 > 0:11:56# Oh, let's go bombing... #
0:11:56 > 0:11:59They underestimated British irony.
0:11:59 > 0:12:03And I think that whoever probably listened to these propaganda
0:12:03 > 0:12:06broadcasts - knowing the British, if they were soldiers
0:12:06 > 0:12:09they were probably making V-signs at the radio and just carrying on.
0:12:09 > 0:12:11# Let's go shelling
0:12:11 > 0:12:13# Where they're dwelling
0:12:15 > 0:12:19# Let's shell Churchill's women, children too... #
0:12:19 > 0:12:24This is almost unbelievable. I mean, Hitler hates swing.
0:12:24 > 0:12:26Goebbels hates swing.
0:12:26 > 0:12:31Swing tanzen verboten! Swing dancing prohibited!
0:12:31 > 0:12:35And yet they pay the salaries of an entire swing band
0:12:35 > 0:12:37to broadcast on the radio.
0:12:37 > 0:12:42'Here's Mr Churchill's latest song dedicated to Great Britain.'
0:12:45 > 0:12:48# I never cared for you before
0:12:48 > 0:12:50# Hong Kong, Burma, Singapore
0:12:50 > 0:12:54# Bye-bye Empire... #
0:12:56 > 0:12:59In the '40s, big bands were giving the punters what
0:12:59 > 0:13:03they wanted - exciting music that they could dance to.
0:13:03 > 0:13:07It's simple - a bunch of blokes blowing out a hot sound -
0:13:07 > 0:13:10and then something else happens.
0:13:14 > 0:13:17Ivy Benson certainly turned a few heads -
0:13:17 > 0:13:21a woman leading an all-female big band. Whatever next?
0:13:24 > 0:13:28Small but feisty, Ivy created her own big band sound
0:13:28 > 0:13:32and she wanted the best female musicians she could find.
0:13:34 > 0:13:38Ivy spotted a gap in the market, with so many male musicians away
0:13:38 > 0:13:43in military action, it was time for the women to step up to the plate.
0:13:45 > 0:13:48Young singers like Gloria Russell were catapulted into
0:13:48 > 0:13:52an unfamiliar world of glamour and excitement.
0:13:52 > 0:13:54"There's a telegram for you, Gloria."
0:13:54 > 0:13:56And I said, "What is it, Mum?"
0:13:56 > 0:13:58She said, "It's from Ivy Benson saying
0:13:58 > 0:14:02"she wants you to join her." I was so excited.
0:14:02 > 0:14:06She said, "Meet us up in London, in Paddington Station."
0:14:06 > 0:14:08So I had to go up to Paddington Station.
0:14:08 > 0:14:11I'd never left Exeter before to go to London.
0:14:11 > 0:14:15And then we met the band and I said, "Where are we going?"
0:14:15 > 0:14:18You know, and they said, "Germany." I was shocked!
0:14:20 > 0:14:23Ivy and the band were amongst the first entertainers
0:14:23 > 0:14:26to brave the ruins of post-war Berlin.
0:14:26 > 0:14:28And Germany was just the start of it.
0:14:30 > 0:14:36So there you are, you're in a well-paid, glamorous job,
0:14:36 > 0:14:40touring the world. How did you feel?
0:14:40 > 0:14:42I felt fantastic.
0:14:42 > 0:14:46I thought we all did pretty good for an all-girl orchestra.
0:14:46 > 0:14:49I mean, let's face it, they played for the troops
0:14:49 > 0:14:51and the troops loved them.
0:14:54 > 0:14:57Ivy knew what her audience wanted, but she was also
0:14:57 > 0:15:02a strict disciplinarian. And her girls respected her for it.
0:15:09 > 0:15:11Big band broadcaster Sheila Tracy
0:15:11 > 0:15:16spent a couple of memorable years playing trombone in the band.
0:15:16 > 0:15:20There you are, in your gorgeous strapless dress,
0:15:20 > 0:15:23right up there, belting out those tunes.
0:15:23 > 0:15:24How did you feel?
0:15:24 > 0:15:28How did I feel? I thought it was the height of glamour.
0:15:28 > 0:15:31Orange strapless dresses with green ivy leaves
0:15:31 > 0:15:34appliqued down the front. I remember them so well.
0:15:34 > 0:15:38And I should imagine, you know, all those girls,
0:15:38 > 0:15:42you're in this orchestra, you're in glamorous seaside resorts.
0:15:42 > 0:15:46Surely, you know, afterwards would you drift off and go
0:15:46 > 0:15:50and meet some boys or whatever, or was Ivy very strict about all that?
0:15:50 > 0:15:55Len, dear, I was born in Helston, Cornwall.
0:15:55 > 0:15:56I went to Truro High School.
0:15:56 > 0:15:59You didn't do things like that, dear.
0:15:59 > 0:16:00Quite right. No. Of course not.
0:16:00 > 0:16:02We didn't behave like that in those days.
0:16:02 > 0:16:05- It must have been the same for you. - Indeed it was.
0:16:05 > 0:16:07HE LAUGHS
0:16:07 > 0:16:09What was Ivy like as a band leader?
0:16:09 > 0:16:12- Strict.- Oh, really?
0:16:12 > 0:16:14She wouldn't stand for any nonsense, Ivy, no.
0:16:14 > 0:16:18If you were in the Ivy Benson Band you behaved yourself,
0:16:18 > 0:16:21and if you didn't play well, you were out.
0:16:28 > 0:16:32Was there a special type of audience who would come
0:16:32 > 0:16:34because it was an all-female band?
0:16:34 > 0:16:36- Well, have your guess.- Yes.
0:16:36 > 0:16:38THEY LAUGH
0:16:38 > 0:16:44I think, yes. It used to draw a pretty big audience, female band.
0:16:44 > 0:16:48I mean, the men were very, sort of, you know bit sort of snooty
0:16:48 > 0:16:53about it saying, "Oh, lot of girls," you know, "Best they can do."
0:16:53 > 0:16:56Yeah, but in actual fact, I think the band, what I've heard,
0:16:56 > 0:17:00you know, stood up against any of the male bands.
0:17:00 > 0:17:05Oh, yes, Ivy ran a very, very good band indeed.
0:17:05 > 0:17:07Ivy ruffled a few feathers.
0:17:07 > 0:17:11A woman from Yorkshire playing the music of men from America
0:17:11 > 0:17:13was too much for some people.
0:17:13 > 0:17:15Things came to a head during a meeting
0:17:15 > 0:17:17of the Bandleaders' Association.
0:17:17 > 0:17:21I was the only girl band leader there.
0:17:21 > 0:17:25And I think it was Billy Ternent, if I'm not mistaken, he just stood up,
0:17:25 > 0:17:29Joe was there, Maurice Winnick, they were all there sitting there,
0:17:29 > 0:17:35and Billy said, "I don't want any damned girl bandleaders
0:17:35 > 0:17:40"in this organisation." So I just stood up and said OK and I left it.
0:17:40 > 0:17:43It may have been a man's world, but one of the country's most
0:17:43 > 0:17:46popular bandleaders spoke up for Ivy.
0:17:46 > 0:17:51Joe stood up for me - Joe Loss - and said, "Well, give her a chance.
0:17:51 > 0:17:54"It's been enough fight for her without you pulling her
0:17:54 > 0:17:56"out of an association."
0:17:56 > 0:18:00I said, "No, no - I'm out." And when I really mean something,
0:18:00 > 0:18:03I mean it and I stopped out and I never went back.
0:18:03 > 0:18:07Ivy was a product of the war just like her male contemporaries,
0:18:07 > 0:18:11including one man who was to become respected as one of our finest
0:18:11 > 0:18:14and most successful band leaders ever!
0:18:22 > 0:18:25Ted Heath was a talented trombone player who,
0:18:25 > 0:18:28like a lot of musicians, had started in a local brass band.
0:18:43 > 0:18:44Ted's aim was to be the best -
0:18:44 > 0:18:48and after the war he was able to take advantage of the ongoing row
0:18:48 > 0:18:52between unions representing British and American musicians.
0:18:52 > 0:18:55In an effort to protect jobs,
0:18:55 > 0:19:00a tit-for-tat ban stopped orchestras crisscrossing the Atlantic.
0:19:00 > 0:19:03Brits like Ted had the country to themselves.
0:19:04 > 0:19:07Funnily enough, the ban didn't apply to the singers.
0:19:07 > 0:19:10They weren't members of the Musician's Union -
0:19:10 > 0:19:13they were classed as entertainers.
0:19:16 > 0:19:20When American singers like Ella Fitzgerald came over here,
0:19:20 > 0:19:21Ted offered his services.
0:19:21 > 0:19:24And they played together at the London Palladium.
0:19:24 > 0:19:29Yes, there was isolation, but for Ted Heath and other band leaders,
0:19:29 > 0:19:35this was a great time, when British swing was pulling in the crowds.
0:19:35 > 0:19:38Ted hired the best musicians and paid the best wages.
0:19:38 > 0:19:41In return, he demanded the highest standards.
0:19:41 > 0:19:46And once he had the offer of work at the BBC, his career took off.
0:19:46 > 0:19:48'Listen to My Music.
0:19:48 > 0:19:51'And it's the music of Ted Heath from the BBC Studios in London.'
0:19:51 > 0:19:54And working for Auntie put you at the top of the bill.
0:19:58 > 0:20:01At this point, Ted Heath was actually losing money -
0:20:01 > 0:20:05generously paying out more than the BBC rate for musicians.
0:20:05 > 0:20:09But he knew radio was the key to success -
0:20:09 > 0:20:11it's where you got exposure -
0:20:11 > 0:20:14and helped get an audience in for those live gigs.
0:20:14 > 0:20:16# Sittin' in the sun
0:20:16 > 0:20:18# Counting my money
0:20:18 > 0:20:21# Fanned by a summer breeze... #
0:20:21 > 0:20:24Ted understood the new business model -
0:20:24 > 0:20:29get on the radio, sell records, and play packed concerts.
0:20:29 > 0:20:31It was a circle of success.
0:20:31 > 0:20:35# ..are in my bank account
0:20:35 > 0:20:36# Sittin' in the sun
0:20:36 > 0:20:38# Counting my money... #
0:20:38 > 0:20:41Ted produced an enormous back catalogue of work -
0:20:41 > 0:20:45and it's held here at the Leeds College of Music.
0:20:45 > 0:20:47Dr Catherine Tackley is a big fan
0:20:47 > 0:20:50and plays many of Ted's numbers with her own band.
0:20:51 > 0:20:54Well, this is an amazing collection, actually of...
0:20:54 > 0:20:57It looks like a huge number of charts
0:20:57 > 0:20:59the Ted Heath Band used to play,
0:20:59 > 0:21:03all in boxes here, listed in alphabetical order.
0:21:03 > 0:21:08So, you can obviously have a look in and see what sort of
0:21:08 > 0:21:12survived from that era when the band were prolific.
0:21:12 > 0:21:14Just looking here.
0:21:17 > 0:21:20Going to take this one. This one's called The Creep,
0:21:20 > 0:21:23which is quite a well-known Ted Heath number.
0:21:24 > 0:21:26Let's see what we've got.
0:21:26 > 0:21:28OK, well, we've got a score here,
0:21:28 > 0:21:32so that's the parts for all the instruments written out, so we've
0:21:32 > 0:21:36got the trumpets, the trombones, and the rhythm section parts.
0:21:36 > 0:21:41And you can see it's been written in pencil, so this is probably,
0:21:41 > 0:21:45well, this would have been what the arranger wrote out.
0:21:45 > 0:21:47And then, at a later stage,
0:21:47 > 0:21:53these other indications have been added in red and green pencil.
0:21:53 > 0:21:55Here, actually, it's quite interesting -
0:21:55 > 0:21:59on the third saxophone line down, which would probably usually be the
0:21:59 > 0:22:02first tenor part - there's something that says "ad lib" in brackets.
0:22:02 > 0:22:06And then it's just indications of the harmony given, so that
0:22:06 > 0:22:09would be for an improvised solo, so that's quite a nice thing to find.
0:22:09 > 0:22:11So the arranger would produce something like that,
0:22:11 > 0:22:15pass it over to a copyist, and then you can see here,
0:22:15 > 0:22:19these are the individual parts that would go to each musician.
0:22:19 > 0:22:22Instead of being labelled first trombone, or guitar, or bass,
0:22:22 > 0:22:24or whatever, they're actually labelled with
0:22:24 > 0:22:27the names of the people that were to play them.
0:22:27 > 0:22:29So we've got Rick here, Wally...
0:22:29 > 0:22:32I suspect these are trombone parts, actually.
0:22:32 > 0:22:35Don, this one says, so that could be Don Lusher.
0:22:35 > 0:22:39So, yeah, and you've got the whole set of parts here.
0:22:39 > 0:22:42So, again, you could get this out and play it
0:22:42 > 0:22:45and it would still work, I think.
0:22:45 > 0:22:47SHE PLAYS The Creep
0:22:59 > 0:23:02What Ted Heath managed to do, I think,
0:23:02 > 0:23:08was to steer that path between satisfying the 'hot jazz' fans,
0:23:08 > 0:23:10as they were called back in the '40s,
0:23:10 > 0:23:14and also retaining that sort of popular appeal and currency as well.
0:23:18 > 0:23:22Ted Heath was the band leader everyone wanted to work for.
0:23:22 > 0:23:26Just ask legendary trumpeter, Ronnie Hughes.
0:23:26 > 0:23:30What was it about Ted's band that made everybody want to play? Was
0:23:30 > 0:23:34it the fact of the kudos of being a part of it? Did he pay more money?
0:23:34 > 0:23:36He paid a lot more money.
0:23:38 > 0:23:41I left Teddy Foster at Wimbledon Palais and I was getting
0:23:41 > 0:23:4416 quid a week, which was, in those days, not bad.
0:23:44 > 0:23:47And my first week with Ted Heath - but it was a very busy week -
0:23:47 > 0:23:49I got 60 quid.
0:23:49 > 0:23:51But for that 60 quid,
0:23:51 > 0:23:54I worked like I never worked before in my life.
0:23:56 > 0:23:59We'd do the Variety Show, two shows.
0:23:59 > 0:24:02We'd go in the morning to Aeolian Hall and rehearse a broadcast.
0:24:02 > 0:24:05We'd go to Decca in the afternoon and do some recording,
0:24:05 > 0:24:08then we'd go the theatre and do our two shows, and then rush
0:24:08 > 0:24:12back and do the live 11.00 at night Aeolian Hall broadcast.
0:24:12 > 0:24:14That was the sort of thing you did.
0:24:14 > 0:24:17And I suppose the track that most people would
0:24:17 > 0:24:20know from the Ted Heath Band was Hot Toddy.
0:24:20 > 0:24:21Were you a part of that?
0:24:21 > 0:24:24That was me. I played the famous solo in Hot Toddy.
0:24:24 > 0:24:26That's a marvellous story.
0:24:26 > 0:24:29You know, you go into a studio and you've got the music in front of you.
0:24:29 > 0:24:34And if you're a jazz musician you extemporise, so there's no tune to
0:24:34 > 0:24:37play but they put the chord symbols so you play it on the right chord.
0:24:37 > 0:24:41That's all I had. I had these chords and I played, OK.
0:24:41 > 0:24:44We did it again and we rehearsed it again
0:24:44 > 0:24:45and then we did a couple of takes.
0:24:45 > 0:24:49I didn't know what I played, I played something different every time.
0:24:49 > 0:24:51Some weeks later,
0:24:51 > 0:24:54when it became obvious it was going to be a hit, Ted came up to me
0:24:54 > 0:24:57and he said, "We're going to play Hot Toddy tonight.
0:24:57 > 0:24:58So I said, "Oh, fine."
0:24:58 > 0:25:01So we played it on the dance, or wherever we were.
0:25:01 > 0:25:03And I played something.
0:25:03 > 0:25:06And he came up to me afterwards and he said, "Listen, mate."
0:25:06 > 0:25:08I said, "Yes, Ted?"
0:25:08 > 0:25:12"That Hot Toddy, I want you to play what you played on the record."
0:25:12 > 0:25:16And I said, "I don't remember what I played on the record."
0:25:16 > 0:25:18He says, "Well, go and buy the record!"
0:25:18 > 0:25:20- LAUGHING:- Oh, really?
0:25:20 > 0:25:21That, you know, that was...
0:25:21 > 0:25:25MUSIC: Hot Toddy
0:25:25 > 0:25:30Ronnie was just one of the amazing musicians in Ted Heath's line-up.
0:25:30 > 0:25:35Together they developed a unique style and a sound that was selling.
0:25:35 > 0:25:38This man was a huge hit.
0:25:38 > 0:25:41He may not have had the looks of a pop star but, believe me,
0:25:41 > 0:25:43he certainly was!
0:25:43 > 0:25:46Ted Heath went on to sell 20 million records,
0:25:46 > 0:25:50and made more than 100 albums. He was a phenomenon.
0:25:50 > 0:25:55But his relationship with the BBC hadn't always been so positive.
0:25:55 > 0:25:58His contract was terminated and they showed him the door.
0:26:00 > 0:26:03According to Heath, the corporation found his sound
0:26:03 > 0:26:05"aggressively modern."
0:26:05 > 0:26:10Their research showed his kind of music was deplored by middle-aged
0:26:10 > 0:26:12listeners to whom it was "incomprehensible."
0:26:14 > 0:26:18But in the clubs and theatres, a younger crowd was lapping it up.
0:26:18 > 0:26:21They started to get a reputation for rowdiness.
0:26:21 > 0:26:25I used to go myself but, to me, it always seemed a bit innocent.
0:26:25 > 0:26:30You might meet a girl, take her home, get a kiss if you were lucky,
0:26:30 > 0:26:33or you'd just sit there having a few drinks with your mates.
0:26:37 > 0:26:38Rarely did you get any trouble,
0:26:38 > 0:26:43but back in the day the big band crowd were viewed with suspicion.
0:26:43 > 0:26:47There's a great line here from Ted Heath's memoirs. He's explaining
0:26:47 > 0:26:51how he tried to get a slot at the London Palladium but needed
0:26:51 > 0:26:54to persuade the boss, Val Parnell.
0:26:54 > 0:26:57Ted says he'd heard about swing fans.
0:26:57 > 0:27:01"They were," he felt, "more than a little on the rowdy side...
0:27:08 > 0:27:12Eventually, Parnell gave in, but only after Ted agreed
0:27:12 > 0:27:15to cover the costs of any damage done to the carpet
0:27:15 > 0:27:16and theatre fittings!
0:27:19 > 0:27:22# Be mine, be mine, little baby... #
0:27:24 > 0:27:28The dance halls had a problem - people wanted to dance.
0:27:28 > 0:27:31But now there were all sorts of dance styles to accommodate,
0:27:31 > 0:27:34including the swing dances.
0:27:34 > 0:27:36# Say that you'll be mine, little baby
0:27:36 > 0:27:38# Stop your hesitating... #
0:27:39 > 0:27:41This is Biggin Hill, just south of London,
0:27:41 > 0:27:44and I've got an invite to the local jive club.
0:27:44 > 0:27:47# If you say yes, I will give my heart to you... #
0:27:47 > 0:27:51It's strange looking back but music had to be divided up,
0:27:51 > 0:27:54some numbers for those who wanted to waltz or foxtrot,
0:27:54 > 0:27:56others for the jivers.
0:27:56 > 0:27:59If people didn't behave, they'd put a spotlight on you
0:27:59 > 0:28:02and you were in trouble for illegal jiving!
0:28:02 > 0:28:05I tell you what, you couldn't tell this lot that.
0:28:05 > 0:28:06# Little baby! #
0:28:11 > 0:28:14What do you think it is about swing music that makes everybody
0:28:14 > 0:28:16love to dance?
0:28:16 > 0:28:20Well, I think it's the joie de vivre, Len, and all ages can enjoy it.
0:28:20 > 0:28:24The sound is superb and it just makes you want to get up
0:28:24 > 0:28:25and have a dance.
0:28:25 > 0:28:27It really, really does.
0:28:27 > 0:28:32# Now, if you say yes, I will give my heart to you, baby
0:28:32 > 0:28:37# And if you say no, then you'll break my heart in two
0:28:38 > 0:28:41# Say that you'll be mine, little baby
0:28:41 > 0:28:44# What's the use of scheming?
0:28:44 > 0:28:46# Tell me I am dreaming
0:28:46 > 0:28:48# Be mine, be mine, little baby... #
0:28:48 > 0:28:52Oh, hey-hey! Ah, what a team!
0:28:53 > 0:28:55This was something that kind of threatened that status quo
0:28:55 > 0:29:00of ballroom couple dancing where, you know, by and large,
0:29:00 > 0:29:03both feet remained on the floor and people saw...
0:29:03 > 0:29:05It was a new thing, people saw it as a threat.
0:29:10 > 0:29:12There was certainly a sense that these new trends of jive
0:29:12 > 0:29:15and jitterbugging that had come from across the Atlantic
0:29:15 > 0:29:17were kind of incorporated into what people were doing
0:29:17 > 0:29:21in the ballrooms, and that wasn't always welcomed
0:29:21 > 0:29:24by people that were in charge of the dance halls at the time.
0:29:24 > 0:29:27Ladies, ladies, come out of that jungle!
0:29:30 > 0:29:33There was a clash of cultures on the dance floor
0:29:33 > 0:29:35as Britain's musical tastes changed.
0:29:37 > 0:29:40There seemed to be a mad mix of music.
0:29:40 > 0:29:42Before the war, there hadn't been so much choice,
0:29:42 > 0:29:45but now it was all there on a plate.
0:29:49 > 0:29:51You may think everybody was into rock'n'roll,
0:29:51 > 0:29:54and then the Beatles but, in reality,
0:29:54 > 0:29:58there was an incredible, rich mix of popular music.
0:29:58 > 0:30:01It was, truly, a very special time.
0:30:05 > 0:30:09Musical success was once defined by the sale of sheet music,
0:30:09 > 0:30:12but in the '50s, teenagers had money to spend
0:30:12 > 0:30:15on the latest hits, on new vinyl.
0:30:15 > 0:30:18The record industry as we know it was born.
0:30:18 > 0:30:22NEWSREADER: The gramophone industry cashes in on the well-off teenagers
0:30:22 > 0:30:25to some tune. 80% of the disc output is bought by the youngsters -
0:30:25 > 0:30:28that's 50 million records a year in Britain alone.
0:30:28 > 0:30:32All industry knows that to please the teenagers is the golden way
0:30:32 > 0:30:33to big dividends.
0:30:35 > 0:30:38But it's never just about the music, it's everything that goes with it,
0:30:38 > 0:30:42including the espresso bars where you'd hang out with your mates.
0:30:42 > 0:30:45- Good to see you. How are you?- Good.
0:30:45 > 0:30:49Like me, Pete Conway loves the music from the '50s and '60s.
0:30:49 > 0:30:51We both worked with big bands.
0:30:51 > 0:30:53I was dancing alongside them,
0:30:53 > 0:30:57he was often a support act, doing his stand-up comic routine
0:30:57 > 0:30:59or singing along when he got the chance.
0:31:00 > 0:31:02You know, Pete, there was this period
0:31:02 > 0:31:06when everything seemed to go a bit crazy.
0:31:06 > 0:31:09And in the charts at that time, you could get everything
0:31:09 > 0:31:12from Elvis Presley and rock'n'roll,
0:31:12 > 0:31:18Dickie Valentine, Dennis Lotis, Ted Heath, it was all sort of a mix.
0:31:18 > 0:31:20Started in the mid-'50s, coffee bars,
0:31:20 > 0:31:24juke boxes in the coffee bar. Come down and do this sort of thing.
0:31:24 > 0:31:26- Yeah.- And music was changing.
0:31:26 > 0:31:33Our parents had those wonderful Vera Lynn, Gracie Fields people
0:31:33 > 0:31:35that's different music altogether.
0:31:35 > 0:31:37And then suddenly the big bands.
0:31:37 > 0:31:40After the big bands, of course, came the jazz,
0:31:40 > 0:31:43came traditional jazz, trad jazz, Chris Barber,
0:31:43 > 0:31:45- who used to play in the...- Acker.
0:31:45 > 0:31:48Acker, who used to play in the coffee bars.
0:31:48 > 0:31:51And then, of course, rock'n'roll in the mid-late '50s.
0:31:51 > 0:31:55Tommy Steele came along, and Elvis, and Gene Vincent,
0:31:55 > 0:31:56- Bill Haley.- Yeah.
0:31:56 > 0:31:59And it was a big change, the whole thing changed.
0:31:59 > 0:32:01But the big bands were still there
0:32:01 > 0:32:06because the big bands still had music in the charts in the '50s.
0:32:06 > 0:32:08- Yeah, you had Swingin' Shepherd Blues...- That was right.
0:32:08 > 0:32:12- ..Hot Toddy.- Yes!- And then suddenly Stranger On The Shore,
0:32:12 > 0:32:13- Acker Bilk.- Acker Bilk.
0:32:13 > 0:32:16And this was all in amongst all this other rock'n'roll
0:32:16 > 0:32:19- and Buddy Holly and everything else. - Monty Sunshine.
0:32:19 > 0:32:23- Ooh, Petite Fleur.- Petite Fleur, who was with Chris Barber.
0:32:23 > 0:32:28Yeah. It was an absolute bizarre mix of everything you can think of.
0:32:28 > 0:32:31And, I don't know, it sort of crept up on us.
0:32:31 > 0:32:35Do you know what I mean? In Welling, suddenly there was a coffee bar.
0:32:35 > 0:32:38- Yes.- Frothy coffee. Oh, it was...
0:32:38 > 0:32:41Ours was Emmanuel's. Emmanuel's Coffee Bar.
0:32:41 > 0:32:43It was the only one we had in town.
0:32:43 > 0:32:46The big problem, you know, if you were in a coffee bar,
0:32:46 > 0:32:49chatting up a girl, and there you were
0:32:49 > 0:32:51and you sort of felt quite smooth.
0:32:51 > 0:32:54It would be in a glass cup, actually, and then you'd say,
0:32:54 > 0:32:59"Oh, fabulous in here," and you'd take a sip,
0:32:59 > 0:33:00and then you'd...
0:33:00 > 0:33:03- And then you'd... - That's why I haven't touched that.
0:33:03 > 0:33:05THEY LAUGH
0:33:05 > 0:33:07- But they were great days. - They were great days.
0:33:07 > 0:33:08- They were wonderful days.- Yeah.
0:33:12 > 0:33:15With pop stars all the rage, some of the big bands
0:33:15 > 0:33:20started to lose top billing as the spotlight settled on the singers.
0:33:20 > 0:33:23It was a great time to be a vocalist.
0:33:23 > 0:33:26With your name in lights, it was a chance to shine.
0:33:26 > 0:33:30And there were plenty who took their moment in the sun.
0:33:30 > 0:33:34# When the stars make you drool just like a pasta fazool
0:33:34 > 0:33:36# That's amore
0:33:38 > 0:33:39# When you dance down the street... #
0:33:39 > 0:33:43Dennis Lotis was a South African who hit the big time in the UK
0:33:43 > 0:33:46when he hooked up with Ted Heath in the early '50s.
0:33:46 > 0:33:49# When you walk in a dream
0:33:49 > 0:33:54# But you know you're not Dreaming seniore
0:33:54 > 0:33:58# Scuzza me, but you see, back in old Napoli
0:33:58 > 0:34:01# That's amore. #
0:34:03 > 0:34:06And what made Dennis a bit different is that he successfully crossed
0:34:06 > 0:34:09the divide between singing and light entertainment.
0:34:11 > 0:34:13I had no intention of working with a band.
0:34:13 > 0:34:16I wanted to be a song and dance man,
0:34:16 > 0:34:19I wanted to be Fred Astaire.
0:34:19 > 0:34:20# Bells will ring,
0:34:20 > 0:34:22# Ting-a-ling-a-ling, ting-a-ling-a-ling,
0:34:22 > 0:34:25# And you'll sing, "Vita bella." #
0:34:25 > 0:34:29I did have a letter of introduction, in fact, to Ted Heath.
0:34:29 > 0:34:31I went to the Palladium to see him...
0:34:32 > 0:34:35..and I sat in the audience and listened to this band.
0:34:35 > 0:34:41I thought, to hell with Fred Astaire, I want to sing with this band.
0:34:41 > 0:34:46It was...just knocked me out. It was fantastic.
0:34:46 > 0:34:52# Do you think that I care
0:34:52 > 0:34:57# If you're here or you're there?
0:34:57 > 0:34:59# If you make up your mind
0:34:59 > 0:35:04# To stay or go... #
0:35:04 > 0:35:10He said, "We're doing a recording session at Decca next week.
0:35:10 > 0:35:15"Come along then, you can sing a couple of songs for me."
0:35:15 > 0:35:16So that's exactly what I did.
0:35:17 > 0:35:19# Forget your troubles
0:35:19 > 0:35:20# Just get happy
0:35:20 > 0:35:22# Chase your cares away
0:35:22 > 0:35:24# Shout, "Hallelujah..." #
0:35:24 > 0:35:25Yeah, fantastic.
0:35:25 > 0:35:27I sang that and...
0:35:28 > 0:35:31..uh, Try A Little Tenderness.
0:35:31 > 0:35:32And that was it.
0:35:38 > 0:35:42"Fine," he said, "you can join the band."
0:35:42 > 0:35:46And the following week, I was with the Ted Heath band.
0:35:46 > 0:35:50First concert was at the Shoreditch Town Hall,
0:35:50 > 0:35:55and I was sitting on the stage next to Dickie Valentine
0:35:55 > 0:35:56and Lita Roza.
0:35:57 > 0:36:01And that was my beginning with the Ted Heath band.
0:36:02 > 0:36:05It was the most popular band in the country.
0:36:05 > 0:36:08All the places we played were always full of people.
0:36:08 > 0:36:10THEY SHOUT
0:36:10 > 0:36:12Screams.
0:36:14 > 0:36:16And frantic applause.
0:36:16 > 0:36:21I mean, in Blackpool at the Winter Gardens,
0:36:21 > 0:36:23I said to Dickie, "Look at them all."
0:36:23 > 0:36:25I said, "I think we could walk over their heads."
0:36:25 > 0:36:27There were so many people there.
0:36:30 > 0:36:34I learnt so much about music from that band,
0:36:34 > 0:36:37from all the guys, not only from Ted,
0:36:37 > 0:36:40cos I was with guys who knew what they were talking about.
0:36:42 > 0:36:45It's a highlight of my life, quite frankly.
0:36:45 > 0:36:47Girls! Love 'em!
0:36:49 > 0:36:52While singers like Dennis carved out a new career,
0:36:52 > 0:36:55by the mid-'50s, the Musicians' Union ban that stopped bands
0:36:55 > 0:36:58crisscrossing the Atlantic was over,
0:36:58 > 0:37:01and for Ted Heath, it was a chance to sail to the States
0:37:01 > 0:37:04and show the Yanks what the Brits could do.
0:37:04 > 0:37:07Little did he know that he was stepping into a world
0:37:07 > 0:37:09of racial turmoil and tension.
0:37:13 > 0:37:15Ted Heath's son, Tim, has raided the attic
0:37:15 > 0:37:18to give me a glimpse of that legendary tour.
0:37:22 > 0:37:25This is cine footage from the family archives,
0:37:25 > 0:37:30and some of this has just never ever been seen outside the family before.
0:37:30 > 0:37:36And all of this is from the American tour of 1956.
0:37:36 > 0:37:40My mother and father going out on the Queen Mary
0:37:40 > 0:37:41en route to the US tour.
0:37:43 > 0:37:46And the whole band went on the Queen Mary too.
0:37:46 > 0:37:48My dad insisted that the band travel in style
0:37:48 > 0:37:53- and that they should arrive in style in New York.- Right.
0:37:53 > 0:37:55- In British style.- Of course.
0:38:00 > 0:38:02Yeah, fantastic.
0:38:04 > 0:38:07And this tour was mainly of the southern states, wasn't it?
0:38:07 > 0:38:10It was principally of the southern states.
0:38:10 > 0:38:12Most of the gigs were in the southern states.
0:38:14 > 0:38:17Here's a poster of the concert with the billing of Ted Heath,
0:38:17 > 0:38:22Nat King Cole, June Christy and the 4 Freshmen.
0:38:22 > 0:38:24There you are. Yeah.
0:38:24 > 0:38:28And, of course, Ted Heath's top of the bill.
0:38:28 > 0:38:29- He is on that poster there. - Yeah, yeah.
0:38:29 > 0:38:32Even though Nat King Cole... There's the truck,
0:38:32 > 0:38:34the equipment truck with Nat King Cole and Ted Heath
0:38:34 > 0:38:35- on the side of it.- Yeah.
0:38:37 > 0:38:41Do you know, there must have been such a buzz for the whole band,
0:38:41 > 0:38:43you know, "Off we go."
0:38:44 > 0:38:45They're all guys...
0:38:45 > 0:38:48I guess, originally who were in either the Salvation Army,
0:38:48 > 0:38:54- or brass bands, or worked during their time in the Forces.- Yes.
0:38:54 > 0:38:58And then, suddenly, there they go, they're on the Queen Mary.
0:38:58 > 0:38:59Going out to America.
0:38:59 > 0:39:02- And floating down the Mississippi. - I know.
0:39:02 > 0:39:04What a... They loved it.
0:39:04 > 0:39:07- It was a fantastic experience for them.- Yeah.
0:39:08 > 0:39:11He may have been a big star but, in the southern states of America,
0:39:11 > 0:39:15Nat King Cole wasn't guaranteed a warm welcome by everyone.
0:39:16 > 0:39:18When they got to Birmingham, Alabama,
0:39:18 > 0:39:19there was a sense of tension there.
0:39:19 > 0:39:22And it started off... The concert started off all right
0:39:22 > 0:39:25and my father played the first half, and everything was fine.
0:39:25 > 0:39:29And then, when Nat King Cole came on, the promoters there
0:39:29 > 0:39:33wanted to have a gauze curtain lowered down,
0:39:33 > 0:39:37down the middle of the stage to separate my father's band
0:39:37 > 0:39:40on the back of the stage who were backing Nat King Cole
0:39:40 > 0:39:41during the second half
0:39:41 > 0:39:45and the Nat King Cole Trio who were at the front of the stage.
0:39:45 > 0:39:48They didn't think it was appropriate to have Black musicians
0:39:48 > 0:39:50appearing on the same stage with White musicians,
0:39:50 > 0:39:53- that's how bad it was.- Right.
0:39:53 > 0:39:56Nat King Cole played the first number in the second half with
0:39:56 > 0:39:59the gauze curtain down, and it all went fine,
0:39:59 > 0:40:02and then my dad suggested that the gauze curtain was raised
0:40:02 > 0:40:04because everything was going so well.
0:40:04 > 0:40:09And then, when the curtain got raised, these white guys
0:40:09 > 0:40:12came charging down the aisles and they jumped on the stage.
0:40:12 > 0:40:16They knocked Nat King Cole over and started to assault him
0:40:16 > 0:40:18and the whole thing turned to pandemonium.
0:40:18 > 0:40:21There were lot of police there because they'd sensed
0:40:21 > 0:40:22there was going to be something going on,
0:40:22 > 0:40:24they sensed there'd be an incident.
0:40:24 > 0:40:27And the police went on the stage and broke it up
0:40:27 > 0:40:30and arrested these men who went on stage.
0:40:30 > 0:40:33But it was absolute pandemonium and it was very dangerous.
0:40:33 > 0:40:35- It was a very ghastly, horrible situation.- Yeah.
0:40:35 > 0:40:37# Oh, baby
0:40:37 > 0:40:43# Look what you've done to me... #
0:40:44 > 0:40:48Many were appalled at how one of the world's biggest singing stars
0:40:48 > 0:40:50had been treated.
0:40:50 > 0:40:53Ted's tour of the states was now front-page news.
0:40:55 > 0:40:59So, did the concert grind to a halt? Or what happened?
0:40:59 > 0:41:02The concern was that it would turn into a full-scale riot.
0:41:02 > 0:41:05It was one of the promoters' idea to play the national anthem,
0:41:05 > 0:41:07and he didn't know the American national anthem,
0:41:07 > 0:41:09so he played God Save The Queen.
0:41:10 > 0:41:14Despite problems in the Deep South, the American tour
0:41:14 > 0:41:16established Ted on the global stage
0:41:16 > 0:41:20and proved the Brits could cut it with the best.
0:41:20 > 0:41:24Back home, British swing was going through a bit of a purple patch.
0:41:24 > 0:41:28Johnny Dankworth, Joe Loss, and Ken Mackintosh were all
0:41:28 > 0:41:32pulling in the crowds and taking the music in different directions.
0:41:32 > 0:41:37SHE SINGS TO SWING MUSIC
0:41:37 > 0:41:41One of the tricks of swing was to take a standard tune
0:41:41 > 0:41:42and give it a new twist.
0:41:42 > 0:41:45Singer Clare Teal has agreed to show me
0:41:45 > 0:41:49just how a song can be made to swing in any number of ways.
0:41:51 > 0:41:54# Yeah. #
0:41:55 > 0:41:58Fantastico! Oh, yes.
0:41:59 > 0:42:02It's a funny thing, when I listen to Glenn Miller
0:42:02 > 0:42:05or I listen to Ted Heath, you'll hear the same song,
0:42:05 > 0:42:08yet somehow it's a totally different arrangement
0:42:08 > 0:42:11- and comes over in a different way. - Yes.
0:42:11 > 0:42:15Some swing, some are a little bit more gentle, you know? And I can't
0:42:15 > 0:42:20really put my finger on why that is and what really defines swing.
0:42:20 > 0:42:24Well, I think it's one of those things - you don't need to.
0:42:24 > 0:42:26We don't need to think too much about it,
0:42:26 > 0:42:29because you could ask a million people the same question
0:42:29 > 0:42:31and you'd get a million different answers.
0:42:31 > 0:42:34If you put somebody like Count Basie against somebody
0:42:34 > 0:42:38like Stan Kenton, it's a massive difference that we can all hear
0:42:38 > 0:42:42but, you know, spending hours debating on why it's different,
0:42:42 > 0:42:45I'd rather just put the records on and enjoy them.
0:42:45 > 0:42:49So, we'll do a little demonstration for you to kind of demonstrate
0:42:49 > 0:42:53a little bit about how you can re-interpret a song in a million
0:42:53 > 0:42:56different ways, but we'll try and do this quite quickly for you.
0:42:56 > 0:42:58Can you give me the intro there, Graham, please?
0:42:58 > 0:43:01We'll start off... This is, I guess, how it would have felt
0:43:01 > 0:43:04when it was written mid-'20s, it would have been very precise.
0:43:04 > 0:43:05SHE CLEARS THROAT
0:43:09 > 0:43:12# Picture you upon my knee
0:43:12 > 0:43:16# Tea for two and two for tea
0:43:16 > 0:43:21# You for me and me for you alone... #
0:43:23 > 0:43:25- So, quite pedestrian there.- Yeah.
0:43:25 > 0:43:28There's not much to swing, we're kind of more waving, eh?
0:43:28 > 0:43:29Yeah, we're tripping along.
0:43:29 > 0:43:32- We're tripping along but it's quite jolly and jaunty.- It is.
0:43:32 > 0:43:35So then, if we move to sort of to... I don't know,
0:43:35 > 0:43:36say the mid-'40s, or '30s or '40s,
0:43:36 > 0:43:41any of that swing era or something that perhaps Ella and Basie did.
0:43:41 > 0:43:44Let's...to a kind of medium-groove swing.
0:43:49 > 0:43:52# Picture you upon my knee
0:43:52 > 0:43:55# Tea for two and two for tea
0:43:55 > 0:44:00# You for me and me for you alone
0:44:00 > 0:44:03# Da-da-da-da-da
0:44:03 > 0:44:05# Nobody near us
0:44:05 > 0:44:07# See us or hear us
0:44:07 > 0:44:09# Friends, relations... #
0:44:09 > 0:44:11OK.
0:44:11 > 0:44:13I was quite enjoying that, but that was...
0:44:13 > 0:44:16- So you can see there was a lot of swing there.- That's right.
0:44:16 > 0:44:18That really... Compared with the first one,
0:44:18 > 0:44:20which was light and frothy, now we're getting into it.
0:44:20 > 0:44:23Exactly. And that was quite a hard swing, wasn't it? That was good.
0:44:23 > 0:44:27- Yes.- But let's push it now very far in one direction.
0:44:27 > 0:44:31So, when somebody like the great Anita O'Day would get her chops
0:44:31 > 0:44:34on a song like Tea For Two, this is what she did
0:44:34 > 0:44:36at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1958.
0:44:41 > 0:44:42# Picture you upon my knee
0:44:42 > 0:44:44# Tea for two and two for tea
0:44:44 > 0:44:46# Can't you see how happy we could be?
0:44:46 > 0:44:48# Nobody near us, see us, hear us
0:44:48 > 0:44:49# Friends, relations, on vacation
0:44:49 > 0:44:51# We won't have it known
0:44:51 > 0:44:53# We own a telephone, dear
0:44:53 > 0:44:55# Dawn will break and you will wake
0:44:55 > 0:44:56# And start to bake a sugar cake
0:44:56 > 0:44:59# For me to take for all the boys to see
0:44:59 > 0:45:01# We could raise a family
0:45:01 > 0:45:02# Boy for you, girl for me
0:45:02 > 0:45:06# Can't you see how happy we could be, we three? #
0:45:06 > 0:45:07Whoo! Yeah.
0:45:08 > 0:45:09Oh, come on.
0:45:09 > 0:45:13I can imagine being at Newport and Anita O'Day says,
0:45:13 > 0:45:16"Well, we're going to go into Tea For Two now
0:45:16 > 0:45:18and everybody going, "Oh, no."
0:45:18 > 0:45:19- And then, suddenly...- Yeah.
0:45:19 > 0:45:22You know, and that's what's great about music, I think.
0:45:22 > 0:45:27You can take a simple tune and make it into anything you want.
0:45:27 > 0:45:32I've always said that dancing is dependent on the music
0:45:32 > 0:45:37but I think if you can't dance to swing, then it's...you know.
0:45:37 > 0:45:40- There's something wrong with you. - There's something wrong with you.
0:45:41 > 0:45:45For many big bands, dancing remained their bread and butter.
0:45:45 > 0:45:48But they were constantly having to adapt
0:45:48 > 0:45:50to all sorts of fads and fashions.
0:45:50 > 0:45:54As pop became king, so did the rise of popular dancing.
0:45:54 > 0:45:56I'm not talking about ballroom or even jiving
0:45:56 > 0:45:58but new, novelty, silly dances.
0:45:58 > 0:46:01People were coming up with one after the other.
0:46:06 > 0:46:08'There's no end to the spate of new dances.
0:46:08 > 0:46:11'Watch The Locomotion being demonstrated at a West End studio.'
0:46:11 > 0:46:14- # Come on, Baby, do... # - The Locomotion!
0:46:14 > 0:46:18# I know you'll get to like it if you give it a chance now... #
0:46:20 > 0:46:22The bossa nova!
0:46:26 > 0:46:30Also in the repertoire worthy of your attention is The Slop.
0:46:30 > 0:46:32The Slop?
0:46:32 > 0:46:33No.
0:46:38 > 0:46:40Now here's a dance I used to do,
0:46:40 > 0:46:44Joe Loss, The March Of The Mods. Good grief.
0:46:47 > 0:46:49Early '60s, Joe Loss brought out a record
0:46:49 > 0:46:51called The March Of The Mods
0:46:51 > 0:46:53and, for a month or so, it was a big craze.
0:46:53 > 0:46:56All the Mecca ballrooms used to do it.
0:46:56 > 0:46:57Ready?
0:46:57 > 0:47:02And heel, toe, heel, toe, heel, toe, heel, toe, jump, back.
0:47:02 > 0:47:04Run!
0:47:04 > 0:47:10# Da-da-da-da, diddly umpah, inkah, oopah, ehpah, oi, oi
0:47:10 > 0:47:11# And off you go again
0:47:11 > 0:47:17# Diddly umpah, umpah, umpah, umpah uh, uh,
0:47:17 > 0:47:19# And now you start again. #
0:47:19 > 0:47:21Keep going. We've got the 12-inch version here.
0:47:21 > 0:47:24- THEY LAUGH - It's nine and a half minutes.
0:47:24 > 0:47:28'The big bands were doing what musicians have always done -
0:47:28 > 0:47:31'adapting to the times and making music that sells.'
0:47:31 > 0:47:32Hooray!
0:47:32 > 0:47:34'But money trouble was looming...'
0:47:34 > 0:47:35Fantastic!
0:47:35 > 0:47:39'..and now the accountants were calling the tune.'
0:47:46 > 0:47:49Economically, big bands became less and less viable.
0:47:49 > 0:47:54It became simply cheaper to present and to record guitar groups
0:47:54 > 0:47:58four young men, three guitarists and a drummer, rather than 20
0:47:58 > 0:48:03or 22 people onstage, all together, all having to be paid.
0:48:04 > 0:48:08A generational division became much more marked then
0:48:08 > 0:48:09than it had done previously.
0:48:11 > 0:48:14Lots of people in the music business had grown up in the big-band era,
0:48:14 > 0:48:17hated rock'n'roll and they thought it was a passing fad.
0:48:17 > 0:48:20People who were in positions of authority in the music business,
0:48:20 > 0:48:23particularly, were hoping it would just go away
0:48:23 > 0:48:25if they closed their eyes
0:48:25 > 0:48:29and, unfortunately for them, it didn't.
0:48:33 > 0:48:35There was still a market for big bands in the '60s
0:48:35 > 0:48:38but finding a place to play could be tricky.
0:48:38 > 0:48:41There were now huge competition for space.
0:48:41 > 0:48:44The old venues and dance halls were being used for other things -
0:48:44 > 0:48:50bingo, casinos, and of course, beauty contests. Ooh!
0:48:58 > 0:49:00And then there was television.
0:49:00 > 0:49:03When Ted Heath lost his slot at the London Palladium,
0:49:03 > 0:49:05it was to make way for the TV cameras
0:49:05 > 0:49:08and a new age of variety entertainment.
0:49:14 > 0:49:17We grew up with those early days of television,
0:49:17 > 0:49:21but many people feared that the box in the living room would take over,
0:49:21 > 0:49:24another nail in the coffin for big bands
0:49:24 > 0:49:27and all sorts of live music and entertainment.
0:49:27 > 0:49:30But one fella had a cunning plan
0:49:30 > 0:49:34and embraced the move from the dance halls to the TV studios.
0:49:36 > 0:49:40Syd Lawrence was a talented and experienced trumpet player.
0:49:40 > 0:49:45In 1967, he set up his own band in Manchester, making records
0:49:45 > 0:49:51but also appearing on popular TV variety shows like Morecambe & Wise.
0:49:51 > 0:49:54Trombonist Chris Dean took over the orchestra in the mid-'90s.
0:49:54 > 0:49:56When I first joined the band,
0:49:56 > 0:49:58we used to do the Morecambe & Wise shows.
0:49:58 > 0:49:59We were never off television.
0:49:59 > 0:50:01- Glenn Miller.- Oh, Glenn.
0:50:01 > 0:50:03- What a band that was, eh? - Loved Glenn Miller.
0:50:03 > 0:50:06- All that jitterbugging and everything.- In those days.
0:50:06 > 0:50:08- Oh, knockout it was. - Don't play music like that anymore.
0:50:08 > 0:50:09I'm afraid they do, yes.
0:50:10 > 0:50:13- They do?- Oh, yes. Ladies and gentlemen, under duress,
0:50:13 > 0:50:15Syd Lawrence and his orchestra.
0:50:26 > 0:50:30He had a Royal Variety performance, then all the Pebble Mills
0:50:30 > 0:50:37and he was on TV, and it was more a band that was in showbiz
0:50:37 > 0:50:42as opposed to out-and-out jazz or out-and-out big band stuff.
0:50:57 > 0:50:58LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE
0:50:58 > 0:51:02He obviously got a lot of work as a result of the television,
0:51:02 > 0:51:05and for many years he traded on that television,
0:51:05 > 0:51:11and when I first joined the band, we were doing 270 dates a year.
0:51:11 > 0:51:13And now there aren't that many places to play.
0:51:19 > 0:51:22The music was still great but the world was moving on.
0:51:24 > 0:51:28By the '70s the big band sound seemed less relevant.
0:51:28 > 0:51:31Condemned by some as 'easy listening',
0:51:31 > 0:51:33the records were moved to the back of the shop.
0:51:37 > 0:51:38There were those, though,
0:51:38 > 0:51:42who refused to let the big-band sound die.
0:51:42 > 0:51:44I've been invited to a reunion.
0:51:44 > 0:51:48A load of big-band musicians meet up every now and again
0:51:48 > 0:51:52in this village hall in Surrey and have a bloomin' good blow.
0:51:52 > 0:51:53Hoo-hoo, come on!
0:52:00 > 0:52:03THEY PLAY SWING MUSIC
0:52:05 > 0:52:08There's some real legends in this band of volunteers,
0:52:08 > 0:52:12top-flight players with a lifetime of experience.
0:52:19 > 0:52:22Len, I've had the most incredible career.
0:52:22 > 0:52:24I mean, I was lucky enough to play with Sinatra
0:52:24 > 0:52:25every time he came to Europe,
0:52:25 > 0:52:27Judy Garland and all the rest of them,
0:52:27 > 0:52:29so I've had a marvellous, wonderful career.
0:52:29 > 0:52:33Bill Geldard's played trombone almost since it was invented.
0:52:33 > 0:52:37You still want to come along here and play with the guys.
0:52:37 > 0:52:39What is it about it that makes you want to do that?
0:52:41 > 0:52:44I don't know what I'd do if I didn't, to be quite honest.
0:52:44 > 0:52:47To play with good players, it's a lift, it really is.
0:52:47 > 0:52:49There's nothing quite like it.
0:52:53 > 0:52:56You've been in the business all your life...
0:52:56 > 0:52:57All my life, literally.
0:52:57 > 0:53:01..and yet you still find joy and just love to do it,
0:53:01 > 0:53:03and I think that is so wonderful.
0:53:03 > 0:53:06- Well, that's it. That's the way I feel.- Yeah.
0:53:06 > 0:53:07I love doing it.
0:53:07 > 0:53:10And I don't want to stop doing it. I don't like the alternative.
0:53:10 > 0:53:11No, of course.
0:53:21 > 0:53:24CRESCENDO BUILDS
0:53:27 > 0:53:30Oh, fantastic!
0:53:30 > 0:53:33Honestly. I've got to speak to you.
0:53:33 > 0:53:35Truly...hair-raising.
0:53:35 > 0:53:37THEY LAUGH
0:53:43 > 0:53:46HE CHUCKLES
0:53:46 > 0:53:48That was fantastic.
0:53:48 > 0:53:52I'll tell you, I've had a crazy time and it's great to look back.
0:53:52 > 0:53:54But, do you know, for me the thing is,
0:53:54 > 0:53:57swing music is still here right in the present
0:53:57 > 0:54:01and I just hope it's still going to still be with us in the future.
0:54:01 > 0:54:02Fabulous.
0:54:07 > 0:54:11Pete Conway also believes there's a rosy future for big bands
0:54:11 > 0:54:14and so does his son Robbie.
0:54:14 > 0:54:16# Do nothing till you hear from me
0:54:18 > 0:54:21# Pay no attention to what's said... #
0:54:22 > 0:54:26He's helping to bring the swing sound to a whole new audience.
0:54:27 > 0:54:29# ..is over my head
0:54:31 > 0:54:34# Do nothing till you hear from me. #
0:54:34 > 0:54:36When he was growing up and he was learning about music.
0:54:36 > 0:54:39We used to sing songs, I'd have it on the stereo in the car
0:54:39 > 0:54:42and we used to sing songs of this swing era.
0:54:42 > 0:54:45I remember we sang Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me,
0:54:45 > 0:54:46and he'd be about nine.
0:54:46 > 0:54:48# My daddy, Pete! #
0:54:48 > 0:54:49CROWD SCREAMS
0:54:51 > 0:54:54And that's the song we're singing together,
0:54:54 > 0:54:56and we sang it when he was nine.
0:54:56 > 0:54:59# I've been untrue while we're apart?
0:54:59 > 0:55:00# While we're apart!
0:55:00 > 0:55:02# The words in my heart
0:55:02 > 0:55:05# Reveal how I feel about you
0:55:05 > 0:55:07# Some kiss may cloud my memory... #
0:55:09 > 0:55:12It was in here, right from when he was very, very young.
0:55:13 > 0:55:16# BOTH: But please do nothing till you hear from me... #
0:55:16 > 0:55:21I retired a little while ago and I've had a new resurgence again
0:55:21 > 0:55:23to come out and sing with a big band behind me,
0:55:23 > 0:55:28and, for an old pro like myself, it's sent from heaven, Len.
0:55:28 > 0:55:29It's great.
0:55:32 > 0:55:36The sound of big bands and swing has been around since the 1930s,
0:55:36 > 0:55:39and it's starting to come full circle.
0:55:40 > 0:55:43You can go up and down the country, you know, on a Saturday night
0:55:43 > 0:55:46and there will be big band gigs being put on.
0:55:46 > 0:55:48Often it's semi-pro or amateurs,
0:55:48 > 0:55:52and they're still playing this music from the '30s, the '40s, the '50s,
0:55:52 > 0:55:55so that music has still got a sense of longevity.
0:55:59 > 0:56:02It's never going to go back to the glory days that it had,
0:56:02 > 0:56:06but this music is not going away, it's part of our culture.
0:56:09 > 0:56:13With swing, what is really good has stayed.
0:56:18 > 0:56:21It makes you want to dance, it makes you want to tap your feet.
0:56:21 > 0:56:22It's just... It really is exciting
0:56:22 > 0:56:25when you get eight brass hammering away at you
0:56:25 > 0:56:26and that big wall of sound.
0:56:26 > 0:56:28It's very, very exciting.
0:56:31 > 0:56:32It's timeless.
0:56:32 > 0:56:37- You can understand why this kind of music just swept the world.- Yeah.
0:56:37 > 0:56:39It connects with us so strongly.
0:56:41 > 0:56:44And one man helped to make that connection more than most.
0:56:44 > 0:56:47On December 15th, 1944,
0:56:47 > 0:56:52newly-promoted Major Glenn Miller left RAF Twinwood near Bedford
0:56:52 > 0:56:55in a single-engine aircraft bound for Paris.
0:56:55 > 0:56:57He was never seen again.
0:56:57 > 0:57:00We'll probably never know exactly what happened.
0:57:01 > 0:57:03- RADIO BROADCAST:- Major Glenn Miller,
0:57:03 > 0:57:06the well-known American band leader, is reported missing.
0:57:06 > 0:57:10He left England by air for Paris nine days ago.
0:57:12 > 0:57:14In the few months he'd been based in Britain,
0:57:14 > 0:57:18Glenn Miller and his orchestra played an extraordinary number
0:57:18 > 0:57:19of concerts and broadcasts.
0:57:21 > 0:57:23During that time, we'd really taken him
0:57:23 > 0:57:27and the big-band sound of swing to our hearts.
0:57:28 > 0:57:33He gave us a musical style that we'll treasure forever.
0:57:33 > 0:57:35It was music that united people.
0:57:35 > 0:57:37And what happened afterwards?
0:57:37 > 0:57:40Well, there was so much musical choice,
0:57:40 > 0:57:42with all of it competing for our attention.
0:57:42 > 0:57:46Yet, in a funny way, we've now come full circle.
0:57:46 > 0:57:50Today, there's nothing like a big band for a party or a celebration.
0:57:50 > 0:57:53Everyone seems to have an affection for it.
0:57:53 > 0:57:56And you know what? When I hear Glenn Miller's music
0:57:56 > 0:58:00drifting lazily through the air, I can really understand why.