0:00:06 > 0:00:08In the years between the wars,
0:00:08 > 0:00:11a musical revolution was under way
0:00:11 > 0:00:14that would change the sound of Britain for ever.
0:00:14 > 0:00:17It marked the rise of British dance bands
0:00:17 > 0:00:20and the birth of modern pop music.
0:00:22 > 0:00:25It was the golden age of dance bands
0:00:25 > 0:00:30when band leaders were kings and millions of us danced our socks off.
0:00:30 > 0:00:33It was the sound of my parents' generation
0:00:33 > 0:00:35when the parlour became the place to party!
0:00:37 > 0:00:40It was a time of celebrity and money, of radio and records,
0:00:40 > 0:00:46when we absorbed black American jazz and gave it a unique British twist.
0:00:46 > 0:00:48But it was also a time of conflict,
0:00:48 > 0:00:51of a love-hate relationship with America
0:00:51 > 0:00:54that sent the BBC into a spin.
0:00:57 > 0:01:00So what was all the fuss about?
0:01:00 > 0:01:03And what made Britain go dance band crazy?
0:01:03 > 0:01:05And why, within two decades,
0:01:05 > 0:01:09did our love affair with British dance bands begin to fall flat?
0:01:28 > 0:01:32The heyday of dance band music may have been more than 80 years ago
0:01:32 > 0:01:34but, as I'm discovering,
0:01:34 > 0:01:37it seems the dance band craze never really went away.
0:01:42 > 0:01:45The Shellac Sisters play their 78s loud and scratchy.
0:01:45 > 0:01:50Tonight's '30s party is at the Rivoli Ballroom in South London.
0:01:50 > 0:01:52If I'm dreaming, don't wake me up.
0:01:52 > 0:01:55It's like something from a '30s musical. I love it.
0:01:55 > 0:02:00I love to see the ladies dressed up and the guys in their suits.
0:02:00 > 0:02:03And the thing is, I always thought it was about the dancing,
0:02:03 > 0:02:06about foxtrots and quicksteps
0:02:06 > 0:02:12but, no, as much as that, it's about the music. It is truly...wonderful.
0:02:15 > 0:02:16MUSIC: Truckin'
0:02:16 > 0:02:18# We had to get something new
0:02:18 > 0:02:21# A dance to do up here in Harlem
0:02:21 > 0:02:24# So someone started truckin' Yowser! #
0:02:27 > 0:02:30What is it about this type of music and dressing up?
0:02:30 > 0:02:32What is it about it that you like?
0:02:32 > 0:02:36Well, you just can't not hear the music and start moving, you know.
0:02:36 > 0:02:39You can't help... Every step you take makes you want to smile
0:02:39 > 0:02:43and the more steps you take, the bigger your smile gets.
0:02:43 > 0:02:46It's the energy, the fact that as a generation,
0:02:46 > 0:02:49we don't have parlour dancing. It's nonexistent.
0:02:49 > 0:02:51And do you like the fact that they use original 78s
0:02:51 > 0:02:53and you get a bit of scratching going on?
0:02:53 > 0:02:55Yeah, yeah. It adds to the atmosphere.
0:02:55 > 0:02:58I love the clothes. The clothes are lovely.
0:02:58 > 0:03:00They are. They're proper clothes, right?
0:03:00 > 0:03:02Exactly yeah, stylish, fashionable.
0:03:02 > 0:03:03What is this? Worsted?
0:03:03 > 0:03:0512 ounce.
0:03:05 > 0:03:0612 ounce worsted? Look at it.
0:03:06 > 0:03:12Impeccable. And, madam, may I say, elegance personified.
0:03:12 > 0:03:15With the bob hair cut. Oh, shut up!
0:03:23 > 0:03:25Our first flirtation with dance band music
0:03:25 > 0:03:28came not long after the end of the Great War.
0:03:28 > 0:03:30After four years of desperate survival,
0:03:30 > 0:03:34a wall of sound was heading across the Atlantic.
0:03:35 > 0:03:39And one band summed up the new optimistic mood.
0:03:44 > 0:03:48The Original Dixieland Jazz Band was a five-piece from New Orleans.
0:03:48 > 0:03:51They billed themselves as the Creators of Jazz
0:03:51 > 0:03:53and, in 1919, they came to London,
0:03:53 > 0:03:57where music hall was still the dominant form of entertainment.
0:04:02 > 0:04:08These guys play - simultaneously - clarinet, cornet, trombone...
0:04:08 > 0:04:10all playing melodies together.
0:04:10 > 0:04:15It sounded like an enormous row, they had a drum kit with them.
0:04:15 > 0:04:21The shock this caused was probably similar to punk rock in 1977.
0:04:21 > 0:04:23Well, I guess music has always developed
0:04:23 > 0:04:26and the next style always shocked the Establishment.
0:04:26 > 0:04:29Yeah, it shocked the Establishment,
0:04:29 > 0:04:34but a lot of people were ready for this style. It was the modern age.
0:04:34 > 0:04:36With their radical new sound,
0:04:36 > 0:04:40the Original Dixieland Jazz Band were the talk of the town.
0:04:45 > 0:04:47Musicians thought,
0:04:47 > 0:04:50"Right, that's what we need to do, this is where we need to go."
0:04:50 > 0:04:53And the dance bands really grew out of that.
0:04:59 > 0:05:02It was the birth of a new musical era
0:05:02 > 0:05:06that would be the soundtrack to British life for the next 20 years.
0:05:09 > 0:05:10Across the land,
0:05:10 > 0:05:15British musicians started to soak up those Stateside sound waves
0:05:15 > 0:05:17and decided, "We can do that too."
0:05:19 > 0:05:21As the bands tuned up,
0:05:21 > 0:05:25a new wave of British musical talent began to emerge.
0:05:25 > 0:05:31And band leaders such as Bert Ambrose, Jack Hylton and Ray Noble
0:05:31 > 0:05:33would become household names.
0:05:35 > 0:05:39BAND PLAYS: Midnight The Stars And You
0:05:41 > 0:05:43Doesn't that sound fantastic?
0:05:56 > 0:06:04# Midnight, brought us sweet romance
0:06:04 > 0:06:11# I'll know for my whole life through
0:06:11 > 0:06:15# I'll be remembering, dear
0:06:15 > 0:06:19# Whatever else I do
0:06:19 > 0:06:25# Midnight, with the stars and you. #
0:06:36 > 0:06:38I was brought up listening to that type of music,
0:06:38 > 0:06:42because you listened to what your dad plays when you're a kid.
0:06:42 > 0:06:45And my dad was always in the front room putting the old gramophone on,
0:06:45 > 0:06:47playing all this type of music.
0:06:47 > 0:06:49And that's why I think I've always loved it.
0:06:49 > 0:06:53When people listened to this music, it was the latest thing.
0:06:53 > 0:06:56It was modern, you know, it was everything that was the future.
0:06:57 > 0:07:00Now, we hear things like Midnight And The Stars And You,
0:07:00 > 0:07:03can anything be any more achingly nostalgic
0:07:03 > 0:07:05than something like that?
0:07:05 > 0:07:06But it wasn't at the time.
0:07:06 > 0:07:13No. But that's music and I hope it always continues to develop and grow.
0:07:33 > 0:07:34In early 1920s' London,
0:07:34 > 0:07:37it was the high-end restaurants and hotels like the Savoy
0:07:37 > 0:07:42that were among the first to cash in on the dance band explosion.
0:07:42 > 0:07:47# Don't forget, dinner at eight... #
0:07:47 > 0:07:50The days of swanky restaurants and hotels
0:07:50 > 0:07:53hosting the finest bands in the land may be gone,
0:07:53 > 0:07:55but you can still see the places
0:07:55 > 0:07:58where those wonderful orchestras played
0:07:58 > 0:08:01and the diners danced the night away.
0:08:01 > 0:08:05# ..Don't forget Dinner at eight... #
0:08:05 > 0:08:10Ray Pallett runs a magazine devoted to the music of the old dance bands
0:08:10 > 0:08:13and he knows all about their old stomping grounds.
0:08:15 > 0:08:18Oh, Ray...this...this is fantastic.
0:08:18 > 0:08:20It is splendid, isn't it, really?
0:08:20 > 0:08:25As soon as you walk in, you get the feeling this is where it all went on.
0:08:25 > 0:08:27Where it all happened, yes.
0:08:27 > 0:08:30The ballroom at the Savoy. The stage over there.
0:08:30 > 0:08:35So, what would be going on here on a typical, say, Saturday night?
0:08:35 > 0:08:36The band would be up there.
0:08:36 > 0:08:40It would be the Savoy Havana Band or the Savoy Hotel Orpheans,
0:08:40 > 0:08:43depending on what year it was, and who was on.
0:08:43 > 0:08:44They'd be playing up there
0:08:44 > 0:08:48and you'd get the society people dancing around in here.
0:09:01 > 0:09:03There'd be like a cabaret style.
0:09:03 > 0:09:06Tables and chairs around the edge and the dance floor there.
0:09:06 > 0:09:09The band would be squashed up on the stage.
0:09:09 > 0:09:11The dance floor wouldn't be huge -
0:09:11 > 0:09:14people danced very closely together then.
0:09:14 > 0:09:16That was one of the attractions.
0:09:16 > 0:09:17Absolutely, yes.
0:09:17 > 0:09:18I suppose, in those days,
0:09:18 > 0:09:21there'd have been the foxtrots and the waltzes.
0:09:21 > 0:09:24It was the foxtrot that started the whole thing off.
0:09:24 > 0:09:27That was popularised by Vernon and Irene Castle
0:09:27 > 0:09:30and everyone wanted to dance the foxtrot.
0:09:30 > 0:09:33And that really brought the explosion of dance bands.
0:09:33 > 0:09:36There were dance bands all over the country,
0:09:36 > 0:09:40but the big dance bands, the main ones, were in the London hotels.
0:09:40 > 0:09:44The Savoy. The Mayfair. The Hotel Cecil. Places like that.
0:09:44 > 0:09:50# Because I still get a thrill thinking of you
0:09:50 > 0:09:56# I recall that it ended too soon
0:09:56 > 0:09:59# I can't believe you're gone
0:09:59 > 0:10:03# Memories linger on
0:10:03 > 0:10:08# Cos I still get a thrill thinking of you. #
0:10:12 > 0:10:17One of the first stars to emerge from the fledgling dance band scene
0:10:17 > 0:10:19was East Ender Bert Ambrose.
0:10:19 > 0:10:22With his top flight orchestra,
0:10:22 > 0:10:27he became a fixture in the West End, playing for high society audiences.
0:10:30 > 0:10:35What Bert Ambrose managed to do was something truly magical.
0:10:35 > 0:10:37He was able to pull together
0:10:37 > 0:10:42the best musicians and the best writers that were available.
0:10:42 > 0:10:45However, he knew the best were in America.
0:10:46 > 0:10:50Ambrose had played in the States and absorbed what he'd heard.
0:10:50 > 0:10:53In London, he'd played at the very best places -
0:10:53 > 0:10:55the Embassy Club and the Cafe de Paris -
0:10:55 > 0:10:58and set the tone that many would follow.
0:10:58 > 0:11:00# I'm going to get you
0:11:00 > 0:11:03# I'm going to get you... #
0:11:05 > 0:11:07Sheila, tell me about Ambrose.
0:11:07 > 0:11:09What was it about his band
0:11:09 > 0:11:12that made all the musicians want to be in his band?
0:11:12 > 0:11:15First and foremost, because he paid more money than anyone else did.
0:11:15 > 0:11:19But he knew exactly what he wanted from his band
0:11:19 > 0:11:21and insisted on getting it.
0:11:21 > 0:11:23And it was a very, very good band.
0:11:23 > 0:11:26He was the top band in the country.
0:11:26 > 0:11:29All royalty, all the aristocracy
0:11:29 > 0:11:32went to hear - not to hear - to dance to Ambrose.
0:11:32 > 0:11:37And, of course, Edward used to take in Wallis Simpson, didn't he?
0:11:37 > 0:11:41Billy Amstell, who was in Ambrose's band - saxophone player - he said,
0:11:41 > 0:11:45"He was a naughty boy, you know, he used to look down her dress."
0:11:45 > 0:11:48"How do I know?" he said, "Because I was watching!"
0:11:51 > 0:11:56With British toes tapping, subtle differences started to emerge
0:11:56 > 0:11:59between the American and the home-grown sound.
0:11:59 > 0:12:02Well, Derek, can you give me an example
0:12:02 > 0:12:04of the way the Americans would play a tune
0:12:04 > 0:12:08and the way the British would back in the '20s and '30s?
0:12:08 > 0:12:11We've chosen the tune Cryin' For The Carolines.
0:12:11 > 0:12:13It's one of those songs of a homesick guy
0:12:13 > 0:12:15who's moved to the city for work.
0:12:15 > 0:12:18He's longing for the countryside again -
0:12:18 > 0:12:20the birds, the green, the pines and so on.
0:12:20 > 0:12:22He's crying for the Carolines.
0:12:22 > 0:12:26We're going to begin with an American-style version of this.
0:12:26 > 0:12:29BEGINS TO PLAY
0:12:59 > 0:13:03That's quite punchy, isn't it? It's got a little staccato-ey flavour.
0:13:03 > 0:13:07That's right. I think it's the force with which Kyle's hitting that reed.
0:13:07 > 0:13:10It's quite a tough reed, is it, you've got in there?
0:13:10 > 0:13:13It's actually not a hard reed but it's a very American set-up.
0:13:13 > 0:13:16And it has what's called an American-cut reed on it.
0:13:16 > 0:13:19That would be more advanced than the British style of reed?
0:13:19 > 0:13:23Yes, there was a lot of evolution going on with saxophone mouthpieces,
0:13:23 > 0:13:25particularly in the '30s,
0:13:25 > 0:13:27and things changing
0:13:27 > 0:13:30in the way that players approached their equipment
0:13:30 > 0:13:33and craftsmen coming in and actually saying,
0:13:33 > 0:13:35"Hey, you can have a mouthpiece
0:13:35 > 0:13:39"that is not the one that comes in the box with the saxophone."
0:13:39 > 0:13:42OK, so you'll want to change your mouthpiece for this one?
0:13:42 > 0:13:45Yes, I'm going to put on - again, this is a modern mouthpiece -
0:13:45 > 0:13:47but it's more similar
0:13:47 > 0:13:49to what I think the players started from in the '20s.
0:13:49 > 0:13:53So it'll give us a different kind of sound. We'll see what you think.
0:13:53 > 0:13:56I think also, I'm going to play it at a different tempo.
0:13:56 > 0:14:01Right. We're going to do a version that Ambrose might have approved of.
0:14:01 > 0:14:04So, is this fast enough?
0:14:29 > 0:14:31Yeah. That's smoother, isn't it?
0:14:31 > 0:14:35It's got a smoothness about it. The other one was more punchy.
0:14:35 > 0:14:37Yes, but this has a kind of bounce.
0:14:37 > 0:14:38A sort of dance-y bounce about it.
0:14:38 > 0:14:40It's a bit like the audiences
0:14:40 > 0:14:44on Strictly Come Dancing and the American Dancing With The Stars.
0:14:44 > 0:14:48You know, the Americans are much more gregarious and standing ovations
0:14:48 > 0:14:49and giving it all that.
0:14:49 > 0:14:52Whereas the British, they're a bit more reserved.
0:14:52 > 0:14:55You think this is a bit tight-laced? But rhythmic all the same.
0:14:55 > 0:14:57And perhaps a bit sophisticated?
0:14:57 > 0:14:58Oh, yes, it's got class!
0:14:58 > 0:15:00Yeah. Oh, certainly has.
0:15:00 > 0:15:03Would you say that the American style is a little hotter
0:15:03 > 0:15:07and the British style a little sweeter, a little bit more smooth?
0:15:07 > 0:15:12I think so. The British style has to suit the luxury hotels,
0:15:12 > 0:15:14high society and so on.
0:15:17 > 0:15:20Above all, it's what the British public wanted to hear.
0:15:20 > 0:15:23And the British public is different from the American public.
0:15:23 > 0:15:25And the British public loved
0:15:25 > 0:15:27bouncey, cheerful, tuneful music.
0:15:27 > 0:15:29That's what they wanted.
0:15:29 > 0:15:31And the bands provided it, in spades.
0:15:33 > 0:15:38British music might have been sweeter on the ear, but was it cutting edge?
0:15:40 > 0:15:42There were two styles of music, essentially,
0:15:42 > 0:15:44in the '20s through into the '30s.
0:15:44 > 0:15:48And they were called hot and sweet, kind of like peppers.
0:15:48 > 0:15:50So sweet music's quite sentimental,
0:15:50 > 0:15:55it kept quite strictly to the melody.
0:15:55 > 0:15:59Musicians didn't go off and do their own thing anywhere.
0:15:59 > 0:16:03Hot music was what we think of as jazz in that era.
0:16:03 > 0:16:05It was improvisatory,
0:16:05 > 0:16:08the arrangements would leave plenty of space
0:16:08 > 0:16:13for the trumpet player to just do something exciting.
0:16:13 > 0:16:15Just take the melody and run with it,
0:16:15 > 0:16:19or two or three musicians to do that simultaneously.
0:16:24 > 0:16:28But for some, these hot new sounds were just a bit too racey.
0:16:31 > 0:16:36I think one of the biggest worries, after the First World War,
0:16:36 > 0:16:39was Americanisation of British taste.
0:16:39 > 0:16:44The look of American cars, the rowdiness of American music.
0:16:44 > 0:16:50The sober British values were being lost in this storm of vulgarity
0:16:50 > 0:16:53from the other side of the Atlantic.
0:16:53 > 0:16:56There's this sort of divide in the inter-war period
0:16:56 > 0:16:59between an intelligentsia very often
0:16:59 > 0:17:02who are concerned about Americanised dance music
0:17:02 > 0:17:05and Americanised popular culture,
0:17:05 > 0:17:08and the vast amount of the public who love it.
0:17:09 > 0:17:13There's a racial element for some individuals
0:17:13 > 0:17:17who are concerned that the purity of the British race
0:17:17 > 0:17:20is being challenged by this music
0:17:20 > 0:17:24which has its roots in Africa and in black America.
0:17:28 > 0:17:32The well-known bit! There were worries by some institutions
0:17:32 > 0:17:37and some theatres that this was vulgar, noisy, rowdy,
0:17:37 > 0:17:39the patrons would not like it.
0:17:39 > 0:17:43But then there were other places - cafes and nightclubs -
0:17:43 > 0:17:46that would give work to those musicians.
0:17:55 > 0:17:58But one place where all musicians wanted to be heard,
0:17:58 > 0:18:01was on the newly-formed BBC,
0:18:01 > 0:18:04which launched its first radio service in 1922.
0:18:04 > 0:18:09The BBC's boss, John Reith, held a tight grip on the broadcaster,
0:18:09 > 0:18:12guiding it with his own strong moral code.
0:18:12 > 0:18:14But he knew that dance music
0:18:14 > 0:18:17would play a part in the future of the service
0:18:17 > 0:18:20and it was soon included in the programme of entertainment.
0:18:22 > 0:18:26Right across the West End, the BBC were setting up their microphones
0:18:26 > 0:18:29and warning the patrons there's going to be some noise.
0:18:29 > 0:18:32And, of course, there was some complaints,
0:18:32 > 0:18:33but all over Britain,
0:18:33 > 0:18:37millions of people listening on the wireless had no complaints at all.
0:18:40 > 0:18:42In the heart of the West End,
0:18:42 > 0:18:45the cream of the British dance bands played this area -
0:18:45 > 0:18:49Piccadilly, Leicester Square, the Strand, Regent Street.
0:18:49 > 0:18:52This is where you came if you wanted to go out,
0:18:52 > 0:18:54a night out dancing to the top bands.
0:18:54 > 0:18:57But when wireless came on in the late 1920s,
0:18:57 > 0:18:59the bands broadcast nationally
0:18:59 > 0:19:02and they became famous throughout the nation,
0:19:02 > 0:19:04and the band leaders became stars.
0:19:04 > 0:19:08They were the pop stars of the day, driving around in Rolls-Royces.
0:19:10 > 0:19:17It's extraordinary to imagine the impact of these bands
0:19:17 > 0:19:20and the boldness of the mighty BBC in saying,
0:19:20 > 0:19:24"We're going to have bands on every night of the week, except Sunday."
0:19:24 > 0:19:28Sir John Reith wouldn't have dance bands on Sunday.
0:19:28 > 0:19:31Sir John Reith didn't like dance bands at all,
0:19:31 > 0:19:34but he recognised from his entertainment producers
0:19:34 > 0:19:37that this was the sound of the day.
0:19:41 > 0:19:45You would change your meal times to sit down and listen to the wireless.
0:19:45 > 0:19:47You'd switch the wireless on
0:19:47 > 0:19:50and you'd wait for quite some time for it to warm up.
0:19:50 > 0:19:52It took time for the valves to heat up
0:19:52 > 0:19:56and for the sound to come through to listen to the magic of the music.
0:19:56 > 0:19:59Sunday Night at 10 with me, Clare Teal.
0:19:59 > 0:20:04And tonight we celebrate the Big 18 Studio Band
0:20:04 > 0:20:07and the bands that inspired them, such as...
0:20:07 > 0:20:11Today, there's still an audience for dance band music on the BBC,
0:20:11 > 0:20:14fronted by jazz singer Clare Teal.
0:20:17 > 0:20:21We can't even begin to think how massive the radio would have been.
0:20:21 > 0:20:24Suddenly, to be able to listen to music every day on the radio,
0:20:24 > 0:20:29it suddenly made it accessible to everyone, rich or poor.
0:20:29 > 0:20:33And I think that's the great thing about music - it's a real leveller.
0:20:33 > 0:20:38This was the first time that these guys became like music gods,
0:20:38 > 0:20:40because so many people could see them.
0:20:40 > 0:20:43They could see them in magazines and they could hear them on the radio
0:20:43 > 0:20:46and they could go out and buy their records.
0:20:46 > 0:20:49But nobody cared about the singers, or really about the bands early on,
0:20:49 > 0:20:52it was all about the band leaders, and they were the kings.
0:20:52 > 0:20:55But, of course, in order to have a big band work,
0:20:55 > 0:20:58it's all about the arrangements, it's all about the players,
0:20:58 > 0:21:00it's all about the singers, it's about the tempo.
0:21:00 > 0:21:05Well, you know you can't dance to things that are in the wrong tempo.
0:21:05 > 0:21:07But, no, a magical time.
0:21:07 > 0:21:12Yeah, and they had such style, didn't they? The band leaders in their...
0:21:12 > 0:21:13Yeah, their tails...
0:21:13 > 0:21:18A lot of them, people like Roy Fox who wore his, you know, white tails.
0:21:18 > 0:21:22And you look at the photos and Jack Hylton always had his boys
0:21:22 > 0:21:26dressed beautifully in Savile Row suits and many different outfits.
0:21:26 > 0:21:30Some of the band leaders would make their guys pay for their own suits.
0:21:30 > 0:21:34They'd have to buy a new suit every year, which is a bit harsh, I think.
0:21:34 > 0:21:37But, yeah, white Rolls Royces crop up a lot.
0:21:37 > 0:21:39And obviously this music just went crazy.
0:21:39 > 0:21:42One of my favourite songs that Jack Hylton did
0:21:42 > 0:21:45is a kind of novelty number called Me And Jane In A Plane.
0:21:45 > 0:21:46I know the song...
0:21:46 > 0:21:50# Me and Jane in a plane Flying over the clouds... #
0:21:50 > 0:21:55- Yes!- And in 1927, the boys were up at Blackpool Tower
0:21:55 > 0:21:59and as a publicity stunt, they flew a plane over Blackpool
0:21:59 > 0:22:01and threw sheet music of the song
0:22:01 > 0:22:04over to the bewildered holiday-makers below.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07- You wouldn't be allowed to do that these days.- Probably not, yeah.
0:22:07 > 0:22:10# Me and Jane in a plane
0:22:10 > 0:22:12# Soaring up to the clouds
0:22:12 > 0:22:14# Me and Jane in a plane
0:22:14 > 0:22:18# Far away from the crowds
0:22:18 > 0:22:22# In my two seater What could be sweeter?
0:22:22 > 0:22:27# I'll have St Peter step inside and bless the bride... #
0:22:27 > 0:22:31It's just a short hop from Blackpool to Lancaster University.
0:22:31 > 0:22:34This is Jack Hylton Junior,
0:22:34 > 0:22:38the son of perhaps Britain's most successful dance band leader.
0:22:38 > 0:22:42The university is home to an enormous archive
0:22:42 > 0:22:45of his father's papers, photos and music.
0:22:54 > 0:22:58I think it is remarkable.
0:22:58 > 0:23:03It is a unique record of the popular music of its period.
0:23:03 > 0:23:07Hylton sold 3.2 million records in 1929,
0:23:07 > 0:23:12he managed, over his life, to entertain so many people.
0:23:14 > 0:23:17Pete Faint is a professional musician
0:23:17 > 0:23:19who studied Jack Hylton's work at Lancaster
0:23:19 > 0:23:23and he was astonished at the depth of the university's collection.
0:23:24 > 0:23:26What we've got here
0:23:26 > 0:23:30is an extraordinarily vast archive of music.
0:23:30 > 0:23:35So each of these folders contains
0:23:35 > 0:23:41individually hand-written parts for the entire band.
0:23:41 > 0:23:45There's something in the region of 4,000 sets of parts,
0:23:45 > 0:23:49so tens of thousands of hand-written pieces of music.
0:23:50 > 0:23:52You can listen to the record,
0:23:52 > 0:23:56but to understand the process of orchestration, you know,
0:23:56 > 0:23:58this is the most valuable resource.
0:24:00 > 0:24:01For 19 years,
0:24:01 > 0:24:07he was probably consistently the biggest attraction in this country.
0:24:07 > 0:24:08And in Europe.
0:24:08 > 0:24:12And, eventually, pretty big in America, too.
0:24:15 > 0:24:20At one stage, Jack Hylton was shifting seven records a minute.
0:24:20 > 0:24:23And with the fortune, came the fame.
0:24:23 > 0:24:29Now, Jack, your dad...what I can't believe is how popular they were
0:24:29 > 0:24:33and what megastars these band leaders become.
0:24:33 > 0:24:38Oh, yes, if you walked outside the house and somebody spotted you...
0:24:38 > 0:24:40You didn't get mobbed in those days,
0:24:40 > 0:24:43but what was amazing was everybody knew your face,
0:24:43 > 0:24:47even though you were on the radio or only in concert halls.
0:24:47 > 0:24:51I mean they were, if you like, the Beatles or the Stones of their day.
0:24:51 > 0:24:55# She was a good girl and I can never understand
0:24:55 > 0:24:59# Why did she fall for the leader of the band? #
0:25:01 > 0:25:05Jack Hylton was certainly a busy man with recording sessions
0:25:05 > 0:25:09and a touring schedule that would make your eyes water.
0:25:14 > 0:25:171929 was the famous year.
0:25:17 > 0:25:20They did over 700 concerts,
0:25:20 > 0:25:23travelled 63,000 miles
0:25:23 > 0:25:26and sold 3.2 million records.
0:25:26 > 0:25:31And what sort of money was your dad on?
0:25:31 > 0:25:37In 1931, the Empire Ballroom, Leicester Square,
0:25:37 > 0:25:42offered £40,000 a week to employ the band.
0:25:42 > 0:25:44£40,000 a week?
0:25:44 > 0:25:47And that was turned down.
0:25:47 > 0:25:50So they offered Jack Hylton himself
0:25:50 > 0:25:56£10,000 a week to come in three nights and conduct their house band.
0:25:56 > 0:26:02And I guess this was when the average wage was £3 or £4 a week?
0:26:02 > 0:26:06When £10,000 was a lot of money.
0:26:06 > 0:26:07# We're in the money
0:26:07 > 0:26:09# Come on, my honey
0:26:09 > 0:26:13# Let's spend it, lend it, send it rolling along... #
0:26:14 > 0:26:18Jack was a clever businessman as well as a brilliant showman.
0:26:18 > 0:26:22And when this Lancashire lad had money, he knew what to do with it.
0:26:22 > 0:26:26He earned plenty of money, but he spent plenty of money as well.
0:26:26 > 0:26:30- You know, he enjoyed himself. - Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.
0:26:30 > 0:26:32But he said to me, "I may not leave you much,
0:26:32 > 0:26:36"but you really will enjoy getting rid of it with me."
0:26:39 > 0:26:44As their fortunes grew, the band leaders indulged expensive tastes.
0:26:45 > 0:26:48Billy Cotton had a passion for fast cars.
0:26:48 > 0:26:51Others preferred fast animals.
0:26:51 > 0:26:54'You all know Roy Fox as one of the most popular and best-known
0:26:54 > 0:26:56'dance band leaders on the air.
0:26:56 > 0:27:00'Well, here he is and, sad to relate, he's gone to the dogs.'
0:27:03 > 0:27:07And when they toured the Continent, some preferred the casinos.
0:27:08 > 0:27:11Now, Ambrose was a great gambler.
0:27:11 > 0:27:16In Biarritz, he lost £28,000 in one night.
0:27:16 > 0:27:19And we're talking about the '30s.
0:27:19 > 0:27:24And they didn't have enough money to pay the band,
0:27:24 > 0:27:28so the singer had to come back to London,
0:27:28 > 0:27:31to get some money to pay the band.
0:27:33 > 0:27:37While the bands made and lost a mint, over at the BBC,
0:27:37 > 0:27:43there was nervousness about their money-making techniques.
0:27:43 > 0:27:46And it gave Auntie the heebie-jeebies.
0:27:46 > 0:27:50# I'm going to sit write down and write myself a letter... #
0:27:52 > 0:27:53Right, well, here we are, Len,
0:27:53 > 0:27:57welcome to the BBC's Written Archives Centre.
0:27:57 > 0:27:59# I'm going to write words oh, so sweet
0:27:59 > 0:28:02# They're going to knock me off my feet... #
0:28:02 > 0:28:04I can't believe how huge it is.
0:28:04 > 0:28:09- It's surprising, isn't it? - Yeah, I know. That's right.
0:28:09 > 0:28:14- You've got written correspondence about dance bands?- We have, yes.
0:28:14 > 0:28:16We've got dance band material going back to the '20s
0:28:16 > 0:28:18and throughout the whole dance band era,
0:28:18 > 0:28:20showing how the BBC responded
0:28:20 > 0:28:24to the desire to have dance band music put on the radio.
0:28:24 > 0:28:27It's amazing that every paper has been kept.
0:28:27 > 0:28:29It's like the British Library.
0:28:29 > 0:28:31It's a bit like that, isn't it?
0:28:34 > 0:28:41Well, here's a file on dance music and dance bands, going back to 1926.
0:28:41 > 0:28:46And it contains certain of the department's policy documents
0:28:46 > 0:28:50- on such things as song plugging. That was a big...- Song plugging?
0:28:50 > 0:28:53Yes, from 1929.
0:28:53 > 0:28:56"In order to eliminate this practice as far as possible,
0:28:56 > 0:29:00"the following arrangements will come into force.
0:29:00 > 0:29:05"The announcer's microphone is to be removed from each dance band
0:29:05 > 0:29:08"and only the balance microphone used."
0:29:08 > 0:29:11So, in other words, the poor old band leader couldn't plug anything.
0:29:11 > 0:29:14He couldn't say, "Well, here we go
0:29:14 > 0:29:18"with my latest record, ladies and gentlemen. Blah, blah, blah."
0:29:18 > 0:29:20No, he was effectively gagged.
0:29:20 > 0:29:22The BBC were incredibly strict
0:29:22 > 0:29:27and they were very aware of their role in the promotion of dance music
0:29:27 > 0:29:30and I think it terrified them.
0:29:30 > 0:29:33# When you gotta sing You gotta sing... #
0:29:33 > 0:29:36There had always been song plugging
0:29:36 > 0:29:40and once radio began, the record companies realised that,
0:29:40 > 0:29:43if Ambrose played the latest song
0:29:43 > 0:29:47in his hour-and-a-half on Saturday night on the BBC,
0:29:47 > 0:29:52people would then rush out and buy that record, in their droves.
0:29:52 > 0:29:55So song announcements were not allowed any more
0:29:55 > 0:29:57and they instructed singers
0:29:57 > 0:30:00not to sing the title of the song in the chorus,
0:30:00 > 0:30:04so it was very difficult to know what the song was called
0:30:04 > 0:30:08and therefore very difficult to go to the record shop the next day
0:30:08 > 0:30:11and say, "Can I buy this song, please?"
0:30:11 > 0:30:12And predictably - uproar.
0:30:12 > 0:30:16People across the country were completely furious
0:30:16 > 0:30:19and a few months later, the BBC just had to retract.
0:30:19 > 0:30:24The BBC was prepared to stop at nothing to prevent song plugging.
0:30:24 > 0:30:26In 1929, they even banned singing.
0:30:26 > 0:30:31This way, no-one would get a plug and the instrumental music
0:30:31 > 0:30:35could be enjoyed by those who simply wanted to dance.
0:30:36 > 0:30:40"On no account will singing be allowed during the broadcast.
0:30:40 > 0:30:45"This quite definitely affects adversely the broadcast."
0:30:45 > 0:30:49So, it was just pure music, there was no singing.
0:30:49 > 0:30:53Yes, I think the idea was people used to roll up their carpets
0:30:53 > 0:30:58and dance to the radio. That's what it was all about.
0:30:58 > 0:31:00And the popularity of the records,
0:31:00 > 0:31:04or the music as it was published, were very much secondary.
0:31:04 > 0:31:08How different to nowadays, because it's all about the vocals.
0:31:08 > 0:31:09Quite right.
0:31:09 > 0:31:12And in those days, it was all about the band and the music.
0:31:12 > 0:31:14# Roll up the carpet
0:31:14 > 0:31:16# Push back the chairs
0:31:16 > 0:31:20# Get some music on the radio... #
0:31:20 > 0:31:23The BBC's attempt to stifle singing was short lived,
0:31:23 > 0:31:25which was music to the ears
0:31:25 > 0:31:29of those working hard in recording studios across the land.
0:31:29 > 0:31:3378s were made in their millions
0:31:33 > 0:31:37and the record industry boomed.
0:31:37 > 0:31:39# Boom! Why did my heart go boom... #
0:31:39 > 0:31:42The sound of the dance bands was everywhere.
0:31:42 > 0:31:45For £6 10 shillings, you could buy a gramophone,
0:31:45 > 0:31:48or even hire one from shops on the high street,
0:31:48 > 0:31:51and the home entertainment industry took off.
0:31:51 > 0:31:54There was also changes in recording techniques
0:31:54 > 0:31:57which meant the bands sounded better than ever.
0:31:59 > 0:32:02'We will just take a peep into the recording studio
0:32:02 > 0:32:05'where Jack Hylton and his band are rehearsing.'
0:32:05 > 0:32:10In the mid-'20s, new electrical microphones gave a much clearer sound
0:32:10 > 0:32:13but recording still required an inventive approach.
0:32:13 > 0:32:16If you look at some of those photographs
0:32:16 > 0:32:20of early studio recordings, it looks very odd to us.
0:32:20 > 0:32:24Everybody's crammed in together to get the sound concentrated
0:32:24 > 0:32:26so the microphone can pick them up.
0:32:26 > 0:32:29You don't set them out like you would a normal orchestra,
0:32:29 > 0:32:31widely spaced from each other.
0:32:33 > 0:32:37There would be one or, at the most, two microphones.
0:32:37 > 0:32:42And what the engineers were doing - which was very subtle -
0:32:42 > 0:32:47was placing all these musicians in relation to the main microphone.
0:32:50 > 0:32:55# I get blue when I hear the wheels of the choo choo... #
0:32:55 > 0:33:00Everything else would be relationships to the microphone.
0:33:00 > 0:33:05Which sometimes involved sending the trumpets out onto the fire escape.
0:33:08 > 0:33:11In some of the studios, they even ended up
0:33:11 > 0:33:15having a small platform on wheels with ropes attached to it
0:33:15 > 0:33:17where some of the studio workers
0:33:17 > 0:33:21could pull sections of the orchestra away to alter the balance
0:33:21 > 0:33:25and then push them back when it was their solo.
0:33:25 > 0:33:28And, of course, one take only.
0:33:28 > 0:33:32You couldn't go back and cut it together as you could now.
0:33:32 > 0:33:36There'd be no remixing. There's no role for a producer here.
0:33:36 > 0:33:38You know, this is it, it's live.
0:33:43 > 0:33:47But once they'd got it, there it was.
0:33:49 > 0:33:53It's being carved out on the shellac as they do it.
0:33:53 > 0:33:58And then that's the master and you distribute it. It's so simple.
0:33:58 > 0:34:02And, again, the feeling you get from the records of this era
0:34:02 > 0:34:07is that everyone involved in it is having a whale of a good time.
0:34:09 > 0:34:12But the hottest tunes weren't coming from here.
0:34:12 > 0:34:14They were coming from across the pond.
0:34:15 > 0:34:20It was time for band leaders like Roy Fox to take centre stage.
0:34:20 > 0:34:23They called him the Whispering Cornettist,
0:34:23 > 0:34:26he was an American who'd made London his home.
0:34:26 > 0:34:28And he was very much in demand.
0:34:30 > 0:34:33The hotels and restaurants wanted Yanks in the band,
0:34:33 > 0:34:35and British audiences wanted to see them.
0:34:35 > 0:34:38With the growing influence of Duke Ellington
0:34:38 > 0:34:41and the sounds of the Cotton Club,
0:34:41 > 0:34:44it seemed that America was the real artistic powerhouse
0:34:44 > 0:34:50and, before long, it was British musicians who were feeling the heat.
0:34:50 > 0:34:53The Musicians Union here started arguing
0:34:53 > 0:34:56that jobs were being taken away from British musicians
0:34:56 > 0:35:00because so many American musicians were being used
0:35:00 > 0:35:02as session musicians in recordings
0:35:02 > 0:35:05and they started putting limits
0:35:05 > 0:35:09on the number of American musicians who could play in Britain.
0:35:09 > 0:35:11The American Musicians Union
0:35:11 > 0:35:16basically created the same rule in the mid-'30s as well.
0:35:16 > 0:35:20So that cross-fertilisation stopped happening.
0:35:26 > 0:35:29Even without the direct American influence,
0:35:29 > 0:35:32the British dance band scene continued to prosper.
0:35:34 > 0:35:35Away from the mainstream,
0:35:35 > 0:35:39a few bands were already heading in some surprising directions
0:35:39 > 0:35:42and the British public were happy to follow.
0:35:42 > 0:35:45Oi! Excuse me, I'm trying to find out
0:35:45 > 0:35:47what people like in the way of entertainment.
0:35:47 > 0:35:50Now, you must have your favourite. What is it - a jazz band?
0:35:50 > 0:35:53No. I don't go much for jazz bands. I like something with a tune in it.
0:35:55 > 0:36:01As Britain, in one sense, becomes isolationist in music,
0:36:01 > 0:36:03in that you're relying more and more
0:36:03 > 0:36:06on players who are within the United Kingdom,
0:36:06 > 0:36:12they kind of reach out in the themes of the music.
0:36:12 > 0:36:15You do get Hawaiian bands...
0:36:15 > 0:36:18you get Gaucho tango bands.
0:36:18 > 0:36:25Then you get a massive variety of different types of specialist bands.
0:36:25 > 0:36:27Ukulele bands. Banjo bands.
0:36:29 > 0:36:34Accordion bands. Primo Scala and his Accordion Band. Primo Scala.
0:36:34 > 0:36:38Of course it sounds exotic. His name was Harry Bidgood.
0:36:39 > 0:36:41'National Programme from London.
0:36:41 > 0:36:43'Now you're going to hear the first performance
0:36:43 > 0:36:46'of the new BBC Dance Orchestra directed by Henry Hall.'
0:36:46 > 0:36:50# It's just the time for dancing
0:36:50 > 0:36:53# Tomorrow is today... #
0:36:53 > 0:36:54Over at the BBC,
0:36:54 > 0:36:59the Corporation had its own take on what the British sound should be.
0:37:00 > 0:37:05The in-house band was the BBC Dance Orchestra
0:37:05 > 0:37:09and, by 1932, it was led by Henry Hall.
0:37:09 > 0:37:11Bespectacled and mild mannered,
0:37:11 > 0:37:14Hall had a background in the Salvation Army.
0:37:14 > 0:37:17He might have been the BBC's chosen one,
0:37:17 > 0:37:20but some rivals thought it all sounded a bit safe.
0:37:20 > 0:37:24You're hearing the signature tune of the BBC Dance Orchestra.
0:37:24 > 0:37:28The tune is called It's Just The Time For Dancing.
0:37:28 > 0:37:33The critics may have been a bit sniffy, but the public loved it.
0:37:33 > 0:37:36'And so to song. A light song, a bright song, the right song
0:37:36 > 0:37:40'for that most entertaining of ether experts, Gerry Fitzgerald.'
0:37:40 > 0:37:43And as Britain lapped up the dance band sound,
0:37:43 > 0:37:46a new star began to emerge.
0:37:46 > 0:37:49# So rare
0:37:49 > 0:37:54# You're like the fragrance of flowers fair... #
0:37:54 > 0:37:57Stepping out of the shadows was the vocalist,
0:37:57 > 0:38:01with a new intimate style that became known as crooning.
0:38:01 > 0:38:05# ..With the morning dew... #
0:38:05 > 0:38:10But it was all made possible by another technical innovation -
0:38:10 > 0:38:11better microphones.
0:38:11 > 0:38:16Hello, control room. This is Transmission Studio No 3.
0:38:16 > 0:38:20How's this for quality? One, two, three, four...
0:38:20 > 0:38:22When broadcasting in this country started,
0:38:22 > 0:38:24they used a microphone called a Peel-Conner,
0:38:24 > 0:38:27which was designed to be built into a telephone.
0:38:27 > 0:38:30Now, this is a Sterling microphone of a similar era.
0:38:30 > 0:38:34- TINNY TONE - The quality when you speak into it
0:38:34 > 0:38:36is particularly appalling.
0:38:36 > 0:38:38It is not really any good for music.
0:38:38 > 0:38:42And this is the sort of quality you would have heard...
0:38:42 > 0:38:44during the first few years of broadcasting.
0:38:44 > 0:38:47In fact, the quality you would have heard in the home
0:38:47 > 0:38:49would have been worse than that
0:38:49 > 0:38:52because the domestic receiver was also not of very good quality.
0:38:52 > 0:38:56But by the 1930s, microphones were much more sensitive.
0:38:56 > 0:38:59The singer no longer had to project to be heard
0:38:59 > 0:39:01and, for some, stardom beckoned.
0:39:01 > 0:39:03And the biggest star of all
0:39:03 > 0:39:06was a musician whose swarthy good looks and velvet voice
0:39:06 > 0:39:08made him the nation's favourite.
0:39:08 > 0:39:11Al Bowlly was the closest the British ever got
0:39:11 > 0:39:15to competing with American crooners like Bing Crosby.
0:39:15 > 0:39:19Al had the golden tone that every band leader wanted.
0:39:19 > 0:39:23And he soon became the poster boy for the dance band generation.
0:39:31 > 0:39:36Bowlly started off playing banjo and guitar in the bands.
0:39:36 > 0:39:39I mean, you didn't have a specific vocalist,
0:39:39 > 0:39:41the vocalist would be somebody in the band
0:39:41 > 0:39:45who was sort of brave enough to stand in front with a megaphone
0:39:45 > 0:39:46and sort of belt out a verse.
0:39:46 > 0:39:48'Listeners will remember
0:39:48 > 0:39:52'Roy Fox's famous broadcasting band in the Monseigneur London,
0:39:52 > 0:39:56'with Lew Stone and Al Bowlly, who played and sang.'
0:39:56 > 0:39:59He's often called one of the first pop stars
0:39:59 > 0:40:01because he was one of the first people
0:40:01 > 0:40:04to actually have his name on the record.
0:40:04 > 0:40:07Before that, it would just be, "With vocal refrain."
0:40:07 > 0:40:12# Learn to croon
0:40:12 > 0:40:17# You'll eliminate each rival soon... #
0:40:17 > 0:40:19Bowlly was the first one to
0:40:19 > 0:40:23actually have his name on there as a vocalist in his own right.
0:40:23 > 0:40:26# Learn to croon... #
0:40:26 > 0:40:28One of the things about Bowlly,
0:40:28 > 0:40:31he definitely did have that, sort of, sex appeal.
0:40:31 > 0:40:34When Al Bowlly started to sing,
0:40:34 > 0:40:38it was Al Bowlly that they looked at, not the dance band leader.
0:40:38 > 0:40:40Folks, Pathe have got me at last.
0:40:40 > 0:40:43Now, where's my piano player?
0:40:43 > 0:40:46Monia! Come on. Sit up. Go on, get playing.
0:40:57 > 0:41:00# I don't need your photograph
0:41:00 > 0:41:02# To keep by my bed... #
0:41:02 > 0:41:07If you listen to Bowlly, he hardly ever hits a straight note, at all.
0:41:07 > 0:41:09He always has that slight slide
0:41:09 > 0:41:12so, even if it's the very thought of you,
0:41:12 > 0:41:17it's sort of the very thought of yo-ou and you've got that very...
0:41:17 > 0:41:20which makes it... It's like sort of satin sheets.
0:41:20 > 0:41:25# ..The very thought of you
0:41:25 > 0:41:28# And I forget to do
0:41:28 > 0:41:32# The little ordinary things...
0:41:32 > 0:41:36# That everyone ought to do
0:41:36 > 0:41:41# I'm living in a kind of daydream
0:41:41 > 0:41:44# And I'm happy as a king... #
0:41:44 > 0:41:49I mean his voice, it's like dripping honey, it really is.
0:41:49 > 0:41:52# Why to me, that's everything... #
0:41:52 > 0:41:56And such a distinctive voice.
0:41:56 > 0:41:59So it's very slidey, so very slidey
0:41:59 > 0:42:01comes from just behind the teeth.
0:42:01 > 0:42:06# ..You'll never know how slow the moments go
0:42:06 > 0:42:09# Till I'm near to you...
0:42:09 > 0:42:14# I see your face in every flower
0:42:14 > 0:42:18# Your eyes in stars above
0:42:18 > 0:42:20# It's just the thought of you
0:42:20 > 0:42:25# The very thought of you my love. #
0:42:29 > 0:42:34He's got a very, if I may say so, strange voice.
0:42:34 > 0:42:35It was a very unique voice.
0:42:35 > 0:42:38His father was Greek, his mother was Lebanese,
0:42:38 > 0:42:40they met on the way to Australia,
0:42:40 > 0:42:43he was brought up in South Africa, professed to be British,
0:42:43 > 0:42:45but spoke with this sort of pseudo-American accent.
0:42:45 > 0:42:50And it's not only his technique with the microphone,
0:42:50 > 0:42:54but it's that sort of unique tone to the voice as well that just...
0:42:54 > 0:42:56That's why he's my favourite.
0:42:56 > 0:43:00- He's your favourite as well? - Yes. He's my absolute favourite.
0:43:00 > 0:43:08# Come to me, my melancholy baby
0:43:08 > 0:43:14# Just cuddle up and don't be blue...
0:43:14 > 0:43:20# All your fears are foolish fancy maybes
0:43:20 > 0:43:25- # And you know, honey I'm in love with you...- #
0:43:27 > 0:43:30- Can I have a go?- Oh, please do.
0:43:34 > 0:43:42# Come to me, my melancholy baby
0:43:42 > 0:43:50# Cuddle up and don't be blue... #
0:43:50 > 0:43:53- How was it?- Great.
0:43:53 > 0:43:57Does it take you back? Did you think Bowlly's in the hall?
0:43:57 > 0:44:01# Every cloud must have its silver lining... #
0:44:01 > 0:44:06With any of the really successful crooners, it was about the subtlety.
0:44:06 > 0:44:08Knowing that you had a microphone in front of you,
0:44:08 > 0:44:10you weren't bellowing at people.
0:44:10 > 0:44:13You had, for the first time, a sensitivity,
0:44:13 > 0:44:17so people could approach lyrics and tell a story.
0:44:17 > 0:44:20# Kiss away each tear... #
0:44:20 > 0:44:23People used to say whenever Al sang,
0:44:23 > 0:44:27you thought he was singing directly to you.
0:44:27 > 0:44:32# Melancholy too... #
0:44:32 > 0:44:33Thank you very much.
0:44:33 > 0:44:38It seemed Britain was going crooning crazy, but not everyone liked it.
0:44:38 > 0:44:42The BBC found the idea of crooning horrifying.
0:44:42 > 0:44:45I think they probably thought it was a bit too sexy,
0:44:45 > 0:44:50it was going to entice wrong feelings in their listeners.
0:44:50 > 0:44:54So, throughout the mid-'30s, there are newspaper articles
0:44:54 > 0:44:57asking what's the BBC going to do about crooning?
0:45:02 > 0:45:05The press had an absolute field day.
0:45:05 > 0:45:08You know, they love to stoke up these controversies
0:45:08 > 0:45:11and this is the Daily Despatch and it says here,
0:45:11 > 0:45:14"Please, Sir John, suppress this nightly wailing,"
0:45:14 > 0:45:16and it goes on down here,
0:45:16 > 0:45:20"Practically every radio critic throughout the country
0:45:20 > 0:45:23"has expressed his personal abhorrence to crooning.
0:45:23 > 0:45:27"What has been the effect on the BBC? Absolutely none."
0:45:27 > 0:45:33# How could we be wrong...? #
0:45:33 > 0:45:36Once again the BBC was having issues with vocalists.
0:45:36 > 0:45:38As well as worries about crooning,
0:45:38 > 0:45:42there were now complaints about hot new jazz sounds from black America.
0:45:42 > 0:45:47The Director General, Sir John Reith, found his in-tray filling up.
0:45:47 > 0:45:50"I've been having one or two complaints
0:45:50 > 0:45:52"about hot jazz and crooning,
0:45:52 > 0:45:56"have you not altered the policy about this in some way?"
0:45:56 > 0:45:59One of his lieutenants wrote back that,
0:45:59 > 0:46:02although he realised that crooning was very popular,
0:46:02 > 0:46:04this is what he wrote...
0:46:04 > 0:46:08"We are all to a degree in sympathy with what the Daily Dispatch says.
0:46:08 > 0:46:12"But I do not think we need to take the criticisms too seriously."
0:46:12 > 0:46:16But when it came to letting hot jazz loose on the airwaves,
0:46:16 > 0:46:20music inspired by the likes of Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong,
0:46:20 > 0:46:23well, that was simply going too far.
0:46:23 > 0:46:26"I can assure you there is no sympathy
0:46:26 > 0:46:29"with what I again term the negroid type of music."
0:46:29 > 0:46:32I ask you!
0:46:36 > 0:46:39Hot jazz was just too spicy for some at the BBC.
0:46:39 > 0:46:42The Corporation felt the need for a broader approach.
0:46:42 > 0:46:46They preferred the sound of Henry Hall and the BBC Dance Orchestra
0:46:46 > 0:46:51and either straightforward, sentimental songs or novelty numbers.
0:46:51 > 0:46:52# My kid's a crooner
0:46:52 > 0:46:54# Though he's only two
0:46:54 > 0:46:56# He sings Boo-boo-boo-boo... #
0:46:56 > 0:46:59Hot jazz might have been off the menu,
0:46:59 > 0:47:03but the BBC continued to get itself in a pickle over crooning.
0:47:03 > 0:47:05By 1936, Auntie Beeb found herself
0:47:05 > 0:47:08torn between the popularity of crooning
0:47:08 > 0:47:12and the personal taste of some of those in charge.
0:47:12 > 0:47:14# ..To stop my kid from crooning Boo-boo-boo-boo... #
0:47:14 > 0:47:16This memo is fascinating.
0:47:16 > 0:47:21It shows the battle that the BBC bosses had with crooners.
0:47:21 > 0:47:25If you read this, you won't believe it.
0:47:25 > 0:47:28It says, "I can see no reason why crooning,
0:47:28 > 0:47:33"which is a particularly odious form of singing,
0:47:33 > 0:47:36"should not be obliterated straightaway."
0:47:36 > 0:47:41Basically, they thought that singing spoilt the tune
0:47:41 > 0:47:45and they didn't want it in there. Incredible.
0:47:45 > 0:47:51As I see it, all that was happening was that the singers were singing
0:47:51 > 0:47:54with a directness and with a sensitivity
0:47:54 > 0:47:57that they hadn't been allowed to before
0:47:57 > 0:48:01because they'd been having to belt it out.
0:48:03 > 0:48:06At Broadcasting House, the BBC decided
0:48:06 > 0:48:10that strict quotas would sort out crooning once and for all.
0:48:10 > 0:48:14The battle lines were drawn. It was war!
0:48:14 > 0:48:19The BBC decided that they'd only have a song with vocals every third tune.
0:48:19 > 0:48:22But the crafty band leaders,
0:48:22 > 0:48:25they made those into a medley which went on and on.
0:48:25 > 0:48:29# I'm gonna wash my hands of you... #
0:48:29 > 0:48:33The BBC continued to try to restrict and regulate
0:48:33 > 0:48:35the amount of vocal numbers.
0:48:35 > 0:48:39The publishers and band leaders were appalled.
0:48:39 > 0:48:41# ..And I'm gonna wash my hands, babe, of you... #
0:48:42 > 0:48:44They demanded a swift about turn
0:48:44 > 0:48:48and accused the BBC of trying to put them out of business.
0:48:48 > 0:48:53Eventually, the BBC defused the row by running separate music programmes,
0:48:53 > 0:48:55with and without vocals.
0:48:55 > 0:48:57It sounds ridiculous,
0:48:57 > 0:49:00but it was coming out of an atmosphere that radio
0:49:00 > 0:49:02and the BBC as led by John Reith,
0:49:02 > 0:49:06was really for edification, it wasn't for entertainment.
0:49:07 > 0:49:11Dance music was held to be edifying and entertaining,
0:49:11 > 0:49:14but the moment it became purely entertaining,
0:49:14 > 0:49:17things needed to be done to clamp it down.
0:49:28 > 0:49:30Away from the row with the BBC,
0:49:30 > 0:49:34the dance band industry continued to grow.
0:49:34 > 0:49:36The Melody Maker in 1930 estimated
0:49:36 > 0:49:41that there were 12,500 to 20,000 dance bands in Britain alone,
0:49:41 > 0:49:43made up partly of semi-pro
0:49:43 > 0:49:47but many professional musicians in those bands.
0:49:47 > 0:49:51So, yes, a big industry. A great appetite for dancing.
0:49:51 > 0:49:53# Now you may think our job is fun
0:49:53 > 0:49:55# To play sweet tunes when the day is done
0:49:55 > 0:49:58# A dance band's life must be a happy lot... #
0:49:58 > 0:50:03On any Saturday night, in Britain in the 1930s,
0:50:03 > 0:50:06there'd be about 100,000 people playing in dance bands,
0:50:06 > 0:50:07which is huge numbers.
0:50:08 > 0:50:10# ..Every night I go to bed
0:50:10 > 0:50:13# Music's going around my head
0:50:13 > 0:50:17# I'm counting crotchets in my sleep
0:50:17 > 0:50:19# One two three four One two three four... #
0:50:19 > 0:50:22Obviously a small elite
0:50:22 > 0:50:25would be full-time professional dance band musicians.
0:50:25 > 0:50:28The vast majority, though, are semi-professionals -
0:50:28 > 0:50:31people who have a full-time day job,
0:50:31 > 0:50:36but play maybe on Saturdays or two or three other nights of the week.
0:50:36 > 0:50:39Learnt to play a brass instrument in a brass band,
0:50:39 > 0:50:42perhaps learnt to play in the Forces.
0:50:42 > 0:50:47Excited by these new possibilities that they'd play in dance bands.
0:50:47 > 0:50:50# ..Counting crotchets in my sleep. #
0:50:50 > 0:50:55As the bands' profiles increased, they toured the country constantly.
0:50:55 > 0:50:59And no-one did more miles than Jack Hylton.
0:51:01 > 0:51:04Jack wasn't content with huge success in Britain.
0:51:04 > 0:51:07The band leader took his boys across the Channel
0:51:07 > 0:51:10and became famous in every corner of the Continent.
0:51:11 > 0:51:14Just one look at Jack Hylton's passport
0:51:14 > 0:51:16is enough to make you travel sick.
0:51:17 > 0:51:20Let's just have a look. 1930.
0:51:20 > 0:51:26So this is full, full of stamps from all over Europe.
0:51:26 > 0:51:29And there's countless trips.
0:51:29 > 0:51:32Hungary, Austria.
0:51:32 > 0:51:37Sweden. Denmark. Holland. France. Germany. Italy.
0:51:37 > 0:51:39Spain. Yes, huge.
0:51:40 > 0:51:44Paris, Prague and Vienna all rocked to the Jack Hylton sound. In 1938,
0:51:44 > 0:51:50Hylton's Band did a month's residency at the Scala Theatre in Berlin.
0:51:52 > 0:51:57The Nazis never discovered that some of the musicians were Jewish.
0:51:58 > 0:52:00To Hylton's surprise,
0:52:00 > 0:52:04one night the audience included, unannounced, Goebbels and Goering.
0:52:06 > 0:52:07Yeah, well, he came in
0:52:07 > 0:52:10and there was a swastika hanging at the back of the stage
0:52:10 > 0:52:12which he knew nothing about.
0:52:12 > 0:52:15Everybody was marching around Berlin saying, "Heil Hitler!"
0:52:15 > 0:52:18And every time they looked directly at any of the band members and said,
0:52:18 > 0:52:22"Heil Hitler," they used to say, "Heil Hylton!"
0:52:22 > 0:52:26# Sweetheart goodbye, Auf Wiedersehen,
0:52:26 > 0:52:29# Auf Wiedersehen, my dear... #
0:52:29 > 0:52:32The Germans may have loved the British sound,
0:52:32 > 0:52:33but with the outbreak of war,
0:52:33 > 0:52:37the dance band scene was about to change, for ever.
0:52:41 > 0:52:43In an attempt to keep morale high,
0:52:43 > 0:52:47musicians were recruited into the Central Band of the Royal Air Force.
0:52:47 > 0:52:51Many stepped straight from classical orchestras,
0:52:51 > 0:52:54others from big time West End bands.
0:52:54 > 0:53:00Out of this came The Squadronaires - one of the best bands of the 1940s.
0:53:00 > 0:53:03'No 1 Balloon Centre RAF, turn on a dance at their camp.
0:53:03 > 0:53:06'Audience and orchestra is 100% Air Force.
0:53:06 > 0:53:09'The band leader is Corporal George Beaumont,
0:53:09 > 0:53:13'once well-known to London's Prince of Wales theatre-goers.
0:53:13 > 0:53:14'Now meet the boys of the band.
0:53:14 > 0:53:17'Paul Fenoulet was one of Carroll Gibbons' boys
0:53:17 > 0:53:19'before he wore uniform.
0:53:19 > 0:53:23'Rhythm merchant Jack Dobbs was in Oscar Rabin's outfit,
0:53:23 > 0:53:25'now he's nursemaid to a barrage balloon.'
0:53:35 > 0:53:40Inevitably, the Second World War really did for the dance bands.
0:53:40 > 0:53:43A lot of the musicians were called up.
0:53:43 > 0:53:48Little things like shellac that was used to make records
0:53:48 > 0:53:50was also used to make armaments.
0:53:50 > 0:53:54If it's a choice between armaments and records in 1940,
0:53:54 > 0:53:57you're going to choose armaments.
0:54:00 > 0:54:04# When that man is dead and gone
0:54:04 > 0:54:10# When that man is dead and gone... #
0:54:10 > 0:54:15As London took the full force of the Blitz, Britain's top crooner
0:54:15 > 0:54:19lay in bed in his little flat here in Jermyn Street in central London.
0:54:19 > 0:54:23The blast from a German bomb blew his bedroom door on top of him,
0:54:23 > 0:54:26killing him instantly.
0:54:26 > 0:54:31It was Al Bowlly. But in the chaos of war, few people noticed his passing.
0:54:48 > 0:54:51He may have been crooning's shining light,
0:54:51 > 0:54:55but Al Bowlly's final resting place was this mass grave
0:54:55 > 0:54:59for victims of the Blitz at Hanwell Cemetery in West London.
0:55:18 > 0:55:22In many ways though, it was a symbolic moment.
0:55:22 > 0:55:25It was more than the death of Al Bowlly,
0:55:25 > 0:55:29it was the beginning of the end for British dance band music.
0:55:29 > 0:55:31Al, goodnight, sweetheart.
0:55:31 > 0:55:38# The echo of a song you used to sing
0:55:38 > 0:55:43# When hearts were young
0:55:43 > 0:55:45# And everything
0:55:45 > 0:55:49# Was one long summer's day... #
0:55:49 > 0:55:53They had style, elegance, sophistication.
0:55:53 > 0:55:57It was wonderful, wonderful music and it was British music.
0:55:57 > 0:56:00It had a particular feel to it and we should cherish it and enjoy it
0:56:00 > 0:56:02and it should be celebrated, I think.
0:56:02 > 0:56:06The trouble is that people look at it through the lens of modern jazz
0:56:06 > 0:56:07or swing music and think,
0:56:07 > 0:56:10"Oh, it's just not very good jazz or not very good swing music."
0:56:10 > 0:56:13But it's none of those things, it's brilliant in itself.
0:56:13 > 0:56:14It's great music.
0:56:14 > 0:56:18This bringing together of the whole nation,
0:56:18 > 0:56:23to have an interest in this music, hadn't happened before
0:56:23 > 0:56:28and I don't think it's happened since in the same way.
0:56:29 > 0:56:34People talk about the Golden Age of the British dance bands, but it was.
0:56:34 > 0:56:35It was exactly that.
0:56:42 > 0:56:46It's very easy to just see it as old people's music, nostalgia.
0:56:46 > 0:56:51Actually, if we think of it as a continuum, I think it really laid
0:56:51 > 0:56:55the blueprint for everything that happened in mid-20th century pop.
0:56:55 > 0:56:58That idea of taking what black musicians were doing,
0:56:58 > 0:57:03what African-American musicians were doing - that started in the '20s.
0:57:03 > 0:57:06You know, the roots of that are in the dance bands.
0:57:06 > 0:57:08And that's what the Rolling Stones did.
0:57:08 > 0:57:12Absolutely. Absolutely. It's what Bill Haley and Elvis did.
0:57:14 > 0:57:17The dust of the war finally settled on a new world order.
0:57:17 > 0:57:18Things had moved on
0:57:18 > 0:57:22and a new generation wanted to listen to something different.
0:57:22 > 0:57:26The bands struggled on, but it was never the same again.
0:57:26 > 0:57:30# Tonight I mustn't think of her
0:57:30 > 0:57:34# No more memories
0:57:34 > 0:57:37# Swing out
0:57:37 > 0:57:39# Tonight I must forget
0:57:39 > 0:57:42# Music, maestro, please. #
0:57:42 > 0:57:49If you think modern pop music began in the '50s, well, think again.
0:57:49 > 0:57:54It came from the '20s and '30s, from those fantastic characters -
0:57:54 > 0:57:57Bert Ambrose, Al Bowlly.
0:57:57 > 0:58:02They were the foundation of the pop music scene that we have today.
0:58:02 > 0:58:07Our love affair with British dance bands was short, but oh so sweet.
0:58:07 > 0:58:12The music and the dance were a match made in heaven.
0:58:12 > 0:58:16And I understand why my parents found it so appealing.
0:58:16 > 0:58:18It was a golden era.
0:58:18 > 0:58:22It was a time when Britain found its dancing shoes
0:58:22 > 0:58:25and British musicians found their musical feet.
0:58:25 > 0:58:28I just wish I'd have been there.
0:58:42 > 0:58:43# Swing out
0:58:43 > 0:58:47# Tonight I must forget
0:58:47 > 0:58:55# Music, maestro, please. #