Len Goodman's Dance Band Days


Len Goodman's Dance Band Days

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In the years between the wars,

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a musical revolution was under way

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that would change the sound of Britain for ever.

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It marked the rise of British dance bands

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and the birth of modern pop music.

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It was the golden age of dance bands

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when band leaders were kings and millions of us danced our socks off.

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It was the sound of my parents' generation

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when the parlour became the place to party!

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It was a time of celebrity and money, of radio and records,

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when we absorbed black American jazz and gave it a unique British twist.

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But it was also a time of conflict,

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of a love-hate relationship with America

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that sent the BBC into a spin.

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So what was all the fuss about?

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And what made Britain go dance band crazy?

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And why, within two decades,

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did our love affair with British dance bands begin to fall flat?

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The heyday of dance band music may have been more than 80 years ago

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but, as I'm discovering,

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it seems the dance band craze never really went away.

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The Shellac Sisters play their 78s loud and scratchy.

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Tonight's '30s party is at the Rivoli Ballroom in South London.

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If I'm dreaming, don't wake me up.

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It's like something from a '30s musical. I love it.

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I love to see the ladies dressed up and the guys in their suits.

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And the thing is, I always thought it was about the dancing,

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about foxtrots and quicksteps

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but, no, as much as that, it's about the music. It is truly...wonderful.

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MUSIC: Truckin'

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# We had to get something new

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# A dance to do up here in Harlem

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# So someone started truckin' Yowser! #

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What is it about this type of music and dressing up?

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What is it about it that you like?

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Well, you just can't not hear the music and start moving, you know.

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You can't help... Every step you take makes you want to smile

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and the more steps you take, the bigger your smile gets.

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It's the energy, the fact that as a generation,

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we don't have parlour dancing. It's nonexistent.

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And do you like the fact that they use original 78s

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and you get a bit of scratching going on?

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Yeah, yeah. It adds to the atmosphere.

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I love the clothes. The clothes are lovely.

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They are. They're proper clothes, right?

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Exactly yeah, stylish, fashionable.

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What is this? Worsted?

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12 ounce.

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12 ounce worsted? Look at it.

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Impeccable. And, madam, may I say, elegance personified.

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With the bob hair cut. Oh, shut up!

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Our first flirtation with dance band music

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came not long after the end of the Great War.

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After four years of desperate survival,

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a wall of sound was heading across the Atlantic.

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And one band summed up the new optimistic mood.

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The Original Dixieland Jazz Band was a five-piece from New Orleans.

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They billed themselves as the Creators of Jazz

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and, in 1919, they came to London,

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where music hall was still the dominant form of entertainment.

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These guys play - simultaneously - clarinet, cornet, trombone...

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all playing melodies together.

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It sounded like an enormous row, they had a drum kit with them.

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The shock this caused was probably similar to punk rock in 1977.

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Well, I guess music has always developed

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and the next style always shocked the Establishment.

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Yeah, it shocked the Establishment,

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but a lot of people were ready for this style. It was the modern age.

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With their radical new sound,

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the Original Dixieland Jazz Band were the talk of the town.

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Musicians thought,

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"Right, that's what we need to do, this is where we need to go."

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And the dance bands really grew out of that.

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It was the birth of a new musical era

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that would be the soundtrack to British life for the next 20 years.

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Across the land,

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British musicians started to soak up those Stateside sound waves

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and decided, "We can do that too."

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As the bands tuned up,

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a new wave of British musical talent began to emerge.

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And band leaders such as Bert Ambrose, Jack Hylton and Ray Noble

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would become household names.

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BAND PLAYS: Midnight The Stars And You

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Doesn't that sound fantastic?

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# Midnight, brought us sweet romance

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# I'll know for my whole life through

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# I'll be remembering, dear

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# Whatever else I do

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# Midnight, with the stars and you. #

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I was brought up listening to that type of music,

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because you listened to what your dad plays when you're a kid.

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And my dad was always in the front room putting the old gramophone on,

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playing all this type of music.

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And that's why I think I've always loved it.

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When people listened to this music, it was the latest thing.

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It was modern, you know, it was everything that was the future.

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Now, we hear things like Midnight And The Stars And You,

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can anything be any more achingly nostalgic

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than something like that?

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But it wasn't at the time.

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No. But that's music and I hope it always continues to develop and grow.

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In early 1920s' London,

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it was the high-end restaurants and hotels like the Savoy

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that were among the first to cash in on the dance band explosion.

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# Don't forget, dinner at eight... #

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The days of swanky restaurants and hotels

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hosting the finest bands in the land may be gone,

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but you can still see the places

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where those wonderful orchestras played

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and the diners danced the night away.

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# ..Don't forget Dinner at eight... #

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Ray Pallett runs a magazine devoted to the music of the old dance bands

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and he knows all about their old stomping grounds.

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Oh, Ray...this...this is fantastic.

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It is splendid, isn't it, really?

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As soon as you walk in, you get the feeling this is where it all went on.

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Where it all happened, yes.

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The ballroom at the Savoy. The stage over there.

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So, what would be going on here on a typical, say, Saturday night?

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The band would be up there.

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It would be the Savoy Havana Band or the Savoy Hotel Orpheans,

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depending on what year it was, and who was on.

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They'd be playing up there

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and you'd get the society people dancing around in here.

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There'd be like a cabaret style.

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Tables and chairs around the edge and the dance floor there.

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The band would be squashed up on the stage.

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The dance floor wouldn't be huge -

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people danced very closely together then.

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That was one of the attractions.

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Absolutely, yes.

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I suppose, in those days,

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there'd have been the foxtrots and the waltzes.

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It was the foxtrot that started the whole thing off.

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That was popularised by Vernon and Irene Castle

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and everyone wanted to dance the foxtrot.

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And that really brought the explosion of dance bands.

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There were dance bands all over the country,

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but the big dance bands, the main ones, were in the London hotels.

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The Savoy. The Mayfair. The Hotel Cecil. Places like that.

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# Because I still get a thrill thinking of you

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# I recall that it ended too soon

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# I can't believe you're gone

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# Memories linger on

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# Cos I still get a thrill thinking of you. #

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One of the first stars to emerge from the fledgling dance band scene

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was East Ender Bert Ambrose.

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With his top flight orchestra,

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he became a fixture in the West End, playing for high society audiences.

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What Bert Ambrose managed to do was something truly magical.

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He was able to pull together

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the best musicians and the best writers that were available.

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However, he knew the best were in America.

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Ambrose had played in the States and absorbed what he'd heard.

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In London, he'd played at the very best places -

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the Embassy Club and the Cafe de Paris -

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and set the tone that many would follow.

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# I'm going to get you

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# I'm going to get you... #

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Sheila, tell me about Ambrose.

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What was it about his band

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that made all the musicians want to be in his band?

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First and foremost, because he paid more money than anyone else did.

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But he knew exactly what he wanted from his band

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and insisted on getting it.

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And it was a very, very good band.

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He was the top band in the country.

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All royalty, all the aristocracy

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went to hear - not to hear - to dance to Ambrose.

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And, of course, Edward used to take in Wallis Simpson, didn't he?

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Billy Amstell, who was in Ambrose's band - saxophone player - he said,

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"He was a naughty boy, you know, he used to look down her dress."

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"How do I know?" he said, "Because I was watching!"

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With British toes tapping, subtle differences started to emerge

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between the American and the home-grown sound.

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Well, Derek, can you give me an example

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of the way the Americans would play a tune

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and the way the British would back in the '20s and '30s?

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We've chosen the tune Cryin' For The Carolines.

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It's one of those songs of a homesick guy

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who's moved to the city for work.

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He's longing for the countryside again -

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the birds, the green, the pines and so on.

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He's crying for the Carolines.

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We're going to begin with an American-style version of this.

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BEGINS TO PLAY

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That's quite punchy, isn't it? It's got a little staccato-ey flavour.

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That's right. I think it's the force with which Kyle's hitting that reed.

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It's quite a tough reed, is it, you've got in there?

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It's actually not a hard reed but it's a very American set-up.

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And it has what's called an American-cut reed on it.

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That would be more advanced than the British style of reed?

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Yes, there was a lot of evolution going on with saxophone mouthpieces,

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particularly in the '30s,

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and things changing

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in the way that players approached their equipment

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and craftsmen coming in and actually saying,

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"Hey, you can have a mouthpiece

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"that is not the one that comes in the box with the saxophone."

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OK, so you'll want to change your mouthpiece for this one?

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Yes, I'm going to put on - again, this is a modern mouthpiece -

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but it's more similar

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to what I think the players started from in the '20s.

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So it'll give us a different kind of sound. We'll see what you think.

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I think also, I'm going to play it at a different tempo.

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Right. We're going to do a version that Ambrose might have approved of.

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So, is this fast enough?

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Yeah. That's smoother, isn't it?

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It's got a smoothness about it. The other one was more punchy.

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Yes, but this has a kind of bounce.

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A sort of dance-y bounce about it.

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It's a bit like the audiences

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on Strictly Come Dancing and the American Dancing With The Stars.

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You know, the Americans are much more gregarious and standing ovations

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and giving it all that.

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Whereas the British, they're a bit more reserved.

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You think this is a bit tight-laced? But rhythmic all the same.

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And perhaps a bit sophisticated?

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Oh, yes, it's got class!

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Yeah. Oh, certainly has.

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Would you say that the American style is a little hotter

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and the British style a little sweeter, a little bit more smooth?

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I think so. The British style has to suit the luxury hotels,

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high society and so on.

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Above all, it's what the British public wanted to hear.

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And the British public is different from the American public.

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And the British public loved

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bouncey, cheerful, tuneful music.

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That's what they wanted.

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And the bands provided it, in spades.

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British music might have been sweeter on the ear, but was it cutting edge?

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There were two styles of music, essentially,

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in the '20s through into the '30s.

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And they were called hot and sweet, kind of like peppers.

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So sweet music's quite sentimental,

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it kept quite strictly to the melody.

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Musicians didn't go off and do their own thing anywhere.

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Hot music was what we think of as jazz in that era.

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It was improvisatory,

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the arrangements would leave plenty of space

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for the trumpet player to just do something exciting.

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Just take the melody and run with it,

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or two or three musicians to do that simultaneously.

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But for some, these hot new sounds were just a bit too racey.

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I think one of the biggest worries, after the First World War,

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was Americanisation of British taste.

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The look of American cars, the rowdiness of American music.

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The sober British values were being lost in this storm of vulgarity

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from the other side of the Atlantic.

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There's this sort of divide in the inter-war period

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between an intelligentsia very often

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who are concerned about Americanised dance music

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and Americanised popular culture,

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and the vast amount of the public who love it.

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There's a racial element for some individuals

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who are concerned that the purity of the British race

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is being challenged by this music

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which has its roots in Africa and in black America.

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The well-known bit! There were worries by some institutions

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and some theatres that this was vulgar, noisy, rowdy,

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the patrons would not like it.

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But then there were other places - cafes and nightclubs -

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that would give work to those musicians.

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But one place where all musicians wanted to be heard,

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was on the newly-formed BBC,

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which launched its first radio service in 1922.

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The BBC's boss, John Reith, held a tight grip on the broadcaster,

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guiding it with his own strong moral code.

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But he knew that dance music

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would play a part in the future of the service

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and it was soon included in the programme of entertainment.

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Right across the West End, the BBC were setting up their microphones

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and warning the patrons there's going to be some noise.

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And, of course, there was some complaints,

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but all over Britain,

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millions of people listening on the wireless had no complaints at all.

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In the heart of the West End,

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the cream of the British dance bands played this area -

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Piccadilly, Leicester Square, the Strand, Regent Street.

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This is where you came if you wanted to go out,

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a night out dancing to the top bands.

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But when wireless came on in the late 1920s,

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the bands broadcast nationally

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and they became famous throughout the nation,

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and the band leaders became stars.

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They were the pop stars of the day, driving around in Rolls-Royces.

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It's extraordinary to imagine the impact of these bands

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and the boldness of the mighty BBC in saying,

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"We're going to have bands on every night of the week, except Sunday."

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Sir John Reith wouldn't have dance bands on Sunday.

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Sir John Reith didn't like dance bands at all,

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but he recognised from his entertainment producers

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that this was the sound of the day.

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You would change your meal times to sit down and listen to the wireless.

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You'd switch the wireless on

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and you'd wait for quite some time for it to warm up.

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It took time for the valves to heat up

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and for the sound to come through to listen to the magic of the music.

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Sunday Night at 10 with me, Clare Teal.

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And tonight we celebrate the Big 18 Studio Band

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and the bands that inspired them, such as...

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Today, there's still an audience for dance band music on the BBC,

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fronted by jazz singer Clare Teal.

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We can't even begin to think how massive the radio would have been.

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Suddenly, to be able to listen to music every day on the radio,

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it suddenly made it accessible to everyone, rich or poor.

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And I think that's the great thing about music - it's a real leveller.

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This was the first time that these guys became like music gods,

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because so many people could see them.

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They could see them in magazines and they could hear them on the radio

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and they could go out and buy their records.

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But nobody cared about the singers, or really about the bands early on,

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it was all about the band leaders, and they were the kings.

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But, of course, in order to have a big band work,

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it's all about the arrangements, it's all about the players,

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it's all about the singers, it's about the tempo.

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Well, you know you can't dance to things that are in the wrong tempo.

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But, no, a magical time.

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Yeah, and they had such style, didn't they? The band leaders in their...

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Yeah, their tails...

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A lot of them, people like Roy Fox who wore his, you know, white tails.

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And you look at the photos and Jack Hylton always had his boys

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dressed beautifully in Savile Row suits and many different outfits.

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Some of the band leaders would make their guys pay for their own suits.

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They'd have to buy a new suit every year, which is a bit harsh, I think.

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But, yeah, white Rolls Royces crop up a lot.

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And obviously this music just went crazy.

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One of my favourite songs that Jack Hylton did

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is a kind of novelty number called Me And Jane In A Plane.

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I know the song...

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# Me and Jane in a plane Flying over the clouds... #

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-Yes!

-And in 1927, the boys were up at Blackpool Tower

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and as a publicity stunt, they flew a plane over Blackpool

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and threw sheet music of the song

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over to the bewildered holiday-makers below.

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-You wouldn't be allowed to do that these days.

-Probably not, yeah.

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# Me and Jane in a plane

0:22:070:22:10

# Soaring up to the clouds

0:22:100:22:12

# Me and Jane in a plane

0:22:120:22:14

# Far away from the crowds

0:22:140:22:18

# In my two seater What could be sweeter?

0:22:180:22:22

# I'll have St Peter step inside and bless the bride... #

0:22:220:22:27

It's just a short hop from Blackpool to Lancaster University.

0:22:270:22:31

This is Jack Hylton Junior,

0:22:310:22:34

the son of perhaps Britain's most successful dance band leader.

0:22:340:22:38

The university is home to an enormous archive

0:22:380:22:42

of his father's papers, photos and music.

0:22:420:22:45

I think it is remarkable.

0:22:540:22:58

It is a unique record of the popular music of its period.

0:22:580:23:03

Hylton sold 3.2 million records in 1929,

0:23:030:23:07

he managed, over his life, to entertain so many people.

0:23:070:23:12

Pete Faint is a professional musician

0:23:140:23:17

who studied Jack Hylton's work at Lancaster

0:23:170:23:19

and he was astonished at the depth of the university's collection.

0:23:190:23:23

What we've got here

0:23:240:23:26

is an extraordinarily vast archive of music.

0:23:260:23:30

So each of these folders contains

0:23:300:23:35

individually hand-written parts for the entire band.

0:23:350:23:41

There's something in the region of 4,000 sets of parts,

0:23:410:23:45

so tens of thousands of hand-written pieces of music.

0:23:450:23:49

You can listen to the record,

0:23:500:23:52

but to understand the process of orchestration, you know,

0:23:520:23:56

this is the most valuable resource.

0:23:560:23:58

For 19 years,

0:24:000:24:01

he was probably consistently the biggest attraction in this country.

0:24:010:24:07

And in Europe.

0:24:070:24:08

And, eventually, pretty big in America, too.

0:24:080:24:12

At one stage, Jack Hylton was shifting seven records a minute.

0:24:150:24:20

And with the fortune, came the fame.

0:24:200:24:23

Now, Jack, your dad...what I can't believe is how popular they were

0:24:230:24:29

and what megastars these band leaders become.

0:24:290:24:33

Oh, yes, if you walked outside the house and somebody spotted you...

0:24:330:24:38

You didn't get mobbed in those days,

0:24:380:24:40

but what was amazing was everybody knew your face,

0:24:400:24:43

even though you were on the radio or only in concert halls.

0:24:430:24:47

I mean they were, if you like, the Beatles or the Stones of their day.

0:24:470:24:51

# She was a good girl and I can never understand

0:24:510:24:55

# Why did she fall for the leader of the band? #

0:24:550:24:59

Jack Hylton was certainly a busy man with recording sessions

0:25:010:25:05

and a touring schedule that would make your eyes water.

0:25:050:25:09

1929 was the famous year.

0:25:140:25:17

They did over 700 concerts,

0:25:170:25:20

travelled 63,000 miles

0:25:200:25:23

and sold 3.2 million records.

0:25:230:25:26

And what sort of money was your dad on?

0:25:260:25:31

In 1931, the Empire Ballroom, Leicester Square,

0:25:310:25:37

offered £40,000 a week to employ the band.

0:25:370:25:42

£40,000 a week?

0:25:420:25:44

And that was turned down.

0:25:440:25:47

So they offered Jack Hylton himself

0:25:470:25:50

£10,000 a week to come in three nights and conduct their house band.

0:25:500:25:56

And I guess this was when the average wage was £3 or £4 a week?

0:25:560:26:02

When £10,000 was a lot of money.

0:26:020:26:06

# We're in the money

0:26:060:26:07

# Come on, my honey

0:26:070:26:09

# Let's spend it, lend it, send it rolling along... #

0:26:090:26:13

Jack was a clever businessman as well as a brilliant showman.

0:26:140:26:18

And when this Lancashire lad had money, he knew what to do with it.

0:26:180:26:22

He earned plenty of money, but he spent plenty of money as well.

0:26:220:26:26

-You know, he enjoyed himself.

-Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

0:26:260:26:30

But he said to me, "I may not leave you much,

0:26:300:26:32

"but you really will enjoy getting rid of it with me."

0:26:320:26:36

As their fortunes grew, the band leaders indulged expensive tastes.

0:26:390:26:44

Billy Cotton had a passion for fast cars.

0:26:450:26:48

Others preferred fast animals.

0:26:480:26:51

'You all know Roy Fox as one of the most popular and best-known

0:26:510:26:54

'dance band leaders on the air.

0:26:540:26:56

'Well, here he is and, sad to relate, he's gone to the dogs.'

0:26:560:27:00

And when they toured the Continent, some preferred the casinos.

0:27:030:27:07

Now, Ambrose was a great gambler.

0:27:080:27:11

In Biarritz, he lost £28,000 in one night.

0:27:110:27:16

And we're talking about the '30s.

0:27:160:27:19

And they didn't have enough money to pay the band,

0:27:190:27:24

so the singer had to come back to London,

0:27:240:27:28

to get some money to pay the band.

0:27:280:27:31

While the bands made and lost a mint, over at the BBC,

0:27:330:27:37

there was nervousness about their money-making techniques.

0:27:370:27:43

And it gave Auntie the heebie-jeebies.

0:27:430:27:46

# I'm going to sit write down and write myself a letter... #

0:27:460:27:50

Right, well, here we are, Len,

0:27:520:27:53

welcome to the BBC's Written Archives Centre.

0:27:530:27:57

# I'm going to write words oh, so sweet

0:27:570:27:59

# They're going to knock me off my feet... #

0:27:590:28:02

I can't believe how huge it is.

0:28:020:28:04

-It's surprising, isn't it?

-Yeah, I know. That's right.

0:28:040:28:09

-You've got written correspondence about dance bands?

-We have, yes.

0:28:090:28:14

We've got dance band material going back to the '20s

0:28:140:28:16

and throughout the whole dance band era,

0:28:160:28:18

showing how the BBC responded

0:28:180:28:20

to the desire to have dance band music put on the radio.

0:28:200:28:24

It's amazing that every paper has been kept.

0:28:240:28:27

It's like the British Library.

0:28:270:28:29

It's a bit like that, isn't it?

0:28:290:28:31

Well, here's a file on dance music and dance bands, going back to 1926.

0:28:340:28:41

And it contains certain of the department's policy documents

0:28:410:28:46

-on such things as song plugging. That was a big...

-Song plugging?

0:28:460:28:50

Yes, from 1929.

0:28:500:28:53

"In order to eliminate this practice as far as possible,

0:28:530:28:56

"the following arrangements will come into force.

0:28:560:29:00

"The announcer's microphone is to be removed from each dance band

0:29:000:29:05

"and only the balance microphone used."

0:29:050:29:08

So, in other words, the poor old band leader couldn't plug anything.

0:29:080:29:11

He couldn't say, "Well, here we go

0:29:110:29:14

"with my latest record, ladies and gentlemen. Blah, blah, blah."

0:29:140:29:18

No, he was effectively gagged.

0:29:180:29:20

The BBC were incredibly strict

0:29:200:29:22

and they were very aware of their role in the promotion of dance music

0:29:220:29:27

and I think it terrified them.

0:29:270:29:30

# When you gotta sing You gotta sing... #

0:29:300:29:33

There had always been song plugging

0:29:330:29:36

and once radio began, the record companies realised that,

0:29:360:29:40

if Ambrose played the latest song

0:29:400:29:43

in his hour-and-a-half on Saturday night on the BBC,

0:29:430:29:47

people would then rush out and buy that record, in their droves.

0:29:470:29:52

So song announcements were not allowed any more

0:29:520:29:55

and they instructed singers

0:29:550:29:57

not to sing the title of the song in the chorus,

0:29:570:30:00

so it was very difficult to know what the song was called

0:30:000:30:04

and therefore very difficult to go to the record shop the next day

0:30:040:30:08

and say, "Can I buy this song, please?"

0:30:080:30:11

And predictably - uproar.

0:30:110:30:12

People across the country were completely furious

0:30:120:30:16

and a few months later, the BBC just had to retract.

0:30:160:30:19

The BBC was prepared to stop at nothing to prevent song plugging.

0:30:190:30:24

In 1929, they even banned singing.

0:30:240:30:26

This way, no-one would get a plug and the instrumental music

0:30:260:30:31

could be enjoyed by those who simply wanted to dance.

0:30:310:30:35

"On no account will singing be allowed during the broadcast.

0:30:360:30:40

"This quite definitely affects adversely the broadcast."

0:30:400:30:45

So, it was just pure music, there was no singing.

0:30:450:30:49

Yes, I think the idea was people used to roll up their carpets

0:30:490:30:53

and dance to the radio. That's what it was all about.

0:30:530:30:58

And the popularity of the records,

0:30:580:31:00

or the music as it was published, were very much secondary.

0:31:000:31:04

How different to nowadays, because it's all about the vocals.

0:31:040:31:08

Quite right.

0:31:080:31:09

And in those days, it was all about the band and the music.

0:31:090:31:12

# Roll up the carpet

0:31:120:31:14

# Push back the chairs

0:31:140:31:16

# Get some music on the radio... #

0:31:160:31:20

The BBC's attempt to stifle singing was short lived,

0:31:200:31:23

which was music to the ears

0:31:230:31:25

of those working hard in recording studios across the land.

0:31:250:31:29

78s were made in their millions

0:31:290:31:33

and the record industry boomed.

0:31:330:31:37

# Boom! Why did my heart go boom... #

0:31:370:31:39

The sound of the dance bands was everywhere.

0:31:390:31:42

For £6 10 shillings, you could buy a gramophone,

0:31:420:31:45

or even hire one from shops on the high street,

0:31:450:31:48

and the home entertainment industry took off.

0:31:480:31:51

There was also changes in recording techniques

0:31:510:31:54

which meant the bands sounded better than ever.

0:31:540:31:57

'We will just take a peep into the recording studio

0:31:590:32:02

'where Jack Hylton and his band are rehearsing.'

0:32:020:32:05

In the mid-'20s, new electrical microphones gave a much clearer sound

0:32:050:32:10

but recording still required an inventive approach.

0:32:100:32:13

If you look at some of those photographs

0:32:130:32:16

of early studio recordings, it looks very odd to us.

0:32:160:32:20

Everybody's crammed in together to get the sound concentrated

0:32:200:32:24

so the microphone can pick them up.

0:32:240:32:26

You don't set them out like you would a normal orchestra,

0:32:260:32:29

widely spaced from each other.

0:32:290:32:31

There would be one or, at the most, two microphones.

0:32:330:32:37

And what the engineers were doing - which was very subtle -

0:32:370:32:42

was placing all these musicians in relation to the main microphone.

0:32:420:32:47

# I get blue when I hear the wheels of the choo choo... #

0:32:500:32:55

Everything else would be relationships to the microphone.

0:32:550:33:00

Which sometimes involved sending the trumpets out onto the fire escape.

0:33:000:33:05

In some of the studios, they even ended up

0:33:080:33:11

having a small platform on wheels with ropes attached to it

0:33:110:33:15

where some of the studio workers

0:33:150:33:17

could pull sections of the orchestra away to alter the balance

0:33:170:33:21

and then push them back when it was their solo.

0:33:210:33:25

And, of course, one take only.

0:33:250:33:28

You couldn't go back and cut it together as you could now.

0:33:280:33:32

There'd be no remixing. There's no role for a producer here.

0:33:320:33:36

You know, this is it, it's live.

0:33:360:33:38

But once they'd got it, there it was.

0:33:430:33:47

It's being carved out on the shellac as they do it.

0:33:490:33:53

And then that's the master and you distribute it. It's so simple.

0:33:530:33:58

And, again, the feeling you get from the records of this era

0:33:580:34:02

is that everyone involved in it is having a whale of a good time.

0:34:020:34:07

But the hottest tunes weren't coming from here.

0:34:090:34:12

They were coming from across the pond.

0:34:120:34:14

It was time for band leaders like Roy Fox to take centre stage.

0:34:150:34:20

They called him the Whispering Cornettist,

0:34:200:34:23

he was an American who'd made London his home.

0:34:230:34:26

And he was very much in demand.

0:34:260:34:28

The hotels and restaurants wanted Yanks in the band,

0:34:300:34:33

and British audiences wanted to see them.

0:34:330:34:35

With the growing influence of Duke Ellington

0:34:350:34:38

and the sounds of the Cotton Club,

0:34:380:34:41

it seemed that America was the real artistic powerhouse

0:34:410:34:44

and, before long, it was British musicians who were feeling the heat.

0:34:440:34:50

The Musicians Union here started arguing

0:34:500:34:53

that jobs were being taken away from British musicians

0:34:530:34:56

because so many American musicians were being used

0:34:560:35:00

as session musicians in recordings

0:35:000:35:02

and they started putting limits

0:35:020:35:05

on the number of American musicians who could play in Britain.

0:35:050:35:09

The American Musicians Union

0:35:090:35:11

basically created the same rule in the mid-'30s as well.

0:35:110:35:16

So that cross-fertilisation stopped happening.

0:35:160:35:20

Even without the direct American influence,

0:35:260:35:29

the British dance band scene continued to prosper.

0:35:290:35:32

Away from the mainstream,

0:35:340:35:35

a few bands were already heading in some surprising directions

0:35:350:35:39

and the British public were happy to follow.

0:35:390:35:42

Oi! Excuse me, I'm trying to find out

0:35:420:35:45

what people like in the way of entertainment.

0:35:450:35:47

Now, you must have your favourite. What is it - a jazz band?

0:35:470:35:50

No. I don't go much for jazz bands. I like something with a tune in it.

0:35:500:35:53

As Britain, in one sense, becomes isolationist in music,

0:35:550:36:01

in that you're relying more and more

0:36:010:36:03

on players who are within the United Kingdom,

0:36:030:36:06

they kind of reach out in the themes of the music.

0:36:060:36:12

You do get Hawaiian bands...

0:36:120:36:15

you get Gaucho tango bands.

0:36:150:36:18

Then you get a massive variety of different types of specialist bands.

0:36:180:36:25

Ukulele bands. Banjo bands.

0:36:250:36:27

Accordion bands. Primo Scala and his Accordion Band. Primo Scala.

0:36:290:36:34

Of course it sounds exotic. His name was Harry Bidgood.

0:36:340:36:38

'National Programme from London.

0:36:390:36:41

'Now you're going to hear the first performance

0:36:410:36:43

'of the new BBC Dance Orchestra directed by Henry Hall.'

0:36:430:36:46

# It's just the time for dancing

0:36:460:36:50

# Tomorrow is today... #

0:36:500:36:53

Over at the BBC,

0:36:530:36:54

the Corporation had its own take on what the British sound should be.

0:36:540:36:59

The in-house band was the BBC Dance Orchestra

0:37:000:37:05

and, by 1932, it was led by Henry Hall.

0:37:050:37:09

Bespectacled and mild mannered,

0:37:090:37:11

Hall had a background in the Salvation Army.

0:37:110:37:14

He might have been the BBC's chosen one,

0:37:140:37:17

but some rivals thought it all sounded a bit safe.

0:37:170:37:20

You're hearing the signature tune of the BBC Dance Orchestra.

0:37:200:37:24

The tune is called It's Just The Time For Dancing.

0:37:240:37:28

The critics may have been a bit sniffy, but the public loved it.

0:37:280:37:33

'And so to song. A light song, a bright song, the right song

0:37:330:37:36

'for that most entertaining of ether experts, Gerry Fitzgerald.'

0:37:360:37:40

And as Britain lapped up the dance band sound,

0:37:400:37:43

a new star began to emerge.

0:37:430:37:46

# So rare

0:37:460:37:49

# You're like the fragrance of flowers fair... #

0:37:490:37:54

Stepping out of the shadows was the vocalist,

0:37:540:37:57

with a new intimate style that became known as crooning.

0:37:570:38:01

# ..With the morning dew... #

0:38:010:38:05

But it was all made possible by another technical innovation -

0:38:050:38:10

better microphones.

0:38:100:38:11

Hello, control room. This is Transmission Studio No 3.

0:38:110:38:16

How's this for quality? One, two, three, four...

0:38:160:38:20

When broadcasting in this country started,

0:38:200:38:22

they used a microphone called a Peel-Conner,

0:38:220:38:24

which was designed to be built into a telephone.

0:38:240:38:27

Now, this is a Sterling microphone of a similar era.

0:38:270:38:30

-TINNY TONE

-The quality when you speak into it

0:38:300:38:34

is particularly appalling.

0:38:340:38:36

It is not really any good for music.

0:38:360:38:38

And this is the sort of quality you would have heard...

0:38:380:38:42

during the first few years of broadcasting.

0:38:420:38:44

In fact, the quality you would have heard in the home

0:38:440:38:47

would have been worse than that

0:38:470:38:49

because the domestic receiver was also not of very good quality.

0:38:490:38:52

But by the 1930s, microphones were much more sensitive.

0:38:520:38:56

The singer no longer had to project to be heard

0:38:560:38:59

and, for some, stardom beckoned.

0:38:590:39:01

And the biggest star of all

0:39:010:39:03

was a musician whose swarthy good looks and velvet voice

0:39:030:39:06

made him the nation's favourite.

0:39:060:39:08

Al Bowlly was the closest the British ever got

0:39:080:39:11

to competing with American crooners like Bing Crosby.

0:39:110:39:15

Al had the golden tone that every band leader wanted.

0:39:150:39:19

And he soon became the poster boy for the dance band generation.

0:39:190:39:23

Bowlly started off playing banjo and guitar in the bands.

0:39:310:39:36

I mean, you didn't have a specific vocalist,

0:39:360:39:39

the vocalist would be somebody in the band

0:39:390:39:41

who was sort of brave enough to stand in front with a megaphone

0:39:410:39:45

and sort of belt out a verse.

0:39:450:39:46

'Listeners will remember

0:39:460:39:48

'Roy Fox's famous broadcasting band in the Monseigneur London,

0:39:480:39:52

'with Lew Stone and Al Bowlly, who played and sang.'

0:39:520:39:56

He's often called one of the first pop stars

0:39:560:39:59

because he was one of the first people

0:39:590:40:01

to actually have his name on the record.

0:40:010:40:04

Before that, it would just be, "With vocal refrain."

0:40:040:40:07

# Learn to croon

0:40:070:40:12

# You'll eliminate each rival soon... #

0:40:120:40:17

Bowlly was the first one to

0:40:170:40:19

actually have his name on there as a vocalist in his own right.

0:40:190:40:23

# Learn to croon... #

0:40:230:40:26

One of the things about Bowlly,

0:40:260:40:28

he definitely did have that, sort of, sex appeal.

0:40:280:40:31

When Al Bowlly started to sing,

0:40:310:40:34

it was Al Bowlly that they looked at, not the dance band leader.

0:40:340:40:38

Folks, Pathe have got me at last.

0:40:380:40:40

Now, where's my piano player?

0:40:400:40:43

Monia! Come on. Sit up. Go on, get playing.

0:40:430:40:46

# I don't need your photograph

0:40:570:41:00

# To keep by my bed... #

0:41:000:41:02

If you listen to Bowlly, he hardly ever hits a straight note, at all.

0:41:020:41:07

He always has that slight slide

0:41:070:41:09

so, even if it's the very thought of you,

0:41:090:41:12

it's sort of the very thought of yo-ou and you've got that very...

0:41:120:41:17

which makes it... It's like sort of satin sheets.

0:41:170:41:20

# ..The very thought of you

0:41:200:41:25

# And I forget to do

0:41:250:41:28

# The little ordinary things...

0:41:280:41:32

# That everyone ought to do

0:41:320:41:36

# I'm living in a kind of daydream

0:41:360:41:41

# And I'm happy as a king... #

0:41:410:41:44

I mean his voice, it's like dripping honey, it really is.

0:41:440:41:49

# Why to me, that's everything... #

0:41:490:41:52

And such a distinctive voice.

0:41:520:41:56

So it's very slidey, so very slidey

0:41:560:41:59

comes from just behind the teeth.

0:41:590:42:01

# ..You'll never know how slow the moments go

0:42:010:42:06

# Till I'm near to you...

0:42:060:42:09

# I see your face in every flower

0:42:090:42:14

# Your eyes in stars above

0:42:140:42:18

# It's just the thought of you

0:42:180:42:20

# The very thought of you my love. #

0:42:200:42:25

He's got a very, if I may say so, strange voice.

0:42:290:42:34

It was a very unique voice.

0:42:340:42:35

His father was Greek, his mother was Lebanese,

0:42:350:42:38

they met on the way to Australia,

0:42:380:42:40

he was brought up in South Africa, professed to be British,

0:42:400:42:43

but spoke with this sort of pseudo-American accent.

0:42:430:42:45

And it's not only his technique with the microphone,

0:42:450:42:50

but it's that sort of unique tone to the voice as well that just...

0:42:500:42:54

That's why he's my favourite.

0:42:540:42:56

-He's your favourite as well?

-Yes. He's my absolute favourite.

0:42:560:43:00

# Come to me, my melancholy baby

0:43:000:43:08

# Just cuddle up and don't be blue...

0:43:080:43:14

# All your fears are foolish fancy maybes

0:43:140:43:20

-# And you know, honey I'm in love with you...

-#

0:43:200:43:25

-Can I have a go?

-Oh, please do.

0:43:270:43:30

# Come to me, my melancholy baby

0:43:340:43:42

# Cuddle up and don't be blue... #

0:43:420:43:50

-How was it?

-Great.

0:43:500:43:53

Does it take you back? Did you think Bowlly's in the hall?

0:43:530:43:57

# Every cloud must have its silver lining... #

0:43:570:44:01

With any of the really successful crooners, it was about the subtlety.

0:44:010:44:06

Knowing that you had a microphone in front of you,

0:44:060:44:08

you weren't bellowing at people.

0:44:080:44:10

You had, for the first time, a sensitivity,

0:44:100:44:13

so people could approach lyrics and tell a story.

0:44:130:44:17

# Kiss away each tear... #

0:44:170:44:20

People used to say whenever Al sang,

0:44:200:44:23

you thought he was singing directly to you.

0:44:230:44:27

# Melancholy too... #

0:44:270:44:32

Thank you very much.

0:44:320:44:33

It seemed Britain was going crooning crazy, but not everyone liked it.

0:44:330:44:38

The BBC found the idea of crooning horrifying.

0:44:380:44:42

I think they probably thought it was a bit too sexy,

0:44:420:44:45

it was going to entice wrong feelings in their listeners.

0:44:450:44:50

So, throughout the mid-'30s, there are newspaper articles

0:44:500:44:54

asking what's the BBC going to do about crooning?

0:44:540:44:57

The press had an absolute field day.

0:45:020:45:05

You know, they love to stoke up these controversies

0:45:050:45:08

and this is the Daily Despatch and it says here,

0:45:080:45:11

"Please, Sir John, suppress this nightly wailing,"

0:45:110:45:14

and it goes on down here,

0:45:140:45:16

"Practically every radio critic throughout the country

0:45:160:45:20

"has expressed his personal abhorrence to crooning.

0:45:200:45:23

"What has been the effect on the BBC? Absolutely none."

0:45:230:45:27

# How could we be wrong...? #

0:45:270:45:33

Once again the BBC was having issues with vocalists.

0:45:330:45:36

As well as worries about crooning,

0:45:360:45:38

there were now complaints about hot new jazz sounds from black America.

0:45:380:45:42

The Director General, Sir John Reith, found his in-tray filling up.

0:45:420:45:47

"I've been having one or two complaints

0:45:470:45:50

"about hot jazz and crooning,

0:45:500:45:52

"have you not altered the policy about this in some way?"

0:45:520:45:56

One of his lieutenants wrote back that,

0:45:560:45:59

although he realised that crooning was very popular,

0:45:590:46:02

this is what he wrote...

0:46:020:46:04

"We are all to a degree in sympathy with what the Daily Dispatch says.

0:46:040:46:08

"But I do not think we need to take the criticisms too seriously."

0:46:080:46:12

But when it came to letting hot jazz loose on the airwaves,

0:46:120:46:16

music inspired by the likes of Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong,

0:46:160:46:20

well, that was simply going too far.

0:46:200:46:23

"I can assure you there is no sympathy

0:46:230:46:26

"with what I again term the negroid type of music."

0:46:260:46:29

I ask you!

0:46:290:46:32

Hot jazz was just too spicy for some at the BBC.

0:46:360:46:39

The Corporation felt the need for a broader approach.

0:46:390:46:42

They preferred the sound of Henry Hall and the BBC Dance Orchestra

0:46:420:46:46

and either straightforward, sentimental songs or novelty numbers.

0:46:460:46:51

# My kid's a crooner

0:46:510:46:52

# Though he's only two

0:46:520:46:54

# He sings Boo-boo-boo-boo... #

0:46:540:46:56

Hot jazz might have been off the menu,

0:46:560:46:59

but the BBC continued to get itself in a pickle over crooning.

0:46:590:47:03

By 1936, Auntie Beeb found herself

0:47:030:47:05

torn between the popularity of crooning

0:47:050:47:08

and the personal taste of some of those in charge.

0:47:080:47:12

# ..To stop my kid from crooning Boo-boo-boo-boo... #

0:47:120:47:14

This memo is fascinating.

0:47:140:47:16

It shows the battle that the BBC bosses had with crooners.

0:47:160:47:21

If you read this, you won't believe it.

0:47:210:47:25

It says, "I can see no reason why crooning,

0:47:250:47:28

"which is a particularly odious form of singing,

0:47:280:47:33

"should not be obliterated straightaway."

0:47:330:47:36

Basically, they thought that singing spoilt the tune

0:47:360:47:41

and they didn't want it in there. Incredible.

0:47:410:47:45

As I see it, all that was happening was that the singers were singing

0:47:450:47:51

with a directness and with a sensitivity

0:47:510:47:54

that they hadn't been allowed to before

0:47:540:47:57

because they'd been having to belt it out.

0:47:570:48:01

At Broadcasting House, the BBC decided

0:48:030:48:06

that strict quotas would sort out crooning once and for all.

0:48:060:48:10

The battle lines were drawn. It was war!

0:48:100:48:14

The BBC decided that they'd only have a song with vocals every third tune.

0:48:140:48:19

But the crafty band leaders,

0:48:190:48:22

they made those into a medley which went on and on.

0:48:220:48:25

# I'm gonna wash my hands of you... #

0:48:250:48:29

The BBC continued to try to restrict and regulate

0:48:290:48:33

the amount of vocal numbers.

0:48:330:48:35

The publishers and band leaders were appalled.

0:48:350:48:39

# ..And I'm gonna wash my hands, babe, of you... #

0:48:390:48:41

They demanded a swift about turn

0:48:420:48:44

and accused the BBC of trying to put them out of business.

0:48:440:48:48

Eventually, the BBC defused the row by running separate music programmes,

0:48:480:48:53

with and without vocals.

0:48:530:48:55

It sounds ridiculous,

0:48:550:48:57

but it was coming out of an atmosphere that radio

0:48:570:49:00

and the BBC as led by John Reith,

0:49:000:49:02

was really for edification, it wasn't for entertainment.

0:49:020:49:06

Dance music was held to be edifying and entertaining,

0:49:070:49:11

but the moment it became purely entertaining,

0:49:110:49:14

things needed to be done to clamp it down.

0:49:140:49:17

Away from the row with the BBC,

0:49:280:49:30

the dance band industry continued to grow.

0:49:300:49:34

The Melody Maker in 1930 estimated

0:49:340:49:36

that there were 12,500 to 20,000 dance bands in Britain alone,

0:49:360:49:41

made up partly of semi-pro

0:49:410:49:43

but many professional musicians in those bands.

0:49:430:49:47

So, yes, a big industry. A great appetite for dancing.

0:49:470:49:51

# Now you may think our job is fun

0:49:510:49:53

# To play sweet tunes when the day is done

0:49:530:49:55

# A dance band's life must be a happy lot... #

0:49:550:49:58

On any Saturday night, in Britain in the 1930s,

0:49:580:50:03

there'd be about 100,000 people playing in dance bands,

0:50:030:50:06

which is huge numbers.

0:50:060:50:07

# ..Every night I go to bed

0:50:080:50:10

# Music's going around my head

0:50:100:50:13

# I'm counting crotchets in my sleep

0:50:130:50:17

# One two three four One two three four... #

0:50:170:50:19

Obviously a small elite

0:50:190:50:22

would be full-time professional dance band musicians.

0:50:220:50:25

The vast majority, though, are semi-professionals -

0:50:250:50:28

people who have a full-time day job,

0:50:280:50:31

but play maybe on Saturdays or two or three other nights of the week.

0:50:310:50:36

Learnt to play a brass instrument in a brass band,

0:50:360:50:39

perhaps learnt to play in the Forces.

0:50:390:50:42

Excited by these new possibilities that they'd play in dance bands.

0:50:420:50:47

# ..Counting crotchets in my sleep. #

0:50:470:50:50

As the bands' profiles increased, they toured the country constantly.

0:50:500:50:55

And no-one did more miles than Jack Hylton.

0:50:550:50:59

Jack wasn't content with huge success in Britain.

0:51:010:51:04

The band leader took his boys across the Channel

0:51:040:51:07

and became famous in every corner of the Continent.

0:51:070:51:10

Just one look at Jack Hylton's passport

0:51:110:51:14

is enough to make you travel sick.

0:51:140:51:16

Let's just have a look. 1930.

0:51:170:51:20

So this is full, full of stamps from all over Europe.

0:51:200:51:26

And there's countless trips.

0:51:260:51:29

Hungary, Austria.

0:51:290:51:32

Sweden. Denmark. Holland. France. Germany. Italy.

0:51:320:51:37

Spain. Yes, huge.

0:51:370:51:39

Paris, Prague and Vienna all rocked to the Jack Hylton sound. In 1938,

0:51:400:51:44

Hylton's Band did a month's residency at the Scala Theatre in Berlin.

0:51:440:51:50

The Nazis never discovered that some of the musicians were Jewish.

0:51:520:51:57

To Hylton's surprise,

0:51:580:52:00

one night the audience included, unannounced, Goebbels and Goering.

0:52:000:52:04

Yeah, well, he came in

0:52:060:52:07

and there was a swastika hanging at the back of the stage

0:52:070:52:10

which he knew nothing about.

0:52:100:52:12

Everybody was marching around Berlin saying, "Heil Hitler!"

0:52:120:52:15

And every time they looked directly at any of the band members and said,

0:52:150:52:18

"Heil Hitler," they used to say, "Heil Hylton!"

0:52:180:52:22

# Sweetheart goodbye, Auf Wiedersehen,

0:52:220:52:26

# Auf Wiedersehen, my dear... #

0:52:260:52:29

The Germans may have loved the British sound,

0:52:290:52:32

but with the outbreak of war,

0:52:320:52:33

the dance band scene was about to change, for ever.

0:52:330:52:37

In an attempt to keep morale high,

0:52:410:52:43

musicians were recruited into the Central Band of the Royal Air Force.

0:52:430:52:47

Many stepped straight from classical orchestras,

0:52:470:52:51

others from big time West End bands.

0:52:510:52:54

Out of this came The Squadronaires - one of the best bands of the 1940s.

0:52:540:53:00

'No 1 Balloon Centre RAF, turn on a dance at their camp.

0:53:000:53:03

'Audience and orchestra is 100% Air Force.

0:53:030:53:06

'The band leader is Corporal George Beaumont,

0:53:060:53:09

'once well-known to London's Prince of Wales theatre-goers.

0:53:090:53:13

'Now meet the boys of the band.

0:53:130:53:14

'Paul Fenoulet was one of Carroll Gibbons' boys

0:53:140:53:17

'before he wore uniform.

0:53:170:53:19

'Rhythm merchant Jack Dobbs was in Oscar Rabin's outfit,

0:53:190:53:23

'now he's nursemaid to a barrage balloon.'

0:53:230:53:25

Inevitably, the Second World War really did for the dance bands.

0:53:350:53:40

A lot of the musicians were called up.

0:53:400:53:43

Little things like shellac that was used to make records

0:53:430:53:48

was also used to make armaments.

0:53:480:53:50

If it's a choice between armaments and records in 1940,

0:53:500:53:54

you're going to choose armaments.

0:53:540:53:57

# When that man is dead and gone

0:54:000:54:04

# When that man is dead and gone... #

0:54:040:54:10

As London took the full force of the Blitz, Britain's top crooner

0:54:100:54:15

lay in bed in his little flat here in Jermyn Street in central London.

0:54:150:54:19

The blast from a German bomb blew his bedroom door on top of him,

0:54:190:54:23

killing him instantly.

0:54:230:54:26

It was Al Bowlly. But in the chaos of war, few people noticed his passing.

0:54:260:54:31

He may have been crooning's shining light,

0:54:480:54:51

but Al Bowlly's final resting place was this mass grave

0:54:510:54:55

for victims of the Blitz at Hanwell Cemetery in West London.

0:54:550:54:59

In many ways though, it was a symbolic moment.

0:55:180:55:22

It was more than the death of Al Bowlly,

0:55:220:55:25

it was the beginning of the end for British dance band music.

0:55:250:55:29

Al, goodnight, sweetheart.

0:55:290:55:31

# The echo of a song you used to sing

0:55:310:55:38

# When hearts were young

0:55:380:55:43

# And everything

0:55:430:55:45

# Was one long summer's day... #

0:55:450:55:49

They had style, elegance, sophistication.

0:55:490:55:53

It was wonderful, wonderful music and it was British music.

0:55:530:55:57

It had a particular feel to it and we should cherish it and enjoy it

0:55:570:56:00

and it should be celebrated, I think.

0:56:000:56:02

The trouble is that people look at it through the lens of modern jazz

0:56:020:56:06

or swing music and think,

0:56:060:56:07

"Oh, it's just not very good jazz or not very good swing music."

0:56:070:56:10

But it's none of those things, it's brilliant in itself.

0:56:100:56:13

It's great music.

0:56:130:56:14

This bringing together of the whole nation,

0:56:140:56:18

to have an interest in this music, hadn't happened before

0:56:180:56:23

and I don't think it's happened since in the same way.

0:56:230:56:28

People talk about the Golden Age of the British dance bands, but it was.

0:56:290:56:34

It was exactly that.

0:56:340:56:35

It's very easy to just see it as old people's music, nostalgia.

0:56:420:56:46

Actually, if we think of it as a continuum, I think it really laid

0:56:460:56:51

the blueprint for everything that happened in mid-20th century pop.

0:56:510:56:55

That idea of taking what black musicians were doing,

0:56:550:56:58

what African-American musicians were doing - that started in the '20s.

0:56:580:57:03

You know, the roots of that are in the dance bands.

0:57:030:57:06

And that's what the Rolling Stones did.

0:57:060:57:08

Absolutely. Absolutely. It's what Bill Haley and Elvis did.

0:57:080:57:12

The dust of the war finally settled on a new world order.

0:57:140:57:17

Things had moved on

0:57:170:57:18

and a new generation wanted to listen to something different.

0:57:180:57:22

The bands struggled on, but it was never the same again.

0:57:220:57:26

# Tonight I mustn't think of her

0:57:260:57:30

# No more memories

0:57:300:57:34

# Swing out

0:57:340:57:37

# Tonight I must forget

0:57:370:57:39

# Music, maestro, please. #

0:57:390:57:42

If you think modern pop music began in the '50s, well, think again.

0:57:420:57:49

It came from the '20s and '30s, from those fantastic characters -

0:57:490:57:54

Bert Ambrose, Al Bowlly.

0:57:540:57:57

They were the foundation of the pop music scene that we have today.

0:57:570:58:02

Our love affair with British dance bands was short, but oh so sweet.

0:58:020:58:07

The music and the dance were a match made in heaven.

0:58:070:58:12

And I understand why my parents found it so appealing.

0:58:120:58:16

It was a golden era.

0:58:160:58:18

It was a time when Britain found its dancing shoes

0:58:180:58:22

and British musicians found their musical feet.

0:58:220:58:25

I just wish I'd have been there.

0:58:250:58:28

# Swing out

0:58:420:58:43

# Tonight I must forget

0:58:430:58:47

# Music, maestro, please. #

0:58:470:58:55

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