1935 Vintage - British Dance Bands from the Golden Age

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• published: 26 Jul 2015
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1935 Vintage – British Dance Bands from the Golden Age 1. JAY WILBUR AND HIS BAND Lookie, Lookie, Lookie, Here Comes Cookie – Vocal by Pat O’Malley Recorded in London c.26th April 1935 2. NEW MAYFAIR DANCE ORCHESTRA Directed by GEORGE SCOTT WOOD Don’t Stand In The Doorway – Vocal by Brian Lawrance Recorded in London on Saturday, 30th November 1935 3. LOU PREAGER AND HIS ROMANO’S RESTAURANT DANCE ORCHESTRA I’ve Got An Invitation To A Dance – Vocal by Pat Hyde Recorded in London on Friday, 1st March 1935 4. CARROLL GIBBONS and the SAVOY HOTEL ORPHEANS Call Me Sweetheart – Vocal by Anne Lenner Recorded In London on Saturday 6th July 1935 5. SYDNEY KYTE AND HIS PICCADILLY HOTEL BAND The Lady In Red - Vocal by Gerry Fitzgerald Recorded in London on Friday 8th November 1935 6. LEW STONE AND HIS BAND Old Bohemian Town – Vocal by Joe Ferrie Recorded in London on Monday 11th February 1935 From the Golden Age of British Dance Bands comes a selection of six recordings from 1935. The first two bands featured were made up of session musicians and led by the musical directors of two rival record companies. Jay Wilbur recorded prolifically from the 1920s onwards and produced excellent performances of the popular songs of the era. The multi-talented George Scott Wood directed musical combinations of all types, including some sessions by the house band of HMV, the New Mayfair Dance Orchestra. George’s characteristic piano clearly marks the highly stylish “Don’t Stand In he Doorway” as one of his recordings. Lou Preager is represented by one of his records from his residency at Romano’s Restaurant in The Strand, London. Lou is best remembered for his seventeen-year residency at the Hammersmith Palais de Danse, which began in 1942, but he made his name at Romano’s as one of Britain’s favourite bandleaders. Here his orchestra is joined by singer Pat Hyde, who was already making records under her own name. Moving along and just off The Strand, we arrive at the famous Savoy Hotel where Carroll Gibbons led its No.1 dance orchestra. Carroll was an American who came to London in the 1920s and joined the original Savoy Orpheans. He was to direct an New Mayfair Dance Orchestra, but his association with the Savoy began again in 1931 and continued until his early death in 1954. A much-loved figure on the British popular music scene, he was a wonderful pianist and highly respected bandleader. Anne Lenner was the first resident girl singer at the Savoy, and her lovely voice graced many of Carroll’s recordings from 1934 until 1942. Across the West End, another famous hotel orchestra was recording for Panachord and broadcasting for the BBC, Sydney Kyte at the Piccadilly Hotel. The cover of a magazine published in the same month that this recording was made celebrates Sydney’s fourth anniversary at the hotel, but he was in fact in the last months of what had been a highly successful engagement. Here they play one of the popular Hollywood musical hit numbers of 1935. The selection ends with one of the relatively few Lew Stone recordings never, apparently, reissued since that era. Nevertheless it is a beautifully rendered and tasteful British “tango foxtrot” which certainly deserves to reach a new audience – as do all these recordings. Recorded in 1935 for the Rex, HMV, Panachord, Columbia, and Regal Zonophone. labels, these recordings are long out-of-copyright. These sides have been remastered from original 78rpm discs by this user and are unique transfers. These cannot be copied or sold without the permission of Peter Wallace.