Forgotten songs from the broom cupboard.

Forgotten Songs from the Broom Cupboard is a trawl through a collection of 78rpm and vinyl records seeking out the obscure and lesser played artists, songs and music from 1900 to 1960. Played directly from the original record. We also look into some of the history and stories behind the music and artists. Episodes 1 to 79 we look at all genres of music. From episode 80 we concentrate more on American roots music. Early country, folk, blues, bluegrass, Cajun and Western Swing. Presented by Miles Tubb all the way from Edinburgh, Scotland.

FS100: Too many to mention. Last ever episode. Blues, Jazz, Pop, R&B and a whole lot more 01/20/2023

FS99: Easy listening- Nat, Alma and Perry to Bob Crosby and Marion Mann 01/13/2023

FS98: Mostly Frankie Laine, a bit of Eartha, some Mugsy, Charlie Barnet and Jules Bledsoe 01/06/2023

F.S End of 2022 special From Fats Waller to a 112 year old recording of Auld Lang Syne 12/31/2022

FS97: Frankie Vaughan to Tommy Edwards via Florrie Ford and Lita Rosa 12/28/2022

FS97: Frankie Vaughan to Tommy Edwards via Florrie Ford and Lita Rosa Frankie Vaughan seemed to be constantly present on British Television in 1960s. Mr Moonlight they called him. He had a big voice and a big stage presence, top hat, bow tie and tails. He had many hits during the 1950s and had a brief career in Holywood. Most notably opposite Marilyn Monroe in Lets make Love. Here he gives us The Green door. Lita Rosa- Hernando's Hideaway. Rosa started her stage career at the age of 12. At 24 she was lead female singer with Ted Heath. A strong voice which probably never reached its full potential with the material she was given. Variety is the spice of life on Forgotten Songs. So next up is Tom Wright with Driving into Glasgae in a sour milk cairt. Its billed as traditional on the Beltona label. It's not but was written in 1914 by Tom Johnstone for the comedian J.C macDonald. It's in broad Scots. Two from a F.S favourite, Kay Starr- Too busy and If you love me. Dickie Valentine was a popular crooner in Britain through the 50s. Like many British singers he existed on a diet of American covers. He died in a car crash in 1971. Joan Regan and The Squadronaires give us Ricochet. The Squadronaires were the R.A.F big band. There is some confusion of her birth name and exactly where she was born. Again she did a lot of American covers through the 50s but her U.S recorded version of Don't talk to me of love become a Northern Soul classic. Languishing in the F.S colection has been this piece of US Billbord chart history from Tommy Edwards. It's all in the game was the first number one by an African American in the chart. Released in 1958 it was the biggest hit from this singer- song writer. He sadly died young at 47. Frank Ferera with Beautiful Love. He was a Hawaiian music pioneer. We go all posh with Air on a G string with Norbert Wethmar on violin. The only information I can be certain of about him are two references from The Radio Times in the late 1930s. Two performances with the BBC Orchestra. Florrie Forde was the Australian born grand Dame of British Music hall. Whose career spanned Victorian variety theatre to entertaining the troops in Aberdeen in 1940. She died after the performance, aged 64. Her songs included- Hold out your hand you naughty boy, Down at the old Bull and Bush and I do like to be by the seaside. Here she gives us When we were strolling around town. Maurice Winnick was another Manchester born musical child prodigy. As a teenager he was a band leader on a transatlantic liner. He had a succesful career through the 1930s and 40s. He died in 1960. He plays a lovely version of The Waltz you saved for me. The Platters need no introduction and neither does the song- Smoke gets in your eyes. Okay its not forgotten but how often do you hear it directly from the original 78? /episode/index/show/forgottensongs/id/25438998

FS96: Henry Allen to Mr Olly Oakley via Suzi Millar and George Formby 12/27/2022

FS96: Henry Allen to Mr Olly Oakley via Suzi Millar and George Formby Two Harrys to start us off. Parry- Trust and Parry and James with Memphis Blues. Henry Allen and his Orchestra- Dinah Lou. Allen was one of the major trumpeters of the Swing era and played with King Oliver, Fletcher Henderson, Coleman Hawkins and Louis Armstrong. Count Basie and his Kansas City seven- Lester Leaps in. Lester Young being the Lester. The group released six versions of the song between 1939- 1948. Sidney Bechet and his New Orleans Feetwarmers- Stormy Jones, Mugsy Spanier and his Ragtime Band- That Da, Da Strain. Robert Earl- If you love me. A popular tenor in the 1950s. His son, also Robert Earl ,is the founder of Planet Holywood restaurants. Orcestration is by Wally Stott. Musical director of Philips Records at the time. Stott was an arranger, composer and conductor. Worked with Shirley Bassey, Noel Coward, Dusty Springfield and Scott Walker, amongst others. As well as composing Film and T.V scores- from Watership Down to the music for the TV series Dallas. In 1970 Stott undertook gender reassignment surgery and lived the rest of her life as Angela Morely. She went on to have highly succesful career in the US. Amazing story and life. Perfect for Forgotten Songs. The luck of the Irish next, Jack Daly- When the poppies bloom again. He ran out of luck I'm afraid. Could only take about a minute of his warbling! Much beter is- Sydney MacEwan and She moved through the fair. MacEwan was an ordained priest born in Glasgow in 1908. He started his recording career in 1934 and work extensively on the BBC. He did many world tours. Very popular in his day. A favourite from George Formby- In a little Wigan Garden. We finish with the very dark Miss Otis regrets from Jay Wilbur and Elizabethan Serenade, from the Ron Goodwin Orchestra. Goodwin was a profilific film composer- Where Eagles Dare, 633 Squadron and the theme to the Margaret Rutherford Miss Marple film. Later used in 'Kill Bill'. /episode/index/show/forgottensongs/id/25430352

FS95: British bands from Fox, Roy, Mackay, Ros, Gonella, Geraldo and Parry to a very loud Stan Freberg 12/26/2022

F.S 94: The Inkspots to Edna Thomas and Alma Cogan via The Bowhill Colliery pipe band and Dick Barton. 12/25/2022

F.S 94: The Inkspots to Edna Thomas and Alma Cogan via The Bowhill Colliery pipe band and Dick Barton. Back after a three month break. What better way to start than with Bob Skyles and his Skyrockets with I'm gonna die with a broken heart. Three from the hugely popular Inkspots- Everyone is saying hello again, Thoughtless and one of their big hit Java Jive. Just one of their records alone, If I didn't care, sold 19 million copies. Their style rarely changed but they were ground breakers. They sold well to both black and white audiences. Ted Heath and his music with Walking Shoes. Two soporific songs next- Paul Robson with Just a wearyin' and Rosemary Clooney with Brahms lullaby. Should have put them at the end. We all could have nodded off. Not often we play the pipes on Forgotten songs but we have two tunes from The Bowhill Colliery and District band. Bowhill in Fife was the scene of a pit disaster in 1931 when 10 men were killed. Like many factories, foundaries, collieries Bowhill had a works band. This being Scotland a pipe band as well as a silver band. The Rhytmn Maniacs with the wonderfully titled- 'The gag song( She was only a bookmakers daughter.) To be fair it does have some funny lines. Max Darewski was a Manchester born child prodigy. At the age of 9 he was conducting a full orchestra. He had a successful career as a composer. Not convinced his genius was on display with this number- Shadow man. Sadly he died only aged 35. Edna Thomas was a African American actress and singer. She performed on Broadway and on film. Here she gives a very refined performance of Mamzelle Zizi. No need to tell you about Roy Rodgers, here singing A four legged friend. Thank goodness he mentions Trigger at the end! Alma Cogan advises Never tango with an Eskimo but in this weather we need all the heat we can get. Lionel Hampton gives laid back vocals to The mood I'm in. Naturally he gives us some vibrophone too. We finish with two BBC records. Charles Williams leads his orchestra with own composition, The Devils Gallop. This was the signature tune to Dick Barton, Special Agent. A 'cliffhanger' radio series that the BBC ran from 1946 to 1951. As we recorded this on Christmas we end with Come All Ye Faithfull, from the BBC Choir. I'm sure Lord Reith would approve. He was the stoney faced kill joy who ran the BBC for many years and he certainly wouldn't have approved of The Gag song. Far too ribald!! /episode/index/show/forgottensongs/id/25425381

FS93: Tommy Handley to Dorothy Squires, Bobby Comber and John Kirby 09/18/2022

FS93: Tommy Handley to Dorothy Squires, Bobby Comber and John Kirby Some comedy on budget record labels. Last chance plays for some, as they are a little ropey. We start with a right cheery number from comedian Bobby Comber- La-di-da-di-da. A popular entertainer through the 20s and 30s. I can find little about his history online. Plenty of history about Sandy Powell. Here he gives us Sandy the Doctor. Next Harry Leader and his Orchestra- Little man you've had a busy day(1934). Leader was a prolific band leader who operated under many different names and had a long career. He was particularly associated with the programme Workers Playtime. Vocals are by Dawn Davis. She sang with a few British bands in the 1930s and 40s, as well as a solo and in a duo. She notably dueted with Al Bowlly. She moved to Australia in the late 40s but returned to England in 1955. Unfortunately she was unavailable to get back into the entertainment business. She died in 1993, aged 83. Madame Nina Rae- Anne Laurie(1921) Other than being born in 1878 in Glasgow I could find nothing about her. Billy Williams, we've played before. Here he sings I'll lend you my best girl. Australian born he had a highly successful career in British Music hall. He died in 1915. Tommy Handley was another very successful comedian. Especially during WW2 in his radio programme ITMA- Its that man again. He gives us 'How many pips are there in a pomegranate'(1929). Charlie Higgins- Down in the field where the buttercups grow. Another popular comedian from the 1930s. He played the London Palladium three times. He billed himself as 'A fool if only he knew it.' Ernest Butcher- I sing as I limp along(1935). A character actor from 1930s to 1950s. Nothing really online that talks about his singing. We have two of his records in the F.S collection. This track is self penned. Savoy Havana band- Dear love, my love. They were the resident band at the Savoy Hotel in London, 1921 to 27. Started by Bert Railton, they did the British Premier of Gerswin's Rhapsody in Blue. We get all modern to end the show. Troubled Welsh diva with Dorothy Squires- I walk behind you(1953). Composed by her partner of the time Billy Reid. She was successful throughout the fifties and into the 60s but her faded away and she died in 1998. We finish with John Kirby- Undecided and the spacey Dawn on the desert-1938 and 1939. Kirby started on the trombone, switched to tuba and ended up on the double bass. He played in many band and started his own well thought of jazz ensemble and orchestra. He sadly died young in 1952. /episode/index/show/forgottensongs/id/24405822

FS92: Early Peggy Lee to Taft Jordon, The Joe Corrie players and Dave willis 09/11/2022

FS92: Early Peggy Lee to Taft Jordon, The Joe Corrie players and Dave willis A couple of cheery and cheeky wartime songs. George Formby with Ukelele Man. Not nearly enough ukelele playing on it quite frankly. Next Dave Willis with ARP( Air raid patrol.) More commonly known as My Wee Gas Mask. Probably the best known Scottish song from WW2. Joe Corrie was a Fife coal miner, poet and playright. His style was naturalistic and his subject matter the working class. He was pretty much ignored by the Scottish theatre establishment of the time. Here we have The shilling a week man. A humerous tale of money owed, performed in broad Scots. Humerous it maybe but for many life was 'hand to mouth' and the shilling a week man was a fact of life. Bunny Berigan's blues boys with Chicken and Waffles and then he plays trumpet on Gold diggers of 1933 with The bell boys of Broadway. Two from the magnificent Mildred Bailey with her orchestra- St Louis Blues and with her Oxford Greys- Arkanas Blues. Great vocals from her. We split those two tracks with Charlie Barnet and Wandering blues, vocals by Mary Ann McCall. Ring dem bells from The Harlem Footwarmers(1929.) They also performed under 25 aliases and members included Duke Ellington and Cottie Williams. Johnny Dodds and his orch- Red onion blues. His brother 'Baby' Dodds is on drums. Bit of Boogie from Will Brady's six Texan hot dogs- Basin Street boogie(1941) Not the best condition but Taft Jordon and his mob play Devil in the moon. Taft only made two records with own group but played with the best, from Ella to Ellington. His trumpet can be heard on Miles Davis's Sketches of Spain. Quite an acolade to be asked to play trumpet with Miles! E.C Kirkeby Wallace bandleader, songwriter, vocalist and manager. He looked after Fats Waller. He also started the Californian Ramblers while working at Columbia. Benny Goodman with Blues in the night, vocals by Peggy Lee. Early peggy. She certainly hits some uncharactistic high notes toward the end. We finish with Freddy Gardner and his Swing Orch. The self composed 10am Blues from 1939. A great track from this forgotten British saxphonist, who died young at 39. Its an Indian pressing on the Rex label. /episode/index/show/forgottensongs/id/24308823

FS91: Archie Lewis to Layton & Johnstone and Josh White 09/04/2022

FS91: Archie Lewis to Layton & Johnstone and Josh White In episode 91 we look at black artists who came to Britain from the 1920s to 1950s. Well the exception is Joe Deniz who was born in Cardiff. We start with Leslie(Hutch) Hutchinson. Born in Grenada in 1900 he arrived in England in the late 20s, via a stint in the U.S. He rapidly become the darling of high society with a refined, well mannered voice and piano. He made many records and appearence through the 1930s and 40s. His personal life was, well lets' say, lively. He had seven children by six different women and had affairs with Cole Porter, Ivor Novella, Tallulah Bankhead and Edwina Mountbatten. Amongst others. By the 1950s his career had faded away and he died in London in 1969. Turner Layton and Tandy Johnstone were both born in the USA and met in New York. Their musical partnership found almost immediately success. Like Hutch they were adored by high society. They came to England in 1924 and their popularity grew. They are reckoned to have sold over 10 million records between 1924 and 1935. They appeared on the BBC and all over Europe. Their partnership was dissolved in 1935 when Tandy Johnstone was involved in a highly public divorce case. He eventually returned to the US, having married Raymonde Sandler, the subject of the divorce. He died in 1953. Layton stayed in Britain and had a successful solo career. He died in 1978. Archie Lewis was born in Jamaica in 1918 and came to Britain in 1942 to work in a munitions factory. He already had the a singing career in Jamaica and was soon working for ENSA in Britain. Here he met band leader Geraldo and he become one of his vocalists. He was very popular live and on record. His 1946 recording of While the Angulis were ringing sold over a million copies. He eventually returned to Jamaica, still performing live and on record. He died in 1988. I feel he really is a forgotten man in British poular music and an important part of the history of black artists on British entertainment. See a brief clip of him here: All these four artists were very much in the style of white vocalist of the time. In Hutch, Layton and Johnstone I'm thinking of Noel Coward. Archie Lewis was known as The Caribbean Crosby. Our only female artist here is Winifred Atwell. Trinidad born pianist. There really is nothing elite about her. She went straight for the popular and her Let's party records were No1 sellers. I prefer her boogie woogie. No need to tell you that much about Paul Robson and Josh White. Both men spent time, almost in exile in Britain, from their native US because of their political beliefs. We've played Carl Barriteau before. He emerged from Ken Snakehips Johnson's West Indian band and had a successful solo career. Joe Deniz was born in Wales, in the Tiger Bay docks area of Cardiff. He was one of three professional guitar playing brothers and was, of course, a main stay of Harry Parry's band. All these artist were pioneers in breaking down race barriers in British entertainment. Their work is mostly forgotten now or certainly under valued. Playlist: Hutch- The London I love, For all I care. Layton and Johnstone- Just an echo in the valley. Turner Layton- Question and Answer. Archie Lewis- In the land of begining again, The mission of the rose. Paul Robeson- Water Boy. Josh White- Hard time Blues. Winifred Atwell- Let's party part 1, Highland Boogie. Carl Barriteau( vocals Mae Cooper)- Primrose Hill, I'll get by(as long as I have you.) Harry Parry and his Radio Rhythm Club Sextet- Champagne. Joe Deniz on guitar. /episode/index/show/forgottensongs/id/24216246

FS90: Mac McClintock to Bob Wills, Billie Holliday & John Ashby 08/28/2022

FS.89: Lil McClintock to The Georgia Crackers and The Tune Wranglers 08/21/2022

FS88: Maurice Rocco to George Formby Snr and Ken 'Snakehips' Johnson. 08/14/2022

FS88: Maurice Rocco to George Formby Snr and Ken 'Snakehips' Johnson. We open with Maurice Rocco- Rocco's Booogie Woogie and Tonky blues. An Australian Pressing on Decca, 1940. Never released in Britain. Rocco played piano standing up. Way before Jerry lee Lewis. Succesful during the 40s his star began to wane in the 1950s. A great shame, as what a performer and composer he was. He was murdered in Thailand in 1976. Big Joe Turner(vocals) and Pete Johnson(piano)- Roll 'em Pete and Going away blues. Roll 'em Pete is regarded as one of the most important precursor songs to Rock and Roll. Albert Ammons, Meade Lux Lewis, Pete Johnson and Joe Turner- Cafe Society Rag. Meade Lux lewis- Whistling Blues. Wingie Carpenter, Trumpter, singer and bandleader- Put me back in the alley. Vocals by Mae Hopkins. Who was mae Hopkins? Nothing about her on the internet, other than cutting four sides for Decca with Mozelle France in 1940. Sam Price and his Texan Bluesicians- How 'bout that mess. Pianist who performed in numerous bands right up until the 1980s. Throughout the 1960s and 70s he was a civil rights campaigner and activist. An amazing man. Vic Filmer and his Murray Club Band- If you can't sing whistle(1931). Excellent advice in my case. Nice quality track on the Piccadilly label. Been waiting for a Ken 'Snakehips' Johnson and his West Indian Dance Band record to turn up for a while. Here we have Seventeen Candles and Last time I will fall in love. Johnson was an important figure in the history of black British music. Originally from British Guyana his West Indian band brought a real flavour of US style band music to Britain. Johnson was sadly killed in a bombing raid in 1941, he was playing at The Cafe Paris in London. Members of the band joined other British groups and influenced British jazz for years to come. Yorke Desouza, Dave Wilkins and Joe Deniz worked extensively with F.S favourite Harry Parry. We have a wee flavour of George Formby Senior from 1920. This is on an Ariel Grand Records disc. He died the year after this recording, aged 46. He was a huge music hall and recording star at the begining of the 20th century. Elements of his act may well have inspired Chaplin's tramp. His upbringing was incredibly harsh and impoverished. A strong contrast to the height of his career when he was earning £350 a week(£40k in 2022). He was reluctant to allow his son into show business and sent him away for jockey training. Didn't stop young George though. He went on to become an even greater star. We finish with Buddy's Blues from Buddy Featherstonehaugh and his Radio Rhythm Club and the Gerry Mulligan Quartet. Yeah I know he's hardly forgotten but when do you hear him played directly from a 78 record? /episode/index/show/forgottensongs/id/24046500

FS87: A breeze through Harry Parry and his band 08/07/2022

FS86: Jeri Southern to Connie Haines and Juthika Roy 07/30/2022

FS:85 Victor Theremin to Kay Starr, the Street Singer& Bill Haley 07/22/2022

FS:85 Victor Theremin to Kay Starr, the Street Singer& Bill Haley The fantastic voice of Kay Starr starts us off with: Rock and Roll Waltz(1954), Changing Partners(1954) and Wabash Cannon Ball(1948). The Three Kays with The Cuckoo. A popular English group in the 1950s. Cuckoo is probably a description of a lot of the rest of the content of the show. Albert Burdon with Albert before the means test(1931). I do quite like it. There are genuine gags and its quite subversive. The Street Singer with Trouble in paradise. Arthur Tracey was born Abba Avrom Tracovutsky in Ukraine in 1899. He originally used the name The Street Singer to avoid being banned from Vaudeville for appearing on the radio under his own name. Suzette Tarri performs The Boarding House. She was, what we'd call now, an observational comedian. Had a long career from the 1920s to 50s. Surely record of the week: Jack Hodges, the Raspberry King with Everything is fresh today. Eat more fruit he says, blowing raspberries! Thirteen Woman from Billy Haley. A sexiest dream. Who knew the dropping of an H bomb could be so positive. Bizarre. Victor Theremin was born Lev Therman in St Peterburgh in 1996 and was the inventor of the first commercially produced electronic instrument- The Theremin. He was also involved in espionage. Working with the notorious Soviet NKVD developing listening devices. The Theremin has been used in such films as Spellbound, The Day the Earth stood still and Hellboy. Next a 1916 version of Another little drink. Miss Louie Brooks, Jack Henty( the prolific Ernest Pike) and Charlie Collins. Charlie Collins was a songwriter of this era and earlier. Indeed it wrote some of the best known songs from the golden age of the British music halls- Dont dilly dally on the way, Boiled beef and carrots and Any old Iron? I can find no record of him performing though. Surely this is the same man? We finish with the Canadian born W V Robinson and Freaks of the mouth organ from 1926. Utter nonsense!! /episode/index/show/forgottensongs/id/23766296

FS84: Cowboy Jack to Yiddisha Cowboy via Roberto Inglez 07/08/2022

FS.83: Moondog to Bessie Smith and Eck Robertson 07/01/2022

FS82: Harry Parry and his Radio Rythmn Club Sextet 06/24/2022

FS 81 Milton Brown to Lottie Kimsbrough and Pine Top Smith 06/17/2022

FS 81 Milton Brown to Lottie Kimsbrough and Pine Top Smith Milton Brown and his Brownies- Down by the Ohio(1935) What an extraordinary voice Brown had. A pioneer of Western swing his career was tragically cut short when he died of injuries sustained in a car crash in 1936. Bob Skyles and the skyrockets- Swing it Mr drummer man(1938). Clifford kendrick on drums. Hoosiers Hot shots- Sentimental Gentleman from Georgia. Seemlessly moving into two tracks from the fabulously named Hell broke out in Georgia LP. First, more great names, Gid Tanner and his Skillet lickers- Don't you cry my honey(1930.) The Swamp rooters- Swamp cat rag(1936) They were led by fiddler Lowe Stokes, a member of the Skillet lickers. We stay with the fiddle but slow it down with The Leake County Revellers- Good night Waltz(1927.) East coast country blues is how the source LP describes the next two tracks. Lottie Kimsbrough and Winston Holmes- Lost Lover Blues(1928) A great track from lesser known artists. I've heard blues and yodelling before but never blues yodelling and birdsong. Fred McMullan and Ruth Mary Willis- Just can't stand it. Little known about these two. Both made a few recordings in the early 30s. McMullan died in the early 60s and was in prison at one point in his life. No further record of Willis's life. Just two examples of artists whose talents were recorded in the 1920s and 30s and then they just disappeared. Meade Lux Lewis- Honky Tonk Train Blues. Jimmy Yancy and Faber Smith- I received a letter. Pine Top Smith- Pine Tops's Boogie Woogie. The first time boogie woogie appears on a record label and is mentioned in a song. Pine Top Smith was a real pioneer who sadly died at the age of 25. A wee excerpt from a rather 'faded' 78rpm featuring a meeting between The Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers. The two pioneering acts of early country music. Then it's Jimmie solo, not yodelling, with I'm Lonesome too. Back to Britain. To listen to how the US influenced music here. Harry Torrani- Log Cabin Yodel (1932.) Slim Whitman rated Torrani as the best yodeller of all time. He certainly had a sweet spot voice. Incidentally yodelling was introduced in the US by a Swiss group who toured the whole country in the middle of the 19th century. Bob Mallin- Oh they're tough, mighty tough in the west. A very English delivered comic cowboy song from the late 30's. Lonnie Donegan is no stranger to Forgotten songs. Here he sings Don't let the sun go down on me. One of the many blues, folk and traditional songs from the US that he sang. He was a man who loved the very music we play here. We finish with Mugsy Spanier- Lonesome Road. A superb laid back, instrumental version of this popular song that was written in the style of an African American folk song by Nat Skillret and Gene Austin. /episode/index/show/forgottensongs/id/23396990

F.S 80. Cowboys and gals and folky blues 06/10/2022

F.S 79: We're back- Harry Wulson to Billie Anthony via strict tempo 03/18/2022

F.S 79: We're back- Harry Wulson to Billie Anthony via strict tempo We're back after a six month break. Less chat, more music this time round. We start with a very laid back Louis Armstrong and his version of Blueberry Hill. Billie Anthony was born Philomena McGeachie Levy in Glasgow in 1932. Here she sings her biggest hit, This Ole House. There were a few covers of this record in the British charts. Rosemary Clooney made no1 but Billie Anthony made no4. She had a great voice and it's surprising that her career had just petered out by 1960. Tony Martin stirs up passions with Kiss of Fire. He had a seven decade career and was married to Alice Faye and Cyd Charisse- but not at the same time! Strict tempo dance music next. Developed to standardise dance styles strict tempo bands never had a vocalist. I suppose it could be accused of being a little souless but in this section of records its comes over as chilled and relaxing. Two from the king of strict tempo Victor Silvester. A dancer himself he, along with Josephine Bradley, was a founder member of The Imperial Society of teachers of dance. Which I have to say does sound a tad pompous! Silvester sold 70 million records in his time. Check him out below. Its a fascinating read: Both Josephine Bradley and Henry Jasques were originally dancers. Indeed Jasques was British Ballroom champion from 1934 to 36. His 1944 book on ballroom is still a highly sort after work. Latvian born Oscar Rabin joins the strict tempo crew with Love is all. Jo Stafford had highly successful career over five decades. Opera trained her voice is very pure. She married the band leader Paul Weston and they produced alot of fine work together. They had a side project though: Jonathon and Darlene Edwards, a truly bad caberet act. Listen here, if you dare: Some more obscure artists next. Victor Olof with Tancuf, a Slovakian dance, Harry Wulson yodelling in 1929. He produced a few such records but I cannot find a biog of him. The Accordion Emsemble were probably a Zonophone house band, here they play Espana Valise recorded in 1920. Gene Austin was extremely well known in his time. One of the first crooners he was also a fine songwriter, When My Sugar Walks Down the Street and, Forgotten Songs favourite, The Lonesome Road are just two of his compositions. Here he sings- I've grown so lonesome thinking of you. PIano duo and co bandleaders Victor Arden and Phil Ohman give us Kiddie Kapers. That leads us perfectly to two records on 45rpm. First a track that was very popular in my 1960s and 70s childhood. Sparky's talking piano. It was actually recorded in 1947 with the child actor Henry Blair voicing Sparky. The rather creepy piano's voice was created by a Sonovox voice processor. Which makes the human voice sound, well, both robotic and musical. It was invented in 1939 and had an early notable demonstration by Lucille Ball in a Pathe newsreel. We dissolve seemlessly from that to Sacha Distel singing Ich bin ein spielman. Back to 78s with with Coleman Hawkins with Half step down please. Tito Burns and his Sextet play Sloppy Joe. Burns had a career as a musician, accordian and piano, and as an impresario and manager. He discovered Dusty Springfield, managed Cliff Richard and organised the European tours of Simon and Garfunkle. We close with Joe Daniels and Drumnastics. Hope you enjoy it. Its good to be back. /episode/index/show/forgottensongs/id/22353548

FS 78: Bob Skyles to Alma Cogan and some singing dogs. 09/17/2021

FS77: Tom Foy to Florrie Ford, David McCallum and Bing Crosby!! 09/10/2021

FS76: Fats Waller to Anita O'Day, Hutch and Phyllis Robins 09/03/2021

FS75: Billy Cotton to The Stargazers and Felix Mendelssohn 08/27/2021

FS74: Nick Lucas to Billie Anthony and Esther Walker. 08/20/2021

FS73: Teresa Brewer, Mary Ford to Wingie Malone & Fats Waller 08/13/2021

FS:72 Savoy Havana Band to Anne Stephenson and Kay Starr 08/06/2021

Forgotten songs from the broom cupboard.

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