For 2008:

Musical Kaleidoscope – Volume 2

1 Kaleidoscope (Dolf van der Linden)
DOLF VAN DER LINDEN AND HIS METROPOLE ORCHESTRA
2 Circus Polka (Garfield de Mortimer – real name Trevor Boswell, Young)
REG OWEN AND HIS ORCHESTRA
3 Bewitched (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart)
FELIX KING, HIS PIANO AND ORCHESTRA
4 Bobbysox Bounce (George Melachrino)
GEORGE MELACHRINO AND HIS ORCHESTRA
5 Shadow Of A Man (theme from the film) (Carr)
JACKIE BROWN AND HIS ORCHESTRA
6 Down The Solent – Overture (Felton Rapley)
NEW CENTURY ORCHESTRA Conducted by SIDNEY TORCH
7 The Broken Horseshoe (theme from the film) (Wilfred Burns)
WILFRED BURNS AND HIS ORCHESTRA
8 Sea Reivers (from "Two Hebridean Sea Poems") (Granville Bantock)
LONDON PROMENADE ORCHESTRA Conducted by WALTER COLLINS
9 Frenesi (Alberto Borras Dominguez, Leonard Whitcup)
DON FELIPE AND HIS CUBAN CABALLEROS (actually PHILIP GREEN)
10 Columbine (Leighton Lucas)
LEIGHTON LUCAS AND HIS ORCHESTRA
11 Oriental Dance (Granville Bantock)
LONDON PROMENADE ORCHESTRA Conducted by WALTER COLLINS
12 Saluting Base (Cecil Milner)
QUEEN’S HALL LIGHT ORCHESTRA Conducted by CHARLES WILLIAMS
13 Jay Walker (Maurice Grew)
STUTTGART RADIO ORCHESTRA Conducted by KURT REHFELD

Short and Sweet

14 Park Lane Serenade (Dolf van der Linden)
DOLF VAN DER LINDEN AND HIS ORCHESTRA
15 Ticker Tape (Sidney Torch)
TELECAST ORCHESTRA Conducted by ELLIOTT MAYES
16 Pioneer Trail (Charles Williams)
DANISH STATE RADIO ORCHESTRA Conducted by ROBERT FARNON
17 Intermission (Ronald Hanmer)
L’ORCHESTRE DEVEREAUX Conducted by GEORGES DEVEREAUX
18 Cigarette Girl (Len Stevens)
TELECAST ORCHESTRA Conducted by ELLIOTT MAYES

….…

19 Skiddles (Sherman Feller, arr. Robinson)
GEORGE LIBERACE AND HIS ORCHESTRA
20 A Pinch Of Salt (G. Powell)
RAY VENTURA AND HIS ORCHESTRA
21 Doreen (Andrew Ackers, Sunny Skylar)
MONTY KELLY AND HIS ORCHESTRA
22 Dagger Dance (Victor Herbert)
ALFONZO D’ARTEGA AND HIS ORCHESTRA
23 Pizzicato Tango (Perry)
ARTURO CHAITE AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Three Pieces from "Woodland Sketches" Op.51 (Edward Alexander MacDowell)
24 In Autumn
25 From Uncle Remus
26 By A Meadow Brook
CAMARATA AND HIS ORCHESTRA

Drama, Menace and Excitement

27 The Duel (Sidney Torch)
QUEEN’S HALL LIGHT ORCHESTRA Conducted by SIDNEY TORCH
28 The Four Horsemen (Ronald Hanmer)
HARMONIC ORCHESTRA Conducted by HANS MAY
29 Follow That Car (Charles Williams)
QUEEN’S HALL LIGHT ORCHESTRA Conducted by ROBERT FARNON
30 Inhumanity (Trevor Duncan, real name Leonard Trebilco)
NEW CONCERT ORCHESTRA Conducted by FREDERIC CURZON

Guild GLCD 5140

Many of the orchestras and conductors on these latest Guild CDs will already be familiar to readers of this magazine, so we will concentrate more on the lesser known musicians, some of them appearing for the first time in the ‘Golden Age of Light Music’ series.

Guild’s second ‘Musical Kaleidoscope’ (the first is on GLCD 5139 and full details appeared in our last issue) also begins with a tune called Kaleidoscope, this time composed and conducted by that famous Dutch maestro Dolf van der Linden (1915-1999). He was the major figure in the Netherlands popular music field from the 1940s until the 1980s, and became one of the most respected conductors of the European Light Music scene.

Reg Owen (born George Owen Smith, 1921-1978) took up the saxophone at fifteen, played in youth bands then completed his education at the Royal College of Music in London. Following RAF service, in which he played for the Bomber Command Band, he became arranger for the Ted Heath orchestra from 1945, then arranged for other conductors including Cyril Stapleton. When he joined the PRS in 1954 he decided to change his name legally to "Reginald Owen." Regarded as one of England's leading orchestrators, Reg published his book "The Reg Owen Arranging Method" in 1956. By some he is labelled a ‘one hit wonder’ thanks to his best-selling recording of Manhattan Spiritual in 1958. His own film scores date from 1957 and include "Murder Reported" (1958), "Very Important Person" (1961), "A Coming-Out Party" (1961) and "Payroll" (1962). He moved to Brussels in 1961, though he continued to arrange, compose and conduct albums all over Europe, including France, Germany and Italy before moving finally to Spain where he died in 1978.

Felix Ferdinand King (1912-1982) became popular in Britain following the Second World War due to his recordings, broadcasts and tenure with his orchestra at some of the leading West End clubs. His long career actually began in the early 1930s as a dance band pianist, including for a while the newly-formed Victor Silvester orchestra in 1935. King also composed for films and ventured into Europe until war service in the RAF brought his career to a temporary halt.

Many of the light orchestral composers and conductors of the post-war years cut their teeth in the dance bands of the 1930s, and some certainly knew how to swing. A prime example is George Melachrino (1909-1965), whose Bobbysox Bounce has been requested by several loyal collectors of this series. It is not strictly Light Music, but Guild is pleased to bend the rules on this occasion and offer it as a ‘special track’ in this varied selection of often rare pieces which, hopefully, has included something for everybody.

"Shadow of a Man" was a 1954 British film which failed to excite the critics, which may explain why it seems to have vanished almost without trace. Jackie Brown is credited with composing and conducting the incidental music, while the title theme was probably the work of Michael Carr (real name Maurice Cohen, 1904-1968) who wrote many popular songs, often in collaboration with Jimmy Kennedy (1902-1984). Jackie Brown was one of Britain’s leading cinema organists, equally at home on large theatre consoles as well as their small electronic counterparts performed by enthusiasts at home. His output as a composer was relatively sparse, although light music aficionados regard his Metropolis (on Guild GLCD 5102) as one of the finest pieces of its kind. He worked on around a dozen films, and was the unseen conductor who used to direct the Billy Cotton Band for its television shows while Bill himself performed on-screen. Jackie also became a household name in Britain thanks to his regular appearances on Hughie Green’s (1920-1997) "Double Your Money" TV quiz show.

Bernard Wilfred Harris, better known as ‘Wilfred Burns’ (1917-1990) was another prolific composer of mood music who remained a backroom-boy for much of his career, although his name was seen on screen in a number of films. As a teenager he was a church organist and in 1936 joined the Army as a bandsman in the 4^th Queens’ Own Hussars. He was posted abroad in November 1940 and captured in Greece the following April. Shrapnel wounds had destroyed his left eye, and damaged his hand and arm. He was a prisoner of war for two and half years, during which time he set up and ran a prisoners' band in which all the players had little or no sight, using instruments supplied by the Red Cross. After the Second World War ended he composed numerous pieces of mood music for various music publishers, and also worked at Elstree studios before eventually becoming a freelance film composer and musical director. His first of over twenty films was around 1949, with his final score in the 1970s. His best-known was probably the large screen version of the popular television series "Dad’s Army" in 1971. Leading London mood music publishers accepted more than 200 of his works for their libraries and he achieved possibly his greatest success when his piece Saturday Sports was chosen by BBC Television for its long-running "Sportsview" programme which began in 1954.

In response to several requests, Sir Granville Bantock (1868-1946), who was knighted in 1930, is represented by two contrasting works on this CD – Sea Reivers and Oriental Dance. He is said to have been influenced by the folk music of the Hebrides (off the coast of Scotland) and the music of Richard Wagner, and at one time his work was being compared with Elgar. In fact he succeeded Sir Edward Elgar as professor of music at the University of Birmingham in 1908. In recent years Bantock’s music has enjoyed a modest revival with new recordings of some of his major compositions, notably his Hebridean, Celtic and Pagan symphonies. He was instrumental in the founding of the City of Birmingham Orchestra whose first performance in 1920 was of his Overture: Saul.

Leighton Lucas (1903-1982) seems to have been at home in the realms of more serious music (especially ballet and opera) yet he also produced some pleasing light music and enjoyed success with scores for several prestigious films. In 1954 he wrote the incidental music for "The Dam Busters" (Eric Coates only contributed the famous march), and other projects included "Target for Tonight" (1941 – the theme is on Guild GLCD 5118), "The Yangtse Incident" (1957) and "Ice Cold in Alex" (1958). At one time the Leighton Lucas Orchestra was heard regularly on BBC Radio, and he made some mood music recordings for EMI’s short-lived recorded music library during the 1940s.

Edward Cecil Milner (1905-1989) was a respected backroom boy in London music circles, arranging for many top orchestras such as Mantovani, for whom he supplied over 200 scores. He was also an accomplished composer (he was being recognised while still in his twenties), with his works, such as Saluting Base for Chappells, willingly accepted by several background music publishers. It is particularly appropriate that this piece should be conducted by Charles Williams, since the two were closely associated from their days working on pre-war British films (another of Milner’s good friends from the same period was Clive Richardson). In the cinema he worked on some 50 films (often for Louis Levy) most notably the 1938 classic "The Lady Vanishes".

Some pieces of light music last only a little over a minute, but in those precious seconds many talented composers have managed to produce perfect cameos that have become memorable in their own way. Often they have been used as signature tunes helping to bury them even deeper into one’s musical subconscious, ready to be triggered at unexpected moments. Titles somehow seem irrelevant: it is the catchy passages and general ambience that is so appealing. Bowing to many requests, we have assembled a small group of such pieces under the heading ‘Short and Sweet’. Dolf van der Linden’s many fans in his native Netherlands will soon recognise Park Lane Serenade as his familiar theme, while British television viewers have heard Charles Williams’ Pioneer Trail for countless years in the annual BBC TV awards for the nation’s most popular sporting personalities. In the early days of commercial television in Britain there used to be advertising features (much like their cinema counterparts at the time) where companies could have their products shown in quick succession in vision only without a spoken soundtrack. The music used in the background in the London area while these messages were flashed on the screen was Cigarette Girl by Len Stevens. The other two pieces in this section will also be familiar to many through their repeated hearings for various purposes.

After the "Shorts" the spotlight firstly falls upon two orchestras new to this Guild series. George Liberace’s (1911-1983) claim to fame somewhat unfairly rests upon the fact that his brother ‘Lee’ (his real first names were Wladziu Valentino but he only used his surname professionally) was a flamboyant pianist who enjoyed considerable world-wide popularity especially in the 1950s. George worked with his brother as the backing band in his shows but in his later life he was more successful as a music publisher.

Frenchman Ray Ventura (1908-1979) was a multi-talented entertainer who, in addition to being an orchestra leader, also worked as an actor, producer, composer and writer. He was involved in numerous film productions particularly during the 1950s and 1960s.

Monty Kelly (1910-1971) was a trumpeter, arranger and bandleader who played with the Paul Whiteman and Skinnay Ennis bands before landing a job with NBC in New York. For a while he was a regular in the recording studios, and Cash Box magazine named him ‘most promising orchestra’ in 1953, but by then the era of popular instrumentals was starting to wane in the USA. His albums continued to do well, and they are still sought by light music fans.

Alfonso D’Artega (b. 1907) arrived in the USA from his native Mexico in 1918. Often merely known by his surname (spellings of his first name vary), he was a conductor, arranger and composer of wide and varied musical experience, and conducted orchestras for radio, television, transcriptions, recordings, concert stage and motion pictures.

Lack of space makes it impossible to mention every composer and conductor represented in this collection. However most of those not credited in these notes will have been profiled in previous Guild Light Music CDs.

Finally it seems that a significant number of music lovers occasionally appreciate listening to something a little more exciting and, at times, quite demanding. Since Guild Music launched "The Golden Age of Light Music" back in 2004 there has been a trickle of requests for dramatic mood music which, quite frankly, hasn’t fitted into the style of content in previous volumes. The trickle has almost become a steady stream, so the time has now come to bow to the wishes of some of our loyal followers. With composers such as Charles Williams, Ronald Hanmer, Sidney Torch, Trevor Duncan and other gifted writers active in this niche of the production music market, it would be churlish not to offer some occasional examples of their more melodramatic – and even horrific - moments. In science fiction films music has especially played an important role in establishing just the right mood, and in Britain the older generation still remembers the brilliant way in which it was used in the BBC’s vintage 1950s television series "Quatermass" (Inhumanity was the closing music for the first two "Quatermass" serials). If you prefer your music always to be melodic and tuneful you may wish to terminate this CD after track 26. For the courageous among you, prepare to be excited and shocked by the last four tracks!

David Ades

Globetrotting

1 Broad Horizon (Trevor Duncan real name Leonard Trebilco)
STUTTGART RADIO ORCHESTRA Conducted by KURT REHFELD
2 Lovers In Paris (Lou Logist)
RAY VENTURA AND HIS ORCHESTRA
3 Alpine Festival (Fred Hartley)
FRED HARTLEY AND HIS ORCHESTRA
4 Swiss Boy (Cedric Dumont)
CEDRIC DUMONT AND HIS ORCHESTRA
5 Music for the Nostalgic Traveller in Italy (arr. William Hill-Bowen)
THE MELACHRINO ORCHESTRA Conducted by GEORGE MELACHRINO
6 The Italian Theme (Angelo Giacomazzi)
ARTURO CHAITE AND HIS ORCHESTRA
7 Flamenco Love (Larry Wagner)
REG OWEN AND HIS ORCHESTRA
8 Portuguese Party (Gilbert Vinter)
STUTTGART RADIO ORCHESTRA Conducted by KURT REHFELD
9 Majorca (Midinette) (Gaste, Bonnett)
JOE LOSS AND HIS ORCHESTRA
10 In The Mystic Land Of Egypt (Albert William Ketèlbey)
NEW SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Conducted by STANFORD ROBINSON
11 Oriental Bazaar (Peter Yorke)
DANISH STATE RADIO ORCHESTRA Conducted by ROBERT FARNON
12 Madagascar (Richard Hayman)
RICHARD HAYMAN AND HIS ORCHESTRA
13 Tahiti Tango (Ray Martin)
JACKIE BROWN AND HIS ORCHESTRA
14 Indian Mail – Descriptive (Lamothe)
ORCHESTRE RAYMONDE
15 Chinese Serenade (Victor Herbert)
ROCHESTER POPS Conducted by MORTON GOULD
16 Cuban Love Song (Jimmy McHugh)
MONTY KELLY AND HIS ORCHESTRA
17 Mexican Hat Dance (Jarabe Tapatio) (Partichela, arr. Morton Gould)
MORTON GOULD AND HIS ORCHESTRA
18 Street In Manhattan (Frank De Vol)
FRANK DE VOL AND HIS ORCHESTRA
19 "Song Of Norway" – selection (Robert Wright, George Forrest – based on melodies by Grieg)
PALACE THEATRE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Conducted by GIDEON FAGAN
Three English Dances (Roger Quilter)
20 No. 1
21 No. 2
22 No. 3
NEW CONCERT ORCHESTRA Conducted by RAE JENKINS
23 Journey’s End (Jack Beaver)
NEW CENTURY ORCHESTRA Conducted by SIDNEY TORCH

Guild GLCD 5141

The popular song spoke of "Faraway places with strange sounding names", and it is a fact that many of the places mentioned in the music in this collection were just names to most people when the recordings were made in the middle years of the last century. Since then ‘Globetrotting’ has become a pastime for millions, and the music has taken on the additional role of providing pleasant memories of past visits, both near and far from home.

No longer do exotic locations appear out of reach to intrepid adventurers, so the opening track Broad Horizons seems an appropriate way to commence our journey. It is one of many works depicting the beauty of the great outdoors created by Leonard Trebilco (1924-2005), who composed most of his music under the pseudonym Trevor Duncan. ‘Treb’ (as he was known to his friends) contributed hundreds of pieces to background music libraries, and there are already many examples of his work in this Guild Light Music series, including the special tribute to him on GLCD5124 – ‘Hall of Fame’ Volume 2.

Fred Hartley (1905-1980) was a familiar name in British broadcasting for many years, having made his first appearance on the BBC as a solo pianist as early as 1925. He was then employed as an accompanist, and founded his famous Novelty Quintet in 1931. In 1946 he was appointed the BBC’s Head of Light Music

Cédric Dumont (1916-2007) was born in Hamburg, Germany, but during his long career he became known as "Mr. Music Man of Switzerland". Growing up in the 1930s he came into contact with Jack Hylton in England, and over in the USA he seems to have worked briefly with Teddy Wilson, Harry James and Benny Goodman. He settled in Switzerland at the outbreak of World War 2 and was soon broadcasting from the studios in Basel. His career touched the classics as well as jazz, but it was in the sphere of light music that he became known throughout Europe. British mood music libraries engaged him to conduct their works (often anonymously) when they were unable to record in Britain due to a Musicians’ Union ban, particularly during the 1950s.

William Hill-Bowen (1918-1964) was George Melachrino’s right-hand man in the years immediately following World War 2, often appearing on piano but, perhaps, more importantly as a brilliant arranger who managed to recreate his master’s famous style to perfection. Such an example is the charming selection of well-loved Italian melodies, which includes Funiculi Funicula (Denza), Santa Lucia (Cottrau), Tarantella (traditional), Catari Catari (Cardillo), Gondola Song (Vassini), Parlami d’Amore Mariu (Bixio) and La Danza (Rossini). Later Hill-Bowen was to receive due recognition for his talents, partly thanks to a series of LPs commissioned by RCA.

Gilbert Vinter (1909-1969) is mainly remembered in Britain as the conductor of the BBC Midland Light Orchestra when it was one of the foremost contributors of quality light music on the BBC. As a young man he played bassoon in the BBC Wireless Band and the London Philharmonic, and taught at the Royal Academy of Music. During World War II, he was a member of the Royal Air Force Central Band and later led several RAF bands. After the war, Vinter joined the BBC as a staff conductor and he also developed his skill as a composer. Many of his works were for brass band, and among his finest works is The Trumpets, which is scored for a large brass band, chorus, and bass soloist. Portuguese Party was a bright piece he wrote in 1956 for Inter-art Music Publishers when they launched their new production music library Impress. It was well-received, and enjoyed many broadcasts and eventually a commercial recording on HMV. The Guild Light Music CD "Musical Kaleidoscope – Volume 1" (GLCD 5139) includes Gilbert Vinter’s arrangement Music of the People – England played by the BBC Midland Light Orchestra under his baton in 1952. It is a clever work which incorporates some of the street cries of old London as well as traditional English airs.

It may seem strange to find the name of Joe (Joshua Alexander) Loss (1909-1990) on this CD, because most of his career was firmly built on the solid rock of dance music, at which he was supremely successful. But like many others who have tended to get ‘pigeon-holed’ simply because they have been so good at providing what their public wanted, there is always the urge to expand horizons. Maybe Joe Loss looked with envy at what his peers were doing with large light orchestras in the 1950s, which encouraged him to add strings to his fine band. The result is a pleasing arrangement of the popular melody Majorca which certainly did the image of that popular Mediterranean island no harm at all. Joe’s career stretches from the 1930s to the 1980s and such was the kudos attached to his name that he was able to operate several bands within his organisation to satisfy the many demands from society functions, including royalty.

Albert William Ketèlbey (1875-1959) was a highly successful composer, who earned the equivalent of millions of pounds during the peak of his popularity. Pieces such as In a Monastery Garden, In a Persian Market and In The Mystic Land Of Egypt (on this CD) brought him international fame, no doubt assisted by his enthusiastic participation in the rapidly growing business of producing gramophone records.

In the USA Frank De Vol (1911-1999) is known primarily as the composer for the radio and TV series "The Brady Bunch" (and later as an actor), but light music fans appreciate that his career has been far more substantial. It was not uncommon to see the credit ‘Music by De Vol’ on many films, and he started playing violin in cinema orchestras just as the silent films era was coming to an end. After touring with the Alvino Rey orchestra, in the 1940s he began a recording career, first as an arranger for vocalists Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennett, Doris Day, Vic Damone and Nat "King" Cole. His arrangement of "Nature Boy" sung by Nat "King" Cole became a number one hit in 1948. In the 1950s his own Hollywood orchestra, called "Music of the Century", played frequently at the Hollywood Palladium, and he worked on numerous motion picture scores.

Gideon Fagan (1904-1980) was born in Cape Town, South Africa, and studied music under Vaughan Williams at London’s Royal College of Music from 1922 to 1926. He worked in films and his conducting assignments included a spell with the BBC Northern Orchestra (now the BBC Philharmonic) from 1939 to 1942, and several West End shows. He contributed a few compositions to recorded music libraries, and his best-known work was probably Pastoral Montage (for Chappell) which the BBC used as the music accompanying its television interlude film of a windmill. Fagan returned to South Africa in 1949 and was appointed a music director of the South African Broadcasting Corporation in 1963, then lectured at Cape Town University from 1967 to 1973.

Roger Quilter (1877-1953) has been regarded essentially as a miniaturist, and it is for his songs (particularly his settings of poems by Shakespeare and Herrick) that he is and always will be chiefly remembered. His famous Children's Overture was featured on Guild GLCD 5125, and this time it is the turn of his Three English Dances which were orchestrated by Percy Fletcher (1879-1932) and received their première at London’s Queen’s Hall on 30 June 1910.

Jack Beaver (1900-1963) was another ‘backroom boy’ who provided many scores for the Louis Levy organisation – in total he was responsible for over 100 films and documentaries. He was also a very prolific contributor to several different production music libraries, and Journey’s End is one of the early pieces he wrote for the fledgling Francis, Day & Hunter mood music library, which was launched in the late 1940s.

David Ades

1950s Volume 5 - Sunny Side Up

1 Sunny Side Up (De Sylva, Brown, Henderson – arr. Robert Farnon)
ROBERT FARNON AND HIS ORCHESTRA
2 Las Vegas (Bert Kaempfert)
BERT KAEMPFERT AND HIS ORCHESTRA (‘BOB PARKER’ on record label)
3 Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom White (Luis Gugliemi, Jacques Larue, David Mack –
arr. John Gregory, real name Giovanni Gregori)
CYRIL ORNADEL AND HIS ORCHESTRA
4 Baffi (Nino Ravasini)
MONIA LITER AND HIS ORCHESTRA
5 Clown On The Eiffel Tower (Jacques Strop, Dany Michel)
FRANCK POURCEL AND HIS ORCHESTRA
6 My Friend Elizabeth (Robert Katscher)
RAY MARTIN AND HIS CONCERT ORCHESTRA
7 Toot Sweet (Ira Lee)
DAVID CARROLL AND HIS ORCHESTRA
8 Red Cloak (Ron Goodwin)
RON GOODWIN AND HIS CONCERT ORCHESTRA
9 Bumps-a-Daisy (George Siravo)
GEORGE SIRAVO AND HIS ORCHESTRA
10 The Telegraph Operator And The Chorus Girl (Bernie Wayne, real name Bernard Weitzner)
BERNIE WAYNE AND HIS ORCHESTRA
11 Pizzicato Waltz (Georges Boulanger)
GEORGE LIBERACE AND HIS ORCHESTRA
12 Easy On The Eyes (Marvin M. Wright)
GROSVENOR STUDIO ORCHESTRA
13 Vuelve (Noro Morales, arr. Laurie Johnson)
AMBROSE AND HIS ORCHESTRA WITH STRINGS Conducted by LAURIE
JOHNSON
14 Madame Pompadour (Jack Say, real name Jacques Ysaye)
ROBERT FRENCH AND HIS CONTINENTAL ORCHESTRA
15 Starlight (Angela Morley)
DANISH STATE RADIO ORCHESTRA Conducted by ROBERT FARNON
16 Party Dress (Tony Tamburello, arr. Bruce Campbell)
TELECAST ORCHESTRA Conducted by ELLIOTT MAYES
17 Mischievous Mac (Ronald Binge)
CRAWFORD LIGHT ORCHESTRA
18 Holiday On The Road (Peter (Gabriel Philippe) Pares, Roger Roger)
GROSVENOR STUDIO ORCHESTRA
19 Lido Fashion Parade (Len Stevens)
CRAWFORD LIGHT ORCHESTRA
20 Flat Spin (Cyril Watters)
LOUIS VOSS AND HIS ORCHESTRA
21 Fairy Coach (Ernest Tomlinson)
CRAWFORD LIGHT ORCHESTRA
22 Practical Joker (Van Phillips)
STUTTGART RADIO ORCHESTRA Conducted by KURT REHFELD
23 Bel Air (Frank Sterling, real name Dennis Berry)
DOLF VAN DER LINDEN AND HIS ORCHESTRA
London Transport Suite (Sidney Torch)
24 The Hansom Cab
25 Rosie The Red Omnibus
26 5.52 From Victorloo
DANISH STATE RADIO ORCHESTRA Conducted by ROBERT FARNON
27 My Last Love (Lewis, Cochrane)
GEOFF LOVE AND HIS CONCERT ORCHESTRA
28 Prairie Duster (Mahlon Merrick)
MAHLON MERRICK AND HIS ORCHESTRA
29 Orange (Nelson Riddle)
SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Conducted by FRANK SINATRA
30 Dance Of Fury (Nacio Herb Brown)
DAVID ROSE AND HIS ORCHESTRA

Guild GLCD 5142

The human brain is – quite simply – amazing. Described in one dictionary as being a "convoluted nervous tissue in (the) skull of vertebrates", it is capable of a seemingly endless stream of thoughts and actions, and older people will often claim that experiences from previous decades are still locked in, just waiting for something to release them once again. Music can often trigger memories previously believed to be long forgotten, and some of the tracks in this collection may well provoke a glow of recognition among those hearing them for the second time around.

This selection has been chosen with the aim of recalling the cheerful, bright and breezy style of music that – over fifty years later – our memories tell us seemed prevalent in the 1950s. Typically the entertainment profession at the time was trying to provide an antidote to the post-war misery and austerity that was still afflicting so many countries. Listening to these happy sounds one can be forgiven for forgetting that the early 1950s witnessed rationing and shortages of most luxury items, while the later years in the decade were overshadowed by the threat of global nuclear war. They were hardly the happiest of times to be alive, but you will find plenty of clues to suggest otherwise as you listen to this CD!

The title track Sunny Side Up sets the tone admirably, with a Robert Farnon (1917-2005) arrangement that was chosen as the play-out music for many of Kenneth Horne’s shows on the BBC Light Programme. Usually only the first few bars were heard by listeners at home, which was a pity because this is a fine example of the way in which a full concert orchestra can be made to swing like a dance band. Farnon had learned this technique during his period as conductor of the Canadian Band of the Allied Expeditionary Forces in World War Two, and it was to be the kind of orchestration that would add such a tremendous backing to Tony Bennett when the two of them worked together on radio, television, records and in the concert hall in later years.

Bert Kaempfert (who was born Berthold Heinrich Kämpfert, 1923-1980) became one of Germany’s most famous musicians on the international stage from the 1960s onwards. He could play the accordion, clarinet, piano and saxophone, but more importantly he was also a gifted composer and arranger. Working as a producer at Polydor in Hamburg he was ideally placed to promote his talents, but before his career really took off he was obliged to look after many of the label’s top singers. Under the pseudonym ‘Bob Parker’ he made several orchestral records of his own compositions, and Las Vegas revealed that he was the equal of many writers working in a similar fashion in Europe and the USA at that time. As his career progressed he tended to move away from light music and achieved considerable success with an easy listening style that inclined towards jazz and often relied upon a rhythmic beat described in Germany as ‘knackbass’ (crackling bass).

Johnny Gregory (born Giovanni Gregori in London, 1924) is best known as a prolific arranger and conductor who worked for various British labels including Philips where his contract lasted for over 20 years. He is also a composer and has written the music for some 27 films, scored over 500 compositions and made numerous records which span the broad scope from light music to Latin American and Oriental. In 1976 he received an Ivor Novello Award for Introduction and Air to a Stained Glass Window and is generally recognised as one of the best orchestral and string ensemble composer/arrangers. His greatest international fame came from his many recordings of Latin American music as ‘Chaquito’. In this collection he appears early in his career as the arranger of Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom White for an album featuring Cyril Ornadel and his Orchestra for World Record Club before it was taken over by EMI. When first launched, it offered a cheap alternative to the major labels, and kept its costs low by selling its LPs in standard plastic sleeves with no individual covers.

Cyril Ornadel (b. 1924) rose to prominence in Britain during the 1950s, largely due to his weekly appearances conducting the orchestra for the popular television series "Sunday Night at the London Palladium". He was MD for numerous top musicals in London’s West End, and his composing credits include the hit show "Pickwick" and the song Portrait of my Love which gave Matt Monro an international hit.

Franck Pourcel (1913-2000) was one of the leading light orchestra leaders in France, and thanks to his collaboration with Paul Mauriat (1925-2006) he became internationally famous with the song I Will Follow Him. Although some of Pourcel’s recordings can be categorised as light music (and Clown On The Eiffel Tower is certainly one example), he later tended to veer towards jazz and rock following the pattern of some of his contemporaries. With hindsight one can ask which kind of audience he was really trying to attract, but his career flourished (he is said to have recorded over 2,000 songs) and he was held in the highest esteem in his own country.

The Synchro-Fox mood music library issued its first British mood music 78s in 1957, and we feature two of the early ones. Easy On The Eyes is by Marvin M. Wright whose credits include cues for the American TV series "Felony Squad" (1966-1969). The other title from Synchro-Fox brings us a typical Roger Roger (1911-1995) composition Holiday On The Road (Peter Pares is credited as co-composer) which sounds like it may have been recorded in Roger’s own studio in Paris.

Cyril Watters (1907-1984) was highly respected within the music profession and, although from 1953 to 1961 he was chief arranger with Boosey & Hawkes, he often contributed to the recorded music libraries of many of the top London music publishers. One of his greatest successes was the wistful Willow Waltz (chosen as the theme for the television series "The World of Tim Frazer" in 1960) but he was equally at home with brighter, up-tempo numbers such as Flat Spin on this CD. For several years during the 1960s he guided The Light Music Society through a difficult period when broadcasters and record companies seemed to be turning their backs on the genre, but his quiet persuasion undoubtedly benefited many of his colleagues. He was a true gentleman, in every good sense of the word, and was widely admired by his friends and colleagues for his personal qualities, as well as his tuneful music.

Ernest Tomlinson (b.1924) is one of Britain’s most talented composers, working mainly in light music, but also highly regarded for his choral works and brass band pieces. During a very productive career, he has contributed numerous titles to the recorded music libraries of many different publishers, often under the pseudonym ‘Alan Perry’. One of his best-known numbers is Little Serenade, which he developed from a theme he wrote as incidental music for a BBC radio production "The Story of Cinderella" in 1955, and another piece from the same source is Fairy Coach on this CD. His suites of English Folk Dances have also become part of the standard light music repertoire. In recent years Ernest has worked hard to preserve thousands of music manuscripts that would otherwise have been destroyed, and he is the present Chairman of the Light Music Society.

The American Van Phillips (1905-1992) was a talented man whose achievements covered a wide variety of activities. He was brought to London by Carroll Gibbons (1903-1954) in 1925 to play saxophone in the Savoy Havana Band. A few years later he was a recording studio manager at Columbia Records, working with the bands of Jack Payne, Billy Cotton, Ambrose and Henry Hall. He also made 78s under his own name which were highly praised for their innovative arrangements and musicianship. His career soon involved West End shows ("Bow Bells" was his first musical show orchestration in 1931), and British films also used his skills – "Contraband" in 1934 was his first full score, to be followed by work for Richard Tauber and Jack Buchanan, among others. BBC broadcasts and a 39-week series for Radio Luxembourg further enhanced his public profile, and in the 1950s he composed the distinctive music for the landmark BBC Light Programme radio series "Journey Into Space". Phillips’ contribution to this CD is his composition Practical Joker, which he wrote for the newly-launched Impress Mood Music Library in 1956. Comments at the time pointed to the similarity with well known works by Robert Farnon and Angela Morley (when she was working as Wally Stott), but no doubt this was at the insistence of the label’s manager. Other works revealed his own particular style, which soon became recognisable to light music admirers. In later life his hobby of travel photography took over his life completely, and his 1966 "Traveller’s Book of Photography" sold over 150,000 copies. He remained active in this field until 1987, when he finally retired from his travels at the age of 82.

Mahlon LeGrande Merrick (1900-1969) began his musical career as a saxophone player, but eventually he concentrated on working in radio, films and especially television. He was associated with a number of popular television series notably "The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show" and "The Jack Benny Program", remaining the musical director for the popular comedian for thirty years. A versatile composer, a number of his works appear under the pseudonym ‘Gene LeGrande’, and his best-known piece Look Sharp Be Sharp - also known as the Gillette Look Sharp March (played by the Boston ‘Pops’ Orchestra) is on Guild GLCD 5135. Prairie Duster comes from an album called "Seven Winds" he recorded for the small US label Urania in the mid-1950s.

In the summer of 1956 Frank Sinatra (1915-1998) conducted an album of orchestral music to celebrate the opening of the new Capitol Records Tower in Hollywood, supposedly built to resemble a stack of records. Critics have observed that by this time Sinatra will have regarded that his comeback was secure, thanks to his best-selling albums and critically acclaimed films. Like many creative artists before him, he wanted to do something completely different, so he engaged a team of top composers and arrangers to create short works based on poems by his radio scriptwriter, Norman Sickel. The poems were all about different colours, so the album was appropriately called "Tone Poems Of Color". Capitol assembled around sixty Hollywood musicians for their star singer, who proceeded to make one of the most unusual recordings of his long career. The line-up included some of Sinatra's well known arranger/conductors such as Nelson Riddle, Billy May, and Gordon Jenkins, as well as iconic figures like Elmer Bernstein and Andre Previn. Photos taken at the sessions reveal that Nelson Riddle was on hand (at least part of the time) in case he was needed, but seemingly Sinatra managed to cope although the resulting LP was hardly among the top ten favourites of his loyal fans, and it remained out of the catalogues for many years. The piece selected this time is Orange by Nelson Riddle (1921-1985) who was a trombonist during his early career, which could explain why that particular instrument was featured in some of his most inventive arrangements for Frank Sinatra. Riddle’s scores also enhanced the recording careers of many top stars, from Nat ‘King’ Cole and Dean Martin to Judy Garland and Peggy Lee. He made a few instrumental albums on his own, but one is left with the impression that he could have achieved more in this area, had he not been so successful accompanying the finest singers around.

David Ades

Animal Antics

1 Dance Of The Little Pink Horse (Bernie Wayne, real name Bernard Weitzner)
BERNIE WAYNE AND HIS ORCHESTRA
2 The Waltzing Cat (Leroy Anderson)
LEROY ANDERSON AND HIS ‘POPS’ CONCERT ORCHESTRA
3 My Dog Has Fleas (David Rose)
VICTOR YOUNG AND HIS ORCHESTRA
4 The Donkey Serenade; introducing Sympathy (Rudolf Friml, arr. Sidney Torch)
SIDNEY TORCH AND HIS ORCHESTRA
5 Morning Canter (Arnold Steck, real name Leslie Statham)
DANISH STATE RADIO ORCHESTRA Conducted by ROBERT FARNON
6 Nightingale (George Rosner, Fred Wise, Xavier Cugat, arr. Percy Faith)
PERCY FAITH AND HIS ORCHESTRA
7 Fauns And Satyrs (Oliphant Chuckerbutty)
LOUIS VOSS AND HIS ORCHESTRA
8 Mosquitos’ Parade (Howard Whitney)
SIDNEY BOWMAN AND HIS ORCHESTRA
9 Dance Of The Three Blind Mice (Donald Thorne)
NEW CONCERT ORCHESTRA Conducted by JACK LEON
10 The Glow Worm (Paul Lincke)
NEW CONCERT ORCHESTRA Conducted by JAY WILBUR
11 Flamingo (Ed Anderson, Ted Grouya, arr. Richard Jones)
THE PITTSBURGH STRINGS Conducted by RICHARD JONES
12 Lambs In Clover (Jack Strachey)
L’ORCHESTRE DEVEREAUX Conducted by GEORGES DEVEREAUX
13 Meadow Lark (King Palmer)
DOLF VAN DER LINDEN AND HIS METROPOLE ORCHESTRA
14 Snake Charmer (Charles Williams)
DANISH STATE RADIO ORCHESTRA Conducted by ROBERT FARNON
15 I Hear A Thrush At Eventide (Charles Wakefield Cadman, arr. Cecil Milner)
NEW CONCERT ORCHESTRA Conducted by JAY WILBUR
16 Peacock Patrol (Peter Barrington, real name Felton Rapley)
NEW CONCERT ORCHESTRA Conducted by R. de PORTEN
17 Gilbert The Goose (Kermit Leslie & Walter Leslie real surnames Levinsky)
KERMIT LESLIE AND HIS ORCHESTRA
18 Pelican Parade (Dolf van der Linden)
DOLF VAN DER LINDEN AND HIS ORCHESTRA
19 Skylark (Hoagy Carmichael, arr. Ron Goodwin)
RON GOODWIN AND HIS CONCERT ORCHESTRA
20 Butterfly Fantasy (Eugene Ettore, arr. Mischa Michaeloff)
MISCHA MICHAELOFF AND HIS ORCHESTRA, Leader ALFRED SVERDLOFF
21 Chicken Reel (Leroy Anderson)
BOSTON POPS ORCHESTRA Conducted by ARTHUR FIEDLER
22 Bird Charmer (Robert Farnon)
DANISH STATE RADIO ORCHESTRA Conducted by ROBERT FARNON
23 Tiger Tango (Clyde Hamilton real name Cyril Stapleton, Robert Earley real name
Robert Frederick Standish – better known as Bob Sharples)
CYRIL STAPLETON AND HIS ORCHESTRA
24 Bullfrog On A Spree (Burton, George Liberace)
GEORGE LIBERACE AND HIS ORCHESTRA
25 March Of The Penguins (Norman Richardson)
THE RAF CENTRAL BAND Conducted by Squadron Leader A.E. SIMS
26 The Frolicsome Hare (H. Ashworth Hope)
LESLIE JEFFRIES AND HIS ORCHESTRA
27 Frogs’ Wedding (Karl Bell)
REGENT CLASSIC ORCHESTRA
28 Animal Antics (Colin Wark)
LONDON PALLADIUM ORCHESTRA

Guild GLCD 5143

Those who observe strict adherence to the formal rules of pedantry will be quick to point out that the title of this collection is misleading … and they are quite right! Not all the tracks refer to animals; there are birds and insects among the other creatures thrown in for good measure. A more accurate title would be ‘non-human antics’, but somehow that lacks the attractive alliteration of "Animal Antics". So please forgive us a small measure of indulgence, and accept our good intentions in allowing human composers to pay tribute to those creatures on our planet that are genetically different from us.

Our attractive opening number – Dance Of The Little Pink Horse - is yet another catchy novelty by the American Bernard Weitzner (1919-1993) who was known as Bernie Wayne. His career was riding high in the 1950s with tunes such as Vanessa, Port-au-Prince (on GLCD 5130), Veradero (GLCD 5111) and The Magic Touch (GLCD 5111). Two of his best-known numbers were songs: Blue Velvet which was a number-one hit single for Bobby Vinton, and (There She Is) Miss America sung by Bert Parks during the crowning moments of the Miss America beauty pageant.

Generations of musicians – both amateur and professional – will have automatically sung My Dog Has Fleas when tuning the four strings of the ukulele, banjo and variations of these once-popular instruments. Several composers have felt the urge to write tunes using the familiar quartet of notes, but surely the award for the most inventive must go to David Rose (1910-1990). Rather surprisingly he does not appear to have made an early commercial recording of this piece, but this is not really a disappointment since the version by Victor Young (1900-1956) is such fun.

Soorjo Alexander William Oliphant Chuckerbutty (1884-1960) was once described by fellow organist Quentin Maclean (1896-1962) as "the only organist I know who combines whole-time cinema work with whole-time church work and makes a job of both." He began playing piano at the age of six and was composing by the time he reached 14. In 1928 he recorded on organ with Hal Swain and his Band at the Café Royal, London, and continued to make 78s alongside his other duties as a church organist. Most of his compositions were for the organ, and few are heard today, apart from Paean (on Guild GMCD 7212 played by James Culp) which has entered the standard repertoire. Performing on the theatre organ he was known as ‘Wilson Oliphant’, and when writing about playing the organ he used the name S.W.Chuckerbutty. Fauns And Satyrs seems to be something of a rarity, although it is possible that he composed it as an organ work and, realising its potential, his regular publishers Bosworth decided to have it orchestrated for their mood music library. But what exactly are Fauns and Satyrs? Legend has it that they lived among the woods and hills and were he-creatures, like men, with the hind-legs of goats, short horns on their foreheads, and long pointed ears. But there was a difference between the Fauns and Satyrs. The Fauns were handsome, gentle, innocent, and rather foolish. The Satyrs were hideous, clumsy, hairy monsters, with flat faces, little eyes, and huge mouths, great gluttons, often drunk, and sometimes mischievous: most of them were dull and stupid, but many of them had plenty of sense and knowledge. How can one composer possibly encompass all of that within three minutes? Mr. Chuckerbutty did!

Donald James Dean Thorne (1901-1967) has not produced a large amount of light music, but he is remembered especially for one particular piece – Rippling Waters (on Guild GLCD 5112) which the BBC chose as the background music for their 1950s television interlude of angel fish in an aquarium. Donald Thorne spent his early musical career as a pianist for dances at the Savoy, Berkeley and Claridges hotels in London, as well as providing arrangements of popular tunes to leading bands such as Jack Hylton, Henry Hall, Jack Payne, Roy Fox, Debroy Somers and Carroll Gibbons. In 1934 he joined Granada Theatres at Tooting and Maidstone as a theatre organist, and thereafter spent much of his time at various venues on the circuit. Following war service he continued playing on electronic organs, one of his prestige bookings being aboard RMS Queen Mary. His other compositions (sometimes under the pseudonyms Eric Denville and August Leserve) include a suite "Lights of London", which is rarely heard, and he wrote a few pieces for military band.

Cedric King Palmer (1913-1999) was a prolific composer of mood music who contributed over 600 works during a period of 30 years to the recorded music libraries of several London publishers. He was able to adapt his writing to many different styles, and Meadow Lark finds him in a reflective, lyrical mood. To survive in the music business meant accepting many varied commissions, and King Palmer could turn his hand to making popular arrangements of the classics which he often conducted with his own orchestra on the BBC Light programme in the 1940s and 1950s. His many bright and tuneful pieces disguised the fact that he possessed a serious knowledge of music; at the age of 26 he completed a study of the work of Granville Bantock (1868-1946), and in 1944 Palmer wrote ‘Teach Yourself Music’ for the Hodder and Stoughton Home University Series which ran to several editions. He ceased composing mood music in the 1970s, and towards the end of his life he became a patient and popular piano teacher, with sometimes over 60 pupils on his books.

I Hear A Thrush At Eventide by the American composer Charles Wakefield Cadman (1881-1946) benefits from a beautifully sensitive arrangement by Edward Cecil Milner (1905-1989), a respected backroom boy in London music circles, arranging for many top orchestras such as Mantovani, for whom he supplied around 220 scores. He was also an accomplished composer in his own right (he was being recognised while still in his twenties), with his works willingly accepted by several background music publishers. Cadman is regarded as a truly American composer, supposedly unschooled in the European tradition which was usual for his contemporaries. He achieved early success with two songs, At Dawning and From The Land Of Sky-blue Water, but at various times it seems that he was prone to get involved in disagreements which may have hampered his career: in 1929 he was hired by Fox Studios in Hollywood to score several films for them, but became embroiled in a dispute with Dmitri Tiomkin, and subsequently left. After being virtually ignored during the second half of the last century, Cadman’s music is now gaining fresh interest in the USA, largely due to his life-long association with the Indianist Movement.

Among several very rare items in this collection is what appears to be the only 12" 78rpm record of light music ever released by the British Nixa label, before it grew into one of the larger independents towards the end of the 1950s when it also embraced the Pye and Polygon catalogues (the story of how Polygon became part of Nixa was told in the notes to GLCD 5130 – the 1950s Volume 4).

Eugene Ettore’s Butterfly Fantasy was given an imaginative orchestration by Mischa Michaeloff, who made its first British recording with his own orchestra. When the 78 was released in 1951, Nixa’s publicity stated: "it describes in sound-pictures the birth of a male butterfly and his first attempts at flight, which eventually land him on the ground with a resounding bump! Picking himself up, he espies a lovely lady butterfly and, after a series of tactics to attract her attention, finally succeeds and they fly away together." The other side of this 78, Serbian Sunset, appeared on GLCD 5118 – Buried Treasures. Mischa Michaeloff (researches suggest his family name may have been Michailoff-Sissermann) was musical adviser to Auguste Cranz, Johann Strauss publishers, during the 1930s and he also worked with the tenor Richard Tauber. In the early 1950s he conducted the Mischa Michaeloff Mazurka Orchestra on BBC Radio, and contributed to programmes such as "Music While You Work" and "Bright and Early". He recorded two albums "Wandering Gypsies" and "Strictly From Hungary" for RCA featuring his ‘Symphonic Gypsies’ and an LP of French tunes for Nixa.

Eugene Ettore, the composer of Butterfly Fantasy, is regarded as one of America’s outstanding Accordion Artistes of the last century. His father was a vaudevillian who gave his son a solid grounding in many aspects of music, revealing a passion for composing. During World War 2 he gained practical experience of a professional musician’s life in Military and Dance bands, and carried on the Italian tradition of father and son in the accordion world. He served three terms as President of the American Accordionists’ Association. Among his other popular compositions are Musette Polka, Bambi Samba and Spanish Holiday, and his works range from classical to boogie-woogie.

Bird Charmer was composed by Robert Farnon (1917-2005) with his son David in mind. The inspiration actually came from David’s mother Pat, who said that "he could charm the birds out of the trees!" This was not the first time that Farnon had dedicated one of his creations to his children: Playtime (on GLCD 5125) was written for another son, Paul.

On this occasion our title track actually closes the CD. It is also the oldest recording in this collection, having been released in 1931 with William Pethers conducting the London Palladium Orchestra. The sound gives a clue to the fact that electrical recordings were still relatively new (the first were issued in 1925) although it compares well with many others that were to follow later in the 1930s. Animal Antics was composed by Colin Wark (1896-1939) who seems to have had a varied musical career – for a while working with Puccini and other Italian composers transcribing their works for piano. According to his son David, Colin Wark was responsible for launching Pasquale Troise and his Mandoliers in the early 1930s.

David Ades