The Show Goes On

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The Show Goes On

1 The Show Goes On (Ivor Slaney)
HUDSON ORCHESTRA Conducted by WALTER WARREN (real name MEYER DE WOLFE)
2 Broadway Melody (Nacio Herb Brown)
FRANK CHACKSFIELD AND HIS ORCHESTRA
3 The Film Opens (Eleventh Hour Melody) (King Palmer)
LONDON PROMENADE ORCHESTRA Conducted by WALTER COLLINS
4 If I Had A Talking Picture Of You (Buddy De Sylva, Lew Brown, Ray Henderson, arr. Robert Farnon)
ROBERT FARNON AND HIS ORCHESTRA
5 News Theatre (Jack Beaver)
QUEEN’S HALL LIGHT ORCHESTRA Conducted by SIDNEY TORCH
6 Startime (Eric Rogers)
WINIFRED ATWELL, piano, with FRANK CHACKSFIELD AND HIS ORCHESTRA AND CHORUS
7 South Wales And West – Television March (Eric Coates)
ERIC COATES AND HIS ORCHESTRA
8 Television Playhouse (Len Stevens, full name Herbert Leonard Stevens)
THE CRAWFORD LIGHT ORCHESTRA
9 Picture Parade (Jack Beaver)
QUEEN’S HALL LIGHT ORCHESTRA Conducted by CHARLES WILLIAMS
10 Curtain Time (Bob Haymes)
ACQUAVIVA AND HIS ORCHESTRA
11 Stars In My Eyes (from "The King Steps Out") (Fritz Kreisler)
ANDRE KOSTELANETZ AND HIS ORCHESTRA
12 Up With The Curtain (Jack Strachey)
NEW CONCERT ORCHESTRA Conducted by FREDERICK CURZON
13 Back Stage (Harry Rabinowitz)
NEW CENTURY ORCHESTRA Conducted by ERICH BÖRSCHEL
14 Leading Lady (Edward White)
DOLF VAN DER LINDEN AND HIS ORCHESTRA
15 Top Of The Bill (Jack Strachey)
QUEEN’S HALL LIGHT ORCHESTRA Conducted by SIDNEY TORCH
16 Chorus Girl (Claud Vane, real name Rufus Isaacs)
WEST END CELEBRITY ORCHESTRA
17 The Man On The Flying Trapeze (Alfred Lee, George Leybourne)
GEORGE TZIPINE AND HIS ORCHESTRA
18 It’s In The Air – theme from the film (Harry Parr-Davies)
ROYAL AIR FORCE ORCHESTRA Conducted by Wing Commander R.P. O’DONNELL, MVO
19 Floor Show (Len Stevens, full name Herbert Leonard Stevens)
NEW CENTURY ORCHESTRA Conducted by ERICH BÖRSCHEL
20 Lap Of Luxury (Angela Morley)
TELECAST ORCHESTRA Conducted by ELLIOTT MAYES
21 Gay And Glamorous (Kenneth Essex, real name Rufus Isaacs)
DANISH STATE RADIO ORCHESTRA Conducted by ROBERT FARNON
22 A Star Is Born (Robert Farnon)
ROBERT FARNON AND HIS ORCHESTRA
23 ITMA Signature Tune (Michael North, arr. Ronald Hanmer)
BBC VARIETY ORCHESTRA, leader FRANK CANTELL, Conducted by CHARLES SHADWELL
24 The Spice Of Life (James Kennedy, Michael Carr, arr. Ronald Hanmer)
CHARLES SHADWELL AND HIS ORCHESTRA
25 Radio Romantic (Sidney Torch, real name Sidney Torchinsky)
QUEEN’S HALL LIGHT ORCHESTRA Conducted by SIDNEY TORCH
26 South Bank (Paul Fenoulhet)
STUTTGART RADIO ORCHESTRA Conducted by KURT REHFELD
27 Premiere (Trevor Duncan, real name Leonard CharlesTrebilco)
NEW CONCERT ORCHESTRA Conducted by JACK LEON
28 Melody Of The Stars (Peter Yorke)
PETER YORKE AND HIS CONCERT ORCHESTRA
29 There’s No Business Like Show Business (Irving Berlin, arr. Angela Morley)
WALLY STOTT AND HIS ORCHESTRA

GLCD 5149

The theatre is notorious for its superstitions. "Break a leg" … "the Scottish Play" and the avoidance of using mirrors and live flowers on-stage are probably some of the best known. Equally there is the saying "The Show must go on" when everything seems to be conspiring against such an event taking place!

In this collection the Show definitely does go on, with many talented Light Music composers doing their best to create a feeling of warmth, happiness and general well-being that is usually associated with the entertainment business. Thus we have a good selection of pieces descriptive of the theatre, alongside some diversions into the worlds of the cinema, radio and television.

The honour of opening this compilation goes to Ivor Slaney (1921-1998) who, as well as being an accomplished composer, was also a fine oboe player much in demand for concerts and recording sessions (he played on several Robert Farnon albums). He was born in Birmingham and received his musical education at London’s Royal College of Music. His compositions include Donkey Doodle (on Guild GLCD 5131), Georgian Rhumba (which his wife, pianist Dolores Ventura, recorded commercially), Brazilian Suite and an Oboe Concerto and Suite. He also worked on many film scores, and one of his most successful for the small screen was the Carlos Theme from the TV series "Sentimental Agent", which he recorded with his orchestra on an HMV 45. In the early 1960s he arranged and conducted (anonymously) some of the 101 Strings albums for the American Somerset (later Alshire) label which were issued in the UK as part of Pye’s ‘Golden Guinea’ series. One of his later TV projects was the children’s series "The Double Deckers".

The pinnacle of theatrical success is to perform in London’s West End or New York’s Broadway. Hollywood spent a decade chronicling the highs and lows of life on Broadway, and no one summed it up better than Nacio Herb Brown (1896-1964) when he wrote Broadway Melody for the 1929 film of the same name. Also that year the public first heard If I Had A Talking Picture Of You which cleverly exploited the excitement created by the arrival of the ‘talkies’. Three decades later Robert Farnon’s (1917-2005) arrangement injected the melody with a touch of romance which the more frenetic versions on its debut failed to capture.

Most of the music on this CD was specially written for the Recorded Music Libraries (now often known as Production Music) of the main London publishers. During the 1940s and 1950s there was a big surge in demand from the entertainment business for affordable music that was readily available in recorded form, without the cumbersome copyright restrictions that had been so troublesome. A number of composers excelled at being able to create a variety of moods, and even some writers normally associated with more serious works were tempted to get involved.

One might include Cedric King Palmer (1913-1999) in this category, because of his undoubted studious nature. He was a prolific composer of mood music who contributed more than 600 works over a period of 30 years to several London publishers. He was able to adapt his writing to many different styles, and The Film Opens became one of his best-known works, especially in the USA. It was chosen as the theme for a television series called "11th Hour Theater" so it became the Eleventh Hour Melody. A lyric was added by the American Carl Sigman, prompting commercial recordings and healthy US sheet music sales. 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 production 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.

TV 24-hour news channels are not unique – or even new. There was a time when many large towns and cities would possess news theatres, in which the latest newsreels and short features would be screened continuously, thus allowing folks with spare time on their hands the opportunity to pass the odd hour or so catching up on world events. Railway stations were ideal locations, and Chappells asked Jack Beaver (1900-1963) to write the kind of theme that was appearing so frequently in newsreels of the period. News Theatre is a fine example of his ability to capture a chosen mood to absolute perfection although his Picture Parade (which was the signature tune for an early BBC Television series of the same name) will be more familiar to the public. His sons described Beaver as a workaholic, who would dash between engagements in various parts of the country, often completing scores for theatrical productions during long train journeys en route. He also worked on well over 100 films and documentaries but, like many of his contemporaries at that time, his name did not always appear on the credits.

When commercial television was launched in Britain in September 1955 one of its early successes was "Sunday Night At The London Palladium". It appeared regularly from 1955 to 1967, then reappeared for a season in 1973/74. The theme Startime was composed by Eric Rogers (1921-1981), who was musical director at the London Palladium at the time. As his career developed he tended to concentrate on films, initially as conductor (several early "Carry Ons" and the first James Bond film "Dr No") then he also wrote the music, most notably "Carry On Cabby" (1963) and "Carry On Matron" (1972). He emigrated to the USA in 1975, where he became in demand for films and television series.

As commercial television gradually spread across Britain, each of the individual companies decided to follow the original example set by the BBC, and use a march to signal the commencement of broadcasting (back in the 1950s the advent of 24-hour television was still decades away in the future). Eric Coates (1886-1957) composed the Television March for the BBC; for the commercial company ATV he wrote Sound And Vision and when the South Wales and West region approached him he resurrected a former piece Seven Seas (originally composed in 1937) and renamed it after the TV station.

Len Stevens(d. 1989 - his full name was Herbert Leonard Stevens) was a prolific composer, contributing mood music to several different libraries, with a style that his admirers quickly grew to recognise. Like so many of the talented musicians employed in the business, he could turn his hand to any kind of music that was needed, and he was also involved in the musical theatre. His publishers, Josef Weinberger, would have been keen to get his work accepted for television (where the royalties were far more generous than radio), hence their decision to choose the title Television Playhouse.

The radio segment commences with Robert Farnon’s A Star Is Born which used to introduce the star guest towards the end of the BBC’s "In Town Tonight" during the later years of its long run. One of the popular features in Tommy Handley’s ITMA show (ITMA stood for "It’s That Man Again" – the opening words of the signature tune by Michael North) was a musical interlude in which arrangers would be invited to contribute their own ideas on a well-known tune. Often these were folk songs or nursery rhymes, but Ronald Hanmer (1917-1994) decided that he ought to honour the programme itself, hence his ingenious musical portrait of the show’s own famous song. He was a prolific composer and arranger whose proud boast was that he had worked in the music business since the day he left school. Many of his comic creations enlivened the BBC’s wartime ITMA broadcasts (his arrangement of Ten Green Bottles is on Guild GLCD 5102), and eventually over 700 of his compositions were published in various background music libraries. His film scores include Made in Heaven (1952), Penny Princess (1952) and Top of the Form (1953). He was also in demand as an orchestrator of well-known works for Amateur Societies, and the brass band world was very familiar with his scores – sometimes used as test pieces. In 1975 he emigrated to Australia, where he was delighted to discover that his melody Pastorale was famous throughout the land as the theme for the long-running radio serial Blue Hills. In Britain his best-known theme was the signature tune for BBC radio’s The Adventures of P.C. 49; the music came from a Francis, Day & Hunter Mood Music 78 simply called Changing Moods.

Charles Shadwell (1898-1979) conducted the BBC Variety Orchestra in the ITMA broadcasts, which made him a minor celebrity due to regular quips with Tommy Handley. He had a recording contract with HMV, and The Spice of Life was familiar as the signature tune of "Music Hall".

During the 1940s Paul Fenoulhet (1906-1979) directed the Skyrockets service band. He became a well-known conductor in Britain thanks to his appointments heading various BBC light orchestras, for whom he scored numerous arrangements. He also composed some light pieces, including a concert suite "Suffolk Sketches". On this CD he is represented by South Bank, which is his portrait of an area on the south bank of the River Thames which was establishing itself as an important centre for the arts, following the 1951 Festival of Britain which saw the construction of the Royal Festival Hall. In essence it is a clever arrangement of the old nursery rhyme London Bridge Is Falling Down.

Other treats include the ebullient Curtain Time by Bob Haymes (1922-1989), screen actor and younger brother of the famous singer Dick Haymes. His biggest songwriting success was That’s All recorded by Frank Sinatra in 1962. Mention must be made of the superb Andre Kostelanetz (1901-1980) version of Fritz Kreisler’s Stars In My Eyes. And the two tracks featuring the genius of Angela Morley (b. 1924): her own sultry composition Lap Of Luxury, and our closing track There’s No Business Like Show Business which she arranged and conducted for the Philips label when she was working as ‘Wally Stott’.

Jack Strachey (1894-1972) composed many fine numbers with a true show business feel, and we feature two – Up With The Curtain and Top Of The Bill. His place in popular music’s hall of fame has been assured as the composer of These Foolish Things, and in the world of light music he is known especially for In Party Mood (the signature tune of "Housewives’ Choice" – the original recording is on Guild GLCD 5120) and Theatreland, which is offered on Guild in two versions by Jay Wilbur (GLCD 5102) and Harry Fryer (GLCD 5137).

The one film theme is "It’s In The Air" which movie buffs will recognise as one of George Formby’s many morale-boosting comedies from the war years. Appropriately our version is a now rare 78 featuring the Royal Air Force Orchestra.

The remaining composers this time were all also brilliant arrangers, and most of them were well-known conductors. South African Harry Rabinowitz (b. 1916) came to England in 1946 and was appointed conductor of the BBC Revue Orchestra in 1953. He became better known to the public through BBC radio and TV entertainment shows like 'Hancock's Half Hour' and was Head of Music for London Weekend Television in 1970s. He also conducted for West End musicals and film scores.

Edward White (1910-1994) enjoyed considerable acclaim with his Runaway Rocking Horse when it emerged as one of the most popular pieces of light music in the immediate post-war years – the version by the Orchestre Raymonde can be heard on Guild GLCD5102. But he was to achieve even greater success a few years later with Puffin’ Billy, thanks to its use in Britain as the signature tune of "Children’s Favourites", and as the theme for "Captain Kangaroo" in the USA.

Sidney Torch (1908-1990) was one of Britain’s finest theatre organists during the 1930s but after war service in the Royal Air Force he concentrated entirely on composing, arranging and conducting light music. Previous Guild CDs have included some of his catchy compositions (composed especially for the Chappell Recorded Music Library), and from the 1950s to the 1970s he was a familiar name in Britain thanks to his association with the radio programme "Friday Night Is Music Night".

Claud Vane and Kenneth Essex hide the true identity of Rufus Isaacs, who also used other pseudonyms such as Derek Dwyer and Howitt Hale. His many short works often had a ‘show business’ or holiday feel.

Peter Yorke (1902-1966) worked with many leading British bands during his formative years, some of the most notable being Percival Mackey, Jack Hylton and Henry Hall. In 1936 he began a fruitful collaboration as chief arranger with Louis Levy, one of the pioneers of music for British films, who employed several talented writers such as Clive Richardson, Charles Williams and Jack Beaver, but seldom gave them any credit on-screen. Later on Peter Yorke conducted one of Britain’s most popular broadcasting and recording orchestras from the 1940s until the 1960s.

Leonard Trebilco (1924-2005) adopted the pseudonym ‘Trevor Duncan’, to avoid a conflict of interest while he was working at the BBC. His first big success had been High Heels, but this was soon followed by a string of other catchy instrumentals. Premiere on this CD is one of his early works, before he became well-known through pieces such as The Girl From Corsica.

Which just leaves Georges Samuel Tzipine (1907-1987) to remind us that the circus is definitely a part of show business. From the mid-1920s he was musical director of France’s Gaumont Newsreel for which he composed a vast amount of varied background music to suit all kinds of documentary moods and themes. There are also references to him being commissioned to record various cues for use in American TV series during the 1950s.

To return to our opening theme, how could anyone want a fellow performer to "break a leg" during their performance? Is it the kind of thing an ambitious understudy would say to a big star? Not necessarily. One of several explanations is that it simply means that they hope the show will go so well resulting in many curtain calls. Still confused? In theatres the curtains, or ‘tabs’, are also known as ‘legs’. In older theatres they had to be cranked up and down by hand, and the machinery was known to fail on occasions. So in theatrical folk lore "break a leg" can mean that repeated rising and lowering of the curtains in response to an enthusiastic audience could result in the ‘leg’ breaking down. Another way of ‘breaking a leg’ is to bend the knee, in other words take a bow.

Avoiding mirrors and flowers on stage is simply common sense, rather than superstition. The bright lights could reflect in a mirror, blinding someone in the audience, and the heat generated by the lights would probably cause most blooms to wilt before the end of the performance.

Which leaves us with the ‘Scottish play’ – Shakespeare’s "Hamlet". Saying the ‘H’ word in the theatre is supposed to bring bad luck, possibly because it is generally the most-performed of all Shakespeare’s works, and contains three fights giving plenty of scope for accidents. Probably it is no more dangerous for actors than any other production, but that would spoil a much-loved theatrical legend!

David Ades

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