Foreword
So off we go on the last official journey of this blog reviewing the fabulous WORLD OF series of LP records. I say 'official' - these are the last words that I wrote before deciding that I had written enough. Well, if anybody out there has followed my 'every' word, you will have read something like 135,000 of 'em! Still, there might be a handful more to follow as I do a bit of a recce and find stuff that is missing or new stuff which I feel you all should know. We'll see ...
... so I see someone has left The Coast Express (above) lying around so how's about we climb aboard for this migration south of the page. If you look out of the windows en route you will maybe notice a couple of Stage Musicals early on. For those of you still awake, there are a grin and a laugh on offer as we scythe through the middle of a bunch of comedians of yesteryear - sure, the stories and songs will sound a little dated but this whole expedition from Post One has been one of nostalgia - we don't have to hanker for the time of Benny Hill and Marty Feldman ... but heck! we can if we like. Anyway, continuing our sojourn, we bump into the likes of John Betjeman as we move through a gaggle of of bards and laureates all rounded up in a section of Spoken Word records, then, if you thought that the train was going a bit fast you'll begin to see why. It was simply craving the company of all of the other trains that feature on the 15 LPs of Steam Engine sounds towards the end of our adventure. Then, find out how this section leads seamlessly into one on the stars of today's show, our various opinions permitting ... Ladies and gentlemen, I give you ... Leeeoootenant Pigeon! OK everyone, settle down, settle down ... Ladies ... PLEASE! Control yourselves!
Ahem, now before all of that ... this ...
STAGE SHOWS OH, WHAT A LOVELY WAR This stage musical was brought to fruition by Charles Chilton along with Director Joan Littlewood and BBC man, Gerry Raffles. Chilton joined the BBC when he was 15 years of age and he stayed with the corporation for 46 years, after which, he retired. Lofty news journal the Sunday Telegraph reckoned that Charles was the only genius the BBC ever had. Amongst his many activities over the years, he produced some of The Goon Show episodes, so there you go – destined to be linked with the wonderful world of WORLD OFs even if not for THE WORLD OF WORLD WAR ONE: OH, WHAT A LOVELY WAR (SPA 27). Along with so many others, he was linked to the war long before this, however, as he lost his father to it before he was born. It was Joan
Littlewood who came up with the basic plot after Gerry Raffles, who had heard songs of the First World War on the radio whilst at the BBC, presented the idea of a stage show. It was agreed that the songs as sung for the original programme were a little too polished whereas what was now required was a more realistic sound reminiscent of the trenches, mud and bombs. It was also decided to avoid direct references to the war so that the show, whilst sympathetic to the war and those who fought it, would be a little surreal and detached from it. So, instead of khaki uniforms on stage, the male performers would be dressed as Pierrots, the clown characters in white suits with black bobbles, which were popular at the time. The back cover of the LP lists the Pierrots and there are some names there that you might remember if you are of a certain age: Victor Spinetti, George Sewell, Brian Murphy and others. It’s easy to imagine the singers on stage being drowned out by the audience suffused with boisterous patriotism bellowing back at the stage such songs as ‘Hold your Hand Out Naughty Boy’, ‘Pack up Your Troubles’ and ‘Keep the Home Fires Burning’. Fantastic!
OLIVER The original cast recording of THE WORLD OF OLIVER! (SPA 30) also has songs you’ll know well. As well as on the theatre stage, ‘Food Glorious Food’, ‘Consider Yourself’
and ‘You’ve Got to Pick a Pocket or Two’ were all played frequently on the radio back in the day. Of course, the show was adapted from the Charles Dickens novel, Oliver Twist, and charts the life of the titular hero who, as a young lad, tries his luck in smoky London but falls foul of his first employer, Mr Bumble, and, fleeing from the workhouse, runs into the Artful Dodger and thence to the lair of pickpockets overseen by Fagin. It’s a tough life but all works out in the end. It is the music of Lionel Bart that brings the show to life and Bart’s songs crop up occasionally throughout the WORLD OF collection; songs such as ‘Fings Ain’t Wot They Used T ’Be’ THE WORLD OF MAX BYGRAVES (SPA 9) on which, Max also sings ‘Consider Yourself’. Bygraves also has ‘Down the Lane’ on THE WORLD OF MAX BYGRAVES VOL. 2 (SPA 198). ‘As Long as He Needs Me’ by Georgia Brown on GOLDEN DECCADE 1960-1 (SPA 477) is also a Bart song and he has co-writing credits for three tunes on THE WORLD OF TOMMY STEELE (SPA 24) and also three on THE WORLD OF TOMMY STEELE VOL. 2 (SPA 137). I daresay that there are quite a number dotted here and there but it goes beyond the scope of this blog (not to mention my patience) to check for more.
COMEDY MARTY FELDMAN A budding jazz trumpeter turned comedian, Marty Feldman was known as much for his appearance as his work. Whilst still at school, he developed an overactive thyroid which, in Marty’s case, was caused by Graves’ disease, an autoimmune condition. The most obvious symptom is the bulging of the eyes but this was made worse by accidental over-dosage of the treatment drugs. Feldman ended up with not only bulging eyes but one eyeball was rotated to the side leaving the pupils pointing in different directions. Great for a comedic lifestyle but rubbish if you want uncomplicated eyesight.
THE CRAZY WORLD OF MARTY FELDMAN (SPA 134) was previously issued, track for track, as Decca album I Feel a Song Going Off. So, rather than sketches from his many shows, this is an album of songs during which, Feldman makes no attempt to disguise the fact that he has absolutely no singing voice and, of course, this is largely the appeal of this LP. He experiments with an eclectic combination of musical styles such as a waltz in ‘Waltzing With You’ and ‘The Five to Eleven Waltz’; the cockney knees up of ‘The Elephant Song’ and ‘Ilford Town Hall’. There is even a French
accordion tune for ‘La Sauce’ and a George Formby-type ukulele song in ‘There’s a Little Part of Me’. For one song, however, it is difficult to decide on a style – ‘Kensington High Street’ is only 13 seconds long!
With most of the songs being quite short anyway, there was space for 24 tracks. This, according to musical director Denis King, introduced a kind of insurance as if the listener didn’t enjoy one song, there wasn’t long to wait for the next one. My own favourite, in case anybody cares, is ‘The Great Bell. It features Marty singing the main part and a chorus replying with completely inappropriate fol diddle di doh-type answers. Here’s a brief example of what makes me laugh: Feldman: In an old village called Churdling-cum-Strando Chorus: Whack, whack, go kick a neighbour Feldman: They did have a church with a steeple so grand-o Chorus: Fol diddle diddle di doh I hate my old mum Wait! That doesn’t mean that I condone the kicking of neighbours (not all of them,
anyway) and I love my old Mum. It’s just that … Oh, go listen to the song … … Anyway, I’m not alone in my thinking. This track was chosen to head the compilation LP, THE WORLD OF BRITISH COMEDY (PA 39). On this record, the second track is supplied by Frankie Howerd, his only contribution to the WORLD OF series. Spike Milligan features in four tracks whilst the remaining six are contributed by The Goons, for whom Spike Milligan makes a fifth appearance, Benny Hill, Kenneth Williams, Paddy Roberts, Tony Hancock and Pete & Dud. Let’s take them in turn.
THE GOONS The Goons were Spike Milligan, Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe and, in the first two series of the radio show, Michael Bentine. THE WORLD OF BRITISH COMEDY (PA 39) contains ‘Eeh! Ah! Oh! Ooh!’ whilst THE WORLD OF HITS VOL. 7 (SPA 360) and THE WORLD OF ROCK ‘N’ FUN (SPA-R 483) has ‘The Ying Tong Song’. ‘The Ying Tong Song’, with ‘I’m Walking Backwards to Christmas’ on the flip, made Top Ten in the UK charts and can be found etched on the edifice that is THE WORLD OF THE GOONS (SPA 569) and there is no excuse for not joining in on the chorus of ‘The Ying Tong Song’ – there are lots of ‘ying tongs’ and several ‘diddle I pos’ so there you go.
Anyway, radically different comedy show, The Goons came to life on the BBC radio as a bunch of dopey characters including gullible fool, Neddie Seagoon (Secombe), idiot, Eccles (Milligan) and boy-scout, Bluebottle (Sellers). It wasn’t until the fourth series of The Goon Show that the well-known rambling style of one storyline per show became established. Up until then, shows consisted of a variety show-type format of short sketches with music spots though the now familiar characters were cropping up right from the start. When it was announced that the ninth series
was to be the last, many disappointed fans organised a petition aimed at keeping the show going. It worked sufficiently for a tenth run but this really was the last. Now, in keeping with the ethos of the show, Australian fans made plans to celebrate the Goon song, ‘I’m Walking Backwards to Christmas’ by, you’ll not be surprised to learn, walking backwards … through the town of Woy Woy. Naturally, the council had to step in in order to save life and limb, insisting upon modifications to the planned festivities. All was not lost, though. The revellers were allowed to carry out the walk but had to walk forwards … wearing their clothes backwards!
BENNY HILL Benny Hill included many songs on his television programmes but all of the tracks of THE WORLD OF BENNY HILL (PA 116) are spoken pieces. Now, it’s all a matter of opinion, of course, but Hill didn’t consider his original name, Alfred Hawthorne Hill, to have that comedic ring about it. Personally, I think it does but it’s a bit late now. He built a very successful career in comedy using Benny, the surname of his favourite comedian, Jack. Naturally, the sketches on the LP sound a little dated but as an archive of the types of humour prevalent in the 1970s, these records are invaluable. Much of Benny Hill’s laughs are triggered by double entendre and innuendo, a style which may not be appreciated in the 21st century as much as the more innocent
preceding one. I would say that these tracks are reminiscent of a time gone by rather than being particularly funny today but one sketch has caught the attention of the East Grinstead Online website. They seem quite proud to announce that Benny Hill pipped pop band Blur in the race to mention their town on record but, whereas they appear to be able to be able to glean information on the indie band’s 2015 song, ‘Lonesome Street’ they were stuck, at time of writing, for information on the track on our WORLD OF star’s LP, ‘Warlords of East Grinstead’. They even provide their email address for anyone to send in any intelligence on the ‘song’. Anyway, this track is dialogue from a sketch off of his TV show rather than a song like ‘Ernie ...’. It is a four character piece largely comprising conversation between a mother and son in medieval times, in which the son talks of his plans to win the hand of a princess in a joust. Naturally he does so whilst issuing the usual Benny Hill-type innuendo and smut and the punch-line is that he is having trouble removing his suit of armour whilst looking forward to the honeymoon activities and asks his valet for a tin-opener. He is then advised that tin-openers won’t be invented for half a millennium or so, so when the impatient princess asks how long he is going to be, the ‘warlord’ answers, ‘About 500 years!’ Cue laughter etc. The thing about this sketch, though, is that it seems to have no connection with East Grinstead and I don’t think the splendid town is even mentioned!
A little curio concerning this mono LP is that the Australian version can be found on the stereo blue DECCA label. KENNETH WILLIAMS Having starred in 26 of the 31 Carry On films, Kenneth Williams would have been a popular comedy performer for those of a particular age. He also worked with fellow
WORLD OF artistes such as Tony Hancock and Peter Cook. In fact, seven of the 12 tracks on THE WORLD OF KENNETH WILLIAMS (SPA 64) came from the unconventional mind of Cook. These include ‘Not an Asp’, ‘Hand up Your Sticks’ and ‘One Leg Too Few’, the latter being performed often on stage by Cook and erstwhile partner, Dudley Moore. Whilst Peter Cook is a maestro when performing these pieces in his monotonal, EL Wisty character, Kenneth Williams adds his own eccentricity to the parts and should be listened to. One hurdle some may have to climb over is the nasal delivery but give this LP a chance. Try ‘Hand Up Your Sticks’ where Williams plays a naïve, bungling robber. I can’t imagine Cook playing it any better and it was this track that made it onto THE WORLD OF BRITISH COMEDY.
PETE & DUD On the other hand, nobody could have played Pete & Dud better than Peter Cook and Dudley Moore as evidenced on THE WORLD OF PETE & DUD (PA 311). Dialogue between the two seemed always open to ad-libbing and it was clear that they enjoyed each other’s performances, Moore, in particular, often unable to keep a straight face
on stage or screen. The highlight for me is the opening track ‘Art Gallery’ which finds the two comics in their familiar characters as simply two blokes having a chat and I feel that this is their strength; their main selling point as, though simple in concept, was and maybe still is, fairly unique in comedic presentation. Imagine just sidling up close and pretending to admire a nearby painting whilst earwigging the debate of the two comedic magicians on the subject of art. ‘Father and Son’ sees something of a reversal of the usual roles. Cook would normally have taken the adult role with Moore playing the younger part. Here we have Dud as the father, though, in keeping with their more normal roles, the less intellectual of the two, with Pete the more worldly-wise son. This may not be the best track (allowing for personal opinion, as ever) but is the one chosen to feature on the British Comedy LP.
TONY HANCOCK THE WORLD OF TONY HANCOCK (PA 417) features a special guest star that Kenneth Williams would have been very familiar with – Sidney James. The LP comprises ‘The Missing Page’ on Side 1 and ‘The Reunion Party’ on the other. The first story relates how Hancock has taken up reading and chooses a murder mystery but finds that the
mystery cannot be solved as the last page is missing. Hancock turns detective himself and decides to hunt down the previous reader and quiz him about the page. It turns out that it was missing before even he took out the book from the library. He then tracked down the home of the author to ask him directly but found that he had
recently passed away. Finally, he found a definitive copy of the book at the British Library which revealed that the author died before being able to complete the book. Disgruntled, Hancock vowed never to read another book and took up listening to records instead. His best mate, Sid James, brought him one to listen to – Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony! Laughs all round. The end. This was all played out with Tony Hancock displaying his trademark grumpiness which also infiltrated his real life. He established an impressive portfolio of radio and television work as well as appearances on the stage but still he was plagued by a sense of self-doubt which was revealed during a frank 1960 BBC interview during which he was asked deep,
searching questions. This coincided roughly with an attempt to improve his act by ditching long-term colleagues such as comedian Sid James and writers Galton and Simpson. In 1967, after an indifferent few years, alcoholism wrecked his liver and a year or so later he committed suicide by barbiturate overdose.
Just to avoid ending this bit on a downer, here is a collectors' nugget - the Australian version of the record can be found on the DECCA DRUM label in which case the above icon is located on the front cover beneath the 'The' of the LP title.
FRANKIE HOWERD Francis Alick Howerd was a comedian with a penchant for the meandering story punctuated with abrupt pauses along with admonishing looks and exclamations towards the audience (or camera) who had, or was perceived to have had, the temerity to ‘titter’ in response to Howerd’s camp and gossipy innuendo. He also had a mind to become a serious actor but failed the necessary audition, though he did become an established comic actor. He appeared in several big-screen films, the first one being The Runaway Bus, a success written specifically for him, along with such as Carry on Doctor and the film version of TV show, Up Pompeii! and its off-shoots like Up the Chastity Belt. It was his television work that Frankie Howerd became known for, particularly Up Pompeii! but he also played Mean Mr Mustard in the big-budget but major musical flop, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Frankie Howerd died, after something like 60 years in show business, the day before fellow WORLD OF star, Benny Hill. Howerd makes just one appearance in our collection with a story called ‘Ten Guinea Cruise’ on THE WORLD OF BRITISH COMEDY (PA 39).
THE GOODIES The Goodies, (goodie-goodie-yum-yum) were a comedy trio known mainly for their slapstick work on television though they found themselves in the upper echelons of the UK charts five times; none of them on Decca so none of them on THE WORLD OF THE GOODIES (SPA 416). The first tune released shortly before Christmas 1974 was ‘The Inbetweenies/Father Christmas Do Not Touch Me’ which got to No. 7 but their biggie was ‘The Funky Gibbon/Sick Man Blues’ which managed No. 4. The Funky Gibbon was a dance that the Goodies were hoping would be the latest craze but even though the song lyrics promise that they would show us how to do it, I can’t remember anything other than hanging the right arm in the air whilst scratching the left armpit with the other. More a gibbonist masquerade than a dance. Predictably, it never caught on. Now, if you think that this is your bag, man, try ‘Stuff that Gibbon’ on our record where you can enjoy visiting physical abuse upon your monkey pal. You can slap him, trample on his toes and swing him by the tail. All seems a bit harsh to me. So, who were these non-appreciators of the lordly gibbon? Bill Oddie is the one on whom you’d have thought the gibbon could have pinned his hopes of a bright future. Oddie is a bird enthusiast and general admirer of the world’s wildlife, having presented many programmes for the BBC’s Natural History Unit. He was a regular presenter on programmes such as Springwatch as well as Autumnwatch and cropped up on his own ornithological shows. Bill first burst into the public consciousness as a guest with his future Goodie mates on educational cum comedy kids’ show, Broaden your Mind, on which he was soon to be a regular part of the team. As a writer of comedy, including songs, for stage, radio and television, he was perfect for the madcap antics soon to be rendering the more childish of us helpless. Tim Brooke-Taylor’s comedy career began whilst at Cambridge University but became known on BBC radio on shows such as I’m Sorry, I’ll Read that Again and was soon taking part in similarly satirical TV shows but it was The Goodies that attracted his biggest audience. Graeme Garden completed the trio after bumping into Brooke-Taylor on I’m Sorry, I’ll Read that Again and spin-off I’m Sorry, I Haven’t a Clue. After becoming a Goodie, he contributed to the seven successful series that the three of them led us willing followers through. I still have harrowing flashbacks involving gibbon issues but I’m moving on with professional help. Let’s finish up with a note on some of the faceless musicians you may know of who selflessly backed up The Goodies. Well who do we have here? On drums, oft-mentioned in this tome, Clem Cattini (The Tornados, Terry Dene, Billy Fury, Lulu, Marianne Faithfull plus very many others); on bass, Chris Spedding; on lead guitar, Gary Boyle and on alto sax, Pete Zorn amongst many others.
PADDY ROBERTS John Godfrey Owen Roberts, known as Paddy … naturally … was born in South Africa but lived most of his life in England. He composed whimsically, witty ditties with lyrics which, in the 1950s and 60s were considered a little risqué. Outrageous stuff like the one about a scout cub getting blotto in the grotto with a brownie (‘Follow Me’ on THE WORLD OF PADDY ROBERTS (SPA 37). Paddy actually won four songwriting Ivor
Novello Awards, one for the first track of this LP, ‘The Ballad of Bethnal Green’. It is frankly difficult to see how. I quote from theivors.com website: The Ivors celebrate, honour and reward excellence in songwriting and composing … and represent the pinnacle of musical achievement and peer recognition in the music industry. So, Paddy Roberts’ Ballad was awarded in 1959. Members of the WORLD OF team also with big hits in 1959 are Chris Barber, The Beverley Sisters, Tommy Steele, Anthony Newley, Joan Regan and Winifred Atwell so there was plenty of choice. Ah well, credit where it’s due. I suppose it’s a case of personal opinions, again. ‘The Ballad of Bethnal Green’ got the thumbs up from the good people of Decca as well because it found its way onto THE WORLD OF BRITISH COMEDY. Give the song a listen. You decide.
JOAN TURNER Belfast born Joan Turner was known as an operatic comedienne though she could just as easily sing pop and pretty much anything in between as evidenced by her many impersonations of singers and actresses such as Judy Garland and Bette Davis.
As well as singing, she would do stand-up comedy but as with so many professional funny people over the years, there was a dark side which saw her tumble from grace amid alcoholism and gambling. Comedy, as someone once said, is a serious business. Joan Turner was blessed with a four and a half octave soprano voice and was keen to use it. At 14 years of age, having previously won a scholarship to attend the Sacred Heart Convent in London’s Victoria, Catholic Joan determined that she wanted to run away to the theatre and this she did, featuring in music hall a few months later. From here on for several years, Turner went from strength to strength hosting her own radio show as well as acting on the television (Auntie Lou in Brookside) and the stage. She also toured the UK and America with her show, Joan Turner Unlimited. THE WORLD OF JOAN TURNER (SPA 135) shows off her vocal versatility with a mix of classical opera and song, easy listening hits and show tunes.
BERNARD MANNING Well, I’ve put this piece under Comedy but you didn’t really think that Decca would release/unleash an LP of Bernard Manning telling jokes did you? Ordinarily pleasant off the telly, he was known by most as a foul-mouthed comedian on it. In fact, he was obliged to tone his act down when he was being beamed into our front rooms. He said that he didn’t enjoy television work because it was difficult to modify his act in order to placate more gentle viewers without diminishing its effect. Mind you, it was the
telly, in the shape of Granada TV’s Comedians, that gave him, and others like him, the stage to kick start his comedic career. Telling funny stories wasn’t his first choice of professional past-time, however. After leaving school, he attracted attention whilst singing in talent contests but a temporary stop was put to that when he went into the Army to complete his conscription. Following this, he assisted his father in his grocery business but getting up at 4am to fetch the day’s produce from the market didn’t fit neatly into Bernard’s ambitious plans. Nope, it was sing or bust for Mrs Manning’s little boy. He sought out work in the local clubs and was soon performing on the bigger stages. His entrée into professional comedy came when he became a club compere, singing songs and telling stories in intervals. Later, he took on the refurbishment of a tired billiard club and soon had it up and running and earning fine profits. Anyway, we are ahead of the business of the day – and that is THE SINGING WORLD OF BERNARD MANNING (SPA 498) which is dated 1972 when Manning was about 42, long after his singing period. The back cover notes tell us that Johnny Hamp, Head of Light Entertainment at Granada, asked Manning to sing ‘Silent Night’ on the Comedians at Christmas and Decca’s Dick Rowe just happened to be on hand to present a recording contract for signing. There are two versions of this record on Decca. As well as SPA 498, with the same cover image, we also have Bernard Manning Sings 16 Favourite Songs which was put out in 1972 as well. The record presents a massive 16 songs, most of which persons of a certain age would recognise such as, ‘Make Believe’, ‘It’s Impossible’ and ‘So Deep is the Night (Tristesse).
SPOKEN WORDS JOHN BETJEMAN John Betjeman was Poet Laureate which, in theory at least, meant that he had a lifetime appointment as an Officer of the Royal Household and was thus expected to produce a poem or two for royal or important national occasions. He held this position from 1972 until his death in 1984. As well as being a poem-meister, he is also described as a writer and broadcaster. One of his many other jobs of work was with the Ministry of Information during the Second World War with responsibility for advising the Government on the use of film as a means of disseminating propaganda.
He also contributed voice-overs for some of the films and worked here for approximately a year until the end of 1940. The British Ambassador stationed in Dublin requested that Betjeman be posted there in order to soften up the Irish as they were neutral in the war but potentially useful allies. The IRA got to hear of John Betjeman’s exploits and worried that he was a spy, plotted to kill him. Luckily for our man, the IRA’s Head of Intelligence enjoyed the poet’s poetry and was inclined to reckon that someone who could produce such wonderful words could not possibly be a dangerous secret agent. He was a little wide of the mark there as Sean O’Betjeman, as well as being a funny man, was also an excellent spy but that, as they say, is another story. Anyway, this man liked the poem, ‘Slough’. It grieved Betjeman that the town of Slough was becoming more and more industrialised and this upset his appreciation of fine architecture and form. He pleaded, ‘Come friendly bombs and fall on Slough’ in order to destroy it along with those who stand to profit from it all and then, ‘To get it ready for the plough’ and build a more pleasant land from scratch. Well, don’t hold your breath kindred spirits, this piece was written in 1937 and it hasn’t happened yet!
As well as his regular poems, Betjeman wrote an autobiography in verse called Summoned by Bells. Extracts from this feature on THE WORLD OF JOHN BETJEMAN (PA 339); The Dawn of Guilt tells about the time that JB realised that he liked poetry more than his father’s beloved trade; the manufacture of inlaid boxes, onyx ashtrays
and cocktail cabinets amongst other similar things. In Childhood in Cornwall and Adolescence in Cornwall he covers his early years in the Duchy when the family went on summer holidays. Another story relates how it amused Mrs B’s little boy to visit people in hospital and one who received him was a twelve year old lad suffering from cancer. As well as entertaining him at the bedside, Betjeman wrote him letters and one of these featured a sentence that reads the same backwards as it does in the conventional direction. LIVE DIRT UP A SIDETRACK CARTED IS A PUTRID EVIL. Clever? Maybe. But it would have been more clever if it made sense! Still, what cares this blog about sense?
Betjeman was invited onto Roy Plomley’s Desert Island Discs radio show to choose the records he would like to have in the event of being marooned on a deserted island. It was normal for guests to select 8 pieces of music but, not being very musical, he could only come up with two; Bach’s ‘Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring’ and ‘Der Freischutz' by Weber. However, since the title of the show was Desert Island DISCS, he was able to augment his selection list with records of the bells of Thaxted Church in Essex along with sound effects of the countryside and railways.
THE 1971 LIONS IN NEW ZEALAND Since 1904, the British and Irish Lions Rugby Union team have played test matches in New Zealand 12 times but the trip in 1971 was (and, at time of writing, still is) the only time that the Lions won the spoils. Mind you, things were pretty tight in 2017 when the two teams drew. The tour previous to the 1971 trip was in 1966 when the Brits were blackwashed by the All Blacks 4-0. You might think, therefore, that the New
Zealanders would have been confident but, as can be discovered on RUGBY HIGHLIGHTS: 1971 LIONS IN NEW ZEALAND (SPA 208) the first match went to the Lions 9-3. With Bob Irvine’s live-at-the-time commentary and Ron Findlay’s narrative filling in the gaps, listeners will learn that normal service was resumed in the next game when the British and Irish were decisively beaten 22-12. The All Blacks managed to score just one try and were comfortably beaten 13-3 in the third match which meant that The Lions had only to draw the final match to win their first ever test series in the land of the kiwi, which was just as well because that’s what happened. A win would have been more satisfying ultimately and less nail-biting during the game but it went to a 14-all draw.
The New Zealand Herald compared Kiwi radio commentator Bob (Robert Samuel John) Irvine’s style with that of his predecessor, Winston McCarthy in a way that WORLD OF fans might appreciate; McCarthy’s delivery apparently resembled the ‘raw vigour mixture of a show-biz brass band’ whilst Irvine had the ‘style, control and harmony of a superior symphony orchestra’1. Listen for yourself. SPA 208 has snippets of commentary of all four games in the Test series.
THE LORD’S TAVERNERS AT THE MANSION HOUSE It was decided to record, for posterity, the speeches which decorated the proceedings of the 21st anniversary dinner of the Lord’s Taverners under the title, THE LORD’S TAVERNERS AT THE MANSION HOUSE (PA 232) which took place on Tuesday July 6th 1971. The original plan was to simply archive the tape, you know, just in case … but the result was ‘so incredibly entertaining’, to quote the record’s back cover, that a commercial outlet was considered. Monies raised were donated to the National
Playing Fields Association, the charity supported by the Tavs. The Lord’s Taverners was a group of male actors and artists with a passion for cricket along with cricketers who had a thing for the arts. Since its inception, the Lords, being an all-male club, invited the new Prime Ministers to join them. Now, to any other perceived faults that our first lady Prime Minister, Baroness Thatcher, may have had, can be added the conundrum which she set the Taverners. It was a tricky one but the old boys decided to perform open-heart sacrilege – in 1980, Mrs Thatcher was invited to be the first Lady Taverner. To this day, the Lady Taverners have been standing up alongside the Lords making money for youth cricket and disabled youngsters with a view to providing opportunities of an interactive life playing the game; experiencing the emotional ups and downs of winning and losing and, very importantly, making friends. Good on ‘em, I say. The end of the LP back cover writty states that there was a hope to repeat the recording stunt and that PA 232 would be the first of many such records making money for the charity but I don’t remember seeing too many on the shelves in record shops recently. It’s not exactly rock ‘n’ roll, is it? Still, this one LP gets some notables onto the WORLD OF roster; HRH The Duke of Edinburgh (Prince Philip) for one and, for another, Goon Harry Secombe.
STEAM RAILWAY RECORDS
Now, don’t tell me you’ve never wondered what a steam passenger train leaving Bromsgrove at the foot of the Lickey Incline sounds like. No, well, me neither. But, we don’t need to waste time wondering because this and such as the noise emitted by choo choos at Princes Risborough on the last day of passenger services on the Watlington branch line in 1957 and a journey between Totnes and Plymouth can all be found on THE WORLD OF STEAM (SPA/A/103), THE WORLD OF RAILWAYS: CHANGING TRAINS (SPA 438) and THE WORLD OF RAILWAYS: GWR (SPA 440) respectively.
There are 15 LPs in the WORLD OF RAILWAYS sub-series plus three WORLD OF STEAM. All feature sounds of steam trains exclusively except THE WORLD OF STEAM VOLUME 3 (SPA 337). Whilst this record does contain train noises, it also incorporates
steam traction engines, agricultural engines (which I take to be machines somewhere in style and size between traction engines and tractors), various other engines such as showman’s and ploughing engines along with steam-driven roundabouts; all descriptively introduced on the back covers with pictorial phrases bringing to mind rhythmic brake pump thumps and screaming wagon wheel flanges. Also featuring a paddle steamer on Lake Lucerne in Switzerland, this record is great fun, especially for
those listeners of an age and tendency for nostalgia. The first volume (SPA-A 103 on the back cover, SPA/A/103 on the record label) and THE WORLD OF STEAM VOLUME
2 (SPA/A/211) describes various steam train engines running through the countryside of Britain and other countries around the world. These discs crop up either on the Argo or Argo Transacord label (a coming together of Argo and Transacord Ltd and being a subsidiary of the mighty DECCA) and all appear to be available on the usual
blue stereo colour with a silver rectangle with blue ‘argo’ though one of mine, the earlier one (SPA/A/103), has a large silver ellipse containing a blue ‘argo’.
The WORLD OF RAILWAYS albums include: STEAM
LOCOMOTION – RAIL 150 (SPA 439) which celebrates the 150th anniversary of the Stockton to Darlington railway, GWR (SPA 440) that is Great Western Railways, CHANGING TRAINS (438), GREAT CENTRAL (SPA 461) i.e. Great Central Railways, SOUTHERN STEAM (SPA 462) which is Southern Railways, LMS (SPA 463) which stands for London, Midland and Scottish Railways, VAPEUR EN FRANCE: STEAM ‘LOCOMOTIVES’ IN FRANCE (SPA 499), L.N.E.R. (SPA 506) that is London And North Eastern Railways, THIS IS
YORK (SPA 529), A DOUBLE HEAD OF STEAM (SPA 530) where two engines are used
at the front of the train usually in order to provide extra power or speed or to provide
insurance in the event that one or other engine is not 100% trustworthy, CASTLE AND
KINGS (SPA 557) which are GWR Castle class and King class locos, PACIFIC POWER
(SPA 563) which demonstrates power supplied by a class of steam loco with a 4-6-2
wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, six driving wheels on three
axles and two trailing wheels on one axle which, for some reason, was known as Pacific type, TRAINS IN TROUBLE (SPA 564), MIDLAND AND NORTH WESTERN (SPA 572) and finally, STEAM IN SCOTLAND (SPA 579).
Nigel Fletcher and Rob Woodward are a couple of nearly men in the world of WORLD OFs. Both are train enthusiasts and had the fine idea to record diesel train sounds. Not such a daft idea as in 1974, when their plans were hatching, these sorts of LPs were clearly quite popular as we have seen. Up until then, though, most records of train sounds were of steam trains so there would seem to have been a gap in the market for diesel sounds. Nigel and Rob approached Decca subsidiary Argo on which label previous train sound records were released and though their idea was largely poo pooed, they were given a chance to deliver an LP as a one-off to see how things went. Well, the boys produced an album called Westerns and incredibly, it turned out to be Argo’s best seller of 1975. Two subsequent releases failed to reach these heady heights but were apparently successful enough for Argo to ask for a couple more. Unfortunately, Fletch and Woody were a bit too busy with other ventures to oblige. You see, DECCA had assigned SPA 414 and planned for its release but pulled it at the last minute without saying why. Why am I telling you this?
Well, amongst several other projects, one of drummer Nigel and pianist Rob’s other concerns, involving guitarist Steve Johnson and Hilda, Rob’s mum on second piano, was a novelty band called Lieutenant Pigeon. It is with much chagrin that the boys are usually associated with just one of the many tunes put out by this fine group. True, it is their biggest hit but after producing so much work in this and other bands, it must be galling to be considered a one-hit wonder. Oh well, here goes (sorry guys) the tune is Mouldy Old Dough, DECCA's last ever No.1 hit. A fine plinky plonk stomp with a rasping titular refrain. It was to have been the LP opener but you’ll not hear it on The WORLD OF LIEUTENANT PIGEON I’m afraid but I have a little treat for you. A while back, I contacted Nigel on the subject of the record that never was and he kindly, after a long and friendly email conversation, provided a scanned image of what seems to be the only copy of the planned LP cover for the record. He explained that he’d left the cover in the sun and so apologised for the faded appearance of it but I was very pleased to see it no matter what shape it was in; a real authentic rock artefact. I stored it away for just this moment of unveiling but ... couldn't help thinking that the condition of the image could be a little improved. I troubled Nigel once more to ask about a new version and he engaged Lieutenant Pigeon Chief Executive, Bill Boswell who provided the lovely copy which is here for your amusement below:
And anyway, you can hear Mouldy Old Dough on The WORLD OF Hits Vol. 7 (SPA 360).
But wait. There’s more. Early in 2021, a year or so after completing the writing of this very chapter and a good few months after the publication of it as the final blog post, there came, from out of nowhere, Mr Tim Harley, with, the latest word on the LP that is known by the catalogue number, SPA 414.
Tim, a member of that fine body, the Collectors of Decca’s WORLD OFs, stumbled across The Cozooks of Brixham whilst searching for a source for replacements of a couple of WORLD OFs that he had in his collection but had become water-damaged during a house move. Serendipity moves in mysterious ways!
So, we engaged in a bit of friendly messaging and the conversation turned, as it sometimes does, to Lieutenant Pigeon with the casual revelation to the effect that, ‘ I think that now would be a suitable occasion to reveal that I have a test pressing pink label of SPA 414!’ and by way of taunting proof, this announcement was accompanied by the image below:
I think that now would be a suitable occasion to let Tim take up the story:
Once upon a time, a young man bought a copy of Decca’s World of Wowie Zowie when it was first issued.
When I was at college in Cheltenham in the 1970s I noticed that I was the only person not selling my records to make money. I was actually increasing the number of records I had and was not wasting money on booze, fags and marijuana. A collector was born!
I noticed that most second-hand record shops had a few World ofs for sale so, in the1990s, I thought,
“What a good idea it would be to collect the complete series. There can only be a couple of hundred. There are plenty around and they are only a pound each. No problem!!!
I bought a notebook and started listing them whilst trawling record and charity shops. Surely, I am not going to have to buy nearly 600!
Then there was the unissued SPA414.
I do not recall how this copy came to my attention or even which year it was in. My guess would the that it popped up as one of my eBay saved search alerts around 2010. I paid £100 plus. The seller was someone called Dave Ashby from Bury St Edmunds.
Inside the sleeve was the note dated 7/11/07 to Dave from Rock Revelations in Surrey (see below).
Also, inside was a print-out of this web-page from a Lieutenant Pigeon news site
(http://www.ranwell.co.uk/lt_pigeon/2007_news.htm, which is still live,
an excerpt from which is also below).
… and here, as promised, an excerpt from Mr Bill Boswell’s piece:
Regular correspondent Dave Ashby of Bury St Edmunds has unearthed a gem. A copy of "The World of Lieutenant Pigeon" has turned up after all these years. He's managed to purchase said rare item and has been good enough to scan and send us pictures of the sleeve. The boys say they only received a test pressing of the album off Decca back in the mid 1970s, and were not even aware that front and back sleeve designs had been completed. They were given the catalogue number SKA 5226 at the time but then the record was deleted, before even the release date. Dave's copy of the back sleeve clearly shows the catalogue number SPA 414. This confirms that the number the boys were given by Decca all those years ago was false. Has anyone else got a copy of this very rare LP? The emergence of this copy is akin to someone finding a 1933 penny as far as we're concerned!
… and just for completeness:
Thank you very, very much to my new friend, Tim Harley!
And guess who holds this gem, now?
As of 1st July 2021, it resides in the Groover's Lounge! How? Well, all the way from Morecambe in Lancashire, drove Tim, partly to meet up with family and friends en route and partly to meet me, in Brixham! Now, whilst we didn't spend all of the time
talking about the weather, I couldn't help mentioning that it had been a bit murky until Tim's arrival and then, this morning, lovely sunshine. I thanked him for bringing it down with him and bless me, didn't he go and take it back when he left. We now have rain! Neat trick, Tim. Not funny but neat!
Anyway, after a shake of the hands, we exchanged gifts, largely as previously arranged, but then, what pops out of the bag but The, that is THE World of Lieutenant Pigeon as presented above. This really was like taking the Holy Grail into my hands. And so, the story continues ... as well as the paperwork described above, was a note from Tim confirming the gift as shown below. It comes, however, with a responsibility which I absolutely intend to carry out.
Thank you very very much, Tim.
And there is still more. There I was, on New Year's Day 2023, lounging around in the Groover's Lounge, just checking them blinkin' email thingies, only to find that one had gone unnoticed from the evening before. No surprise here - it was New Year's Eve, after all. It had been a long year and I was not late in getting to bed!
So, anyway, 'Who was the email from?' I hear you cry.
Well, in the above story, there is one name, the owner of which, we have yet to hear from and that is Dave Ashby and who better to tell us a bit of the pre-Tim history of his famous record than Mr Ashby himself? Over to you, Dave!
So, you are now the proud owner of the record, well I'm glad about that. Some years ago and before I had the internet, I learned of the possible existence of an album by L. Pigeon and titled "The World Of ..." through Record Collector Magazine. And so the hunt was on and using "Record Finding" agents of whom advertised in the mag, I got (some years later) a reply from one "Rock Revelations" notifying me they had found a copy and would hold it for me. The album had apparently been found by an employee of Decca at the time, and taken to the shop to sell on. Being a massive fan of L Pigeon from the early seventies, you can imagine my delight when Rob & Nigel from the band along with Bill Boswell started up their website and selling their music via download and cd. I got in touch with Nigel about a certain demo LP that he owned but had no sleeve to confirm its actual cat number, although Decca had provided a number, it was never really confirmed as SPA 414. Now for the first time the LP boys had concrete evidence of its correct cat number. The rest as they say is history. Yes I was somewhat taken aback a few weeks ago when I stumbled upon the cassette version on ebay in unplayed condition and very cheap. Cheers for now. Dave
And if proof was needed of the latter jolt to the system, here it is:
... lovely Thank you very much. Dave!
...
NON-CONVENTIONAL COVERS
Whilst most of the WORLD OF record sleeves shared the WORLD OF title prefix in the familiar font and featured familiar cover images (big grinning faces or pastoral country scenes) a handful defied the convention completely.
TERRY DENE
British rock ‘n’ roller, Terry Dene features in the collection and his record shares the name of his autobiography, I THOUGHT TERRY DENE WAS DEAD (SPA 368). This title
is more appropriate for the book than the record as it was written after former hell-raiser Dene, following arrests for drunken hooliganism and a short and complicated spell in the Army and thus away from the music scene, found Christianity. Dene left school early at age 15, having lost faith in the conventional way of preparing for
adulthood, and ended up working in the London, Oxford Street branch of HMV as a record packer. He apparently turned up good and early every morning but not out of a sense of duty and conscientiousness so much as having a half hour to catch up with the latest records from the US. It wasn’t long before Terry Dene was playing guitar and from humble beginnings, began to perform in London clubs such as the famous 2is Coffee Bar. Here he played with his band which included Clem Cattini, who gets a mention elsewhere in this review, on drums. Still, on with the record. Terry Dene (born Terrance Williams) was marketed as Britain’s answer to Elvis Presley with a hint, as the back cover notes suggest, of Roy Orbison. A combination which makes this record very listenable with its rock ‘n’ roll shuffles and upbeat rock-a-billy along with more sedate fifties ballads. Two of his three Top 20 UK hits feature here, ‘A White Sports Coat (and a Pink Carnation)’ and ‘Stairway of Love’. I THOUGHT TERRY DENE WAS DEAD turns out to have been a 1974 re-release of late ‘fifties record, Terry Dene: His Greatest Hits, timed, it is tempting to believe, to accompany the book of the same name, mentioned above, which was published a year or so beforehand.
GILES GILES AND FRIPP THE CHEERFUL INSANITY OF GILES GILES & FRIPP (SPA 423) is a 1970 re-issue of a 1968 album that retains its original cover. This is one of the more expensive records in
our WORLD OF collection regularly priced between £50 and £100 by UK sellers at time of writing. The music is slightly odd, very English whimsy with a largely easy-
listening, summer sound. The only tracks hinting at the progressive rock future with a classical leaning that was to befall the band are maybe the last two tunes written by Robert Fripp, ‘Suite No. 1’ and ‘Erudite Eyes’ with their twiddly-widdly, nifty-fingered guitar. Each side of the LP is given over to a spoken word story with brief episodes related between tracks of music but there seems to be no association between the two styles. Side 1 features ‘The Saga of Rodney Toady’ whilst Side 2 has ‘Just George’. Rodney Toad was a sad man with no friends because he was, in the words of the story, fat and ugly. Kids and adults alike would mock him until, having given up on meeting anyone other than fat and ugly girls, resorted to buying rude books with rude pictures in them. ‘Just George’ is a rather repetitive piece that goes, ‘I know a man and his name is George. George is his name and a man I know. Know I George etc. etc.’ The album appears to have sold poorly and the rather quaint music here would surely have been released for a niche market from the outset. Soon, Bass man, Peter Giles, left the trio to be replaced by Greg Lake (Emerson, Lake & Palmer) who joined up with Michael Giles (Drums/vocals) and Robert Fripp (Guitar/vocals) the latter of whom appears to have steered them towards the progressive rock above-mentioned along with a name change to (and if you saw this coming, help yourself to the biscuit tin) King Crimson.
CLASSIC COMMERCIALS This record contains such pieces of classical music as ‘Everyone’s a Fruit and Nut-case’ or ‘Dance of the Mirlitons’ from Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker as some may know it.
Once again, you’d have to be a certain age but, I cannot hear this music, in any environment, without remembering Frank Muir, comedy writer who often cropped up
on TV and radio, extolling the virtues of his favourite chocolate bar. We also have the ‘Hovis Song’ or so I knew it in those days. You know the one. We get to watch a young lad push his bike laboriously up a hill (Gold Hill in Shaftesbury, Dorset) to deliver a loaf of bread; said activity carried out with Dvorák’s ‘Largo’ from his ‘New World’ Symphony No. 9 in E minor. These are two of 12 pieces which were used for television adverts in the 1970s. The front cover features, unless I am very much mistaken, a pair of Dorset Horn Sheep which, I assume, are associated with advertising Pure New Wool on behalf of the International Wool Secretariat along with, in the top left corner, the Old Spice wave surfer. These products were pushed with the assistance of, respectively, Pachelbel’s ‘Canon’ and ‘O Fortuna Velut Luna’ from Carmina Burana by Orff. Though the title of the record is presented in the WORLD OF font, there is no WORLD OF, just CLASSIC COMMERCIALS, the catalogue number of which is, SPA 555.
Already mentioned earlier in this silly old blog are Toccata (SPA 583) and another classic commercials called Commercial Classics (SPA 581).
Now, to finish off, there are several artists, composers, conductors etc. etc. that feature just once or twice throughout the whole WORLD OF collection which, if afforded brief pen-picture type mentions as above, would render this volume of words way too unwieldy. So, bearing the reader, as well as the writer, in mind, it has been decided that these names will comprise a couple of lists, in no particular order, with their contributory talent and LP catalogue number/s. the first list is compiled with those that managed contributions to two LPs whilst the second, longer one lists those with just the one mention or, if have more than one acknowledgement, have contributed to one LP only.
TWO MENTION WONDERS
Karl Bohm
Austrian conductor SPA 125, SPA 315
Glen Somers
American conductor SPA 125, SPA 143
George Guest
Welsh director SPA/A 164, SPA 267
Albert Wolff
French conductor SPA 184, SPA 384
Marcel Stellman
Belgian songwriter SPA 180, SPA 181
Richard Rodgers
American songwriter SPA 180, SPA 181
Burt Bacharach
American songwriter SPA 181, SPA 193
Noel Coward
English composer/singer SPA 100, SPA 181
Norman Candler (Pseudonym of Gerhard Narholz)
German composer/arranger/conductor SPA 269, SPA-R 457
Bert Melia
Easy listening band leader SPA 290, SPA 293
Andre Charlet
Swiss choir director/conductor SPA 281, SPA 297
Fritz Reiner Hungarian conductor SPA 297, SPA 315 Norma Proctor English contralto SPA-R 219, SPA 328 The Applejacks English pop group SPA 177, SPA 479 The Casuals English pop group SPA 49, SPA 481 ONE MENTION or ONE LP WONDERS Kirsten Flagstad Norwegian soprano SPA 125 Dave King British actor/singing comedian SPA 125
Wilhelm Backhaus German pianist SPA 125 Arthur Wilkinson British arranger SPA/A 126 Doreen Stephenson British big band singer SPA 128 Alan Breeze English big band singer SPA 128
Malcolm Lockyer British orchestra leader backing Matt Monro SPA 133
Reg Owen
British orchestra leader backing Vera Lynn SPA 143
Johnny Douglas English orchestra leader backing Vera Lynn SPA 143
La Chorale des Enfants De l’Opera de Paris French children’s singing group SPA 160
Adele Leigh English opera singer SPA 161 Robert Merrill American opera baritone SPA 161 Michael Turner British treble SPA/A 164 John Bennett English treble SPA/A 164 Michael Mathews British treble SPA/A 164 Martin Redfearn British treble SPA/A 164 Peter Birts British tenor SPA/A 164 Jonathan Bielby English organist SPA/A 164 Martin Shaw English composer/conductor arranger SPA/A 164
Malcolm Williamson Composer of Ding Dong! Merrily on High SPA/A 164
Carlo Franci Argentinian conductor SPA 173 Kenneth Alwyn English conductor SPA 173 Gary Graffman American pianist SPA 174 Edric Kundell Conductor SPA 168 Poppy Family American Pop Group SPA 177 Paul Francis Webster American lyricist SPA 180 Irving Berlin American composer/lyricist SPA 180
Oscar Hammerstein American songwriter SPA 180 Henry Mancini American composer, conductor/arranger SPA 180
Johnny Mercer American lyricist SPA 180 Ernö Rapée Estonia- American conductor SPA 180
Lew Pollack
American songwriter SPA 180
Julián Robledo
Spanish composer SPA 180
Dorothy Terriss
American songwriter/lyricist SPA 180
Roland Valade French lyricist/conductor SPA 180 Jean Claude Oliver French lyricist SPA 180 Richard Dix American songwriter SPA 180 Franz Waxman German-American songwriter SPA 180
Robert Mellin
Ukranian/American songwriter SPA 180
Harvey Schmidt American songwriter SPA 180 Tom Jones American lyricist SPA 180 Johnny Keating Scottish composer SPA 180 Maurice Jarre French composer and conductor SPA 180
Kurt Weill German composer SPA 181 Bertolt Brecht German playwright/poet SPA 181 Maupray Blitzstein German songwriter SPA 181 Tom Springfield English composer SPA 181 Misha Mleinek German lyricist SPA 181 Cole Porter American songwriter SPA 181 Jerry Herman American composer SPA 181 Charley Niessen Austrian songwriter SPA 181 Hans Hammerschmid German songwriter SPA 181 Raymond Agoult Hungarian conductor SPA 184 Hal David American lyricist SPA 181 Lorenz Hart American lyricis SPA 181 Michael Garrick English jazz pianist backing Stanley Holloway SPA/A 199
Anatole Fistoulari Ukrainian conductor SPA 203 Jean Martinet French conductor SPA 203 George Szell Hungarian/American conductor SPA 206
Ron Findlay New Zealander TV rugby commentator SPA 208
Terry James Welsh conductor SPA 214 Les Sans Nom British group SPA 217 Eric Coates English light music composer SPA 217
Charles Wesley English hymn lyricist SPA-R 219 Alfred Phillips American lyricist SPA-R 219 William Fisher American lyricist SPA-R 219 Frederick Weatherly English lyricist SPA-R 219 Geoffrey Dearmer English lyricist SPA-R 219 Aleksey Pleshcheyev Russian lyricist SPA-R 219 Hans Schmidt German lyricist SPA-R 219 Henry Lyte Scottish lyricist SPA-R 219 Carl Schuricht German conductor SPA 225 Hans Knappertsbusch German conductor SPA 225 Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos Spanish conductor SPA 233 The Ambrosian Singers English choral group SPA-R 219 Wyn Morris Welsh conductor SPA-R 219 Martin Neary English organist SPA-R 219 Alfred Brendell Austrian pianist SPA 249 James Walker Australian conductor SPA 259 Isidore Godfrey English musical director (D’Oyley Carte) SPA259
Anthony Collins British conductor SPA 259 Syd Dale British composer/bandleader SPA 269
John Lanchbery English conductor SPA 269 Wilhelm Kempff German pianist SPA 280 Robert Docker English conductor/arranger SPA 287
Geraint Evans Welsh bass-baritone SPA 297 Mansel Thomas,, Welsh conductor SPA 297 Leon Young English arranger SPA 298 George Guest Welsh choir director SPA 300 Willi Boskovsky Austrian conductor SPA 312 Yvonne Minton Australian mezzo soprano SPA 362 The Cory Band British brass band SPA 369 Rafael Kubelik Czech conductor SPA 375 Otis Spann American blues musician SPA 387 Barry Tuckwell Australian French horn player SPA 393
Mischa Elman Ukranian arranger/violinist SPA 405
Jascha Heifetz American arranger/violinist SPA 405
Herbert von Karajan Austrian conductor SPA 406 Anton Guadagno Italian conductor SPA 315 Bertha Willmott English singer SPA 325 Flanagan & Allen British singing/comedy act SPA 325 Lale Andersen German singer SPA 325 Anton Dermota Slovenian tenor SPA 328 Arnold van Mill Dutch bass SPA 328 Josef Krips Austrian conductor SPA 336 Giampiero Boneschi Italian musician SPA 338 Billy Ternent British orchestra leader SPA 338 Les Paul American guitar player SPA 338 Kenny Salmon English keyboardist SPA 338 Ken Upton British band leader SPA 338 Roger Laredo Spanish orchestra leader SPA 408 Georgia Brown English pop singer SPA 477 Tam White Scottish pop singer SPA 481 Robin Sarstedt English pop singer SPA-R 502 Carlo Bengonzi Italian tenor SPA 535 Ever Ready Band English brass band SPA 533 Dessford Colliery Band English brass band SPA 533 James Shepherd Versatile Brass
English brass band SPA 533
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Jim Mallard
You may remember, way back at the start of this blog where I mentioned that these words were, in part, triggered by the suggestion of a fellow Record Collector. Well, here he is; friend and work colleague, Mr Jim Mallard. Jim's collection is way bigger, though not as groovy cool as mine since I don't think that he has a single WORLD OF in his collection! I know. I know. Incredible but true. Mind you, if he had any, he'd probably sell them to you coz that's what he does, in his spare time, at record fairs etc.
Much record-related banter was partaken at the old nine-to-five whilst overseeing scientific exploration, during which, one time, this work was mooted. Ah, from small acorns eh? I know JM won't mind me referring to his brain as a small acorn!
Julian Leigh Smith
Julian has large stocks of second-hand vinyl which he sells online and from Second Scene, his store in Oxhey, Hertfordshire. I only began visiting Second Scene at the start of 2015 and was amused to find Julian amongst piles of vinyl LPs stacked high on top of, yes, more LPs. I was put in mind of a Dickensian counting house and feel the scene was only missing dust-covered cobwebs strung from the four corners and a miserly, balding accountant. Don’t worry, dust doesn’t get a chance to settle as stock is coming in and going out all the time and Julian is anything but miserable. Casual conversation turned quickly to the business in hand and I found my host familiar, of course, with the WORLD OF Decca but not exactly fanatical about these treasures. Still, a customer is a customer and he promised to look out for them and if I should return some time, I might find a pile reserved for my attention. This I did and yes, I was presented with a nice stack to look through and came away with 20 or so bits of vinyl. I think I detected a sense of bemusement about Julian that day but after visiting regularly since then, I reckon I’ve won him over. Finding a new ‘WORLD OF’, he says, gives him a little buzz that he originally would not have expected.
Normally, the accumulation of one’s exclusive artefacts of folly is a very personal thing and the rapture of the capture after maybe hours of pursuit can manifest in something in the vicinity of elation but, with there being so many LPs in this series, I was pleased to accept Julian’s offer of assistance. After all, I still have to hunt them down even if picking off my docile quarry is like a lion strolling down the supermarket freezer aisle.
IN PRAISE OF CHARITY SHOPS
It seems politic to complain about the downturn in fortunes of a once proud town by referring to the number of charity shops appearing along its high street. I, on the other hand, choose to visit places on the strength of their charity shops. Amongst the previously-loved clothes, books and china animals, there can oftentimes be found a box of once-played vinyl. In the case of WORLD OFs, it really does seem to be that the records have been unwanted gifts which, in many a case, appear not to have been played at all. Well, here be ammunition, willingly provided, for those of derogatory inclinations to take a shy at some of the genres and artists found in our collection.
Ref:
Bibliography:
Fletcher, Nigel & Woodward, Rob. 2000. When Show Business is No Business. Ranwell Press, UK 'A behind-the-scenes look at the entertainments industry as seen through the eyes of Nigel Fletcher and Rob Woodward' of Lieutenant Pigeon
Other references available on request
Regarding the LP cover images, they are photographs of the records in my own collection and are taken by my own hand (which explains the slight wonkiness of some of them) except that of the Lieutenant Pigeon LP which was kindly supplied by Mr Nigel Fletcher. All images are, however, copyright of Decca.
Any redistribution or reproduction of part or all of any image in any form should be considered prohibited.
Any redistribution or reproduction of part or all of the text in any form should kindly be considered prohibited, restricted by permission of the author.