British Dance Bands

British dance band is a genre of popular jazz and dance music that developed in British dance halls and hotel ballrooms during the 1920s and 1930s, often called a Golden Age of British music prior to the Second World War.
Thousands of miles away from the origins of jazz in the United States, British dance bands of this era typically played melodic, good-time music that had jazz and big band influences but also maintained a peculiarly British sense of rhythm and style which came from the music hall tradition. Often comedians of the day or music hall personalities would sing novelty recordings backed by well-known British dance band leaders. Some of the British dance band leaders and musicians went on to fame in the United States in the swing era.
Thanks to Britain's continuing ballroom dancing tradition and its recording copyright laws, British dance music of the pre-swing era still attracts a modest audience, which American dance music of the same period does not. 
(Read more at Wikipedia)
== Links to Peel ==
In a 1970 issue of Oz, editor Richard Neville mentioned that some of his friends had grown bored with rock music and the underground scene and had begun to listen to music from "the Golden Age of British Dance Bands". While Peel never went that far, he always seemed to be aware of older forms of popular music, partly because of his family background (his father had been a young man in the 1930s and had listened and danced to the music of the day) and partly because of his own curiosity as a dedicated record collector. 
However the genre was considered corny by followers of jazz and big band music of the swing era, was parodied in the 1960s by the likes of the Temperance Seven and the early Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, and didn't become fashionable with non-specialist listeners until it was featured in the acclaimed TV drama series wriiten by playwright (and dance-band music enthusiast) Dennis Potter, Pennies From Heaven, broadcast on BBC TV in 1978. The series, set in the 1930s, made extensive use of British dance band records (especially those of Al Bowlly), with each episode named after a famous song of the era and characters bursting into song (miming to old records) at key moments in the plot. A soundtrack LP of the series sold well enough to inspire record companies to issue a number of "Golden Era" compilations, many including dance-band tracks featured in Pennies From Heaven. Some of Dennis Potter's other TV plays, such as The Singing Detective, also used old records of the 1930s and '40s as plot devices. 
In 1981 Peel told NME that his DJ of the year was dance band specialist Alan Dell (who hosted the weekly show Dance Band Days on Radio Two from 1969 to 1985). Later, he also praised Keith Skues, who, after being a colleague of JP's on Radio London and Radio One went on to introduce programmes of vintage 78s on BBC local radio. Although JP himself didn't play much British dance band music in his early years at the BBC, as the years went by it gradually became a regular feature of his programmes, forming an important part of both the Pig's Big 78 and Peelenium features of his later shows.
In fact, the dance band era influenced Peel's shows in more than one way. The needletime restrictions and emphasis on specially recorded sessions, not just on Peel's programmes but on most BBC pop radio shows until the late 1980s, were a result of Musicians' Union policy, which also imposed restrictions on the number of US musicians touring the UK or recording sessions for BBC radio. Many critics took this to be a kind of post-World War Two anti-Americanism, but in fact the measures were a response to a similar policy introduced by the US union in the 1930s to protect the jobs of their members from the increasing competition - British bands like Ray Noble's, who were popular with American record-buyers..
== Notable bandleaders ==
Wikipedia's article on British dance bands has a list of famous dance band leaders and musicians, many of whom received Peel airplay. Some have dedicated Peel Wiki pages:
* Bert Ambrose
* Harry Bidgood
* Bertini
* Billy Cotton
* Fred Elizalde
* Roy Fox
* Geraldo
* Carroll Gibbons
* Nat Gonella
* Henry Hall	
* Jack Harris
* Jack Hylton
* Jack Jackson
* Charlie Kunz (a special favourite of JP's father)
* Sidney Kyte
* Harry Leader
* Sidney Lipton
* Joe Loss
* Percival Mackey	
* Mantovani
* Billy Merrin
* Ray Noble
* Jack Payne
* Lou Preager
* Oscar Rabin
* Edmundo Ros
* Harry Roy
* Victor Silvester	
* Debroy Somers
* Lew Stone
* Billy Ternent
* Billy Thorburn
* Jay Whidden
* Jay Wilbur
* Maurice Winnick
== Notable vocalists ==
As listed by Wikipedia, which comments: Many popular singers rose to fame as vocalists on recordings by the British dance bands. They are not always attributed on the record label, except for the description "with vocal refrain", but an experienced listener can usually identify the voices of these otherwise anonymous singers. Famous British dance band vocalists included: 
* Al Bowlly
* Alan Breeze
* Sam Browne
* Elsie Carlisle
* Helen Clare
* Sam Costa	
* Evelyn Dall
* Frances Day
* Denny Dennis
* Chick Henderson
* Mary Lee	
* Anne Lenner
* Vera Lynn
* Pat McCormack
* Pat O'Malley
* Bob and Alf Pearson	
* Val Rosing
* Anne Shelton
* Dorothy Squires
However, the list omits the small vocal groups - usually trios - who performed with dance bands. The most significant of these from Peel's point of view being the Three Ginx, who recorded one of his all-time favourite tracks, "On A Sailboat Coming Over".
== Compilations ==
(7xLP - The Golden Age Of British Dance Bands 1931-1934) World
*17 July 1993: Krakajax: Oh By Jingo! Oh By Gee! (JP :Don’t worry I’m using this programme as an audition for Radio 2’.)
*19 June 1993 (BFBS): Bram Martin And His Band: When My Dreamboat Comes Home
*04 February 1994: Sidney Kyte And His Piccadilly Hotel Band: Me
*18 February 1994: Ambrose & His Orchestra: The Clouds Will Soon Roll By
*06 May 1994: Ambrose & His Orchestra: The Clouds Will Soon Roll By
*14 May 1994 (BFBS): Ambrose & His Orchestra: The Clouds Will Soon Roll By 
*27 May 1994: Jack Jackson and His Orchestra: Make The People Sway
*18 June 1994 (BFBS): Jack Jackson And His Orchestra: Make Those People Sway 
== External Links ==
* Wikipedia
* British Dance Band Encyclopedia
* Memory Lane magazine
Category:Genres
Category:Compilations