Debroy Somers

Debroy Somers (born William Henry Somers, 11 April 1890 in Dublin – 16 May 1952 in London) was a British twentieth-century big band bandleader.
He had trained as a musician at the Duke of York's Royal Military School in Chelsea, and continued his studies in Dublin under Signor Michele Esposito at The Royal Irish Academy of Music in 1904. At the age of 15 he joined the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Irish Regiment as a boy bandsman before retiring in 1913. He rejoined his old regiment in 1916 retiring as a sergeant musician in 1918; being demobilised in Wiltshire.
His period of celebrity stretched from the 1920s to the 1940s. He appeared in numerous films, including Second Choice, Stars on Parade and Aunt Sally, and founded the 11-piece dance band The Savoy Orpheans. On 15 June 1925, Somers conducted the first British performance of George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue from the Savoy Hotel with the Orpheans, alongside the Savoy Havana Band and Gershwin himself on piano. The performance was broadcast live by the BBC.
His ensemble, the Debroy Somers Band, was also known as the Midnight Minstrels. In 1930, they covered "Amy, Wonderful Amy", a song about Amy Johnson. Before the war Somers was a regular broadcaster on Radio Luxembourg, acting as musical director for several regular shows, including the children's show Ovaltineys and Shipmates Ashore for the Merchant Navy. In 1943 he returned to London's West End to direct the hit show The Lisbon Story at the Hippodrome. He was also director for Tom Arnoldand Robert Nesbitt's production of Latin Quarter at the London Casino in 1949. His last production was as musical director for George Formby's Zip Goes a Million at the Palace Theatre in 1951, but he collapsed and died during the run of the show in May 1952, aged 62.
==Links to Peel==
Peel played Debroy Somers' version of 'Oh, It's A Lovely War' (actually a medley of First World War songs, also including "Who Were You WIth Last Night" and "Mademoiselle from Armentieres"), as part of the Peelenium 1915. However, the song was published in 1917 and the record was made well after the First World War ended in 1918. 
The song inspired the stage musical "Oh, What A Lovely War!", premiered in 1963, which became an acclaimed film, directed by Richard Attenborough, featuring a host of British stage and screen stars and released in 1969. It took a critical stance on the personalities and events of the First World War, in contrast to the patriotic jingoism of many of the songs written during the war, and was therefore in tune with the mood of the late 1960s. Peel may well have seen the film, either in the cinema or on television. 
He doesn't seem to have played anything else by Debroy Somers or the Midnight Minstrels, although they were one of the popular British dance bands of their day. 
==Shows Played==
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*17 June 1999: Oh, It's A Lovely War (Peelenium 1915)
==External Links==
*Wikipedia
*Discogs
Category:Artists