The Golden Age of Light Music: Light Music While You Work - Volume 4
see end of review for track listing
rec. 1943-46
GUILD LIGHT MUSIC GLCD5198 [78:25]
I seem to have missed the first three volumes of this collection of ‘Music
While you Work’ (MWYW). However, I get the general idea. I used to sit
and listen to the eponymous radio show on the Light Programme with my grandmother.
This was 1966 and I guess the style of this music acted as a good counterweight
to my usual diet of ‘pirate’ radio stations. Not quite as rebellious,
but at least it gave me a lasting love of Eric Coates. When I first began
gainful employment with a ‘summer job’ in the 1970s I worked for
a short while in a factory as a labourer. I remember chatting to one of the
staff, a lady in her fifties, who told me about the factory broadcasts ‘during
the war’. She had worked assembling radios for the army.
The programme was broadcast twice daily from June 1940 - which was just after
Dunkirk and just before the Battle of Britain got underway. The series was
to last until September 1967. The original ethos of the programme was to include
only popular or light music with the hope that the steady rhythms would encourage
the factory workers to be more productive. The music was non-stop with no
announcements. The show began and ended with Eric Coates ‘Calling all
Workers’.
However, the project did not stop there: there was a spin-off. Decca ‘Music
While you Work’ records first appeared in 1942 as 78rpm discs. The last
ones were issued in January 1947. This was part of a ‘hush-hush’
wartime project to produce music that could be played over the public address
system in the factories. There were eventually some 400 discs in the catalogue.
Apparently, a wide variety of music was recorded including dance bands, jazz
and various instrumental ensembles - however the present CD concentrates on
what is generally considered to be ‘light music’.
The CD liner-notes point out that the series was soon deleted and suffered
from bad publicity. Apparently, the record-buying public were largely unaware
of what was available. One interesting feature was the use of ‘full
frequency range recording’ in the production of the records - this led
to a much-improved sound quality.
The CD opens with a fine medley of ‘martial’ songs including such
delights as ‘The Tin-Can Fusiliers’ and ‘When a Soldier
is on Parade’. Harry Fryer and his Orchestra were stalwarts of the MWYW
programmes and recordings. Included is the excellent ‘Rhythmic Paraphrase’
on Bizet’s Carmen. This seems to have been a hit for Harry as
there is also one based on Charles Gounod’s Faust. Ronnie Munro
and his Waltz Orchestra give sweeping accounts of some of Johann Strauss Jr’s
best loved waltzes including ‘Roses from the South’, the delightful
‘Voices of Spring’ and the ‘Artists Life’. However,
Munro does not restrict his interest to Strauss. The ‘Danube Waves’
are recalled in Iosif Ivanovici’s attractive waltz and Emile Waldteufel’s
less well known ‘Les Sirenes’ is given an airing. I love his ‘um-pa-pa’
performance of Ernesto Becucci’s ‘Tesoro Mio’ (My Treasure).
Two Eric Coates numbers are included here. Richard Crean and his Orchestra
play ‘In a Country Lane’ and ‘At the Dance’ from the
Summer Days Suite. Both these numbers are perfect evocations of the
‘things we were fighting for’ - a Britain that existed, but for
most people only in the imagination. They are beautifully played, however
I hope I may be allowed to add here that I do like my Coates played by a full
‘symphony’ orchestra. Another piece in the Crean listings is Gabriel
Marie’s ‘La Cinquantaine’. The title means ‘The Fiftieth’
and possibly refers to a wedding anniversary. This tune, which was originally
scored for cello and piano is ‘sweetly romantic and is signed to be
played ‘in olden style.’ It is given all sentiment here.
Harry Davidson and his Orchestra are well represented on this CD. Abe Holzmann’s
‘Old Faithful’ is one of those tunes that you seem to know, even
if you cannot name it. Archibald Joyce’s ‘Vision of Salome’
is a restrained waltz: there is nothing here to inflame the passions. This
is not Richard Strauss’ ‘Dance of the Seven Veils’ - but
something very prim and proper. It was not John the Baptist’s head on
a plate here, but an Egg and Cucumber Sandwich. ‘Tick of the Clock’
by James Perry is a little novelty piece -with another of those tunes that
you have always known. Paul Linke is a name that often crops up in the world
of light music. He was a German composer/conductor who is best remembered
for his ‘Berliner Luft’ from his operetta Frau Luna, and
‘The Glow-Worm’ from Lysistrata. Harry Davidson plays his
‘Amina - Intermezzo’, which is wistful and gentle. Abe Holzmann
is represented again with his jaunty march ‘Yankee Girl’.
Harold Collins and his Orchestra play a rather eccentric little number by
George Blackmore called ‘Knuckledust.’ Now I am not quite sure
what to make of the title. What is Knuckledust? Let’s hope it has nothing
to do with Knuckledusters! Archibald Joyce was known, as ‘The English
Waltz King’ or ‘The English Waldteufel’ such was his popularity
during Edwardian times. Collins performs the well-known ‘hesitation’
waltz called ‘Dreaming’: it is actually more wistful than a reverie.
David Java seems to be little-known in light music circles: his career is
‘poorly documented’ Apparently there are only four ‘sides’
recorded by him for the Decca MWYW series - two are presented here - ‘Love
Dance’ which is an old-fashioned’ intermezzo from the vaudeville
musical Madame Sherry (1910) composed by a certain Karl Hoschna. The
other is Jonny Heyken’s ‘Heyken’s Serenade No.2. I winder
what happened to No.1?
Two loose ends are the offerings from Reginald Pursglove and his Orchestra
and the London Coliseum Orchestra. The former is an attractive little dance
number called 'Lonesome and Sorry' by Benny Davis and Con Conrad. The latter
is called ‘Waldmere’ and is a little foursquare in its working
out but enjoyable all the same.
Once again, Guild has come up trumps with this fine new release. As always
the sound quality is perfect. In fact, many of these recordings sound better
than ones made later. This may well be to do with the ‘hush-hush’
‘full frequency range recording’ mentioned above. The liner-notes
are extremely helpful and put all the music and the artists into context.
I noted above that there were 400 records in this series. Assuming two numbers
on each disc, that is 800 tunes. There are 25 tracks on this CD. Four have
been released in the MWYW series. Therefore, that leaves only another
twenty-eight volumes to conclude the complete survey of the entire run of
these Decca ‘Music While You Work’ records. Guild, please keep
them coming!
John France
Guild, please keep them coming!
Review index: Guild Light Music
Track listing
Horatio NICHOLLS also used name EVERETT Lynton (1888-1964) -
Noel GAY (1898-1954) Cavalcade of Martial Songs - The King's Horses
- The Toy-Town Artillery - The Tin-Can Fusiliers - When the Guards are on
Parade - There's Something about a Soldier - When a Soldier's on Parade -
When the Band goes Marching By - The Toy Drum Major arr. Harry Fryer and
his Orchestra (1943) [5:31]
Johann STRAUSS, Jr. (1825-1899) Roses from the South,
Ronnie Munro and his Waltz Orchestra (1946) [3:22]
Benny DAVIS, Con CONRAD (1891?-1938) Lonesome and
Sorry, Reginald Pursglove and his Orchestra 1944) [3:02]
Georges BIZET (1838-1875) arr. Arthur LANGE (1889-1956) Carmen
- Rhythmic Paraphrase, Harry Fryer and his Orchestra (1944) [3:02]
Bernard BARNES (1893-1947) Dainty Miss, Harold Collins and his
Orchestra (1943) [2:35]
Karl HOSCHNA (1876-1911) Love Dance - Intermezzo (from 'Madame
Sherry'), David Java and his Orchestra (1944) [2:52]
James PERRY Tick of the Clock, Harry Davidson and his Orchestra
(1945) [2:53]
Johann STRAUSS, Jr (1825-1899)Voices of Spring, Ronnie
Munro and his Waltz Orchestra (1945) [3:13]
Wynford REYNOLDS as 'Hugh Raeburn' Light and Shade, Harold Collins
and his Orchestra (1944) [3:07]
Eric COATES (1886-1947) At the Dance (from 'Summer Days' Suite),
Richard Crean and his Orchestra (1944) [2:58]
Eric COATES (1886-1947) In a Country Lane (from 'Summer Days'
Suite), Richard Crean and his Orchestra (1944) [3:06]
George BLACKMORE Knuckledust, Harold Collins and his Orchestra
(1944) [3:02]
Archibald JOYCE (1873-1963) Dreaming, Harold Collins and his
Orchestra (1943) [3:00]
Gabriel MARIE (1852-1928) La Cinquantaine, Richard Crean and
his Orchestra (1945) [3:06]
Charles GOUNOD (1818-1893) arr. Arthur LANGE (1889-1956)
Faust - Rhythmic Paraphrase, Harry Fryer and his Orchestra (1943) [3:02]
Ernesto BECUCCI (1845-1905) Tesoro Mio, Ronnie Munro and his
Waltz Orchestra (1946) [3:03]
Abe HOLZMANN (1874-1939) Old Faithful, Harry Davidson and his
Orchestra (1945) [2:55]
Archibald JOYCE (1873-1963) Vision of Salome, Harry Davidson
and his Orchestra (1945) [3:14]
Jonny HEYKENS (1884-1945) Heyken's Serenade No. 2, David Java
and his Orchestra (1944) [3:06]
Emile WALDTEUFEL (1837-1915) Les Sirenes, Ronnie Munro and his
Scottish Variety Orchestra (1944) [3:06]
Frank Hoyt LOSEY (1870-1931) Waldmere, London Coliseum Orchestra
conducted by Reginald Burston (1946) [2:42]
Iosif IVANOVICI (1845-1902) Danube Waves, Ronnie Munro and his
Scottish Variety Orchestra (1945) [3:01]
Paul LINCKE (1866-1946) Amina - Intermezzo, Harry Davidson and
his Orchestra (1945) [2:41]
Johann STRAUSS, Jr. (1825-1899)Artists Life, Ronnie Munro
and his Waltz Orchestra (1946) [2:55]
Abe HOLZMANN (1874-1939) Yankee Grit, Harry Davidson and his
Orchestra (1945) [2:57]
All tracks in mono
Dates refer to recording, not composition.