Pennies From Heaven and 'thirties music generally

[Sydward Lartle]

I'm guessing this thread won't last very long but a couple of years ago I watched the Dennis Potter-penned series Pennies From Heaven on DVD and it really hit me just how fucking brilliant a lot of those old tunes from the thirties really are. I've got several of the tracks, along with some other YouTube 'discoveries' on my iPod, and they always cheer me up during a long train journey. Some of the highlights...

Love is Good for Anything that Ails You - Phyllis Robins with Orlando and his Orchestra

Down Sunnyside Lane - Jack Payne

Radio Times -
Henry Hall

Life Begins at Oxford Circus - Jack Hylton

And of course, Al Bowlly is the guv'nor.

Side note - Al Bowlly died when his apartment was bombed during the Blitz. The Fokker will rue the day!

I quite enjoyed a lot of the music on the Singing Detective too, but there's just something about these old 'thirties tunes that does it for me.

[Brundle-Fly]

This is a stomper.

Bert Ambrose and Orchestra - Limehouse blues
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaBmeAMSw9w

[wosl]

Can't beat a bit of boogie-woogie:

Jelly Roll Morton - Honky Tonk Music

Jimmy Yancey - Yancey Stomp

Albert Ammons - Shout For Joy

Yeah!

[Sydward Lartle]

Bert Ambrose and Orchestra - Limehouse blues
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaBmeAMSw9w

For some reason, I get that track mixed up with this one.
Rocking in Rhythm - Duke Ellington

Your money's no good here, Mr Torrance.

[daf]

(Hope late 20's stuff is allowed)

Savoy Orpheans - The Blue Room (1927)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-IH2MpO8t0

Listeners to Saturday mornings on Radio 4 may remember this one -
Jack Hylton & His Orchestra - Break-Away (1929)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhR04fqThpg

Jean Goldkette & His Orchestra - Painting The Clouds With Sunshine (1929)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=no5ACO4Fq0A

[Black_Bart]

Nice call for Bowlly. Love is the Sweetest Thing, can't be beat.

Anything by Nat King Cole.

[Sydward Lartle]

I wonder how many people in 1982 (or whenever the episode went out) got the reference in Hi-De-Hi! when Gladys was junking a load of old records from the Radio Maplin's studio, and she said "Who wants to listen to scratchy old Carroll Gibbons and the Savoy Orpheans?"

Answer? ME! I fucking do!

[daf]

Oi, Grayson Perry - Gertcha!
Masculine Women, Feminine Men - Savoy Havana Band (1926)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQklPxEhJvw

One for Spike fans -
Everything is fresh today - Jack Hodges, the Raspberry King (1933)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NJLLeSEHDg

One for the Bonzo fans -
Jollity Farm - Leslie Sarony with Jack Hylton & His Orchestra (1930)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dxHNAo_a7s

[Sydward Lartle]

I could never understand the appeal of the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band. God knows why. They always seemed like creepy drunk uncles who are remarkably humourless all year, but after a couple of glasses of ginger wine with their Christmas dinner they put on paper hats and plastic moustaches and start reciting old Goon Show routines in silly voices. I could be wrong. Maybe they're fucking brilliant. I dunno.

By the way, I thought Spike Milligan composed that 'Everything is Fresh Today' song himself - it even turns up in lyric form in one of his books. Obviously not. Mind you, I think his 'performance' helped create that impression! The way he and Bluthal look at each other around the 1:20 moment is gold!

Everything is Fresh Today - Q7 (1978)

[checkoutgirl]

a couple of years ago I watched the Dennis Potter-penned series Pennies From Heaven on DVD

So did I. Although I didn't stop there. Also watched Karaoke, Cold Lazarus, The Singing Detective, all by Potter. All good stuff but Pennies was my favourite. Dark themes on, sex, desperation and childhood and very cleverly interwoven music into the fabric of the piece. A bit like Distant Voices, Still Lives by Terence Davies. Just music and a sense of place. Children, old cinemas and schools. Adults riding off on bikes to go on picnics to get away from the children. Gin and lemon, milk stout. House parties with people singing songs for entertainment. Love all that type of stuff.

Also watched the film version of Pennies From Heaven which was Steve Martin's second film ever after The Jerk and well worth checking out.

[Sydward Lartle]

My Girl's Pussy - Harry Roy and his Bat Club Boys (1931)

[Sydward Lartle]

Happy Days and Lonely Nights - Charlie Fry's Million Dollar Pier Orchestra (1928)

[daf]

Fabulous syncopation!

Rhythm King - Ben Bernie and his Hotel Roosevelt Orchestra  (1928)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nh690QHShTM

[SavageHedgehog]

I had this stuck in my head last week after watching Disc 4 of Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 5 over a couple of nights (its refrain turns up in seemingly every Warner Bros cartoon made from about 1938 to 1941)

[Beach]

Has anyone tried out http://radiooooo.com ?

[Sydward Lartle]

You Couldn't Be Cuter - Lew Stone and Al Bowlly

"My ma will show you an album of me that'll bore you to tears
And you'll attract all the relatives that we have dodged for years and years"

[daf]

A couple of long-titled gems from Harry Reser -

The Coat & The Pants Do All Of The Work, & The Vest Gets All The Gravy - The Six Jumping Jacks (1927)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwphXgCyWkA

I'm Wild About Horns on Automobiles That Go Ta-Ta-Ta-Ta - Harry Reser's Syncopators (1929)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEjPnGDL0eg

[Johnny Yesno]

12-min version of "Sing, Sing, Sing (With a Swing)" live @ Carnegie Hall, 1938: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUbgwADLFPM

I have to admit I got into this piece of music after I found out it influenced the wonderful music in the game Grim Fandango.

[daf]

For fans of the Jeeves and Wooster TV series  -

Sunny Disposish - Jean Goldkette & His Orchestra (1927)  [nb]Ira Gershwin had worked with Wodehouse on the 1926 musical 'Oh Kay', and this was a bit of a tip of the hat to him[/nb]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuEUMqBZfr8

Changes - California Ramblers (1927)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1EELg2URE0

Forty-Seven Ginger-Headed Sailors - Jack Hylton & His Orchestra (1928)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OLEuHP0pLI

[Sydward Lartle]

Where'd ya get those eyes...

[daf]

And here's where I am The Walrus got it from

Umpa, Umpa - The Two Leslies (1936)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7_jz8rTtcw

[pupshaw]

Frank Black & His Orchestra - Beside A Lazy Stream - vocal by Scrappy Lambert - 1928

https://youtu.be/KWfxnhO6XLQ?t=25m12s

There's quite a difference between 20's and 30's music. Electric recording was only coming into the mainstream after 1925
so this allowed smaller combos to be recorded. Before that it was mainly large orchestras with a big sound. People think of
78s as caveman technology but I like the sound quality of late 20s stuff.

I love this song as there are so many musical ideas crammed into such a small space. 

[Sydward Lartle]

Who's Been Polishing the Sun - Leslie Holmes

One for Spike fans Crest of a Wave

[daf]

People think of 78s as caveman technology but I like the sound quality of late 20s stuff.

Yes, it's a golden period where virtually everything sparkles with a sunny peppiness that I find irresistible.

A couple of dance crazes :

Black Bottom - Howard Lanin and His Orchestra  (1926)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBrZ8bfqUv0

The Varsity Drag - Sam Lanin and his Orchestra (1927)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9iZZCaStBE

[Sydward Lartle]

Heh, I remember Statler and Waldorf doing the Varsity Drag on the Muppet Show!

[3D]

Bowlly is marvellous,

Another honourable mention for some of the Fred Astaire classics. A few years ago I stumbled upon an album by Astaire from 1952 of his greats re-recorded with Oscar Peterson and others.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/B0000046V0/ref=cm_cr_dp_see_all_btm?ie=UTF8&reviewerType=all_reviews&showViewpoints=1&sortBy=recent

I think it's utterly magnificent.

[Sydward Lartle]

Al Bowlly was killed by a parachute mine in 1941. The Fokker shall rue the day!

Roll Along, Prairie Moon

[chippedandbattered]

Frank Black & His Orchestra - Beside A Lazy Stream - vocal by Scrappy Lambert - 1928

https://youtu.be/KWfxnhO6XLQ?t=25m12s

There's quite a difference between 20's and 30's music. Electric recording was only coming into the mainstream after 1925
so this allowed smaller combos to be recorded. Before that it was mainly large orchestras with a big sound. People think of
78s as caveman technology but I like the sound quality of late 20s stuff.

I love this song as there are so many musical ideas crammed into such a small space.

I prefer his stuff with The Pixies

[jobotic]

Calypso

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=669vLE9MXNs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyN7C4_duRY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03zUA58yudg

Maybe later, but this Wilmoth Houdini track is fantastic. (fuck knows what the video is, ignore it).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBTyG_-Srbo

and you'll probably recognise this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuVt2Qq6-ro

[daf]

Another honourable mention for some of the Fred Astaire classics. A few years ago I stumbled upon an album by Astaire from 1952 of his greats re-recorded with Oscar Peterson and others.

Yes - Fred's the man!

Dipping dangerously back to pre-electric days - here's one of my Fred favourites -
The Half of it Dearie Blues - George Gershwin & Fred Astaire (1924)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-t9ak-8Gtfk

Lovely bit at 2:15 where George and Fred shout out to each other with glee, and Fred launches into a second helping of spectacular syncopated tap-dancing (which he's doing on the actual piano top itself!) [nb]according to a rumour which I've just started[/nb]