A web log, an æthereal scrap-book if you will, with a somewhat vintage flavour. News items, occurrences, experiences, thoughts and opinions related to Victoriana through to Fifties Americana can all be found here.
Is what this blog is in danger of becoming. Ray Noble & his Orchestra featuring Al Bowlly do indeed pose the pertinent lyrical question.
But don't worry, folks! With luck vintage news will pick up again in the coming weeks and autumn is just around the corner - my favourite season and a chance to dig into my more substantial "A/W" (as the fashion houses would call it!) wardrobe.
A week has passed since my 30th birthday and I hope before too much longer to have an extensive post written up to do it justice - as soon as mater gets photos of the day to me (and finishes off her present!) and the Royal Mail deliver some remaining gifts (the perils of a bank holiday weekend!). Until then here's a little taster of where I went the Sunday before my birthday - and it was a lot busier than this!
source
The Crooked Billet/ Osborne's Cafe, Old Leigh[-on-sea] Essex
Apologies for another long period of radio silence (what is it this time, 3 weeks - but who's counting?). A little hiccough rendered me slightly indisposed again but now normal service can resume, although regrettably health will probably not permit my attending this weekend's Barrelhouse Stomp - still, there will be other events of that I have no doubt.
In the meantime here's a jolly little 1932 ditty by Roy Fox & his band featuring Al Bowlly and Nat Gonella, a favourite of mine which poses the musical question I'm often asked (and ask of myself). Cheerio for now!
This Sunday, the 17th of April, will mark the 70th anniversary of the untimely death of one of the greatest jazz singers of all time and certainly one of my favourite crooners of the 1930s - Al Bowlly. His classic rendition of The Very Thought of You (above) remains for me one of the great love songs and his voice and style is incredibly redolent of the period.
By way of a commemoration Hampshire-based community radio station Angel Radio, some of whose output includes 1920s, '30s and '40s music, has gone semi-nationwide on the DAB network with a series of programmes showcasing the songs of the period and particularly those of Al Bowlly and the various bandleaders he worked with.
Ever since the advent of digital radio I have been longing for someone to set up a station devoted to early dance band and big band music (plus other related genres), and I'm sure I've not been alone in that wish. Since the shameful treatment of the late Malcolm Laycock, who used to present Sunday Night at 10 on B.B.C. Radio 2, and the B.B.C. later dropping British dance bands from the programme completely, there hasn't been a single exponent on the national DAB network so far as I could see. While I will continue to get my dance band fixes from Internet radio stations Soundstage and Radio Dismuke, this new addition to the DAB ranks is a long overdue one.
It's not clear to me whether this is a temporary arrangement to coincide with the anniversary or something more permanent (I hope the latter!) but either way I welcome this new station and look forward to hearing what it has to offer. If you're in any of the areas mentioned in the article and own a digital radio, my advice is to do a quick re-tune and look for a the station called "Pop Up". For those of you outside the UK or in areas not covered the programmes are available online at www.popupradio.co.uk. Happy listening!
******STOP PRESS******
I have just heard that this station is temporary and will cease broadcasting on the 28th April. However if you like 70 Years Without Al Bowlly (and I suspect that if you're reading this, you do!) Angel Radio urge you write to them to show your support so that they might "do it again". Who knows, maybe they'll even be able to make it permanent. "Every letter counts", they say, so I will be taking up my pen and paper and if you wish to do the same the address to write to is:
