The World of DECCA Post 13 Kevin Daley, Ireland, Scotland and Wales

Foreword

I know that I said that we would complete our journey around the UK by visiting the

WORLD OF sound of England but I imagined that we might all get numb nethers if forced to sit too long on the imaginary bus. For this reason I thought that we would

take a pit-stop and begin the next post in that green and pleasant land. Buckle up, then, my friends. That audible wizz and bang was the sound of your conveyance kicking into life … ah yes, the smell of diesel exhaust. This will be a perfect day!

THE KEVIN DALEY STORY O’DALAIGH’S CEILI BAND There is this record of Irish dance music by O’Dalaigh’s Ceili Band. Never heard of them? Nor would you have! They existed for THE WORLD OF IRISH DANCING (SPA 150) only. This album of Irish jigs, reels and waltzes, not to mention Irish hornpipes

and marches, has all this Irish music but scores nil in the Irish band member department! Who was that said, however, that if you asked several chimpanzees to swim a little East of Ireland, when they reached land, one of them would end up in Dorset, which is, funnily enough, where our musicians came from, so it should not come as any surprise, really, that the influence of the Emerald Isle can reach this gentle piece of England. Folk band The Yetties were in London’s Decca studios recording a record in front of a live audience, Our Friends The Yetties. Well, they finished early, didn’t they, but there was no chance of nipping off back to the South West for a cider. Oh no. Producer Kevin Daley liked to get his money’s worth and with studio time booked, floated the idea of doing another LP. Now in this WORLD OF series at the time, so the story goes, there was a WORLD OF SCOTLAND (SPA 41) and a WORLD OF WALES IN SONG (SPA 42) and of the 194 other countries in the world (at time of writing anyway) unless you don’t include Taiwan as some people don’t, apparently, it was a WORLD OF Irish Dancing that the universe was crying out for ... in Kevin Daley’s universe, any road up. So, the seven musicians set about the task – the four members of The Yetties plus two supporting players who were helping out on the live recording. So, off they went … what’s that you say? My math doesn’t add up! Well, let’s see; one, two, three, four Yetties plus two others equals si… Oh Yeah, now I remember – they had the studio caretaker join in on piano! Seven.

Now, the Yetties named themselves after the village that they all grew up in, Yetminster, which would have meant nothing to the Irish market at which the record was aimed so, what with it being the Producer’s big idea, a marvellous Irish-sounding corruption of K Daley’s name was born. Are you feeling a little bit let-down and

deceived? Well, hold on, there’s more. The picture on the front cover of THE WORLD OF IRISH DANCING: O’DALAIGH’S CEILI BAND (SPA/A 150) is of the Irish dance group of … Bristol!

Yetminster is a nice little village of largely pale yellow limestone buildings but the reason I mention it at all is that, firstly, it lies on the River Wriggle (go on, smile) and secondly, its one resident of note was farmer Benjamin Jesty who preceded the better-known Edward Jenner’s work on developing the smallpox vaccine by 20 years1. Having this information at your disposal, I hope that sleep will come easier to you now. Incidentally, there is THE WORLD OF THE YETTIES (SPA 436) and,

incidentally, Kevin Daley was once more the producer. The Yetties also crop up on THE WORLD OF FOLK (SPA-A 132), THE WORLD OF FOLK VOL. 2 (SPA 307), THE WORLD OF THE COUNTRYSIDE (SPA 304) and THE WORLD OF YOUR FAMILY FAVOURITES VOL. 2 (SPA-R 502); a total of seven extra songs – well, five really as two of the seven can also be found on SPA 436.

WALLY WHYTON Continuing the Kevin Daley theme, our man also produced THE WORLD OF WALLY WHYTON (SPA 250). Whyton was a musician who could play the piano, trombone as well as guitar and formed a skiffle group. He was also a songwriter, composing the hit ‘Don’t You Rock Me Daddy-O’ but what you really want to know about is him being a

TV personality. Though, to be honest, he was often overshadowed by his co-presenters. On the children's show The Five O’Clock Club, there was Muriel Young, who may have turned a young lad’s head away from the gentle faced Wally, and for those more creative viewers who liked guitar music, it wasn’t Wally Whyton’s spot you waited for – not with Bert Weedon being a regular on the show. But the real stars of this programme were Wally's mates, Ollie Beak, Fred Barker and Pussycat Willum. It turned out that they were puppets all along but his owl, dog and cat didn’t need humans to do a show. Poor ol’ Wal. Didn’t stand a chance! Especially when you also consider that the musical director was widely proclaimed, founding father of British blues, Alexis Korner!

Actually, Wally Whyton could have cropped up in the country music section (he had a radio show playing this genre), the folk section (this was the style that most people would associate him with) or the children's bit (as discussed above) so you can see that, joking aside, he managed quite a busy life in entertainment.

The WORLD OF records that Kevin Daley produced have an eclectic feel about them. Wally Whyton and the Yetties are both folk but different strands and don’t forget how he veered from the latter’s music to Irish jigs. Well, also in our collection are THE WORLD OF THE HAMMOND ORGAN (SPA 303), THE WORLD OF [banjo-playing] ALAN RANDALL (SPA 492), THE WORLD OF CHILDREN – SING A STORY (SPA 509) and THE WORLD OF STANLEY HOLLOWAY (SPA/A 199).

STANLEY HOLLOWAY Holloway was, amongst other things, a monologist which, as I’m sure you’ll know, is a solo artist who recites monologues; in Stanley’s case, comedic monologues. One of his more popular ones opens THE WORLD OF STANLEY HOLLOWAY (SPA/A 199) and is about the Lion and Albert which was actually written by Marriott Edgar. To give you

a taste; it tells of Mr and Mrs Ramsbottom and their son Albert who visited Blackpool Zoo. In the course of their wandering, they came across the lion of the title who was to have a dramatic influence on the lives of our heroes. Albert was not impressed with the sleepy lion who failed to live up to its reputation as ‘ferocious and wild’ and so, fool that he was, he poked it in the ear. Well, what would you do if so provoked? I know what I’d do. I’d eat him up ‘ole just like the lion did. Fair deuce I say but Mr and Mrs Ramsbottom (the latter being vexed by the incident) challenged the animal keeper, the zoo manager and eventually the local magistrate who tried to placate the pair by suggesting that they would have further ‘sons to their name’ so not to worry unduly. Mother ‘got proper blazing’ and told ‘em that she wasn’t going to raise children just to feed the, ahem, ‘ruddy’ (sorry) lions! Anyway, don’t take my word for it. Check out the opening track of this important disc. Track 4 is entitled, ‘Albert Comes Back’ but I don’t want to think too much about that for fear of things getting a bit … well … physiological.

ERIC ROBINSON Another album produced by our man Kevin was The WORLD OF ERIC ROBINSON (SPA/A 126). Robinson was an orchestra conductor and musical director at the BBC and was involved with many TV programmes such as The Black and White Minstrels Show, The Benny Hill Show and The Winifred Atwell Show along with series like The Norman Wisdom Show. Possibly the highlight of his career, however, was being

involved with the Eurovision Song Contest. Eric Robinson was Musical Director for the 1960 and 1963 contests when they were held in London, conducting the entries for the UK. Normally it is the winners of the previous year’s show that gets to hold the show on their own patch but the UK only came second (Pearl Carr & Teddy Johnson with Sing Little Birdie) in 1959. Well, it was just that The Netherlands had staged the contest in 1958 and declined to host it again so soon afterwards. Get in! In case you are wondering, Bryan Johnson sang ‘Looking High, High, High’ to come second. So, you’ll be thinking, the UK must have won in 1962 because London hosted again in 1963, right? Wrong! Ronnie Carroll came equal 4th with ‘Ring-a-Ding Girl’. This time, the winners, France, claimed not to be able to afford to hold the extravaganza. Get in! Ronnie Carroll had another go, this time with 'Say Wonderful Things'. Oooh, so close! Came 4th again …. Ah well.

Just to finish this Eurovision bit off, the UK were able to stage the contest after winning it previously. Sandi Shaw, Brotherhood of Man, Bucks Fizz and Katrina and the Waves all won. In fact, The WORLD OFs very own Lulu with 'Boom Bang-a-Bang' came first as well … sort of. That was the year, 1969 in Madrid, when four countries (The UK, Spain, The Netherlands and France) actually tied in top place, can you believe.

Amongst the contest losers are WORLD OF heroes Matt Monro, Kathy Kirby, Kenneth McKellar and Mary Hopkin. Any road up, in case you have forgotten how we got here, Eric Robinson, the conductor and musical director, looked after the UKs entrants at home and occasionally abroad. The End!

IRELAND So, in THE WORLD OF IRISH DANCING we have an ingenious ‘Irish’ act but amongst the WORLD OF records are four genuine Irish acts. A link between them is Paddy Ryan. Paddy was the Head of Entertainment at The Parkway Savoy in Limerick, Ireland and he was used to putting on local bands but was having trouble getting big names to sign up. Eventually, Paddy managed to lure Irish Tenor Josef Locke who, incidentally, was born Joseph McLaughlin, and who had soon made several visits to The Parkway. Anyway, during one of these visits, Paddy Ryan was speaking to Josef and mentioned the problems of attracting the big name acts. Our WORLD OF star came to the rescue by writing an introductory letter which was sent to artists’ managements and soon, the names began to roll in. Amongst them were Michael Valentine Doonican and Rosemary Brown along with brothers Conleth and Declan Cluskey and their mate John Stokes. Big names indeed! ‘Big names?’ You may ask. ‘Who they, then?’

Well, Michael’s family got a bit fed up of him being just one of many Michaels in the neighbourhood and so dispensed with it. Now, I can’t imagine that there were too many Valentines in his village but he changed this too by abbreviating it to Val none-the-less. OK, that’s the easy one. Val Doonican is one of only a few artists to stake five claims to a place in our record collection with THE WORLD OF VAL DOONICAN (SPA 3) plus VOLs. 2 to 5 (SPA 25, 79, 189 and 252). Incidentally, the middle name of Valentine was inserted due to the February 3rd birthday of Mr and Mrs D’s little boy and its nearness to St Valentine’s Day.

VAL DOONICAN Val spent many of his early years performing in music groups doing variety acts as well as singing and playing various instruments but it was another WORLD OF artist

that encouraged him to pursue the career that we are more likely to associate him with. Doonican was already thinking it was time to make a change feeling that the group he was with had run its course when they were invited to join a concert tour by Anthony Newley, a WORLD OF colleague. Part way through the tour, it was Newley’s birthday and he had planned a big ol’ party in a club close to the theatre during which, all of the musicians, dancers and singers on his tour were to perform a solo spot but nobody was allowed to do their normal act. Val didn’t stray too far from his comfort zone but people had not seen him sing gentle Irish songs to his own accompaniment

on Spanish guitar so that is what he did. Tony N enjoyed the performance and later asked Mr D if he’d ever thought of doing that sort of thing on radio or TV. This prompted Val to contact BBC TV with this in mind and soon, after a successful audition, he was securing small pieces of work on the small screen. This led to Val auditioning for the wireless with Delaney’s Donkey and Scarlet Ribbons and one of his earlier engagements saw him singing on radio (if seeing someone on the radio is not too confusing a concept for you) in front of the Frank Chacksfield Orchestra, no less. The WORLD OF world is, indeed, a small world.

Another major event in Val Doonican’s life was also triggered by Anthony Newley’s birthday party. Also performing at the theatre was Lynette Rae, a popular singing star of the time. Ms Rae was also invited to the party but her taxi didn’t show so our hero stepped in and gave her a lift. Well, to spare you thinking too much about the bits in between, I’ll just say that, in time, Val and Lynn tied the wedding knot. In fact, it was Lynn who was responsible for choosing the relaxed, comfy look that Val adopted for his stage and screen work by selecting the woolly jumper as the mainstay of his wardrobe.

Throughout Val Doonican’s five volumes in the WORLD OF collection, he exercises a

handful of different personas. As well as one character who we can call Val himself singing pop tunes and folky songs, he transforms into a Jim Reeves sound-alike doing ballad-type standards, an Oirish leprechaun taking on a little gentle comedy and occasionally, a lonesome cowboy and country star. Debut single, Walk Tall, was the tune that won the people at Decca over though one the highlights for me, occurs on the first record in his series. The ‘Elusive Butterfly’ (sung by the Val persona) captured my nine year old imagination, back in the day before rain and bad stuff was invented. I was taken, then as now, by the slightly creepy, spooky aspect of the singer stalking the woman of his dreams. He seems to think that it is OK

to creep up to her bedroom window and then run away when she wakes. In the chorus he tells her not to be concerned as it is only him pursuing something. Well, that puts my mind at rest …. but then, I’m not the victim.

Now, to dispel any doom-laden stress elicited by this lyric, we can jump briskly to the story of Delaney’s Donkey. Ah, now. That's better. This song is sung in Val D’s slightly exaggerated Irish lilt and tells the tale of the original stubborn mule and right from the start, you just know he has a permanent smirk across his muzzle. You know this because you will find that you also have a smirk across your muzzle. Early on we learn that he has ‘a leg at ev’ry corner balancing his head and a tail to let you know which end he wanted to be fed’. Now, if that doesn’t chase away that darn butterfly you may, after all, require the services of a therapist. Whenever I listen to Delaney’s Donkey, I can’t help thinking and talking in the same metre afterwards. Try it. Incidentally, Val’s second 45 release, ‘The Special Years’, does not appear in THE WORLD OF DOONICAN series … and no, it wasn't me who queued for an hour to get Val's autograph to stick to the front of my LP … … but I would have done!

Another act that has five WORLD OF volumes is that comprising the Cluskey brothers and Mr and Mrs Stokes little boy. With the two Cluskeys playing guitars and Stokes on upright bass, this trio began life as the mouth organ-playing trio, The Harmonichords appearing as such on Hughie Green’s telly show ‘Opportunity Knocks’. It was Decca A&R man Dick Rowe who suggested that they change their name to something which suggested that they were the kind of boys that girls were more likely to fancy. And so, ladies and gentlemen, give a warm WORLD OF welcome to ….. The Bachelors! (SPA 2, 22, 31, 80 and 96)

THE BACHELORS BETWEEN 1963 and 1967, The Bachelors managed 17 Top 40 UK hits including

‘Charmaine’, which opens THE WORLD OF THE BACHELORS (SPA 2), ‘Diane’, ‘I

Believe’ and ‘I Wouldn’t Trade You for the World’. ‘Diane’ was their only No. 1 whilst follow-up, ‘I Believe’ got to No. 2. They also had six other Top Ten tunes including

their version of Simon and Garfunkel’s ‘Sound of Silence’ at No. 3. Album-wise, SPA 2 reached No. 8 in 1969, around which time, incidentally, THE WORLD OF VAL DOONICAN (SPA 3), THE WORLD OF MANTOVANI (SPA 1) and THE WORLD OF CHARLIE KUNZ (SPA 15) also went Top Ten. In their early days, the boys were backed by, amongst others, Jimmy Page, guitar behemoth, later of Led Zeppelin. If you remember seeing The Bachelors at all though, you’ll recall the tall, moustachioed John Stokes on upright bass but according to the official web-site for the group, he played bass on just one LP; Under and Over which was a record of Irish tunes and features none of the songs on any of our LPs. They don’t tell us who did do the business on all of the hits, however so the mystery remains. They continued ‘playing’ together, latterly on the cabaret circuit, until 1984 when things went juicy fruit-shaped, ending up with them all in court.

JOSEF LOCKE Just the one WORLD OF LP for Josef Locke; THE WORLD OF JOSEF LOCKE TODAY (SPA 21). He began his career presenting opera tunes but was encouraged to include

more light music selections such as ‘Hear my Song’ which became his signature song. Later on he began introducing sentimental Irish songs such as ‘Danny Boy’, ‘Galway Bay’ and ‘How Can you buy Killarney’ into his repertoire for which he became more and more well-known. These three songs turn up on SPA 21 and quite likely are the trigger for the suffix ‘TODAY’ in the LP title to warn those of his army of opera fans who may be surprised by the tunes here.

ROSEMARY BROWN … So who is Rosemary Brown? Ms Brown was actually born in London but her parents were Irish and the family moved back to Ireland on Doctor’s orders when our star was five years old. The winter smog that descended on London played bronchial havoc with Rosemary’s brother, Robert, and sister, Susan, so the decision was made to move the family before Rosemary or her other brother and sister, Eileen and Gerald, succumbed to breathing problems. She played and sang in her Dad’s band along with her Mum and when she was about sixteen, she entered a talent contest and won. First prize was the offer to record a demo tape. Cool! She continued her studies but later submitted the tape to distributor Rex Records who released a single from it with a song called ‘Sixteen’ on the A side and her own composition, 'Little Girl Blue’ on the flip. Incidentally, in the 1930s, Decca bought out the Rex record label but less than a decade after the acquisition, Decca closed the label only to re-establish it in ’65 as a subsidiary in order to look after their Irish market. In the 1970s, Rex was replaced by Emerald Records.

Also incidentally, did you ever notice the letters b/w or c/w associated with the B side of a single? Well, in case you are wondering, these indicate that the song on the A side is backed with or combined with the other on the B side, which further emphasises that the former is the main tune.

Back to Rosemary. Her first record flopped, unfortunately but a year or so later she was invited to audition for the Irish entry in the Eurovision Song Contest. She came second but tried again the following year and got through to sing the winning entry at that year’s Song Contest; ‘All Kinds of Everything’. Now, that should be the clincher, I reckon. It was Rosemary’s impresario at Rex, Michael Geoghegan, who always tried to get his Irish stars a recording deal in London, who thought her name too long for professional use and so it was changed to her school nick name; an old Gaelic word which means ‘mischievous’ and ‘bold’. It was a shame that Decca hadn’t been a little more bold earlier on as they missed out on the chance of having the Eurovision winner on its famous label. THE WORLD OF DANA (SPA 415) is also on the Rex label.

… DANA Winning Eurovision Song, ‘All Kinds of Everything’ closes Side 1. As well as this hit of 1970, other single releases which you’ll find on the WORLD OF are ‘Who Put the

Lights Out?’ (1971), New Days … New Ways (1972), Crossword Puzzle (1972) and ‘Do I Still Figure in Your Life’ (1973). A puzzle concerning ‘Crossword Puzzle’ is how it got to no.2 in Thailand! A little less surprising is that ‘All Kinds of Everything’ reached the top in Ireland, the UK and, naturally, er, Singapore. Anyway, Dana’s agent, Dick Katz, also looked after WORLD OF stable-mates, Lulu, Julie Felix and Mary Hopkin as well as playing piano on each of the Goons comedy radio programmes. Later in life, Dana (as Rosemary Scallon) was to turn her energy towards a political career running unsuccessfully in the squabble for the Irish Presidency but soon to become MEP for Connacht-Ulster. She was later to try once again for the Irish Presidency but once again was not successful.

THE WORLD OF IRELAND

Patrick O’Hagan and Robert Farnon & his Orchestra both have four tunes on THE WORLD OF IRELAND (SPA 53). Vocalist, Denis Martin & Eric Rogers plus orchestra and Fred Hanna and his Irish Country Dance Band have two whilst the poor relations with just one song are The County Singers and The Gallowglass Ceili Band. We also find Robert Farnon twice on THE WORLD OF ENGLAND (SPA-R 190) and Eric Rogers crops up on THE WORLD OF VERA LYNN VOL. 3 (SPA 143) where he conducts the Mike Sammes Singers on four songs.

PATRICK O’HAGAN As with many performers in the world of the WORLD OFs, Patrick O’Hagan is the stage name of our singing tenor in this section and whilst not every proper name of artists who use a ‘nom de stage’ has been revealed, O’Hagan’s has quite a grand aura about it so here it is – Charles Alphonsus Sherrard! You might know his son, Seán Patrick Michael Sherrard, who also sings. Doesn’t ring a bell? Well, how about Johnny Logan, for it is he, him what composed and sung the Eurovision Song Contest winners ‘What’s Another Year’ and ‘Hold Me Now’ for Ireland. Any road, O’Hagan had a fragile sounding voice with almost pedantic pronunciation and delicate diction; nowhere is this more obvious than in ‘The Mountains O’Mourne’ where the tones are left unadulterated by the necessarily barely detectable backing music as if the orchestra might imagine O’Hagan breathing in as he sings in an attempt to withdraw his call from perception completely.

ROBERT FARNON Award-winning composer, arranger and conductor of light orchestral cum easy listening music, Robert Farnon has worked with some of the greats of the WORLD OFs such as Vera Lynn, Gracie Fields, Donald Peers and Anne Shelton. Farnon was a prolific writer producing around 40 film scores (the four tracks here sound as though they could have come from the soundtracks of American musicals of the 1950s such is the sound of Robert Farnon’s touch) and a bunch of TV show themes including Colditz. Frank Sinatra (not invited into the WORLD OF club) had just one album that was recorded in Britain and it was Farnon (known by Sinatra as ‘the guv’nor’) who arranged and conducted proceedings. He did the biz for Bing Crosby and Tony Bennett as well but some might say, that Robert Farnon lived in the shadow of his younger brother, Dennis, who got to compose the scores for the cartoon character, Mr Magoo. Classic! Mr Quincy Magoo, you may know, was a short-sighted fellow whose myopia got him into all sorts of silly scrapes (I’m doing his funny voice right now … you’ll have to take my word for that though).

DENIS MARTIN AND ERIC ROGERS Denis Martin leads the vocals for Eric Rogers and the chorus & orchestra through a couple of two-song medleys which would be perfectly suited to late night listening. Hushed chorus with lush strings that would do me very nicely at the end of a long day. Eric Rogers can also be found backing Vera Lynn on THE WORLD OF VERA LYNN VOL. 3 (SPA 143) conducting the orchestra along with the Mike Sammes Singers, an ensemble of several singers who found themselves variously backing artists as diverse as Cliff Richard and Mantovani; singing rock ‘n’ roll to classical.

FRED HANNA Fred Hanna along with his Irish Country Dance Band have two medleys on SPA 53; two perky accordion and fiddle tune selections to set your toes a-tapping. ‘The Pride of Erin-Medley’ has a rather polite ambience about it which I feel subtracts a little of the fun that one should be having. Still, the first segment is called ‘The Gentle Maiden’ so perhaps we might expect it to be performed in a gentle manner. No matter. Pleasant listening just the same. More upbeat is the ‘Irish Military Two Step-Medley' and, with a few more easily recognisable songs here, makes for more fun all round.

THE COUNTY SINGERS and THE GALLOWGLASS CEILI BAND The County Singers and The Gallowglass Ceili Band have one song each on SPA 53; the former group sing a competent ‘McNamara’s Band’ whilst the Ceili Band provide a three-reel medley.

SCOTLAND ALASDAIR GILLIES It didn’t look like Alasdair Gillies was in for a full-time show-business life as when young and at university, he couldn’t see himself enjoying singing on the world’s stages ‘in 20 years’ time’. No, there was plenty more to life than singing your heart out

to appreciative audiences around the globe. Dentistry, for example. Not that he gave up the idea of being a touring minstrel – during his time as a partner in a dental practice Gillies was able to squeeze concerts and TV appearances into a busy timetable and so was able to keep his options open. Pulling teeth as an occupation didn’t last as long as that of celebrity and soon he was hosting his own television show which was called A Handful of Songs and which turned out to be the first programmes on STV delivered in colour. Alasdair has one tune on THE WORLD OF SCOTLAND VOL. 2 (SPA 420), ‘The Blue Lochs of Scotland’, along with THE HIGHLAND WORLD OF ALASDAIR GILLIES (SPA 197) which includes ‘The Lights of Lochindaal’, an early single release. Alasdair Gillies is a great friend of Scottish songbird Moira Anderson.

MOIRA ANDERSON Moira Anderson is another of those WORLD OF superstars who have five volumes of

their work in the collection plus a pair of tunes on THE WORLD OF SCOTLAND VOL. 2 (SPA 420), ‘Willie’s Gane to Melville Castle’ and ‘Comin’ Thro’ the Rye’ and one on THE WORLD OF STARS ON SUNDAY VOL. 2 (SPA 285) ‘How Lovely are thy Dwellings’.

Decca, in unusual anticipation of there being more than one volume of Moira LPs, actually added the suffix ‘VOL.1’ to the title of the first … er … volume, THE WORLD OF MOIRA ANDERSON (SPA 345) whereas there is normally a yawning gap where this

small legend might have been in other cases. In all, Moira sings us 61 songs with the former pair above featuring on one or other of the records (leaving the latter one standing on its own) and all of the Moira WORLD OFs [(VOL. 2 (SPA 346), VOL. 3 (SPA 352), VOL. 4 (SPA 353) and VOL. 5 (SPA 354)] having 12 tracks each. On four of the five Moira record covers Ms Anderson appears perfectly friendly with mildly impish smiles but check out Vol. 4 – somebody definitely walked up the hallway in muddy boots, didn’t they? She might have been in a similarly bad mood when she first heard The Beatles who were auditioning at Abbey Road studios because she dismissed them, advising that they should not give up their day jobs! Moira could not then have known that they were already doing their day jobs!

LULU Talking of Lulu, which I realise we weren’t, you are probably thinking, ‘What crazy parents would call their child Lulu? Well, stand by for a shock! Lulu is not her proper name … In fact, as this story unfolds, you’ll discover that hardly any WORLD OF stars

used their given names for their stage career. Anyway, Marie Lawrie it was that transmogrified into a thing called Lulu. It was her soon-to-become manager Marian Massey who unwittingly changed the singers name by professing that she was a ‘real lulu of a kid’ (whatever that means). Twelve of the 16 tracks of the Decca album Something to Shout About by Lulu have been scavenged to provide a backbone to THE WORLD OF LULU (SPA 8) and THE WORLD OF LULU VOL. 2 (SPA 94). The first LP contains the hit singles ‘Shout’ and ‘Leave a Little Love’ along with ‘Here Comes the Night’ and ‘Try to Understand’. ‘Here Comes the Night’, of course, was also covered by WORLD OF behemoths, Them and David Bowie. The only B-side of these singles to show up on Lulu’s two records above is that of ‘Here Comes the Night’, actually – ‘That’s Really Some Good’ on SPA 94. Lulu features on four other WORLD OFs as well; we find ‘Shout’ on THE WORLD OF HITS VOL. 2 (SPA 35), ‘Leave a Little Love’ is on THE WORLD OF HITS VOL. 6 (SPA 258), ‘Here Comes the Night’ crops up on GOLDEN DECCADE (SPA 479) and then, after a run of hit singles, we have a random pluck from

SPA 8 in ‘Call Me’ on GOLDEN DECCADE (SPA-R 480). You may remember that Lulu (now Kennedy-Cairns) was born Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie. Let’s stick to Lulu, shall we? Well, Lulu was the first British female singer to perform live behind the Iron Curtain, the imaginary boundary running roughly North to South separating the United States and Western Europe from Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union following the Second World War. She was touring with The Hollies in 1969.

Back home, WORLD OF’s Dudley Moore and his trio were resident guests for a while on TV show It’s Lulu… Not to mention Dudley Moore and another WORLD OF collaboration occurred during the Eurovision Song Contest of 1969 in which Lulu sang Boom Bang-a-Bang for the United Kingdom backed by singers Sue and Sunny of the Brotherhood of Man. Further, and more commonly known, in the 1970s, Lulu recorded a couple of David Bowie’s songs. No, not ‘The Laughing Gnome’ from THE WORLD OF DAVID BOWIE (SPA 58) but ‘The Man Who Sold the World’ and ‘Watch that Man’, the former tune featuring Bowie on saxophone. It wasn’t until the 1980s that fame really visited Lulu, however, as it was this decade that saw her crowned Rear of the Year and voicing the animated children’s character, Nellie the Elephant on TV.

LENA MARTELL Helen Thomson, or Lena Martell if you prefer, is another in a long line of one-hit-wonders. The hit, as you may well know, was gospel-tinged country song ‘One Day at a Time’ and it got right to the top of the UK charts but it cannot be found on THE

WORLD OF LENA MARTELL (SPA 246) because it was not released by Decca. It can, however, be seen in the Guinness Book of World Records 1979 after hanging around the charts for 36 weeks. Having just the one big seller didn’t stall her career though as she went on to record over 30 albums; Lena’s Music Album reaching No. 4 in the UK charts and By Request getting to No. 9, and where better to showcase one’s new material than on one’s own BBC TV show, being voted British TV personality four years on the trot into the bargain. Lena also filled in for Barbra Streisand in Broadway’s Funny Girl when the American star left to take up other work in movies and performed with Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. Not exactly a failure, then.

ARTHUR SPINK For all of you out there who, in fear of the inexorable march of time, grieve the loss of those sunny days of your youth when skipping along like new-born deer was your default mode of transport, I have the cure! THE SCOTTISH ACCORDION WORLD OF ARTHUR SPINK (SPA 196). Those pale spindly legs can not but obey the insistent

accordionic call to the floor. As well as the record above, Arthur shows up on THE WORLD OF SCOTLAND VOL. 2 (SPA 420) on which you’ll find a ‘Set of Reels’ and ‘Set of Jigs’ and after a cavort and flounce to those two tracks, I recommend that you leave it a good week before tackling SPA 196. Then, your reward will be to whoop and holler in fine Scots manner to, once again, ‘Set of Reels’ which opens the LP. Play this record and, I’m telling you, they’ll be no sleep ‘til bedtime! Most of the tunes on SPA 196 are traditional pieces that have been arranged by Mr Spinks but the final song, ‘Auld Acquaintance’ is one composed by ol’ Dancing Fingers Spinks himself. Enjoy.

JIM MACLEOD AND HIS BAND Jim MacLeod’s first recordings were made on the Parlophone record label and

produced by George Martin, who was later to produce The Beatles, but he may have saved their best for THE SCOTTISH DANCE WORLD OF JIM MACLEOD AND HIS BAND (SPA 154). MacLeod started his first band at the age of 22 after beginning his life in music at 16 on the organ of the local church. He managed to find employment at the Dunblane Hydro Hotel as resident pianist whilst he played with his band in afternoon tea dances there as well. Jim also occupied himself with radio work and with this and regular work playing to hundreds of hotel guests, his musical world blossomed over the years. The music on SPA 154 would seem to back this up with its easy style gently coaxing you from your seat.

THE WORLD OF SCOTLAND Spread over THE WORLD OF SCOTLAND (SPA 41) and THE WORLD OF SCOTLAND VOL. 2 (SPA 420) is the pride of Alba including the pipe bands of the Edinburgh City

Police and Shotts and Dykehead Caledonia, the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders and the 1st Battalion Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders, Jack Sinclair and his Scottish Dance Band, Bobby MacLeod and his Band, Robin Hall and Jimmie MacGregor, Alasdair Downie and Calum Kennedy all squeezed into the 14 tracks of SPA 41 whilst SPA 420 features The Royal Highland Fusiliers, Bert Shorthouse and his Glenlomond Band, The Crofters, Archie Duncan, Colin Campbell, Bill McCue and, once again Robin Hall & Jimmie MacGregor. Also on Vol. 2 are Kenneth McKellar, Arthur Spink and Moira Anderson who all have their own LPs and so are covered elsewhere.

SHOTTS AND DYKEHEAD CALEDONIA PIPE BAND, ARGYLL & SUTHERLAND HIGHLANDERS and CAMERON HIGHLANDERS In 2013 the Lothian and borders Police, formally Edinburgh City Police, was disbanded, taking its pipe band with it. Don’t worry – a lawless state was avoided by the immediate instigation of a unified Police Scotland force and there are other pipe bands associated with the Scottish police so punishment by bagpipe is still available for miscreants dastardly enough. Shotts and Dykehead Caledonia Pipe Band is based in Shotts which lies east of Glasgow and west of Edinburgh. Pipe bands exist in order to compete and the Band from Shotts has won the RSPBA (Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association) World Pipe Band Championships 16 times and is one of the most successful in pipe band history. The Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders and Cameron Highlanders, conversely are, when required, a fighting unit and since their inaugurations in 1881 and 1792 respectively, have been involved in just about every skirmish subsequently, including the two World Wars.

JACK SINCLAIR AND BOBBY MACLEOD Jack Sinclair and his Scottish Dance Band fill their one slot in the WORLD OFs with a gentle waltzing accordion medley, the likes of which he might have played for royalty from King George VI in 1951 to Queen Elizabeth II at Balmoral. In all he played there more than 270 times. Rather than a waltz, you’re more likely to be tapping your foot to the skipping beat of Bobby MacLeod and his Dance Band as they work through their Piper’s Medley on SPA 41. I well remember prancing like a gambolling lamb to this sort of sound in my junior school days and, on hearing it again now, feel the tug of the beat and the call of the accordion once more. Now, just where are my elasticated plimsolls?

ROBIN HALL AND JIMMIE MACGREGOR, ALASDAIR DOWNIE and CALLUM KENNEDY The first time that Robin Hall and Jimmie MacGregor met each other was when they were serendipitously invited on stage together at a youth music festival – they gelled so well, a partnership was formed. Fame and fortune soon beckoned when they were invited on to the BBC current affairs show Tonight to perform a tune in celebration of Burns Night. So successful were they that they ended up with a ten-year residency on the programme. The duo signed to Decca and soon had a hit single in ‘Football Crazy’ (originally ‘Fitba’ Crazy’), a slightly doctored instrumental version of which is used for BBC TV’s Match of the Day. Hall and Macgregor have three songs on SPA 41 and one on SPA 420 whilst Alasdair Downie has just the one which crops up on SPA 41. ‘Masons Apron’ is usually played as a reel and Downie’s Dance Band do a fine hornpipe-type version of it here. Finally, on SPA 41 we have three tunes by dulcet tenor, Calum Kennedy, ‘the golden voice of the Highlands’, developed, apparently, by calling in the family cow at the end of the day in his youth. His mellow tone made him a great favourite in towns and villages up and down Scotland and the story goes that when, in 1963, the newspaper headlines proclaimed Kennedy’s death, Calum’s many fans were relieved to find that it was only the US president who had died. ROYAL HIGHLAND FUSILIERS’ PIPES, DRUMS AND BUGLES BAND and BERT SHORTHOUSE Like the Highlanders above, the Royal Highland Fusiliers’ Pipes, Drums and Bugles Band, to give them their full title, were a decorated peace-keeping and fighting unit and their first colonel-in-chief was Princess Margaret. Sticklers for correct procedure will be pleased to hear that, instead of the abbreviation, ‘shun!’ ringing out over the parade ground, the Royal Highland Fusiliers insisted on the full command, ‘Attention!’ The band have three tunes on SPA 420 and never have bagpipes sounded more skirling. A massive, monster voice. A little more gentle is the music of Bert Shorthouse and his Glenlomond Band with their accordion and fiddle approach more congenial to an indoor ceilidh. Their two slots on SPA 420 take in waltzes and reels.

THE CROFTERS, ARCHIE DUNCAN, BILL McCUE and COLIN CAMPBELL The remaining artists, The Crofters, Archie Duncan, Bill McCue and Colin Campbell & his Highland Band all have just one tune on SPA 420 and this represents their sole contribution to our record collection. You therefore have just the one chance to enjoy The Crofters singing exultantly about the time that Johnny Cope ran away, terrified from Bonnie Prince Charlie – Scotland 1 England 0; the clean accordion sounds of the ‘Dark Island’ by Archie who, apparently, recorded it first; the deep, dark, chocolatey voice of Bill, who lent his vocal tones very suitably to the character of Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof, though not here, and, finally, singing accordionist Colin Campbell who fronted his own band and played with many of the artists featured on these two WORLD OF SCOTLAND records such as the Edinburgh City Pipe Band, Robin Hall & Jimmie MacGregor, Calum Kennedy and Alasdair Gillies.

WALES THE WORLD OF WALES IN SONG

THE WORLD OF WALES IN SONG (SPA 42) features the voices of the three Male Choirs, Pendyrus, Treorchy and Morriston Orpheus along with Thomas L Thomas/Enid Simon and David Lloyd and just about all of these artists earned their stripes in their early years, by performing successfully at annual eisteddfodau, Welsh culture festivals of literature, music and performance. DAVID LLOYD Tenor David Lloyd began his singing career as a promising opera star, singing Verdi and Mozart, after winning a scholarship to study music and finishing top of the class. A year or so later, however, the Second World War interrupted his progress, particularly his novelty angle as a Welsh language singer as languages other than English were considered a threat to security in the homelands during these tetchy times. Didn’t stop him singing altogether, though, and he soon began to make it as a concert singer where English was more suited to the songs. The song here, ‘My Little Welsh Home’ would be one of these though there are Welsh versions, too. Later, after the war, he placed himself firmly at the heart of Welsh community by singing in his native tongue as well as continuing his concert work. Lloyd’s singing career was effectively finished when he was 45 years of age, however, as he had a fall that resulted in a broken back. This didn’t stop him singing either but, as you might imagine, his voice had lost the power that was developed through his opera phase and subsequently.

THOMAS L THOMAS Thomas Llyfnwy Thomas was a baritone who lent his voice to various musical genres. He was born in Wales but left, with his family, in search of a new life in Pennsylvania, USA when he was 12 years old.

Tom Thomas was headed for a life as an engineering draughtsman but winning a singing competition put a stop to that nonsense. Five or so years later in 1937, he was the only Welshman, as well as being the youngest person, to have won the radio auditions of the Metropolitan Opera, the prize money being $1000. Today, that sum would be approaching $20000, no mean sum for a 26 year old who had shunned a wage a few years earlier. Though he never returned to Wales to live, he did go back regularly to sing. On his one song here, ‘Dafydd Y Garreg Wen’, Thomas L Thomas is accompanied by harpist Enid Simon.

MORRISTON ORPHEUS MALE CHOIR Seven-time eisteddfod winners, the Morriston Orpheus Male Choir have an international reputation undertaking tours to Australia and New Zealand, the United Arab Emirates, United States and Canada as well as various gigs in Europe. The choir has released more than 50 albums and features on around 100 compilation albums of which, SPA 42 is just one. On it are four songs, two in English and two in Welsh. They have ‘We’ll Keep a Welcome’. Now there’s a tune.

TREORCHY MALE CHOIR In competition with the Morriston Orpheus Male Choir, the Treorchy won eight eisteddfodau and claims to be the most recorded choir with around 60 records but where they definitely score more radical points is by recording an album of the music of pop band, Queen and reggae maestro, Bob Marley. Already my favourite Welsh choir, they top themselves by having recorded the Kullervo Symphony by Sibelius … in Finnish! Is this not the rockiest rolliest choir ever? They have also played alongside such stellar artists as WORLD OF luminaries Tom Jones, Harry Secombe (the Goons), Burt Bacharach and Max Boyce. I mean, Max Boyce! Does it never end?

PENDYRUS MALE CHOIR At time of writing, the Pendyrus Male Choir is four years short of their century year of 2024, making them the oldest choir in the Rhondda Valley, an area of Wales associated with coal industry and the community from which many male choirs were formed, including the Treorchy above. The Pendyrus has four tracks on SPA 42.

THE WORLD OF WALES THE WORLD OF WALES IN SONG (SPA 42) above may be considered as Volume 1 of the three-LP series also containing THE WORLD OF WALES VOL. 2 (SPA 214) and

VOL. 3 (SPA 363). VOL.2 here marks an event which must be just about unique. The gathering of five thousand people of Welsh descent coming together for a monster sing-song at the Royal Albert Hall in 1963 for the annual Gymanfa Ganu, pronounced, the back cover advises, as Gum-an-va Gaanee. Community singing has always been popular in Wales but the assemblage of so many voices captured here sounds like a phenomenon which is unlikely to be repeated. Just think, as the back cover notes state, there were no rehearsals – no professional singers – some were maybe good singers, some were

maybe bad but all were fervent in song. If you are Welsh but were not there that day, never fear, you can play the record and sing along because the words to the set-list is here.

A wonderful event, I’m sure you will agree but stand by record geeks, for now I can reveal a wonder to surpass even that. THE WORLD OF WALES VOL.3 has two (2), yes, you heard correctly, two different covers! So, in the whole of the WORLD OF world, this and THE WORLD OF DAVID BOWIE (SPA 58) are the only ones to be graced with alternative images. And you know how people can tell you where they were when momentous events took place – well, I can remember exactly where I was when I found both versions of this record – Tenby! … that’s in Wales.

Anyway, you’ll be wondering about the covers themselves, I daresay. Well, I’m guessing a little here but, I reckon the original record is the one with the cover depicting Caernarvon Castle which, if the record release date on the inner sleeve is to be believed, was put out in 1974. Now, I further reckon that the other record was released with an image representing the Crowning of the Bard ceremony in Carmarthen to cash in on this event which also happened in 1974. As guesses go, this is one of my more logical ones. And now, on with the music found thereon. All of the performers here, except one, you will be familiar with as they have been discussed above whilst others that have been covered elsewhere and include The Regimental Band of the Welsh Guards and Stuart Burrows. The one outstanding group of ‘artists’ are Cymanfa Ganu Undebol Treorci A'r Cylch which is the gathering at another form of song festival, this time accommodated in Treorchy. Many of the song titles are in Welsh but one I can read is the one that closes the show and it is the classic ‘Abide With Me’ by the Pendyrus Male Choir, this time assisted by baritone Edward Plucknett.

The Morriston Orpheus, Pendyrus and Treorchy Choirs are all here again on THE WORLD OF GREAT WELSH CHOIRS (SPA 591) and all are discussed elsewhere. The LP does, however, introduce two new choirs to our discourse in the choirs of Pontarddulais and Rhos. The Pontarddulais Male Choir has won 17 eisteddfodau, the first being in 1963 and the latest in 2018! Further, they sang the choral parts for the soundtrack for the film Pink Floyd – The Wall. Rhos Male Voice Choir is based in Rhosllanerchrugog and sing from a wide-ranging repertoire presenting such as opera tunes, show tunes and hymns. The choir comprises two male, two mixed and one ladies’ choir.' Incidentally, the psychedelia-tinged art above means that I have yet to safely gather this LP in to the collection.

DYLAN THOMAS ‘To begin at the beginning:’ so begins Under Milk Wood, Dylan Thomas’ famous tale of a day in a seaside village in Wales, initially referred to by Dylan as ‘The Town that was Mad’ but finally called Llareggub, a place ready-made to confuse your satellite

navigation system because it is fictional. There is nothing in Llareggub. Gnihton at all! THE WORLD OF DYLAN THOMAS (PA/A 166) features two lumps of Under Milk Wood read by Richard Burton plus nine other pieces of poetry or prose including ‘Memories of Childhood’, ‘Fern Hill’ and funeral favourites, ‘Do not go gentle into that good night’. ‘And death shall have no dominion’, which closes the LP. The latter appears to be Thomas’ first published work, appearing in the New English Weekly of May 1933 though it didn’t show up officially until Dylan Thomas’ second publication, Twenty Five Poems in 1936. Incidentally, it was Thomas who unwittingly helped acoustic folkie Robert (Bob) Zimmerman to decide upon a stage name. Oh, and just in case you didn’t see through my earlier cryptically foggy, Dylan Thomas-like prose, the convincingly Welsh-looking name of Llareggub may be read backwards to enjoy Thomas’ mischievous playfulness.

Presenting this myriad selections are various actors, most of which are Welsh with a couple of English thrown into the mix. Names such as Emlyn Williams, Hugh Griffin, Sybil Williams and Richard Bebb as well as Richard Burton. MARY HOPKIN That ITV talent show Opportunity Knocks crops up again early on in Mary Hopkin’s life, ultimately resulting in career take-off. Famous model, Twiggy, saw Mary winning the show and recommended her to Beatle, Paul McCartney who invited her on to the

band’s Apple record label. As well as LPs, Mary Hopkin released six singles on the label, scoring a No. 1 with ‘Those Were the Days’, which removed ‘Hey Jude’ by, you guessed it, The Beatles, to get there, and two No. 2s with ‘Goodbye’ and ‘Knock, Knock Who’s There’, the latter being the one that Mary represented the UK with in The Eurovision Song Contest in 1970, losing out to fellow WORLD OF diva, Dana. ‘Temma Harbour' gave her a No. 6 hit, as well. None of these feature on, and there is a clue in the title as to why not, THE WELSH WORLD OF MARY HOPKIN (SPA 546). This LP was originally recorded in 1968 on the Cambrian record label prior to Hopkin’s first Apple LP, Post Card, before being re-released in 1979 in the form above. Cambrian became part of the Decca group in the mid-seventies. The songs, to a large extent, sound gentle and rather quaint with Mary Hopkin’s quivering tones backed with just a solo guitar or harp.

MAX BOYCE THE WORLD OF MAX BOYCE (PA 469) was recorded live at the Valley Folk Club in Pontardawe in Wales. Mary Hopkin was born in Pontardawe and another link between the two artists is that their WORLD OF LPs were originally released on the Cambrian record label. In Max’s Max Boyce in Session and PA 469 were released in the same year, 1971. There are four self-penned songs on each side beginning with ‘Duw It’s Hard’. The song begins as though Boyce is having a rant about a bunch of clerks from England that have come to close the pits upon which he and his Welsh colleagues

depend for work. It turns out, he was rejoicing that he’ll not have to return underground. I can't but wonder if that sentiment was the consensus amongst the audience that night.

One of Max’s most popular tunes concerns the apparent obsession for rugby union of the Welsh male (and many English counterparts) and in particular, an obsession for any game between the Welsh and the English. It actually doesn’t concentrate too much on the game except to say that Wales defeated England, which is likely to be the only thing that gentlemen from the valleys would remember from such a trip to London, anyway. You see, the thing with Max Boyce is, his humour is very gentle so that even potentially stimulating subjects are most unlikely to offend. There is another parallel with the career of Mary Hopkin and that is an appearance on Opportunity Knocks. The similarity soon ends, however, as whereas Mary was successful, Max was not very but, how about this one? Max Boyce had a No. 1 album whereas Mary did not! We All had Doctor’s Papers reached the pinnacle in the UK charts in 1975.

TAMMY JONES As is the case with so many of the WORLD OF personalities, Tammy Jones began her singing career nice and early and had recorded under her given name on the strength of winning several Eistedfodd (festivals of Welsh culture) and many Welsh radio and television appearances, performing in Welsh as well as English. In case of confusion, the back cover of THE WORLD OF TAMMY JONES (SPA-R 442) has the title suffixed with FORMERLY KNOWN AS HELEN WYN. It was as Helen Wyn that she recorded her first three LPs and her first one as Tammy Jones was called Moliannwn/Scarlet Ribbons, the title of which leads me to wonder if there is a spelling mistake in the title

of the third track on Side 1 of our record. There listed is ‘Molianwn’ which appears to have no meaning whereas, with the extra ‘n’ inserted, it translates into English, roughly at least, as ‘We’ll Give Praise’. It is the only one sung in Welsh amongst classic songs such as ‘Edelweiss’, A Little Bitty Tear’ and Love Me Tender’. Now, call her egotistical if you like but there is also a song called ‘Tammy’ all about Tammy. Tammy being in love and everyone knows except the loved one. Why, even the ‘old hootie owl hootie hoos to the dove’. Anyway, Tammy’s one big UK hit, the last mentioned not being it, was ‘Let Me Try Again’ which reached No. 5 but does not feature here.

For most of her professional early singing life she was an established cabaret performer specialising in ballads and soon found herself on TV in England co-starring with WORLD OF alumni Benny Hill, The Bachelors and Tom Jones. She entered ITV talent show Opportunity Knocks following cabaret appearances all over the world so perhaps you’ll not be surprised to learn that she won for six consecutive weeks. Tammy Jones attempted to win a place at the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest on behalf of Royaume-Uni but lost out, with ten others, to Brotherhood of Man. Incidentally, another loser that night was Frank Ifield of WORLD OF fame.

So we have reached the end of the first part of our current journey. Why not have a look around Aberystwyth on the West coast of Wales, where, on Autumn and Winter evenings you will see that fantastic natural phenomenon, the starling murmuration. Thousands of birds fly in from the surrounding countryside to join in this tremendous ornithological shindig, whooshing backwards and forwards out over the Irish Sea.

Whatever you do, make sure you are on the bus nice and early for our trip to England.

References available on request

Regarding the LP cover images, they are photographs of the records in my own collection and are taken by my own hand. All images are, however, copyright of Decca.

Any redistribution or reproduction of part or all of any image in any form should be considered prohibited.

Any redistribution or reproduction of part or all of the text in any form is prohibited, restricted by permission of the author.