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Tears (Ken Dodd Song)
"Tears" (also known as "Tears for Souvenirs") is a song written by lyricist Frank Capano and composer Billy Uhr, which was popularised by Rudy Vallée in 1930. It was later made famous in a version recorded by Ken Dodd, released as a 45 rpm single in 1965, which became a bestselling No. 1 hit in the UK Singles Chart. Song synopsis The main theme is based on Delilah's aria "Mon cœur s'ouvre à ta voix" ("Softly awakes my heart") from Act II of Camille Saint-Saëns's opera '' Samson and Delilah'', which dates from 1877. Background The song "Tears" was first published on October 20, 1930. The Bob Haring Orchestra recorded it on December 4. A notable early recording of it was by Rudy Vallée and His Connecticut Yankees, as a waltz, in New York on December 7 that year. Subsequent American recordings that month were by Sleepy Hall and his Collegians (the Brunswick Studio Orchestra), Mickie Alpert and his Orchestra, Seger Ellis, and the Blue Grass Boys with Lee Morse. 1931 saw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ken Dodd
Sir Kenneth Arthur Dodd (8 November 1927 – 11 March 2018) was an English stand-up comedy, comedian, actor and singer. He was described as "the last great music hall entertainer" and was primarily known for his live stand-up comedy, stand-up performances. A lifelong resident of the Knotty Ash neighbourhood of Liverpool, Dodd started his career as an entertainer in the mid-1950s. His performances included rapid and incessant delivery of often surreal jokes, and would run for several hours, frequently past midnight. His verbal and physical comedy was supplemented by his red, white, and blue "Feather duster, tickling stick" Theatrical property, prop, but these colours could change for occasions such as St Patrick's Day, when he would choose a green, white and orange pair. He often introduced the sticks with his characteristic upbeat greeting of "How tickled I am!" He interspersed comedy with songs, both serious and humorous, and with his original speciality, ventriloquism. He had s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rudy Vallée
Hubert Prior Vallée (July 28, 1901 – July 3, 1986), known professionally as Rudy Vallée, was an American singer, saxophonist, bandleader, actor, and entertainer. He was the first male singer to rise from local radio broadcasts in New York City to national popularity as a crooner. Early life Vallée was born in Island Pond, Vermont on July 28, 1901, the son of Catherine Lynch and Charles Alphonse Vallée. His maternal grandparents were English and Irish, while his paternal grandparents were French Canadians from Quebec. He grew up in Westbrook, Maine. On March 29, 1917, he enlisted in the US Navy in Portland, Maine to fight in World War I, but authorities discovered he was only 15 and had given the false birth date of July 28, 1899. He was discharged at the Naval Training Station in Newport, Rhode Island on May 17, 1917, after 41 days of active service. Career Music After playing drums in his high school band, Vallée played clarinet and saxophone in bands around New E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Val Rosing
Valerian Rosing (1910–1969), also known after 1938 as Gilbert Russell, was a British dance band singer best known as the vocalist with the BBC in the BBC Dance Orchestra directed by Henry Hall. Rosing was the son of Russian tenor Vladimir Rosing and English singer Marie Falle. Rosing sang on the original BBC recording of "Teddy Bears' Picnic" as well as "In a Little Gypsy Tea Room". He also sang on the Ray Noble Orchestra's version of "Try a Little Tenderness", the first recording of this well-covered song. Rosing recorded more than one hundred sides with various English bands, including Spike Hughes and His Decca-Dents, the Jack Payne Orchestra, Jack Hylton's Orchestra and Rosing's own Radio Rhythm Rascals. In 1938, Rosing moved to America at the urging of Louis B. Mayer, who renamed him Gilbert Russell, with hopes of making Rosing the "English Bing Crosby". His years at MGM were uneventful and, after his stint with the studio, he sang and acted in musicals and light ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
BBC Dance Orchestra
The BBC Big Band, originally known as the BBC Radio Big Band is a British big band, previously run under the auspices of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The band broadcasts exclusively on BBC Radio, particularly on BBC Radio 2's long-running series '' Big Band Special''. It consists of professional musicians and is directed by a number of conductors. These include arranger and composer Barry Forgie, who has been the band's Musical Director since 1977, American jazz trombonist Jiggs Whigham, and guest musical directors. History The BBC Big Band's origins lie in the earliest days of the BBC when the BBC Dance Orchestra was formed in 1928 under the leadership of Jack Payne before Henry Hall took over in 1932. Benny Carter was hired as the arranger from 1935 to 1938. In the 1950s, the format and purpose of the Dance Orchestra was changed and modernised, and it became a big band with strings in the Billy May style, known as the BBC Showband, under the leadership of Cyr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jack Payne (bandleader)
John Wesley Vivian Payne (22 August 1899 – 4 December 1969) was a British bandleader who established his reputation during the British dance band era of the 1930s. Early life and career Payne was born in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, England, the only son of a music publisher's warehouse manager. While serving in the Royal Flying Corps, he played the piano in amateur dance bands. After the RFC became the Royal Air Force towards the end of World War I, Payne led dance bands for the troops. Prior to joining the Royal Air Force, he was part of "The Allies" concert party. This voluntary group performed to wounded soldiers convalescing around Birmingham. He played with visiting American jazz bands at the Birmingham Palais during the early 1920s, including the Southern Rag-a-Jazz Orchestra in 1922, before moving to London in 1925. He played in a ten-piece band which became the house band at London's Hotel Cecil in 1925. This ensemble regularly performed on the BBC in the latter ha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sam Browne (musician)
Sam Browne (26 March 1898 – 2 March 1972) was an English dance band singer, who became one of the most popular British dance band vocalists of the 1930s. He is remembered for singing with Jack Hylton and with Ambrose (bandleader), Ambrose and his orchestra, at the Mayfair Hotel and Embassy Club, with whom he made many recordings from 1930 to 1942. Browne also worked with several other popular dance bands from the time, such as those led by Lew Stone and Billy Cotton. Browne was most famous for his duets and variety performances with the singer Elsie Carlisle. Early life Sam Browne was born in 1898 to East London Lithuanian Jewish parents and was one of eleven children. His introduction to singing came at the local Synagogue as a chorister. After leaving school, he had several jobs before reaching the age of 18 during the First World War, when he joined the Merchant Navy. Some of the voyages took him to New York and it was there that he discovered "jazz". After leaving the Me ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bob And Alf Pearson
Bob and Alf Pearson were an English musical variety double act, consisting of brothers Robert Alexander Pearson (15 August 1907 – 30 December 1985) and Alfred Vernon Pearson (15 June 1910 – 7 July 2012), who were mainly known for their singing of songs as a duo in close-harmony. Their career together lasted over 50 years, spanning stage, radio, television and gramophone records. During the 1930s, they became one of the most popular acts in Britain, and had sold over a million records by 1936. Their fame continued into the post-war period, when they regularly appeared on the BBC Radio show ''Ray's a Laugh'' with comedian Ted Ray. Introducing themselves with their signature tune, "My Brother and I", audiences heard the brothers performing well-known songs, with Bob accompanying on piano. Ray would ask, "Why, it's a little girl, what's your name?" with Bob replying, "Jennifer", followed by a comedy routine. Bob's turn as 'Jennifer' became closely associated with their act. E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harry Bidgood
Henry Bidgood (28 August 1898 – 15 November 1957), was an English composer, dance band leader and musical director for films. Born in West Ham,1911 Census London, England in 1898,. his father was music teacher and composer Thomas Bidgood. The family moved to Harringay in North London when Thomas was about 10 years old. He studied at the Royal College of Music. In the 1920s Bidgood was the assistant organist at the Electric Coliseum in Harringay. Bidgood released dance band music under various names, mostly notably Primo Scala and his Accordion Band, who issued over 200 sides on 78rpm. Over the course of 20 years, he would frequently broadcast on the BBC. In 1930, he and his band covered "Amy, Wonderful Amy", a song about Amy Johnson. Bidgood was also the musical director for numerous films, including several starring George Formby. Apart from the many recordings made under his own name, he also led accordion bands under the names Rossini and Don Porto. As Primo Scala, he br ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Dance Band
British dance band is a genre of popular jazz and dance music that developed in British dance halls and hotel ballrooms during the 1920s and 1930s, often called a Golden Age of British music, prior to the Second World War. Thousands of miles away from the origins of jazz in the United States, British dance bands of this era typically played melodic, good-time music that had jazz and big band influences but also maintained a peculiarly British sense of rhythm and style which came from the music hall tradition. Often, comedians of the day or music hall personalities would sing novelty recordings backed by well-known British dance band leaders. Some of the British dance band leaders and musicians went on to fame in the United States in the swing era. Thanks to Britain's continuing ballroom dancing tradition and its recording copyright laws, British dance music of the pre-swing era still attracts a modest audience, which American dance music of the same period does not. Notable ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lionel Belasco
Lionel Belasco (Maracaibo (Venezuela) 20 september 1881 – ) also know as Lionel "Lanky" Belasco was a pianist, arranger, composer, promoter and bandleader from Trinidad and Tobago. Belasco was a pianist, composer and bandleader best known for his Calypso recordings. Biography According to various sources, Belasco was born in Maracaibo (Venezuela), the son of an Afro-Caribbean mother and a Sephardic Jewish father. He spent his early childhood in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, and grew up in Trinidad. He traveled widely in the Caribbean and South America in his youth, absorbing a wide variety of musical influences. As well as working as a musician performing for the elite, Belasco worked in the function of manager and promoter at ''London Electric Theater'' in Port of Spain, Trinidad. The ''London Electric Theater'' was the first movie theatre in the capital city of Trinidad. He was leading his own band by 1902, and made his first phonograph recordings in Trinidad in 19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dick Robertson (songwriter)
Richard Joseph Robertson (July 3, 1900 – July 12, 1979) was an American popular big band singer and songwriter of the 1930s and 1940s. He sang for many bandleaders such as Leo Reisman and Roger Wolfe Kahn and His Orchestra, and was on the artist roster at Banner Records. Robertson was one of the most prolific New York based vocalists (along with Irving Kaufman, Chick Bullock, Scrappy Lambert, Elmer Feldkamp, Paul Small and Smith Ballew) on scores of records from late 1928 through the mid 1930s. A series of records issued on Melotone/Perfect/Banner/Oriole/Romeo, Crown, Bluebird from 1930-1934 were issued under his name or are listed in the 2010 edition of ''"American Dance Bands on Record and Film (1915-1942)"'' by Richard J. Johnson and Bernard H. Shirley as being under his nominal leadership. His last recording session as a singer was in 1949. He also used the pseudonym Bob Richardson for some recordings on Mayfair Records. As a songwriter his biggest hit was " We Thr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lee Morse
Lena Corinne "Lee" Morse (née Taylor; November 30, 1897 – December 16, 1954) was an American jazz and blues singer-songwriter, composer, guitarist, and actress. Morse's greatest popularity was in the 1920s and early 1930s as a torch singer, although her career began around 1917 and continued until her death in 1954. Morse was known for her strong, deep singing voice and vocal range, which often belied her petite frame. She possessed a contralto vocal range, and one of her trademarks was her unique style of yodeling. Recording over 200 songs over her career, Morse was one of the most recorded female singers of the 1920s. She was also moderately successful as an actress on the Broadway stage. Her life and career, however, were marred by alcoholism. Morse's group the Blue Grass Boys had no relation either Bill Monroe's later band of the same name nor to the bluegrass genre. In 2014, Morse's rendition of " If You Want the Rainbow" was used in an episode of the HBO series ''Board ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
