William Edward Cotton (6 May 1899 – 25 March 1969) was an English band leader and

entertainer An entertainer is someone who provides entertainment in various different forms. Types of entertainers

* Acrobat * Actor * Archimime * Barker (occupation), Barker * Beatboxer * Benshi * Bouffon * Cheerleader * Circus arts, Circus perform ...

, one of the few whose orchestras survived the British dance band era. Cotton is now mainly remembered as a 1950s and 1960s

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

and

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

personality, but his musical career had begun in the 1920s. In his younger years, Billy Cotton was also an amateur footballer for

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

(and later, for the then Athenian league club

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

), an accomplished racing driver and the owner of a Gipsy Moth, which he piloted himself. His autobiography, ''I Did It My Way'', was published in 1970, a year after his death.

Life and career

Born in Smith Square,

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

, London, England, to Joseph and Susan Cotton, Cotton was a choirboy and started his musical career as a drummer. He enlisted in the

Royal Fusiliers The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. It was known as the 7th Regiment of Foot until the Childers Reforms of 1881. The regiment served in many war ...

by falsifying his age and saw service in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

in Malta and Egypt before landing at

Gallipoli The Gallipoli Peninsula (; ; ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles strait to the east. Gallipoli is the Italian form of the Greek name (), meaning ' ...

in the middle of an artillery barrage. He was recommended for a commission and learned to fly Bristol Fighter aircraft. Not yet 19 years old, he flew solo for the first time in 1918, on the day the

Royal Flying Corps The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC sup ...

became the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

. After the end of the war, in the early 1920s, he worked at several jobs, including as a bus driver, before setting up his own orchestra, the London Savannah Band, in 1924. At first a conventional dance band, the London Savannah Band gradually tended towards

music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was most popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850, through the World War I, Great War. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as Varie ...

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

entertainment, introducing visual and verbal humour in between songs. Famous musicians who played in Billy Cotton's band during the 1920s and 1930s included Arthur Rosebery, Syd Lipton and

Nat Gonella Nathaniel Charles Gonella (7 March 1908 – 6 August 1998) was an English jazz trumpeter, bandleader, vocalist, and mellophone, mellophonist. He founded the big band The Georgians (Nat Gonella), The Georgians, during the British dance band era ...

. The band was also noted for their

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

trombonist and

tap dance Tap dance (or tap) is a form of dance that uses the sounds of tap shoes striking the floor as a form of percussion; it is often accompanied by music. Tap dancing can also be performed with no musical accompaniment; the sound of the taps is its ow ...

r, Ellis Jackson. Their signature tune was " Somebody Stole My Gal", and they made numerous commercial recordings for

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, record label * Decca Gold, classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, musical theater record label * Decca Studios, recording facility in West ...

. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Cotton and his band toured France with the

Entertainments National Service Association The Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA) was an organisation established in 1939 by Basil Dean and Leslie Henson to provide entertainment for British armed forces personnel during World War II. ENSA operated as part of the Navy, ...

( ENSA). After the war, he started his successful Sunday lunchtime radio show on

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, the '' Billy Cotton Band Show'', which ran from 1949 to 1968. In the 1950s, composer

Lionel Bart Lionel Bart (1 August 1930 – 3 April 1999) was an English writer and composer of pop music and musicals. He wrote Tommy Steele's "Rock with the Caveman" and was the sole creator of the musical ''Oliver!'' (1960). With ''Oliver!'' and his work ...

contributed comedy songs to the show. It regularly opened with the band's signature tune and Cotton's call of "Wakey Wakey". From 1956, it was also broadcast on BBC television. Cotton often also provided vocals on many of his band's recordings, in addition to work as a vocalist on recordings that did not feature his band. As a racing driver, he raced at

Brooklands Brooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England, United Kingdom. It opened in 1907 and was the world's first purpose-built 'banked' motor racing circuit as well as one of Britain's first airfields, ...

between the wars. He finished fourth in the 1949 British Grand Prix, sharing an English Racing Automobiles car with David Hampshire.

Personal life

Cotton married Mabel E. Gregory in 1921. They had two sons, Ted and Bill Cotton, who later became the BBC's managing director of television; despite this, he had an affair with one of his band's singers (Doreen Stephans) and moved into a flat with her in the early 1950s. In 1962, Billy Cotton suffered a stroke. He died in 1969 while watching a boxing match at

Wembley Arena Wembley Arena () (originally the Empire Pool, currently known as OVO Energy, OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, Greater London, England. The 12,500-seat facility is Greater Lond ...

. Billy Cotton was the great-great-uncle of TV and radio presenter Fearne Cotton.

Selected filmography

* '' The First Mrs. Fraser'' (1932) * '' Variety'' (1935) *'' Music Hall Parade'' (1939)

Bibliography

* ''I Did It My Way, Autobiography'', 1970, Publisher: George G. Harrap & Co. Ltd. SBN 245 59941 x. * ''The Greatest Billy Cotton Band Show,'' John Maxwell, 1976, Publisher: Jupiter Books (London) Ltd. SBN 904041 31x. *

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cotton, Billy 1899 births 1969 deaths Wimbledon F.C. players Billy Cotton Band Show Brentford F.C. players British Army personnel of World War I Dance band bandleaders English bandleaders English racing drivers Grand Prix drivers Footballers from the London Borough of Lambeth People from Lambeth Royal Fusiliers soldiers Royal Flying Corps officers Musicians from the London Borough of Lambeth 20th-century English conductors (music) Men's association football players not categorized by position English men's footballers Royal Air Force personnel of World War I Royal Air Force officers Racing drivers from London 20th-century English sportsmen