The Carlyle Cousins were a British female

close harmony A chord is in close harmony (also called close position or close structure) if its notes are arranged within a narrow range, usually with no more than an octave between the top and bottom notes. In contrast, a chord is in open harmony (also ca ...

vocal trio, popular in the 1930s. They formed in 1931, after singer and

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is one of the oldest music schools in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the firs ...

student Cecile Petrie ( Thornton; born in

Nairn Nairn (; ) is a town and former royal burgh in the Highland (council area), Highland Council council areas of Scotland, area of Scotland. It is an ancient fishing port and market town around east of Inverness, at the point where the River Nair ...

, Scotland, 1910–1983) saw the

Brox Sisters The Brox Sisters were an American trio of singing sisters, enjoying their greatest popularity in the 1920s and early 1930s. Early life The sisters were Lorayne (born Eunice, November 11, 1901 – June 14, 1993), Dagmar (later Bobbe) (born ...

perform in a film and decided to adopt a similar style in England. She formed a duo with fellow student Pauline Lister, and they began performing harmony duets on stage. To make up a trio, they added pianist and singer Lilian Taylor, so establishing the Carlyle Cousins. After some time, Pauline Lister left, to be married in India, and was replaced by Helen Thornton, Cecile Petrie's sister. John Scott-Taggart, "How They Began", ''Wireless and Television Review'', 1935, p.124
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Denis Gifford Denis Gifford (26 December 1927 – 18 May 2000)Holland, Steve, Obituaries: Denis Gifford', ''The Guardian'', 26 May 2000. was a British writer, broadcaster, journalist, comic artist and historian of film, comics, television and radio. In h ...

, ''The Golden Age of Radio'', B.T. Batsford Ltd, London, 1985, , p.45 The trio began performing with bandleader

Ambrose Ambrose of Milan (; 4 April 397), venerated as Saint Ambrose, was a theologian and statesman who served as Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397. He expressed himself prominently as a public figure, fiercely promoting Roman Christianity against Ari ...

, and made their first broadcast in 1932, performing "syncopated songs". Search, Carlyle Cousins, ''Radio Times'', BBC Genome
Retrieved 15 March 2021 They were an immediate success, making more broadcasts for the

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 ...

in 1932 than any other act, and retained their popularity through the 1930s. Their radio programmes included ''Songs from the Shows'', and they also toured as part of George Black's

variety shows Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a compè ...

. They recorded for the Columbia label. Cecile Petrie also recorded as a singer with the

Carroll Gibbons Carroll Richard Gibbons (January 4, 1903 – May 10, 1954) was an American-born pianist, bandleader and popular composer who made his career primarily in England during the British dance band era. Early life and career Gibbons was born an ...

Orchestra. Nathan Davis, "Carroll Gibbons & his Boyfriends – A Discography", ''78rpm Community''
Retrieved 15 March 2021

References

External links

* British musical trios {{UK-band-stub