George Connell Elrick (29 December 1903 – 15 December 1999), known as 'The Smiling Voice of Radio', was a British musician, impresario and radio presenter, perhaps best known for presenting the popular record request show ''

Housewives' Choice ''Housewives' Choice'' was a BBC Radio record request programme, broadcast every weekday morning between 1946 and 1967 on the BBC Light Programme. It played a wide range of mostly popular music intended to appeal to housewives at home during t ...

'' during the 1950s and 1960s, as well as his recording of the song "I Like Bananas Because They Have No Bones".

Biography

George Elrick was born in

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

in 1903. His first ambition was to be a doctor, but financial constraints prevented this. Still in his teens, he began playing drums for local dance bands, and by 1928 had formed his own band, the Embassy Band, which swept the prizes in the All-Scottish Dance Band Championship that year. Elrick turned professional and moved to London, where he became friends with the crooner

Al Bowlly Albert Allick Bowlly (7 January 1899 – 17 April 1941) was a South African-British vocalist, crooner, and dance band guitarist who was Britain's most popular singer for most of the 1930s. He recorded upwards of 1,000 songs that were listened ...

, and began singing himself. Erick joined the Henry Hall orchestra as a vocalist and drummer, and their 1936 recording of "The Music goes Round and Round" made Elrick a star. In 1937, he left Hall to form his own band, and in 1939 began a solo career, which was moderately successful through the years of

World War II 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 ...

. In 1948, he took a touring revue around Britain, and was asked by 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 ...

to stand in for two weeks as disc jockey on the morning record request show ''Housewives' Choice''. The 'temporary' job lasted almost twenty years, as Elrick's Scottish accent and liberal use of catchphrases became highly popular. Memorably, he would sign off each show by singing the words 'I'll be with you all again tomorrow morning' to the (wordless) theme tune, and noting 'This is Mrs Elrick's wee son George saying thanks for your company – and cheerio!'. In later years, he became something of an impresario and acted as an agent for numerous musicians, such as

Mantovani Annunzio Paolo Mantovani (; 15 November 1905 – 30 March 1980) was an Italian British conductor, composer and light orchestra-styled entertainer with a cascading strings musical signature. The book '' British Hit Singles & Albums'' ...

. He was a member of the

Grand Order of Water Rats The Grand Order of Water Rats is a British entertainment industry fraternity and charitable organisation based in London. Founded in 1889 by the music hall comedians Joe Elvin and Jack Lotto, the order is known for its high-profile membership an ...

, and was also a life member of the

Variety Club of Great Britain Variety, the Children's Charity is a charitable organization founded in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1927. History On October 10, 1927, a group of eleven men involved in show business set up a social club which they named the "Variety Club". On ...

. The singer

Lena Martell Lena Martell (born Helen Thomson; 15 May 1940) is a Scottish singer, with a long career in theatre, television and musicals. She has recorded thirty albums which include the number one UK single with " One Day at a Time" in 1979. Biography Mar ...

was managed and produced by Elrick. This included a producing credit for her 1979 UK singles chart number one hit " One Day at a Time". Elrick was married and had a son. He published an autobiography, ''Housewives' Choice – The George Elrick Story''. He died in 1999, aged 95.

References

External links

Obituary
''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', 17 December 1999 {{DEFAULTSORT:Elrick, George 1903 births 1999 deaths British radio presenters British male drummers Musicians from Aberdeen 20th-century British drummers 20th-century British male musicians