Dateline December 2011
Back in June (JIM 188, page 11) we wished our good friend Nick Farries well in his future endeavours, following the sale of Carlin Music. At our recent London meeting we learned from David Farnon that Nick is setting up again in London, and David’s son Tom is also getting involved with him. Nick has promised to let us know more about his exciting plans next year!
In our last issue Jim Palm asked if anyone knew the date of a broadcast in celebration of Sidney Torch’s 80th birthday (page 18). David Daniels was quick off the mark with the information that the date was 10 July 1988 – around six weeks after his actual birthday which was 5 June.
Boosey & Hawkes Production Music has now been rebranded as Imagem Production Music. Their address is still: Alywych House, 71-91 Aldwych, London, WC2B 4HN.
In David Ades’ report of his "Light Fantastic" experiences in our last issue (page 64) he mentioned I Concentrate On You which had been arranged by Robert Farnon. We have now learned that this did not come from the libraries of Ted Heath or Geraldo, but was one of two scores that Bob did for the publishers – it was intended that there would be a whole series of such numbers, but in the event only two were completed.
Many readers will have discovered Brian Reynolds' website http://www.mastersofmelody.co.uk/ which gives accounts of the careers of many musical directors, often accompanied by actual radio programmes by their orchestras, to which you can listen. Now Brian has a YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/MastersofMelody1 which features hundreds of his video recordings made at bandstands - brass bands, military bands and a considerable amount of light orchestral material from three orchestras which used to play on bandstands until fairly recently. Of particular interest to members of this society will be Romando and his Gypsy Orchestra whose vast repertoire of music from the turn of the last century to the early sixties will reveal many long forgotten delights. In similar vein are the repertoires of the Ladies' Palm Court Orchestra (Ann Adams) and the London Theatre Orchestra (Peter Civil). You can either type the names of these orchestras in to Google or go to the above URL and type the orchestra/ band name into the search box, whereupon you will have all their videos at your fingertips. There is everything from the Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band and the Grenadier Guards to the Charleston Chasers!
Andre Leon, boss of UK LightRadio is still working to hard to launch his internet radio station on a permanent basis, and his latest press release announces further progress. From 6 November two hours of UKLR output have been broadcast by Radio Six International on Sunday afternoons, from 4:00pm GMT onwards. Hopefully these will still be available by the time this magazine is published; the site to visit is– www.radiosix.com