British dance band is a genre of popularjazz anddance music that developed inBritish dance halls and hotel ballrooms during the 1920s and 1930s, often called aGolden Age of British music, prior to theSecond World War.[1]
Thousands of miles away from the origins of jazz in theUnited States, British dance bands of this era typically played melodic, good-time music that had jazz andbig band influences but also maintained a peculiarly British sense of rhythm and style which came from themusic hall tradition.[2] Often, comedians of the day or music hall personalities would sing novelty recordings backed by well-known British dance band leaders.[3] Some of the British dance band leaders and musicians went on to fame in the United States in theswing era.[4]
Thanks to Britain's continuingballroom dancing tradition and its recordingcopyright laws, British dance music of the pre-swing era still attracts a modest audience, which American dance music of the same period does not.[citation needed]
Many popular singers rose to fame as vocalists on recordings by the British dance bands. They are not always attributed by name on the record label, apart from the description "with vocal refrain", but an experienced listener can often identify the voices of these otherwise anonymous singers. Famous British dance band vocalists included:
The Squadronaires are aRoyal Air Force band which became the best known of the British service dance bands during theSecond World War, with hits like "There's Something in the Air" and "South Rampart Street Parade". They played at dances and concerts for service personnel, broadcast on theBBC and recorded on the Decca label. Many of the members formerly played as side men inBert Ambrose’s band, and they continued to be popular after the war under the leadership ofRonnie Aldrich. Other British service dance bands included the Blue Mariners, the Blue Rockets and the Skyrockets.[1]
The BBC Radio programmeDance Band Days ran from 1969 to 1995 with a playlist of British dance band music. It was presented byAlan Dell, and subsequently byMalcolm Laycock. The programme was later transferred toSunday Night at 10, until the British dance band content was dropped by the BBC in 2008.[13]
The BBC Radio programmeThanks For The Memory, presented byHubert Gregg, regularly featured British dance band music, and ran for 35 years until his death in 2004.
The English television dramatistDennis Potter was responsible for repopularizing music from the British dance band era in several of his works, with his actors miming period songs inPennies From Heaven (1978) andThe Singing Detective (1986).
^abAdes, David; Bickerdyke, Percy; Holmes, Eric (July 1999).This England's Book of British Dance Bands. Cheltenham: This England Books. pp. 86–89.ISBN0-906324-25-4.
James Nott,Going to the Palais: a social and cultural history of dancing and dance halls in Britain, 1918-1960 (OUP, 2015)
James Nott,Music for the People: Popular Music and Dance in interwar Britain(OUP, 2002)
Abra, Allison. Review of "Going to the palais: a social and cultural history of dancing and dance halls in Britain, 1918–1960."Contemporary British History (Sep 2016) 30#3 pp 432–433.
White, Mark.The Observer's Book of Big Bands: Describing American, British, and European Big Bands, Their Music and Their Musicians [and their vocalists], inThe Observer's Series, no. 77. London: F. Warne, 1978.ISBN0-7232-1589-8.
